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BLOG // SHOP // TWITTER // FACEBOOK

BLOG // SHOP // TWITTER // PINTEREST

BLOG // TWITTER

BLOG // SHOP // TWITTER // FACEBOOK

And hey! If you'd like to join in on the sponsor party with these ladies in June, come on over! The water's fine. Large ads are sold out, but there are mediums and smalls available! Click here for details.

SO--I'm hoping one of you will like this swimsuit and give it a happy new home! I purchased it from The Vintage Hog, and these are all of the seller's photos! I wanted to include them because I don't have a fancy mannequin to do the suit justice.

It has the union label in there and the tag says it's a 34-C. The top has underwires, and the bottoms (according to the seller) are about a size 6-7. It is in pretty much perfect condition, and I have never worn it. Only tried it on. I will sell this baby to you for the discounted price of $45. I just want it off my hands so it doesn't taunt me. I know lots of you are vintage lovers, so hopefully it will be the perfect fit!

If you're interested, just hit me up! amymorby[at]gmail[dot]com. Woohoo!

Just a couple of snapshots of the pretty wedding we partied at this weekend. Mitch's little sister got hitched, and it was kind of perfect. The wedding was at this fantastic old green barn, and there were wildflowers, s'mores, and good times.

How perfect is this dress? I kind of died at how much love I had for it. It fit the surroundings so perfectly, and Rylee looked like a dream in it. Weddings are kind of awesome.

How was your weekend?

And HEY! If you want to party it up here on Vanagon Champion in June, shoot me an email! I have a couple of large spots left and plenty of mediums and smalls. Go here for all the delicious and maybe even salacious sponsor deets. I'd love to have you!

So, when GlassesUSA.com hit me up for a review, you know I was on that because to me, glasses should be like earrings--a different pair for every mood you have. And it just so happens that I love to buy glasses online, so I was stoked at the chance. You can't really find cool specs at stores anymore, and you can usually find a better deal online. I have about 8 pairs of prescription glasses that I've purchased online, and I've loved every pair.

Anyway, after getting your very helpful input, I opted to go with these babies! And boy oh boy, am I in love.

These are my go-to glasses when I'm feeling sassy and/or nerdy librarian gone wild. Just kidding. But seriously...

Anyway, I love the glasses, they fit like a champion, and I love their sleek and retro vibes. If you'd like a pair for yourself, hit up GlassesUSA.com and use code BLOG10 for 10% off your order! And don't be afraid to buy glasses online. I can tell you that all 8 of my pairs have turned out just fine, and it's really not that scary.

And if you ARE feeling particularly frightened, try out the new shareable virtual mirror tool where you can try before you buy. That's what I used for my little poll I had you vote on!

Are you a glasses wearer? Let's hear it for the four eyes!

-I shop at Sunflower Market, but not for health food. 99% of my trips there are for the yogurt covered pretzels and the gummy bears. Irony. I haz it.

-I wore this blouse from lulus the other day and shamelessly twirled around in it all day. I work from home, meaning I did this by myself, in my house, with my cats. I am crazy. Sue me.

-I eat copious amounts of sriracha. One day I will turn into a bottle of sriracha. I do believe that is true.

-I listen to albums several times in a row. Several is an understatement. I could listen to a good album 8 times in a row and never get sick of it. Mitch hates this about me. I can't help it.

blouse: c/o lulus // shorts: thrifted ($2) // shoes: c/o Blowfish // sunnies: thrifted ($0.99)

-I haven't grocery shopped in weeks. WEEKS. Someday I will be rich and hire someone to grocery shop for me because every fiber of being is opposed to doing it.

-I really, really, really love Jim Croce.

-I really, really enjoy penguin documentaries.

-I really, really dislike preachy food documentaries.

-I really, really love watching RuPaul anything. (Latrice Royale 4 EVER)

-Last confession: I might never come back from the Westy meetup this weekend. I might just live in the desert in my van and be infinitely happy. Would that be ok?

What are your weekend plans? Can't wait to show you pics from the meetup next week. Wahoooo!

Here are a couple of my first tries. It's not always easy to make them perfect, but it's still fun.

Download it and let's play! What's your cinemagram name?

Anyway, today in lieu of Monday Crushes, I need your help in a very important matter. WHICH GLASSES SHOULD I CHOOSE?!

I'm shopping at GlassesUSA for another pair of spectacles for my very, VERY blind eyeballs, and I can't decide between these six pairs. I used their virtual try-on tool, but please ignore my frazzled I-work-from-home hair and/or it's-Monday-back-off hair.

Buahaha photobooth is just SO flattering, isn't it? #sarcasm. Now let's hear what you think!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Hellooooooooo and welcome to the new and improved version of A is for Ampersand. I decided that I wanted to kick off the summer season with a brand new name and look that better suited the direction this blog was headed.

It occurred to me last week that A is for Ampersand no longer described me whatsoever. And in all honesty, it never did. I started this blog in 2008 with no intention of going anywhere with it other than writing for my family to read. When I named it, I was a full-time graphic designer and extremely thrilled to be a part of that community. Thus, the ampersand infatuation. BOOOOORIIIING.

So, now that I'm no longer a designer, I wanted to reinvigorate this space with a name that described who I am right now. And that, my friends, boils down to one thing. MY WESTY! I love my Westy, I can't wait for our summer together to start, and thus--this new name that came straight out of a brainstorming session from the mouth of one of the coolest ladies I know--Elise.

