Five For Friday

Can  I please tell you how excited I am for spring? I am not a fan of the cold, first of all, I have never been great at the whole layering thing, and my hair color/complexion automatically look better in warmer temps and with a healthy glow. Soooo... good-bye drab winter, hello COLOR!   

My Five For Friday are brought to you courtesy of J Crew and Old Navy. LOVE them.

1. Seafoam wedge. J Crew. Gorgeous, totally wearable, beautiful color. Must have. 

2. Navy print tunic~style dress from J Crew. Also saw this at Tory and Old Navy, so this style is going to be all over the place this season at all prices. Which makes me happy. Totally easy and cute!

3. Fun floral cardigan from Old Navy. Pefect to start wearing now and UNDER 20 bucks! Buy this now and come get your cute spring jewelry and all the rest of your outfit at Castaways!

4. This stripey blazer from Old Navy is a spring essential, you can either pay a gazillion dollars for it 

elsewhere, or get it at Old Navy for 30.00.  And of course, bring it to Castaways to put together the outfit to wear with it.

5. Aaaah.  These Sperry's from J Crew. Cheerful. Wait, can a shoe be cheerful? I think so, with the fun pink soles! What fun!

Hopefully the Five For Friday added a little pop of color to this COLD February day. Spring will be here soon and until then we can dream!

Cindy

15 Style Tips From Michael Kors

I found this on Pinterest this morning. It may be almost two years old, but the advice is still oh~so~wise. (Thank you, Mr. Kors!) I love the way he thinks and agree with EVERY point. It's so classic, and effortless. I really believe if  you follow these 15 pointers, you can look absolutely AMAZING on a daily basis!

Another point I add to myself when putting together an outfit that feels a little too trendy, too young, or too much is to think "If I see myself in this outfit in a picture in five years, is there a possibility I will laugh at something I wore?" I am ALL for trying a trend, but like everything else in life, it is about balance, not throwing everything on at once! Don't you agree?

But, back to the expert, Mr. Kors, himself, and his BRILLIANT Style Tips! The ones I use unfailingly are #8 (hello, fushia skinnies) #10 (love my aviators!) and #14 (because I am really such a SUMMER girl). I really need to work on #15, and I think it is the most important one to remember ~ we can ALL get stuck in a rut. If you need help digging your way out, fear not, we are here for you!

Which of these tips do you already follow?  Which do you need to work on? Are there any you DISAGREE with? Share, we'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

A Bit of Inspiration for the New Year!

image from theatelierblog.com

Don't we all get a little introspective as one year comes to an end and another one is fresh and new, just waiting to be lived? A blank calendar lies in front of us. We want to be wise and positive in what we fill it with, and there seem to be endless possibilities. I love the fresh BEGINNING feeling of January. Castaways uses it as a time to lie out the path for a new year ~ organizing and making improvements to the store, planning sales and events for the year, and ALWAYS looking at how we can make the store better for you.

But, from a more personal standpoint, aren't these ideas for 2013 just the most lovely way to look at things? They are amazing, and as I look at the year ahead, I want to remember to implement ALL of these. I wanted to share them so that as you look into the future, you too can make this your best year yet!

Here is to a new and wonderful year for all of us!

Cindy

What I'm Wearing Wednesday

Today I went (where else?) consignment shopping with my mom. As I put my outfit together in my head over coffee in the morning (one of my favorite parts of the day) :), I realized that, over the course of time, I have purchased today's entire outfit from Castaways.  The Joe's cropped jeans were purchased this spring, the rest has been purchased over the course of time this fall! The top is a grey military style top that is a LOVELY mix between a button down and a t~shirt. LOVE it with the blue stripe infinity scarf ~ which is cotton, so not too hot. The flats are amazing green, red, and navy plaid with gold metallic accents, Coach. A beautiful find. The retro~look crossbody is H&M and was purchased for my many upcoming Chicago shopping trips. If any of you LOVE the pieces of this outfit, take comfort in knowing that I usually keep things for a month tops, and bring them back to Castaways. My closet is in a permanent rotation!

Here I am after finding a HAUL for my 4~year~old at Frogs & Fairies in Bloomington, Illinois. Isn't that the smile of a successful shopper?

