Twice As Nice Ladies Consignment Boutique

❤️❤️ P.S. (a postscript to my Jan 6th discourse on the joys of connecting through cards and letters):
How amazing and yet how perfect is it that among the very few actual Christmas cards I received this year, there is this one, from my dear friend who is BLIND… with a personal, handwritten message!! 🥰🐾❤️
Kathy Nimmer… you set the bar for us!! You have such an extraordinary gift for choosing just the right words… at just the right moment… to make those in your orbit feel special 🥰❤️❤️

❤️❤️ Is there such a thing as “too new?” Maybe not with a few things, like toothbrushes and underwear 🤔…maybe food (although most of us moms can recall finishing off the leftovers on our toddlers’ plates) but that’s about all I can think of right now. This is a strange and potentially embarrassing confession, but I seriously don’t even like the way NEW furniture and clothing smells! Don’t get me wrong. We do want/require consigned clothing to be freshly laundered… not smelling like it just got back from the gym… or was drug out of a musty basement… but that “new” garment odor reeks of chemicals that I don’t even want next to my body… especially my nose.

Same goes for my furniture! If you’ve followed my business page for a while, you know that I’m the Marketplace Queen 🫅. Some might say “Junkie”…but Queen sounds a little less neurotic. As I sit here on my luxurious, down-filled couch (facing its twin on the other side of the fireplace), that I rented a UHAUL truck to drive to Carmel in the rain to pick up at a stranger’s house 😅💕…I look around my living room with satisfaction (and a little pride), knowing that the vast majority of my decor had a history before me 🥰❤️

Let me enumerate for you (and for myself, as a reminder) the reasons I love to shop secondhand…

1. I can avoid the “new” (I.e. gross chemical) smell…
2. It’s good for the environment…
3. Used things have more character (something I lovingly say to myself when I look in the mirror 🥰)……
4. Used things have history… and I love to hear the stories (or I can make them up 😂)…
5. I meet the most wonderful and interesting people 🥰…
6. I prefer it over bungee jumping (for an adrenaline rush)…
7. I can save money for other passions and priorities… like rescuing cats and traveling 😀🐾❤️✈️

Buying secondhand isn’t just about saving money. It means SO much more to me… 🥰❤️❤️

🚨LIVE EVENT🚨

Hoping you can join us (mostly Kelli) this Friday at 9:15am as we go LIVE !!! We’ll be showcasing our great options for athleisure wear ❤️ From Purdue gear to gym wear to lounge attire❤️ So many options and brands to help you start your new year off right!

Bummer!! For a moment this morning, I thought I had a “medical career” that I had forgotten about! 😳 Curious (and a little excited) about what Meta had to say, I clicked on it. Turns out AI isn’t really that smart after all… (and neither am I) 😞😂💕

❤️❤️ Social media has been good for me (and my business) the past several years: a place to share meaningful moments… an outlet for my lifelong love affair with words ❤️…a way to connect after-hours with my peeps 🥰… an avenue for rehoming some of my stray cats 😳🐾💕…and oh, yes, a fabulous and effective way to showcase new and exciting apparel, as well as advertise events!!! Whew 😅. At this point, it would seem as though my message this morning is to sing the praises of social media… 🤔

…but it’s not.

I just opened a (somewhat belated) Christmas card and letter from one of my sisters. I love opening personal mail… cards and especially letters 🥰. They’re gifts. Keepsakes. From the handwritten message to the stationary and cards, often works of art themselves… even the drop of spilled ketchup or the frayed edge of the paper where my sister’s parakeet liked to nibble while she was writing… each piece of personal mail is a few moments of shared time between two people who cannot be together in person but want to stay connected. They’re tangible treasures.

And then there are the thank you notes. I wrote the “world’s strangest TY note” many years ago… to the endodontist in Kokomo who performed an emergency root canal. I drove up alone, giving me too much drive time to fan the flames of fear and dread. You know how often we say, “I’d rather have a ROOT CANAL than watch golf on TV!” (sorry ☺️)… or whatever… like it’s some sort of torture. But fear and dread slowly faded with Dr Marosky smiling and humming at my side, exchanging witty banter with his assistant. Of course, novacane was a big help ☺️. Before long, I tried asking questions about what they were doing (not easy to do with a rubber dam in my mouth), so he handed me a mirror so I could watch. (Knowledge is power… and comfort ☺️). When I left, they handed me a t-shirt that read, “I survived a root canal at Kokomo Endodontics!” Driving home, I was nearly giddy with relief. 😅💕

When I got home, I felt an overwhelming urge to share my unexpected happiness. So I wrote a thank you note: “Top 10 reasons to have a root canal that your friend probably didn’t tell you.” I easily enumerated the list… including the warm blanket, the doctor himself (kind, gentle and funny), and the t-shirt… which I wore proudly, like a war medal… one time ☺️.

