Thrifty Thursday in New Orleans: Fashion, Food, Fun, Family

Well, my little blog was asked (or perhaps I was asked) to link to a Thrifty Thursday group. I replied that I try to do something thrifty every day. Meanwhile, the day is almost done and I haven’t written anything, mostly because I’ve had a few days with both children home and I’ve been enjoying the delightful lazing around side of family life. Sadly, Frugal Son went back to school yesterday. Today, we went with Frugal Daughter to New Orleans, for her dreaded bi-annual appointment with the ear specialist. I just realized that Thrifty Thursday pertains to cooking, so our thrifty dinner is near the end.

Poor Miss Em! Terrible ear problems and surgeries! But lucky Miss Em because her doctor is, as he tells us, the best. He is enamored of his handiwork on her ear and marvels at it. Miss Em says that she dreads the visits, but feels like the doctor is her “ear’s father.”

So, to make lemonade out of lemons, we all trooped in to New Orleans on a beautiful and warm day. To fit with the thrifty theme, we had a few plans for after the doctor visit (blessedly short, with no painful episodes).

Buffalo Exchange—We visited one of these stores in San Francisco last summer, which sells vintage and used clothing. So we decided, in the interests of blog research, to see if we could sell or trade some of our cast-offs. We read on-line that BE was very picky, so we put together our boxes prepared for rejection. We were a bit intimidated on arrival because the store was nice and everything looked great. The hip looking employees were very nice. Well, it turns out that Frugal Scholar is still pretty good (having been a “picker” for a vintage clothing shop in grad school days); the Divine Miss Em is extremely stylish. About 2/3 did not make the cut, but we received a choice between $38.00 in cash or $63.00 in credit! Miss Em bought only a much-reduced skirt in interesting fabric, which she already turned into a shorter skirt. We left with only one box, plus $36.00.

Bloomingdeals Thrift Store—Pre-Katrina this was Frugal Scholar’s favorite thrift store. It is run by the Junior League, an excellent organization. This was where the all-cotton baby clothes came from (not so easy to find 20 years ago and very expensive); the European wooden toys, and much more. Sadly, it was not the same. The prices have gone up, making it less worthwhile to slog through racks of Limited and Gap sweaters. They are having a “bag sale” next week, so if I were in the neighborhood, I might go. With a heavy heart, I have to admit I probably will not return.

Whole Foods—We bought about 15 pounds of oat groats, so breakfast is taken care of for a while. We also bought the Divine Miss Em a piece of expensive chocolate cake, a deserved treat. The famed samples at Whole Foods were not in evidence, but we had some bites of cheese and some cookies.

Audubon Park—A beautiful day so we went for a walk. We saw a tree full of white birds, which on closer inspection turned out to be egrets. An amazing sight!




Garden District and Uptown—New Orleans is such a beautiful city, so we fed our spirits with a drive and walk through these neighborhoods.

Home for dinner—We ate some of the ratatouille we froze last summer. With rice and feta it is a frugal feast. We always make sure we have something at the ready when we come home after a long day. The biggest savings comes from NOT ordering a pizza or whatever when you’re faint with hunger. Similarly, we always take a thermos of coffee in the car, to avoid the time and expense of coffee stops.

Oh thrifty day, calloo callay.
All in all, a good day because, in addition to the dreaded and necessary doctor visit, we cleaned out closets a bit, made a bit of money (now residing in the wallet of Miss Em), tasted some good cheese, and saw a tree full of egrets. Then we ate ratatouille with feta.