Zannee’s Blog at BargainsLA.com

Okay, call me tacky or weird, but I can only handle grief in small increments. Closing an estate, handling obits, burials, legal matters, estate sales and other icky-ness do not make for a happy day. So, one of the things I have been doing to lighten up a rather bleak, sad time and help keep me sane is restoring the antique Victorian dresser and bed set mom left my daughter. It’s a beauty and a family piece handed down through all the women in the family since 1864. But it was in bad need of attention. Years of wax and regular use had taken its toll.

I pulled out my Howard’s Clean A Finish, Restore a Finish and Feed n Wax and have spent an hour every day for about a week working on this lovely set. I LOVE this stuff and if you have furniture that needs attention, I’d try this product first before throw away or send off a furniture piece for professional restoration. At around $6-$7 dollars a bottle, it works wonders. http://www.howardproducts.com/restora.htm

I did have to take one of the original metal drawer pulls in to see if it could be repaired. I stopped in Crown City Hardware in Pasadena ready to spend big bucks on repair or replacement if required. To my complete astonishment they hammered the piece back into shape in just a couple of minutes and only charged me for the nuts for the hardware’s bolts…. A whopping 27 cents. I almost fainted from joy and gratitude.

This was friendly, incredible service with a smile. I doubt the pricing on the antique or reproduction hardware here is a real bargain, but the service is fabulous!

Crown City Hardware
1047 N. Allen Avenue
Pasadena, California 91104
626.794.0234
http://www.crowncityhardware.com/index.html

In addition to the hardware repair, I also took in the rose marble top from the matching dresser to get it glued back together. I knew the piece was American made Victorian and I decided to go to Best Way Marble. Mom had recommended them so strongly years ago as a great source for solid deals on marble, travertine and such along with stellar service. I felt it was good bet. I wasn’t disappointed.

Expert, Bob Martinez took one look at my 130 year old broken marble pieces and knew he could repair it to make it just as good as new rather than replace it. That alone saved me at least $200.

I did take the time to look at the amazing selection marble they had in stock for bathrooms and kitchens. Since I haven’t caparisoned shop marble yet, I couldn’t make an assessment, but for real “know how” and honesty, Best Way Marble gets my vote!

Best Way Marble
5037 Telegraph Road
Los Angeles, CA 90022
323.266.6794
http://www.bestwaymarble.com/home.html

So many of you stopped by my Moms Estate Sale I held last weekend, I was truly overwhelmed and very grateful.

But what we all missed as we were busy remembering my mom and sorting thru her remaining things, was my husband secretly off in the corner selling his prized electronics and camera collection. He took the opportunity of this sale to sell enough goods so he could afford buy a new LCD flat screen TV.

On the Sunday, after the sale, we headed off to one of our time favorite haunts, The Outlet by ELS in Monrovia. There, as I was talking to the owners, long time friends of my moms about her passing, while he checked out a dozen or so wide flat screen TV…. From Plasma to LCD to rear projection all at savings of 30%-50% below original retail.  Most are from Costco or Sears and are showroom models, customer returns or last season’s models.

I simple wasn’t in the mood to take any joy or interest in a TV purchase, but he was and since it was our 21st Wedding Anniversary, I let him off the hook for his rather bad timing.

He ended up picking out a Sharp 42″ LCD TV for $899. This would go for $1299 at Costco right now, $1600 - $1900 elsewhere.  When we got home, I let him do his electronic –wiring- sound- thing setting it up while I took a nap.

In the end we saved $300 for a brand new product, complete with both a manufacturers warranty and a 30 day warranty from ELS. Yep it looks good on my antique mahogany secretary hutch and… yep the picture is great and I am glad we saved a bundle. I guess it will be a few more weeks before I will feel like enjoying it. But if you’re in the market for a new flat screen, do check out ELS first. Mom always said this was the hardest working family she’d ever met.  I agree!  I am glad they work so hard to offer such great deals on so many cool things.

The Outlet By ELS
1532 S. California Ave.
Monrovia, CA
626.357.8449
http://www.bargainsla.com/bargains/source/elsoutlet.htm

Open Wed-Sunday only.

Once again I am forced to take my daughter shopping. This time it was for her BFF Aidan and her Dad. Both have birthdays this month. I knew Macy’s was having a home sale, so I wanted to go there. My fashion princess wanted to get her friend some baubles at Forever 21… so it was off to the Glendale Galleria.

Of course we got there before the stores opened and had to waste 20 minutes eating at Cinnabon.  I am a cinnamon freak and no where else on earth have I found a sweet roll as sinfully good.

Afterward we wondered through Target, Forever 21, Icing and finally made it into Macy’s where I scored a great buy on a stove top cast iron two sided grill for $24 instead of $59.

We still had not found anything for my daughters BFF, so I reminded Shae of the great totes they sell at the FR Industries Sale.

I love the FR Industries sale. On top of the superb buys in linens… 250 TC sateen 100% cotton sheets at $37 instead of $80, silk décor pillows at $10-$15, silk lined window panels are priced at $13-$85 instead of the retail of $60-$225…. They also had fun gift buys for holiday giving. BBQ sets are here at $7-$15. Regular retail on these are $20-$35. Chef aprons are $10-$13 instead of $25-$45 and wine gift bags are just 50 cents! They also had these picnic backpacks, fully stocked with the accoutrements needed for an elegant picnic at just $9.

My daughter went through the totes section and came away with two “Wizard of Oz” themed totes at $10 each. I grabbed two $15 silk pillows (retail $35-$45). We also found some great deals on better clothing. Barry, Michael’s dad from Dressed Up was there with a rack of tees, tops and wraps at $10 along with some amazing, dresses jackets and caplets. Everything was at wholesale or less. I pinned badly for this amazing caplet made out of mink and rabbit fur. It wholesales at $150. Here it was $150. Retail is $360. It was an Alberto Makali. We just ended up getting one of the $10 wraps as a Christmas gift.

The best part of the sale is that you can custom order window panels out of dozens of choices of fabric at below wholesale. At no other time during the year can you order directly from the manufacturer. The selection has limitations as the fabrics are remnants. But they are gorgeous fabrics. Go now! Tell Florence BargainsLA sent ya!

FR Industries, 11840 Vose St., North Hollywood,  91605. 818.503.9143.
Cash/ CC only