My son is in NC for the month with his father. He flew REALLY cheap. I get to go to Las Vegas, free airfare. Let me explain.
As I have mentioned on this blog, I come from a long line of penny pinchers. Seriously, my parents are unbelivable. My father pinched enough pennies to retire around age 50, with a sail boat, home, jeep, truck and no bills but for an electric bill. My mom goes almost no where without a coupon....yet we go out to lunch 1-2x a week.
So, in April of 2008 my mom and I were taking my son to DC over the April break. She wanted nothing more then to get bumped and get a free ticket out of the deal. She talked about it for weeks, hoping for an opportunity. The announcement that there would indeed be an opportunity to get bumped was not even finished before my mom was up at that desk telling them "we'll take it! Yes, we would like a free ticket!" So, upon getting the 3 free tickets she turns to me and asks if I think my boyfreind would like to buy hers for $200.00. It's true...she was dying to get bumped but didn't even want the damn ticket...just wanted to achieve a freebee. See?
So, I used my kiddo's ticket to send him to his Dad's this summer. Their family is in the horse bussiness. I'm sure you're wondering why the airfare would be my responsability and their is no court agreement about that. Long story short, I have 100% full custody and I send him down there of my own free will because I feel it's good for him and I want him to be around his dad and their family. There is no visitation agreement. Thus, no monetary agreement about any visitation. Unaccompanied minor fee is $100 each way, baggage fee is $15.00. So for $215 my dear son goes to spend most of the month on a horse farm. Pretty good deal, seeing as how you'd never find a child care for a month for $215, he has his own horse down there, and he's treated like a prince or a prodgical son.
Now, back to my free ticket.
my dear boyfreind and I were uncertain about what to do/where to go. My first pick was San Fransisco. I wanted to go tour Alcatrez, maybe visit City Lights book store, see some of the Beat stuff. We both wanted to go somewhere in August because my kid would be in NC, and bf's kid would be at a lake house with her mom. However, we had to work on airline availability.
We ended up booking a trip to Las Vegas. In August. Yeah....who does that? It's going to be like 120 degrees. But the bf has been, I have not, he got a deal on the Paris hotel, etc.
So, thanks to my mom's embarrassing but persistant frugality I am going to Vegas, all set with child care, for approx $215.
So today I go shopping for cheap, Vegas appropriate clothing. I live in Maine so I am not accustomed to desert weather in the summer. I found THIS item at.....(cringing before I even say it) XXI Forever. Or whatever. That place that considers my 33 year old ass NOT a small, and my late blooming, barely 34b bust a "Large" for a zipper to contend with. Seriously, I couldn't get the zipper up in the medium. & Skimmy is petite. Like, "frequently mistaken for a kid" petite. For instance, another trick of mine is to shop in the children's section in some places because it's less expensive.
BUT, what I wanted to show you was THIS. I got this on sale for $6.99. It's trendy, allegendly back in style or on it's way, and surprisingly flattering. I was looking for shorts for my trip but found a whole 1 peice outfit for $6.99. I'm tempted to do Farrah hair with that outfit but the last time I did that it came out like Diana Ross and I ended up just putting it in a ponytail.
Perfect for Vegas and only $6.99. They also had it in black and in purple, I almost bought another one in one of those colors before feeling like a dork about the whole thing. They had a lot of cheap crap on sale, if you're into that kinda thing. A lot of it is appropriate for semi-formal events, but you will probably only get to wear it maybe 4-5x before it starts fallling apart in the wash. I know this from having grown up poor and shopping at Rave, the previous incarnate store of the cheap but trendy gal who shops for in-the-moment. I'm not advocating slutty clothing for teenage girls or making yourself feel bad based on sizes. I'm advoacting finding a deal when needed. (On a side note I also got a really cool T shirt with Edie Sedgwick on it and the word "Ciao" over her cartoon head. A reference to "Ciao Manhatten." $13. That made up for a lot of what I was feeling just stepping into the damn place).
XXI Forever also had accessories for under $5, heart shaped pink tinted sunglasses for, like $6 or something (again, would go great with Farrah hair). Shoes for under $10. Really cute lacy under things for $4.50 or less.
Be prepared to walk out feeling NOT forever XXI and more like a Cougar before your time. It's a a side effect of struggling into clothing made for people who presumably have not carried a child.
