You’ve been hiding under a rock if you have no idea about Twitter.  It’s the new rage, you the know the “thing” all the celebrities are doing.   Next to Facebook, the Blackberry and the iphone, twitter has sucked so many of us in to yet one more way to communicate, a rather interesting one as well.

I will admit, at first, I didn’t get twitter.  I didn’t get it at all.  But, I have learned that it’s one of the most powerful ways to communicate to a lot of people and to do so fast.  Real fast!  I’ve received some questions regarding all the twitter things that show up in comments and I’m here to explain just a bit.  We have allowed backtracks on our site to show us who and when people are retweeting our blog posts.  And to spare you from further information regarding budurl and click tracking, I will leave it at that.  It’s also a way for people to enter our giveaways from twitter without having to come over to the blog and leaving a comment.  Basically, it is their comment.

When we first launched this blog back in November, the first advice I received from one of our loyal blog readers, who also serves as a marketing expert, was get on twitter.  You must be on twitter!  While it took a few months to actually muster of the courage to dive head first into a pool of tweeting blue birds, I did and with the help of another blog reader, have grown to love twitter immensely.

Twitter giveaways are insane and become extremely intense.  One time when a follower didn’t win, rage developed and an attempt was made to get all our followers to “unfollow” us.  I was rather amused and shocked at the same time.  I hear twitter parties are even more intense.  Like all this social networking stuff, there is a learning curve and a new language with Twitter.  I’m learning and liking it all more each day.  I will say, though, that we do have some of the best twitter followers.  TY!

Not on twitter yet?  What are you waiting for?  Come and follow us @myrecessionista (or you can just click on our lovely twitter button to the right).

Tweet, tweet!

This Giveaway is now Closed!

A few weeks ago I received an email from a new British based company that specializes in caring for designer shoes.  Like I said in my last two posts, this unique economy has allowed an immense amount of creativity and some ingenious ideas and companies have surfaced.  Save Your Sole is one of them.

The purpose behind Save Your Sole is to promote and provide a way to care for your designer shoes by simply re-soling them.  Brilliant I say, just brilliant (see don’t I sound British cuz  sometimes I think I am).

When I first checked-out the site I was immediately impressed and excited to see that the soles they sell are made by Vibram.  Now, I don’t know a whole lot about shoe soles but I will tell you this, Vibram, in my opinion, makes the best shoe sole around.  I’m convinced their soles are indestructible.  My hiking boots have Vibram soles and so do my chacos, and I will tell you that I’ve done everything humanly possible to destroy them but they still look brand new.  (At one point, I was a little annoyed because I just wanted an excuse to buy new shoes which I did anyway).

They sell colored soles that are extremely hard to find, red being their most popular, and upon purchase, ship them locally or internationally.  The customer then takes the new soles to the local shoe repair to have them replaced.  Wanna see the entire process in action?  Click here.  And might I add that shoe repairs are cheap, dirt cheap.  I don’t know what rock I’ve been hiding under all these years but I’ve recently discovered my local shoe repair and nearly fell over at the price (fell over in a good way that is).

While they are based out of London, their main market is in the U.S of A and they are working on making their site regional.  For now, they are offering a pair of their ever popular red soles to one of our Recessionista readers.  For all of you that have purchase Recessionista designer shoes, now you can keep them looking fabulous just a little bit longer.  (Or you can be like me, of course, and destroy your shoes as a means to buy a new pair).

Here’s how it will work:

• Leave a comment for one entry (you can do so once each day).
• Share this post with as many people as you want and get an entry for EACH one….you must come back and comment, though.
• Twitter peeps….TWEET away and you will be entered for all your tweeting love!
• Recessionista followers, give yourself an extra entry for simply being Recessionistas!

This giveaway will go until Monday April 5th.  Consider it a sort of Easter surprise!  Thanks to Amanda from Save Your Sole for the offer!

Good Luck!

Usually when people first hear about our company, or better yet when they ask who they should write their check to, they pause and look up puzzled, “Recess…..what?  Can you spell that for me?”

