Ever since scouring thrift shops for fabulous finds as a teenager, I have been a bargain queen. One of my favorite places to frequent was a crazy warehouse called Ruben's in Harrisburg, PA. Apparently it was a rag factory during the week (is that a thing?) that opened its doors to the public on Saturday mornings to sell clothes by the pound. 

I'd search through bin after bin for treasures to fill my garbage bag, which would end up costing about $2 or $3 when it was weighed on an industrial scale. Shirts, skirts, pants, dresses, coats...my entire high school wardrobe probably cost no more than 20 bucks.

I still enjoy digging through piles for vintage clothing--and often think, $10 for this? It would have been a dime at Ruben's--but my talent for thriftiness goes beyond thrift stores. Like Kohl's, for example.

I love Kohl's. More often than not, my response to any compliment about what I'm wearing is, "Kohl's!" This is often followed up by how much the item cost. If I can remember, I will include the original price and the amount of the discount.

My friends marvel at my ability to sniff out bargains and don't understand how I do it. Well gals, here's how.

1. It helps if you're not looking for something specific.

Today, I was looking for a new pair of jeans and maybe a cute top for an upcoming event.

2. It really helps if you have enough time to devote to it. 

Although I can bargain-shop at any speed, it's best to leave that to the experts. You're not ready.

3. Have a coupon. 

I get coupons from Kohl's. All. The. Time. Oddly, I didn't have one sitting around today, so I checked out their site before I left home and printed a 20% off coupon. It's important to consider your final discount as you're searching the racks. Something may not be ten-dollars-cute, but it could be eight-dollars-cute.

4. Go straight to the sale racks. 

Seriously. Just walk right past the non-sale racks. Even if you have a coupon. Trust me. 

I find that the pain of trying on jeans is second only to trying on swimsuits. My strategy is to overload my cart so I only have to go to the dressing room once. Get all the sizes, styles, and colors for convenience' sake. And there are so many choices on the clearance racks, why would you bother throwing the full-priced items into the mix?

5. Buy basics and off-season items. 

l mean, you can never have enough tank tops or cardigans.

6. Don't be afraid to try something outside your typical style zone. 

Again, it goes back to ten-dollar-cute vs. eight-dollar-cute. Honestly, some of my favorite items are things I wouldn't normally have gone for, but the price was right so why not?

Okay, ready to see what I got?

My grand total? All the items you see above PLUS $10 in Kohl's cash (because I spent more than $50) cost me $59.39. Had I shopped in tax-free Delaware, I could have saved an additional 55¢, but I can live with that. Also, I didn't find the cute top I was looking for, but this is still a win.

The receipt says it all. If I had purchased everything at full price, it would have cost me $265.12. That's just dumb. 

And THAT, my friends, is how you get that bargain booty.

Last February, two sisters had an idea to document their lives: the good, the bad, the disastrous. We have a similar sense of humor and outlook on life and we wanted a fun and creative outlet to share our ideas, our experiences, and our obsessions. We wanted a place to post our blogs, things we think are funny, things we think are important, and share it all with people who would be entertained by it. 

One year later, we've posted (if we've done our math right) 36 blogs and 1 guest blog (thanks, honorary Disaster Sister Meredith!). We've got followers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, and we've met some pretty cool peeps via all these platforms. We're a couple of busy chicks who live 4 hours away from each other, but we wanted to do SOMETHING to celebrate our one-year anniversary. So in typical Disaster Sisters fashion, we celebrated by drinking special cocktails just for the occasion! 

DisasterKenz was working her final shift at Felicia's Atomic Lounge in Ithaca and had a drink created especially for her!

DisasterHP did not happen to be barbacking on our birthday, so she created her own drink. She happens to know a thing or two about good cocktails.

The pepper made it hot, the berries made it sweet, the ginger made it a little bit of both, and the cilantro made it fresh. It was a goooood cocktail. 

So Disaster Sisters are excited to see what exciting things happen in the next year and we want to know: What are you celebrating? What are you looking forward to? What can we toast to for you?