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Cindy

Five For Friday

 Good morning! It's been awhile since I have done the Five For Friday. We have been SO busy at Castaways ~ that's my only excuse. We LOVE the growth that we have experienced this year and we have all of you to thank for it. SO even though there are plenty of other consignment shops in the area, thank you for continuing to support us. We promise to strive to keep Castaways even more wonderful every day! Here are five things that Castaways has been loving on this week!

1. We love fall and Halloween is SO much fun. It makes everyone feel a little like a kid again, don't you agree? We took part in Moonlight Madness for the Washington Chamber of Commerce Wednesday night and we had a ball doing it. Thank you to everyone who visited us! We also have a GREAT selection of Halloween costumes for kiddos AND the ladies.  And they will all be 30% off next week (starting Monday, October 22).

2. What is UP with all the Coach bags this week??? Thanks to all of you bringing in a constant supply of them, because we are moving them like CRAZY for some reason! 

3. Our first Coffee Date at Castaways was last Thursday, and it was a smashing success! Tommie Fore (right, above, that's Vicky Garey on the left) taught us all MANY new and fun ways to tie a scarf. We're going to try to convince her to come back for an evening event. We'll give you details on that later! Our next Coffee Date will be Thursday, November 8 at 9 AM. We're going to serve up coffee with a side of DENIM! We'll teach you the right fit, wash, and style of jeans for you and we'll offer 20% off any denim purchase. We are SO excited for this event!

4. We LOVE pencil skirts! J Crew and Target have the CUTEST styles and colors, but we have also been taking in TONS of them at Castaways. We love them with cardigans and pumps, denim shirts, tights, and boots, or all layered up with a cute shrunken boyfriend jacket and short boots! This fall style is a MUST HAVE.

5. Did we mention our Coffee Date at Castaways? It's the SECOND THURSDAY of EVERY MONTH at 9AM! The next one, like I mentioned above is Coffee with a side of DENIM! We will be also be having an exciting evening event on Thursday, November 13 for all of you evening shoppers. Stay tuned for all the exciting details!

Happy Friday!

Cindy

Our Fall Into Beauty Makeover

Hey, everyone! I thought I'd FINALLY get around to sharing the story behind our Fall Into Beauty Makeover! Remember our super successful Spring Into Beauty Makeover with Kendra? We had so much fun and we LOVED having the opportunity to make someone feel SO special. So, once again I teamed up with my Transformation Crew: Angie Kisch of Mary Kay and Kellie Felmey of The Bird's Nest, and we began accepting nominations so that we could have the chance to do it again!

Here we are, ready for action!

We received SO many nominations this time. It was very hard to make a decision. Chevie Ruder, director of The Washington Chamber of Commerce, chose the winner, and she said that it was SO. hard to decide this time. Eventually, Karen Leon was chosen. Her husband sent in her nomination, and she has graciously allowed us to share her story.  The nomination email follows:

Hello,
Id like to nominate my wife,Karen. We have been together since jr high and
are now 22 years old. We have been through it all together. Our senior year of high school she was diagnosed with a rare brain malformation called Chiari. She has been through 2 brain surgeries and 2 spinal cord surgeries.

Shortly after her last surgery she became pregnant with our now 2 and 1/2
year old daughter. With all of her on going health problems she had a very
rough and complicated pregnancy. She suffered from a stroke at 19 weeks
pregnant and it's a Blessing from God that our daughter was born a healthy 6 lbs at 37 weeks. Karen has been slowly recovering and for the last 2 1/2 years been surgery free and now finally starting to feel like her old self again. Throughout all of her troubles she has never asked once for anything from anyone. I think this makeover would give her some of the confidence back that she so desperately needs. Please, help me, help her.

Thank you for your time.

Dustin Leon

Here is Karen when we met her. We immediately loved her, although we felt like she is already pretty pampered, because CLEARLY  she has an amazing husband who cares about her quite a bit. But she sure has been through a LOT and she definitely deserved a day of pampering. It was instantly clear that she doesn't get out a whole lot on her own, because she wasn't quite sure how to act without her kiddo around. :) Karen was bubbly and darling and SO fun to be around. She picked a gorgeous auburn color and graduated bob for her hair, which Kellie happily accommodated. You can see the results below.

