SteinMart & The Salvation Army.

What a great idea... a post card came in the mail from SteinMart last week-- their latest sales campaign asked everyone to bring in a "gently used" item of clothing and pick up a 20%-off coupon good for any item in one of their stores. Bringing in one clothing item got you one coupon, with a maximum of four coupons.

Sounded like a good idea to me. I always have a donation box of clothing items ready to be taken up to the local church for their "Free Clothes Closet," so I looked through that box and found three items that were hardly worn at all. (As I took all three of those things out of that box, my first thought was "Why on earth did I buy this in the first place?")

Up to SteinMart I went, and they had a representative from the Salvation Army thrift shop right inside the front door. He took the three pairs of slacks I brought in, and gave me three 20%-off coupons. My intention was to get three pairs of jeans. I had been in SteinMart last week and found a great pair of jeans. (After trying on 28 pairs, I had finally found one that fit well, looked great, and was comfortable enough to wear all day if I wanted to.)

When I got home from SteinMart last week, I was sorry that I hadn't bought at least one more pair of those jeans. So that was my mission today-- to find more of these great jeans. So there I was, with three coupons burning a hole in my purse, and all I could find was just one more identical pair of these great jeans. I asked one of the ladies there if they could get more of the size I needed from one of their other stores. The woman took off her glasses, looked me right in the eye, and whispered: "Honey child, you really don't want to do that. It just never works the way they say it will. We ask them to send us what y'all want and three weeks later, we're still waiting. Then we call them back to check on it and they can't find the paperwork. Save yourself the trouble, bless your heart, and just try on more jeans right here."

So that's just what I did-- tried on more jeans..... but didn't find any others as comfy and as perfectly fitting as these "Nine West" jeans. Finding one more pair today was great, so now I have two pairs of what I call "dress jeans." I will wear the other ones around the house, and when I go grocery shopping, and save the perfect ones for better places than the supermarket.

With the other two coupons, I found two great tops with three-quarter sleeves, which I love. I'm not comfortable in sleeveless tops anymore, and when it gets hot-hot-hot here, long sleeves are too stifling. Three-quarter sleeves are perfect-- you don't get chilled in the air-conditioning, and they always look nice... and these go great with the new jeans.

When I got home, I went through all my tops again, and pulled out two older tops to add to the donation box. I think everything in my closet now would be approved by Stacy and Clinton. (That's what started all these self-inspections of my clothes--- the "What Not To Wear" show.)