Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

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.

Estate Sale Shenanigans

This last weekend, hubby & I went to this professionally organized estate sale by TLC Estate Sales. This was our first time going to one of their sales. Last year, after we bought our house, we needed some items and went to estate sales to find them. But now we don’t need hardly anything, so we mostly go for fun. Unless we know there is something there we know we want, we don’t get there right as the sale opens, but a few hours later.

Researching Matters

On days when I have to do research, I have learned how to dig for information without letting on what I am doing.

I tend to look around a boutique, warehouse or store for a bit, checking out product and pricing. If I like what I see or if I am on the fence about how good this spot is, I then strike up a conversation by asking a question of the sales clerk, manager or if I’m lucky… the owner.

Country Antique Fair Mall

This last weekend, our kid had some tickets to Magic Mountain. Wrangling a couple other kids & parents together only left us with the responsibility of pick up at the end of the day.

Out in Saugus is one of our favorite antique/ bric a brac haunts, Country Antique Fair Mall. We’ve been haunting this place for the last 15 years

A Tour of the OC

This weekends tour of the OC had me wasting a lot of the time in traffic. I’m not complaining, just frustrated I didn’t get more stores squeezed into a long day.

I spent most my time in Tustin, Santa Ana and Orange. You’ll see my happy, in depth review of Furnishings Direct in Latest Bargain Finds this week. I also checked out many previously reviewed stores to make sure they were all still around: Van Dorens Consignment, Big Y Yardage, Mothers Secret and the new Far Below Retail.