Angie Kisch provided lots of makeup ideas and expertise from Mary Kay.

Just LOOK at that gorgeous eye makeup and skin! Ah! The great ruffle top, berry cardigan, beaded necklace, and the rest of Karen's outfit was provided by... us! Castaways. :)

Here is Karen enjoying her new look and her LOVELY fall bouquet, which was provided by All In Bloom. Isn't it gorgeous?

L-R: Angie Kisch of Mary Kay, Karen Leon, Kellie Felmey of The Bird's Nest, and Cindy Keller of Castaways Consignment

L-R: Cindy Keller of Castaways, Karen Leon, Angie Kisch of Mary Kay, and Kellie Felmey of The Bird's Nest

Kellie, Angie, and I feel SO blessed to be able to do these makeovers. It feels amazing to spend one afternoon making someone so deserving feel SO pampered and beautiful. We are delighted that our careers give us the opportunity to pool our talents to help LOVELY women like Kendra and Karen. We can't wait for the next one! 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Cindy

Jeans Purge

I clean out my closet all the time. Imagine that! I have the best job in the world, and one of my favorite things about it is that my closet is forever changing.  I'm getting ready for fall and trying to decide what to add to my wardrobe as far as jeans go. I also felt like there were probably some pairs that could be weeded out. I decided to document the process. It worked really well for me!

Here are all of my jeans. I have 12 pairs. I LOVE my colored and white denim, and I had a few pairs that I am nowhere near ready to give up. BUT I want a new pair of super skinny dark wash and some black ones too, so I feel I can justify that by finding a couple of pairs to get rid of! Makes sense, right?

Here are the five pairs I tried on, left to right: Gap Ankle Zip Skinnies in fawn. I actually just bought these and wanted to try them on, so I really didn't plan to get rid of them. :) Old Navy Skinny Divas, Joe's Skinny Boot, Gap Real Straight, and Citizens of Humanity Straight.

I got out a pair of flats and heels to get the whole effect right when doing my try~on. Aren't those gold J Crew loafers adorable? Castaways!! :)

Here are the Gap Ankle Zip skinnies. I love them. Also love the neutral color. I can't wait to wear them with chambray and black for fall. A skinny is NEVER skinny enough for me, though. These fit more like a straight jean. I am still on a quest for the perfect skinny jean. But these are cute and fun and a great way to continue with my colored denim phase.

Here are the Old Navy Skinny Divas. I am not a fan. They aren't even close to being skinny and they definitely don't feel great on.

Eh. I don't feel like they are very flattering either. Off to Castaways they go, they will surely look cute on someone else! 

The Joe's Skinny Boot. I don't like them, have never worn them. I just can't get into the skinny boot. It looks odd on me. I love the wash though.

Nope. Not bum~flattering. Jeans that flatten that area of the body are NOT a good idea. Castaways for these too, Someone taller will ROCK them!

Gap Real Straight. I like these with flats, it is one of my favorite looks in the fall. I think these are cute. I will have to hold on to them. They are so comfy! 

I'm also not one to have a lot going on back~pocket~wise. I think a plain pocket and a dark wash is the most slimming on EVERYONE.

Here are the Citizens of Humanity Straight Fit. I like these too! They are similar to the Gap pair above, but cut just a little skinnier! Cuffed with heels, they look great!

I was lucky enough to find these at Castaways, and I'm not ready to send them back to the racks just yet.

So, there you have it. I found two pairs of jeans to take to Castaways and make a little bit of money. Most of you probably have MORE than 12 pairs of jeans, so take the time to try a few on that you haven't worn in awhile. You'll be glad you did, and you can come bring the pairs that don't make the cut to US! Maybe you'll even find some replacement pairs while you're at Castaways! AND if the idea of cleaning out your closet intimidates you, we will begin offering a closet cleaning service this fall. We'll come help you make all the tough decisions. We'll bring a bin for items to consign and a bin for items to donate, plus a camera to photograph outfit ideas. Heck, we'll even bring a bottle of WINE to ease the pain a little. If you'd like more information about this service, please call Castaways at 309-886-2424.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Cindy