Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Shoe Frenzy - Possibly the Best Shoe Sale Ever

Hat tip to Linda N. for letting me know about this truly amazing once-a-year, charity designer shoe sale.

From the description, this is the sale you go to, to buy the shoes, that go along with, the wedding dress you bought at Filene's Basement Running of the Brides Wedding Dressing Sale.

This shoe sale is actually so popular that the website includes a statement acknowledging that you have consulted with your physician and he has said that you are healthy enough to endure the rigors of going to this sale. Swear!

Thanks for all that, Bobbi, how about telling us about the actual shoe sale?

Here's the scoop.

Shoe Frenzy was starting in 1996 as a fund raiser for the Women's Clinic and Family Counseling Center on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. The first Frenzy had a few hundred pairs of shoes and ten bargain seekers standing in line. Today, twelve years later, shoppers come early to get numbered wrist bands for the privilege of standing in line for a chance to score one of thousands of pairs of shoes (including designer labels with retail prices of over $500 a pair.) All of these shoes are 50-90% off retail. Most are under $50. All are under $100.

This year's sale takes place on Saturday, September 6th, 2008 at the Veterans Memorial Complex Auditorium, 4117 Overland Avenue, Culver City, California. $1 for admission. Parking is Free. Doors open at 8:00 am. No line-ups prior to 7:00 am, but you may come early for a numbered line-up bracelet.

Check out their website. There's lots of info including pictures from shoppers of their bargain finds. You can also call their hotline at (310) 203-8899, ext 300 and leave your name, address or email address to be placed on their Shoe Frenzy mailing list.

Put your best foot forward and go to this sale.

Free Directory Assistance and Driving Instructions - 1-800-FREE-411

OK, I'm going to let the cat out of the bag. I remember when telephone directory assistance was free. Actually I remember when you spoke to an actual operator when you dialed "0" and could ask her for a phone number. OK, I remember when we didn't have area codes. OK, I don't remember when you had to call the operator just to place a local call. BUT, I have heard the story of when my father called his mother from Europe (he was a soldier in WWII) and the local operator told him that she knew his mother wasn't at home because she had seen her walking up the street to the beauty parlor. Would he like her to connect him to the beauty parlor? He said, yes. She did AND she listened to the call and everyone in town knew what he had said before my grandmother told them. True story.

Free directory assistance? Could this be true? YES! I don't lie. Is there a catch? YES! Of course there is. But the catch isn't too bad, considering that (depending on your phone carrier) you could save anywhere from $1.25 to $3.49 (according to the 1-800-FREE-411 web site.)

Here's how it works.

You call 1-800-FREE-411 and you hear a short (10 second) advertisement. You are asked if you want to be connected to the advertiser. If you do nothing, then you are asked some questions that lead you to getting the phone number you are looking for. Supposedly, there is also a way to get driving directions. There is another advertisement and then the number is read to you. It is read THREE times so that you can actually get it written down. You can also do this whole thing in text messages. (Don't ask me how, I don't text.)

This seems like a pretty good deal. HOWEVER, I can tell that if you are mentally "zoning" that you can accidentally get yourself connected to advertisers. You can also accidentally get yourself opted in to some text messaging advertising. So, if you are going to use this service, BE AWAKE! Listen to the entire prompt. This site is not for the mentally challenged.

That being said, I think this is an AWESOME deal and a great service. Their FAQ section is very good and makes you feel (rightly or wrongly) that they are trustworthy and really aren't trying to rip you off or send you spam if you don't want it.

So, you no longer can use the excuse that you left your brother's phone number at home and couldn't afford directory assistance to get the number and that's why you didn't call him on his birthday. You'll have to think up a new excuse.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Search every Craigslist Site at Once

Oh this is SUCH a good tip that I just have to share this with everyone.

So, you know how sometimes you are looking for something on Craigslist but that thing isn't for sale on your local city Craigslist site? So, you wonder, gee... does someone in another city have one of these things that I wanted listed on Craigslist? After all, I want this thing sooooo badly that I am certainly willing to pay shipping charges. So, you start clicking on other cities... like Baltimore, Maryland or Greensburg, Pennsylvania or Terra Haute, Indiana.

Well, wouldn't it be nice if you could just search EVERY Craigslist city at once? That's a trick question because that is the name of this post. Ok... so, yes... there IS a way to do this.

You can find how to do this little trick by going to:
http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Search_Every_Craigslist_Site_at_Once

It's sooooo cool. I surely wish I had known about this when I was looking for that great pair of jeweled blue sunglasses that I just HAD to have last summer.

Here's to finding exactly what you want WHEREVER it may be.

Hugs.