Zannee’s Blog at BargainsLA.com

Okay animal lovers, now your chance to get a pet on the cheap.

According to Mark and Steve over at Blogging LA.com:

“…Whenever the economy takes a dip, dogs and cats get treated as ballast on the sinking ship of a family on the brink of financial ruin. L.A. shelters are overfull and the list of innocent animals marked for the big sleep is getting bigger and bigger.

All six La City Animal Service Centers will be participating in this Adoption event. There are over 1000 dogs and 700 adoptable cats that need homes.”

I wouldn’t hesitate. The best pet I ever had, I found at city shelters. If you’ve been considering getting a pet and think you are ready, now’s the time to jump. Save a life and add to the quality of yours.

Usually I tread slowly and carefully when I make decisions on bigger purchases.
I weigh everything carefully tending to side on the side of caution and do without. My husband says I over think most things.

But I proved him wrong this weekend.

Saturday morning I woke up to find my slipcovered Cozy Couch torn and stained with chocolate. My 12 year old daughter had done the deed. I was not amused. This meant a new slip cover for the sofa which was showing serious signs of wear. Ugh! Just another issue to deal with.

I have to hang out in the San Fernando Valley every Saturday for a few hours while my daughter takes an acting class in Noho. I got sick of hanging in local coffee houses (boring) and have started to visit favorite bargain sources just to say hi and see what they had going on. This last Saturday I went a bit out of my way to check on the sale and new inventory at Designer Interiors in Chatsworth. I love high end home furnishings. Though usually out of my meager reach, I always am looking for that great buy. I found it Saturday.

A gorgeous, fine velvet sofa in a rich deep chocolate that is both modern and classically stylish. Complete with 5 down feather back pillows, 2 silk side pillows and nail heads on the rolled arms. Made locally it retails at $4000. Gail at Designer Interiors had it marked down to $1600… that’s at cost.

I took a picture with my Blackberry, e-mailed it to hubby, who loved it. Gail put a sold sign on it within the hour. This gorgeous thing will last at least 10 years. Gail says I’ll get tired of it before it will wear out.

Now what am I gonna do about my daughter and her chocolate? Hmm…she’s currently banished to her room, but I may have to slipcover this one too since I also like chocolate.

It was only 6 hours from the beginning of thinking I wanted to a new sofa to getting one. Unheard of ! But then I know when to pounce on a bargain and this one was sweet!

My life is in my wallet. So many cards are shoved in to it, it’s strained pockets and compartments are packed with my library, health, dental, club memberships, credit, debit, ID, grocery cards etc… I also save receipts, business cards, have a check book in there and family photos. It is busting out all over.

Mom, who loved good quality and design bought me two check book/ organizer wallets about twenty years ago. These were superior quality Italian crafted wallet and were perfect for my needs.

They have compartments for everything: two zipper compartments, check book, 20 credit card slots, receipt area… literally I can walk out of the house with this and my keys and make it through the day. It’s a big fat fabulous wallet

The first one lasted 11 years, the second one just 9 years. Their demise had nothing to do with the leather craftsmanship… it was the weak vinyl zippers that gave way.

I don’t have a back up wallet.

I am left trying to find a fabulous quality wallet that can be my personal catch all at a price I can afford. When I search the web I find wallets that meet my criteria “quality w/ everything”, but most are priced at $160-$400. Versace, Coach, Dooney and Bourke and a few others meet my criteria but I am not paying that much for a wallet … yet. I am trying to get one that has a kiss clasp frame instead of zippers.

To get by, I have picked up a nice quality leather wallet by Buxton on Ebay for $15. Now I can continue my search to try and find a great buy on a big fat fabulous leather clutch wallet and get my old broken wallet repaired.

Buxton quality is usually pretty good, so I should get by without any inconvenience