Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

Cruising Commerce

Web Dude and I were cruising around Commerce Thursday, checking in on some outlets we love and visiting new ones. Saw a couple of places I wanted to research in depth and another couple of places that were just so so.

We did however pop into long time BargainsLA fave California Closeouts.

A Bargain Shopping Truth

Not to put a damper on your Holiday bargain shopping…..
But sometimes you’re not going to save 50% or even 30%!
What?

Yeah it’s true… but the small discount you get may be the deepest discount possible. Welcome to unilateral pricing policies and retail market manipulations.

Ideeli… A Bad Business

Couple of years ago I was really hyped about these online Flash/ Sample Sales. With dozens opening up, competition steep and the supply chain being tight, quite a few have slipped away.

I have continued shop several of them knowing that often the stated retail is a bit higher than I should be and that the discounts were not always as low as ‘walk in” sample sales.

Trader Joes Fun

Call me old fashioned (not!) but I love my Fearless Flyer from Trader Joes.

Back in the day I would ravenously read it after picking it up in-store. I was the one in the wine aisle leaning over the empty cart reading it cover to cover looking for new buys, deals, recipes or tidbits of information.

Thrift Store Fun

I love to go to thrift and junk stores. Digging and exploring are in my genes! I have a few regular pop in stores I like to haunt. Some I’ve scored some real steals at. But not all thrift stores are created equally.

Do it Yourself Painting

Nearly a year ago we hired a really good painter to paint our front door blue. It was a beautiful distressed Mexican door and we were afraid to do it ourselves. Thought we’d screw it up. This door takes the full blow of rain & sun and had weathered badly.  It either needed to be sanded, re-stained and refinished or painted. The first choice would take 3-4 days and leave us with a mess and an unsecured home. The second choice would take one day. After 3 months of discussion, we opted for the second choice

Dumpster Diving or Free Curb Discards?

A few years back I wrote about the gems I found doing a bit of trash picking. Yeah really, I have dumpster dived, trash picked and other wise scavenged …

Refurbished Patio Set

Now that beautiful warm weather is here and will be around for awhile, I am spending a lot more time in my garden. Using my laptop while sitting at my refurbished Brown & Jordon 1971 outdoor set, I answer emails, write and research in the mornings outside amongst the roses. In the evenings we have dinner or visit with friends at the same 40 year old set.

Welsh Cake Delight!

Normally I don’t review food, but this last weekend I tried something called a Welsh Cake at the Montrose Arts and Crafts Walk. The owner/ baker/ guy in charge was freely giving away samples at his booth with most people buying after tasting these delectable little cakes.

I tried the walnut with maple syrup cakes. Simple incredible!

The Road Less Traveled to the Orbit

This weekends beautiful weather had us taking, of all things….. a drive. Even with gas at over $4 a gallon, we headed out without a real plan or destination. We headed up through Big Tujunga Canyon into the mountains, caught the Angeles Crest highway and somehow ended up in Littlerock on Pearblossom Highway.