A typical response is, “Recession with an ista or simply  R  E  C  E  S  S  I  O  N  I  S  T  A”.

Then they usually smile and respond, “Oh I like it!”

We like it, too.

Recessionista is a term that we’re hearing more and more and a trend that has evolved during these past few years.  A trend that has even become desirable to be and to do.  If you haven’t noticed, it’s cool to be thrifty these days and shop smart, in other words being a Recessionsita is definitely “IN.”

And while Recessionistas are typically “Fashionistas on a budget” I’m going to claim that you don’t have to necessarily care or be current on all the latest fashion trends, brands or styles to be a Recessionista.

Being a Recessionista means you:

• Shop the sales, anywhere for anything.  I don’t know about you but everything is much more appealing with a sales tag.
• Spend the most on the clothing items you wear the most.  (Case in point – I pay a lot for my running shoes and my chacos because I wear them a lot).
• Find designer items at discount stores.
• Scout the thrift, consignment and vintage stores (one of my personal favorites for household items – I envy those that find great clothes because it hasn’t happened to me).
• Mix up eras, labels and styles – in other words, break ALL the rules!
• Re-purpose older clothing.  I have seen some really amazing creations out there and will do an entire post highlighting them one day.
• Utilize what you already have.
• Focus on inexpensive accessories to change an otherwise ordinary outfit.
• Search out coupons (especially online because they are ALWAYS there).
• Ask for a discount (95% of the time you’ll get one).
• Re-sole or repair your favorite shoes.  (More on that one tomorrow).

Obviously, we like being Recessionistas but a lot of us already are and don’t really even know.  Do share your Recessionista secrets.

How do you look and live fabulous without spending a fortune?

We’ve all heard the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  It’s saying that we stand by and live by, a saying that has inspired our (meaning this blog) virtual existence.  We were given (or earned…however you look at it) a bad economy where we have been forced to change the way we think, live, spend, earn, and do.  It’s a saying that has inspired greatness and creativity beyond measure as well as hope without bounds.

We are all given lemons in our days, some more than others and with no explanation why.   Lemons that come in a form of heartache or despair, an unwarranted tragedy or a physical ailment or financial misfortune.  Sometimes those lemons are deserved and thrown with a great deal of force and others seem to fall from the sky.  But, for whatever reason they come and sometimes they tend to stay.

While I think that I’ve been dealt my fair share of lemon days, some deserved and some are not, and have dealt some lemons of my own, I can always make the choice to do my best to squeeze a little harder, add a bit of sugar and turn them into something sweet.

Today, I’m making lemonade.

We’re back from an exhausting yet super duper weekend in Boise.  Pardon my pictures….the focus apparently wasn’t cooperating or perhaps, the camera operator was running on too little sleep.  We had three separate events, met a lot of really wonderful people and came home with a whole lot less inventory than when we arrived (which is always a good thing).

The popular items, of course, were the jeans.  We sold completely out of our newest boot-cut style the first day.  It looks like there are a lot of other jean lovers like myself and that makes me glad to know I’m in good company.  Next were the shoes and who doesn’t love a good quality shoe without a price tag to match?  Um, that would be all of us, I assume.

Our burnout tees and hats were a huge hit as well.  The hat rack needed replenished multiple times throughout each night and that makes me smile to know there are others who would rather wear a cute cap than spend the time styling hair.

So   T H A N K   Y O U   Boise!  You know we’ll be back for more!

First things first: Congratulations to Heather Storer, you’ve won a free scarf. Email for details!

We are on our way to Boise for the the weekend and look what we have in store for you!

Incredibly fabulous shoes all 50-75% off!

Hat, hats galore!  So many styles and colors that if you don’t already love hats, you most definitely will!

Light weight scarves just in time for spring and by far the best priced accessory!

Also, we will have on display a sample party kit that we plan to launch this summer.

Live in the Boise area and want in on the excitement?  We have three fabulous locations with more fantastically priced product than we know what to do with!  Email me for details!

See you in Boise!