As I have mentioned on this blog, I come from a long line of penny pinchers. Seriously, my parents are unbelivable. My father pinched enough pennies to retire around age 50, with a sail boat, home, jeep, truck and no bills but for an electric bill. My mom goes almost no where without a coupon....yet we go out to lunch 1-2x a week.
So, in April of 2008 my mom and I were taking my son to DC over the April break. She wanted nothing more then to get bumped and get a free ticket out of the deal. She talked about it for weeks, hoping for an opportunity. The announcement that there would indeed be an opportunity to get bumped was not even finished before my mom was up at that desk telling them "we'll take it! Yes, we would like a free ticket!" So, upon getting the 3 free tickets she turns to me and asks if I think my boyfreind would like to buy hers for $200.00. It's true...she was dying to get bumped but didn't even want the damn ticket...just wanted to achieve a freebee. See?
So, I used my kiddo's ticket to send him to his Dad's this summer. Their family is in the horse bussiness. I'm sure you're wondering why the airfare would be my responsability and their is no court agreement about that. Long story short, I have 100% full custody and I send him down there of my own free will because I feel it's good for him and I want him to be around his dad and their family. There is no visitation agreement. Thus, no monetary agreement about any visitation. Unaccompanied minor fee is $100 each way, baggage fee is $15.00. So for $215 my dear son goes to spend most of the month on a horse farm. Pretty good deal, seeing as how you'd never find a child care for a month for $215, he has his own horse down there, and he's treated like a prince or a prodgical son.
Now, back to my free ticket.
my dear boyfreind and I were uncertain about what to do/where to go. My first pick was San Fransisco. I wanted to go tour Alcatrez, maybe visit City Lights book store, see some of the Beat stuff. We both wanted to go somewhere in August because my kid would be in NC, and bf's kid would be at a lake house with her mom. However, we had to work on airline availability.
We ended up booking a trip to Las Vegas. In August. Yeah....who does that? It's going to be like 120 degrees. But the bf has been, I have not, he got a deal on the Paris hotel, etc.
So, thanks to my mom's embarrassing but persistant frugality I am going to Vegas, all set with child care, for approx $215.
So today I go shopping for cheap, Vegas appropriate clothing. I live in Maine so I am not accustomed to desert weather in the summer. I found THIS item at.....(cringing before I even say it) XXI Forever. Or whatever. That place that considers my 33 year old ass NOT a small, and my late blooming, barely 34b bust a "Large" for a zipper to contend with. Seriously, I couldn't get the zipper up in the medium. & Skimmy is petite. Like, "frequently mistaken for a kid" petite. For instance, another trick of mine is to shop in the children's section in some places because it's less expensive.
BUT, what I wanted to show you was THIS. I got this on sale for $6.99. It's trendy, allegendly back in style or on it's way, and surprisingly flattering. I was looking for shorts for my trip but found a whole 1 peice outfit for $6.99. I'm tempted to do Farrah hair with that outfit but the last time I did that it came out like Diana Ross and I ended up just putting it in a ponytail.
Perfect for Vegas and only $6.99. They also had it in black and in purple, I almost bought another one in one of those colors before feeling like a dork about the whole thing. They had a lot of cheap crap on sale, if you're into that kinda thing. A lot of it is appropriate for semi-formal events, but you will probably only get to wear it maybe 4-5x before it starts fallling apart in the wash. I know this from having grown up poor and shopping at Rave, the previous incarnate store of the cheap but trendy gal who shops for in-the-moment. I'm not advocating slutty clothing for teenage girls or making yourself feel bad based on sizes. I'm advoacting finding a deal when needed. (On a side note I also got a really cool T shirt with Edie Sedgwick on it and the word "Ciao" over her cartoon head. A reference to "Ciao Manhatten." $13. That made up for a lot of what I was feeling just stepping into the damn place).
XXI Forever also had accessories for under $5, heart shaped pink tinted sunglasses for, like $6 or something (again, would go great with Farrah hair). Shoes for under $10. Really cute lacy under things for $4.50 or less.
Be prepared to walk out feeling NOT forever XXI and more like a Cougar before your time. It's a a side effect of struggling into clothing made for people who presumably have not carried a child.
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