Tell us about YOUR favorite cocktail recipe! We want to know the story behind it, the reason for drinking it, and anything else that's special enough to share. 

There are places to go, people to see, gifts to buy, and no one has the energy for it since the skies darken so early. Our internal clocks tell us it’s time to get into our jammies even though it’s four o’clock in the afternoon.    


This is a time of reflection during which I focus on everything I didn’t accomplish during the year. I bemoan all the stills: I still don’t have my dream job. I am still struggling financially. I am still not my ideal weight. And on top of it all, I am slowly, gradually, invisibly to kind friends but quite visibly to me, aging. I recently got bangs so I am sometimes caught off guard when I pull my hair back and see the otherwise hidden horizontal line that runs across my forehead. I am noticing softness in my face; deepening lines around my eyes, even when I’m not smiling; sleep wrinkles on my chest when I wake up. I am beginning to understand the title of Nora Ephron’s book of essays on aging, I Feel Bad About My Neck. I really care about angles and lighting when being photographed. I now legitimately can’t read small print on bottles and boxes. Last year, squinting still helped. This year, it just doesn’t.

True, I can read just swell using readers of the lowest possible strength purchased from the dollar store; I can pass for, let’s say, five to eight years younger than I really am; boys still think I’m cute. I get it. I’m not saying I’m ready for the nursing home. But still, I see it coming. I’ve been seeing it coming since I was nine and experienced my first birthday funk.

My birthday is in less than a week. I’m still swimming in Thanksgiving leftovers so I decided to go for a run. Running has become meditational for me. It clears my head, helps me to solve problems—-or at least feel better about them—-and often makes me feel inspired, powerful, and most of all, grateful. I am so appreciative to be of healthy body and mind. In the spirit of this recent Thanksgiving and considering how fortunate I am in so many ways compared to so many others, how can I possibly be depressed about the privilege of getting older?

Of course, I get that logically, but the birthday depression is out of my control. Or is it? What I’m reminded of when I run is that I CAN control a lot and one thing I want to control is this: I want to turn my funk into funky. I want to change my story. Instead of focusing on the negative-—what I haven’t accomplished and the many ways I have failed—-I am going to follow the advice tattooed on my ankle and be grateful for this past year and what I have accomplished and how I have succeeded. And next year at this time, I want there to be even greater gratitude for even greater accomplishments and successes. So here we go:

1. I am grateful for family. You don’t have to have the best relationship in the world or talk to each other as much as you’d like or never disagree about things in order to love and cherish your family. My parents are alive and healthy, as are all my sisters, niece and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins. I love them all deeply.

2. I am grateful for friends. Again, it’s okay that we don’t always see each other as much as we may like. I’m lucky to have a great circle of guys and gals, and a really special guy in particular, that I can depend on for love, support, fun, and general life enrichment.

3. I may not have my dream job or the robust financial health I’d like, but I have a job, a good one, even, that I enjoy for the most part, and I can afford a safe and pleasant place to live. I have plenty of clothes, plenty of food, electricity, a reliable car, and good credit. I am doing better than so many people in the world. This alone makes it impossible to complain.

4. I haven’t experienced any major losses lately, or in my life in general. I got divorced in 2008 and lost my job in 2012, but since then, there haven’t been any major upheavals and for that I am grateful. Even though I am job-searching right now, I am gainfully employed.

5. I am healthy. This is a luxury that I never want to take for granted. I ran a half marathon this year, for crying out loud. Two years ago, I could barely run three miles. I have all my limbs, digits, senses, and faculties. 

I’ve been considering history a lot over the past couple of weeks. The week before Thanksgiving, the beau and I went to Connecticut, Salem, and Boston. How fortunate we are to live in less troubled times 400 years after some pretty nasty stuff, and have things we take for granted easily accessible. But we are not only more fortunate than people during those times; we are more fortunate than people during these times.

As I sit here with two warm kitties in my lap and everything I could possibly need, I am blessed. In the coming year, I will strive for more: creative productivity, financial stability, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The opportunity to do so is truly the funkiest birthday gift of all.