So, welcome. I hope you like the new look and the new name. Don't feel weird or stressed out about the change. The domain is the same, you don't have to change anything in your readers--I just wanted to do something to clean up this space for myself and make it 110% MORE ME.

And....I feel great about it.

So, if you find any bugs as you're poking around, let me know! And I now have a much wider content area, which means all of my past post pictures will be off. Sorry. There's no fixing that. But from here on out, everything will be shiny and 650px wide. Let's hear it for wide content areas!

Lastly, if you'd like to update your sidebars, I made some new shareable buttons over on the buttons page.

Wait, for reals lastly, that awesome portrait of me is courtesy of the amazing and incredibly awesome Beca of Tumbleweeds. Isn't she great?

So, dear readers, ENJOY! I hope you like this new space and I hope even more that you'll continue on this wild wild Westy journey with me. Thanks for being here!

(PS--if you are interesting in joining the partay in May, there are still a couple of medium spots available and a handful of smalls!)

Champions abound in the blogging world, my friends! Thanks for sharing the love with these awesome sponsors. And if you'd like to sponsor next month and party it up with us, hit me up! You can get full details here.

Hello my ampersand-loving friends! My name is Julie, and I run a little thrift fashion blog called We So Thrifty. In short, thrifting is one of the constants in my life, and so I write about it. For years, my closet has slowly, surely, been drifting away from brand-new mall items to pre-loved, pre-worn thrifted pieces. Well, whether you call it a whim or a resolution, on a January night not so long ago I made a pledge to break up with the mall completely for one whole year. I look an oath, I made some rules, and I even made a button. I was unofficially hovering around this decision for so long it was time to end the relationship completely. My motivations were simple: all my favourite, best-quality pieces came from thrift stores, and all the cheap impulse buys I regretted immediately came from the mall. It was time to cut out bad stuff entirely.

I'm just past the 4-month anniversary of my break-up, and these past few months have not only reaffirmed my decision to try out a year-long mall-fast, it's made me believe I may never need the mall again. Here are a few of the reasons I have no regrets.

Discovering a personal style: I've always appreciated clothing. I've always enjoyed getting dressed. But only since taking this pledge have I really developed a personal style. I can identify one major reason for this: when I thrift shop, it's 100% up to me to decide what I like and what I don't. When I went to the mall, so much of what I could choose from was already decided for me. If Aritzia decided stripes were in season, they would cover the store with them. If they didn't? Too bad. No stripes for you. When I'm thrift shopping, only I decide what's in style . It's not about what fashion executives deem on trend, it's about how I want to look, and what I want to wear. It's such a freedom! Sure, I have to spend more time contemplating what works and what doesn't, and I read way more blogs now to glean inspiration, but it's forced me to be creative, take risks, and have way more fun.

History: In a thrift store, the history of fashion reveals itself one worn-out label at a time. Not only are my choices in dress no longer limited by what's in this season, I don't even have to worry about what's in this decade. I'm given the chance to rock shift dresses from the 60s, shoulder pads from the 80s, and everything else in between. In fact, my shopping adventure isn't really over until I've Googled the label on my latest find. I love discovering my dress came from a pantsuit designer in the 70s, or that my Christian Dior jacket is from a defunct line of office attire for the working 80s woman. I've learned more about fashion through thrifting than any magazine could tell me. So many stories to discover!

I don't know what size I am: I really don't. When I was mall-crawling, I'd fret over moving from a large to extra large, or a 10 to a 12. When I'm thrifting, I start at the front of the store, and move to the back. I make my selections by eyeballing the item and determining how it will work on my body. The peachy blouse above is from the plus-size label Lane Bryant. I also own a handful of petite items. So, I'm somewhere between a size 4 and a size 14. When you throw vintage sizes in the mix, things get even crazier. Jen at My Edit has a great post on this: It's liberating to throw all those numbers right out the window, and just focus on what works for you. I've even thrifted maternity clothing before. Baby or no baby: if I like it, it's coming home.

Stayin' classy: It really bugs me when people assume thrifters are cheap. That's honestly not my main motivation. Sure, I like stretching out my pennies. Sure, I brag about my steals. But I also thrift because it offers me quality. Instead of overpriced H&M and Forever 21, I get underpriced Betsey Johnson (like that wicked black dress) and Ralph Lauren. I really don't think that requires any more explanation. It's math, people.

You still have your "Safety Brands": If you took offense at my digs at F21 and H&M, I meant no harm! I've thrifted plenty of those department store brands. That white blouse above is a prime example: Zara, tags attached, $89.99, silk. I just got it for just $7. So, I still wear H&M, Zara and F21, but I get them at clearance rack prices every single time. Zara is so well represented at thrift stores, I now have six Zara items in my closet, pre-breakup I had one. Those six items together cost me less than the one item I bought retail. More math.

At the risk of sounding overly grandiose, this journey has been a life-changer. It's renewed my passion for fashion (I am aware that sounds like Barbie commercial...), and brought back the joy of getting dressed every morning. If you feel inspired to join me, DO IT. If you're intimidated by the timeline, start small! Try it for a month and go from there. Or, don't make any sweeping declarations at all - just get yourself to a thrift store and start exploring. Whatever you do, make sure to tell me about it. That way, if I ever hear the mall callin' me with her siren song, your successes will keep me motivated to make it through the year, and maybe all the years after that, too. Happy thrifting!