When Good Karma Kicks In

Hello All-

With all that we've been through this past year, Craig, Hannah and I have made a conscious effort to give back as much as possible to those we care about, as well as the community we live in.  We couldn't have gotten through Hannah's surgery without the generosity of others, and we decided that now it is our turn. 

So, what have we been doing?  Well, after taking a long hard look at all of our "stuff" we decided to start cleaning house.  We have made several trips to Goodwill, and have found homes for my old maternity clothes and oodles of baby items with friends and family.  I am still amazed at the shock in people's eyes when you bring in bag after bag of clothes to a drop off center, or when you tell a friend that you don't expect payment for the rarely used toys or clothes you gave them.

Now, fast forward to this past weekend.  I had plans to go out with a friend of mine who is getting married next month.  I needed a dress for the wedding, and I honestly think that she needed a day away from wedding plans.  So, off to the Chinook Centre we went.  Now, if you are from Calgary and reading this, you'll likely be aware of the new wing that just opened at Chinook.  After seeing the shops that opened, I'm shocked they allow "common-folk" like myself in the wing.  Stores like Burberry, Lacoste, Coach, and Guess are only a sampling of the new additions.  One of the other new stores is BCBG.  I'll let you in on a little secret...I have always wanted a dress from BCBG.  I have no idea why...I just do.  So, with hubby's approval, I decided to start my dress search with those magical four letters.

Just before I headed to meet up with my friend, I heard an ad for Virgin Radio's Bras for a Cause.  Knowing that I had some old-timer bras kicking around my top drawer, I decided that they should go to good use.  So, six well-worn beauties took a trip with me to the mall. 

Here's where the good karma kicks in.  While waiting for my friend, I dropped off my bras and what did I get as a thank you from the radio station?  A fifty dollar gift card to...drum roll...BCBG!!! 

Well, long story short for that day, I tried on a uber expensive dress that looked AWFUL on me!  Apparently my Walmart shopping tendencies are not a result of my extreme frugality...my hips don't do expensive dresses!!  I ended up at RW&Co and found three dresses that fit and all added up to less than the one BCBG dress!!  yes, you read right...three dresses fit me and were purchase worthy.  I felt great about buying all three of them, as we often have last minute functions come up for hubby's work, and I am always in panic mode.

Okay, so that's not the end of the story, though I was pretty sure that my good karma payoff was finding multiple dresses that fit both my budget and hips.  Craig wanted me to go back to BCNG to see if there was anything else that I could buy with the $50.  Hmmm...apparently he didn't know much about the store when we walked in and he picked up a sweater that, "was cute."  He quickly put it back down...I'm thinking that "cute" wasn't how he planned to describe the $350 price tag.  Instead, he noticed a clutch purse that matched all three dresses I had bought just days earlier.  The price...$70!  (Mind you I just found the same clutch on the company US based website for less...grrrr!) With my gift card I paid a whopping $23 (gotta love tax)!!

Moral of the story, when you do good to others, good things will happen...my "good thing" just happened to come in the form of a super cute clutch that I can't wait to use!!

Cheers!
Sharon