On Studying

It's been a while since I've studied for anything, so I've been trying out different ways of studying to see what works best for me. I have been focusing on vocab lately, and these are some of the ways I have been studying...

Flashcards - I found a few lists of common words that pop up on the GRE and have started memorizing them. Out of 50 words or so I probably have 20 memorized so far.

Reading more - I haven't been reading as much since I took up sewing. Well, I don't think reading books about sewing really counts. So I have started to read novels again. Any recommendations are welcome!

News-ing it up - NPR uses a lot of GRE-worthy words in their interviews, news stories, and featured shows... so when I hear a word I don't know I'll either ask the husband what it means or look it up. Of course, this comes with its downsides in the fact that you are more aware of how clueless some political officials are (here's to you, Mitch).

FreeRice.com - This website quizzes you on vocab, and for every answer you get correct they donate 10 grains of rice to a third world country!

Googling words - This has been a great way to learn words I don't know! I usually look up the definition and how it is used in a sentence. I have found the website Wordnik to be helpful at this; they even have tweets and FB status updates with the word in question in it.

Thinking of pop-culture references that relate to the words - For example, the word enervate (which means tho weaken ones strength) appears as a spell in th Harry Potter book series. The word garrulous, which means tiresomely talkative, reminds me of John Goodman's character in O Brother Where Art Thou.

Music - I've also decided to look up every word I don't know that appears in any Andrew Bird song...

Of course I've been studying Latin root words and that good stuff, but that's boring to talk about... well, I guess all of this is a bit boring, but this is my life folks! I do not lead an adventurous life at this moment. If you read this far you must really care about how I study! Or you are procrastinating. Regardless, thanks!

Vintage Savings

Today Abbi sent me this link about vintage shopping and saving money. It is true that shopping for vintage can be cheaper than purchasing new clothes in stores. I have found that to be the case for me. However, I think that the author of the article glossed over a few things... so here are some things to consider when thinking about vintage shopping.

First and foremost, a vintage shopper has to have patience to dig, dig, and dig some more. Chances are the goodwill, salvation army, or local thrift store will not have a 'vintage' section. If you are not fond of digging through racks of clothes you might have a hard time saving money on vintage attire since vintage stores and boutiques have a much higher mark-up. My Mom does not dress in vintage, but she is great at finding awesome clothes at thrift stores for a great price. I think her secret is patience and persistence. She spends plenty of time in stores and goes to them often enough to catch the good deals when they come in; thanks Mom!

With this being said, a vintage shopper also has to have time to shop around a lot. If you have a hectic schedule chances are that you don't have an extra 2 hours to blow at goodwill hoping to find a vintage jewel. Sometimes spending extra money to save your sanity is worth it (Mom usually ended up buying us slightly expensive dresses for prom for this very reason)!

Shopping for vintage clothes can be a money saver.... but how much you save depends on how hard you try. Of course, that seems to be true of most money-saving techniques.

p.s. If you are interested in buying vintage or learning more about vintage fashion I do highly recommend the book the LearnVest article references: The Little Guide to Vintage Shopping. It is a great reference book! I would also recommend looking up vintage blogs online and shopping around etsy.com.

pps... something else has been helping me save money when it comes to shopping for clothes; I have decided to ONLY buy clothes that make me feel FABULOUS! I have bought less clothes, but I am in love with the clothes that I do buy!