Our Official Launch Party Was A Success!

*This is a revisit of our official launch-party for 719Woman.com last March.

3…2…1…liftoff!!

This past Friday we held our official “launch” party at The Cliff House in Manitou Springs and it was a smashing success (even with snowy roads)!

It was great being able to display outfits that were all from thrift stores, garage sales or deeply discounted sale items from retail stores-I’d say 99% were from Goodwill, ARC, and The Salvation Army.

I made all of the centerpieces for the table with vases I bought at the thrift stores and filled them with flowers from Albertsons. (I prefer Albertson’s flowers-they are fresh,

last a long time and are 3 bunches for $12.00). And the vases of flowers make excellent gifts for hostess gifts, birthdays, celebrations, etc. Whenever I’m shopping at the thrift stores I buy vases that are a great deal and then if we’re going someplace where flowers are appropriate to bring, pick up the flowers, put them in the vase and I have a beautiful gift for less than $5.00.

All of the household items we displayed came from our house and were bought strictly from (again) garage sales and thrift stores. It was fun showing how great all these items look, how inexpensive they were and the different ways you could use everyday items.

The appetizers were excellent-thank you to Executive Chef Scott Savage, Pastry Chef Jeremy Garcia and the rest of the culinary team that helped make the night all the more delicious….(I will feature a few of the appetizers later that were inexpensive to make with recipes and the price break-down).

I think one of the things I was most excited about was the fact that the guests were walking around, seeing firsthand how great the merchandise was and saying, “You bought this at Goodwill???” I even had items I had purchased which had never been opened. It was a great way to showcase the variety and excellent condition of other people’s “discards” you can find…and not only are you saving money when you shop at the local thrift stores like Goodwill, ARC and the Salvation Army, you’re also helping other people.

I mean, the most expensive outfit in our various fashion displays finds cost a whopping $16.47!

It included the skirt, the blouse (still had a price sticker on it of $64.oo and had never been worn!), a necklace AND a pair of Covington shoes that looked like they had maybe been worn three times tops!

A blouse, skirt, necklace and shoes for $16.47… not bad!

We also had outfits we’d pulled together that were for teen girls and boys, and a man’s outfit that consisted of a Calvin Klein shirt, a pair of Perry Ellis Portofino dress pants and a Geoffrey Beene tie…for a grand total of $8.98. And again, everything was in excellent condition. I heard one of our male guests say, “I’d wear that”(I love hearing that!).

I wanted to show how the entire family can not only shop at thrift stores but actually find fashionable and affordable styles. I wore my $1.99 dress but will admit my fabulous animal print belt was not purchased at any of the stores mentioned above…it WAS a gift though from my sister-in-law so it was actually free for me. And ok, I’ll admit, my shoes weren’t a “great bargain” either…they actually cost more than all the clothes put together we had showcased but I have been wearing them for five years and they were an example of how you can spend more on things you really love when you save money in other areas (like my $1.99 dress).

I was nervous before the launch, not knowing how people would respond to the website, if anyone would like it, find it informative, or even helpful (not to mention would anyone would come to the party!). But it went better than I could have ever hoped for

and the response so far has been tremendous.

I think one of my favorite parts of the evening was when we watched our first cooking video (tangy pork chops) and seeing the reactions from everyone. Of course everyone laughed at our cat on the counter! Her name’s Fergie and I’m sure she’ll show up in future pictures/videos…just not on the counter while I’m cooking… Everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves. It was amazing!

My goal for this website was simply to help other women, whether it be with a fashion idea, a new recipe to try, how to save some money or where’s there’s a bargain to be found. And I hope if you like our website, you’ll share it with a friend.

Again, thanks to everyone who helped make the launch better than I’d hoped for!…and thanks to my husband who helped turn a dream into a reality.