Rarely do I ever feel anxiety, but when I was pregnant with Genevieve I was very anxious about the amount of stuff I was about to accumulate. A combination of a desire to be environmentally friendly, my thriftiness, and my penchant for getting rid of my possessions added up to make one very panicky lady. Then I discovered the abundance of mommy consignors just waiting to sell me their used goods cheaply in an organized manner in giant warehouses. Yay! I HATE regular shopping, but I love consignment shopping for the girls’ clothes and toys. In fact, I am sooo cheap (“How cheap are you?”) that I always patiently wait for the sales’ last day half-price extravaganzas. Sometimes I will occasionally splurge on full-price used items at a great store near my mom’s house in Roswell. If you’re in the Atlanta area and haven’t yet been to Ladybugs and Lizards, I highly recommend it. She stocks very beautiful items from all the fancy brands…of which Ralph Lauren is the only one I can remember right now. A word of caution: The owner is a mom and closes the store somewhat randomly with the school calendar. Call ahead if you’re coming from far away to be sure it’s open.
My crocuses (croci?) tell me spring is on its way and with it come bargains galore. The girls are actually all set on clothes, so I’ll just be in search of toys, movies, and books. Along with consignment sales and the fact that I have 2 girls, allowing me to pass clothes down, I have also been the lucky recipient of many boxes of hand-me-down clothes from a very generous friend in Wisconsin. And we aren’t talking cheapo items here; Vivi has been decked out from birth in a variety of gorgeous flowery print hand-made dresses and OshKosh B’Gosh overalls. So cute! I have purchased exactly 4 outfits for Charlotte’s first year of life. Gotta love frugality! What am I doing with all of the clothes Charlotte grows out of, you might ask (if you’re like me)? For now, I am boxing them up and storing them in the “you never know” section of the basement. I am hoping eventually to pass them along to Nate’s sister if she has any girls. Hint, hint. ๐