A few days later, there was a knock at my front door. Just outside stood a delivery driver, barely visible behind a huge bouquet of spring flowers. The beautiful little note attached read, “Top 10 reasons to BE an endodontist: Sue Parkinson, Sue Parkinson, Sue Parkinson (etc.)…”. Signed, Dr Marosky and Staff. 🥰💐

This year, in 2025, one of my many resolutions is to send more letters and cards. Anyone else want to join me? 🥰❤️❤️

❤️❤️ Have your eye on a Johnny Was cardi? Maybe the classy Kate Spade cape?? Now is the time to treat yourself, because our entire designer rack is 25% off through next Saturday (Jan 11)! Burberry, Eileen Fisher, Spartina… Johnny & Kate, of course… and more!! 🥰❤️❤️

❤️❤️ I decided that today was a good day to work alone: chilly, rainy, dreary day… most folks would be either getting ready for a New Years Eve celebration… or curled up on the couch, in their PJs already, hunkered down for the much-anticipated countdown to a new and brighter year 🥰❤️🙏🏻. Tuesday has been my day “off” lately (ha ha from anyone who knows me), but I told Kelli, Valerie and Amy (the scheduled crew) to stay home and enjoy a little more time with their families. I, on the other hand, wanted a little end-of-year time in my store to reflect and connect… 🥰

The day was relatively quiet, so I got caught up on a little redecorating (again, no shock to anyone who knows me)… so I might have let a customer or two slip by me without properly wishing them a prosperous, happy, healthy 2025… or whatever their hopes for the new year might be… but all in all, I had some wonderful conversations with a few customers. It was soul satisfying 🥰

Towards the end of my abbreviated day (we closed at 3), an older gentleman came in and headed straight for the desk, where I was standing. I recognized him as the husband of one of my consignors who has terminal cancer. He came in to pick up a check… but more than anything, I think he wanted to talk. I asked how his wife was doing… and he said that they’ve just arranged for hospice care. No partying or ringing in the New Year for them this evening. Then I learned that he has been battling cancer himself since 1989. He’s just trying to hang on so he can take care of his wife. But there were no tears. I couldn’t help but sense an aura of peace about him. As he was getting ready to leave, I caught a glimpse of the ball cap he was wearing and asked him to bend down so I could read it.

“Jesus is the answer in 2025.”

I smiled and gave him a hug. Whether you’re a believer or not, I think we all need to find a reason to have hope in our hearts. Life is tough. We each have our own battles. Please take time to reflect and connect… every day. 

Wishing you peace and hope, good health and happiness in the New Year…
Sue 🥰❤️❤️

❤️🎄🥰 DOLLAR SALE today & tomorrow (Friday & Saturday)!! Expired sale area only!!
❤️Most items just $1
❤️Cash only
❤️No tax
❤️BYOB (bag, that is ☺️)
❤️Great way to treat yourself in the midst of post-holiday hustle & bustle!

❤️🎄❤️ December 26th. Some of us are basking in the afterglow of a wonderful Christmas Day 🥰…others are experiencing the emotional aftermath of a day that maybe didn’t quite live up to their expectations. They couldn’t do everything… buy everything… see everyone. Maybe they didn’t get what they wanted… or the pot roast was too dry. We expect a lot out of one little day… a day that started out as a simple celebration (and is actually just the first of 12 days). A day whose meaning and significance sometimes gets lost under the mountain of material stuff… the blow up Santas and prancing reindeer… the piles of perfect (and not so perfect) presents… the rumpled receipts, just in case…

And then there are those (like me 😞) for whom the day conjures up feelings of loss… 💔

We ask a lot of this simple yet significant holiday. If we’re emotionally (and financially) spent the day after Christmas, is it any wonder?

I found myself in a bit of a slump today… so I did something. I made a list of ALL of the wonderful things that happened… even the bumbles that turned out to be blessings in disguise… including the burnt out headlight that prevented me from driving home from LaPorte yesterday afternoon as I had planned… and from stopping for a late Christmas Day celebration with my son and his family on my way home. (Later, I said, “Looks like God poked my headlight out so I’d have to stay another night!” 😀). My daughter was taking a shower when I made the plan change, so my granddaughter made me curl up in a smelly dog bed and threw a blanket over me with a big bow on top… and I had to stay like that for about 15 minutes while she kept trying to hurry her mom out of the bathroom to see “the Christmas present that we forgot to give you!” When I was finally able to crawl out from my fetal position, gasping for fresh air, we all laughed and cried and hugged and were just so grateful for Christmas 2024, round 2.

Be kind to yourself today. If Christmas didn’t go exactly as planned or as perfectly as you hoped it would, make a list of all the good things. It might surprise you 🥰. And remember… there are still 10 more days to celebrate!!! ❤️🎄❤️

🎄❤️🥳🎶 HOLIDAY HOURS:
Tuesday December 24, 10-2
Wednesday December 25, CLOSED
Thursday December 26, CLOSED
Friday December 27, 10-5
Saturday December 28, 10-4
Monday December 30, 10-5
Tuesday December 31, 10-3
Wednesday January 1st, CLOSED

Wishing you each a joyous holiday and safe travels… 🥰❤️🙏🏻
❤️ Sue & Staff ❤️

❤️🎄❤️ Yesterday I somewhat reluctantly braved the madness of last-minute Christmas shoppers to… well, do a little last minute Christmas shopping. Crazy traffic… long lines everywhere. At Barnes and Noble I jokingly remarked to the lady behind me that I could probably read the entire book in my hands before I reached the check-out desk… and then simply abandon it. But then I would need another Christmas gift 🤔🎄

Then I decided to do a little pre-travel car care. I went to Tire Barn to have my tire pressure checked. Pleasant young man… no charge. So I tipped him ❤️🎄

Then I went to Fast Eddie’s (because I love the name… lol) to have my fluids checked (now, stop it 😅), and they topped them off… plus did a general inspection under my hood (dare I go on?? 😂)…and waved me on my merry Christmas way! Again, no charge (except to my sagging spirit 😀)…so I tipped him! ❤️🎄

Needing a cold shower, I drove over to the adjacent car wash… where I discovered that it was “Ladies’ Day” (just $8)… so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath… imagined the warm soapy water bathing my tired body… and ok, maybe the brushes were a little rough… so snap out of it, Sue. And I generously tipped the young man who gently toweled me… I mean, my car… down 🥰❤️🎄

Apparently car care is self care. This season, we each need to enjoy the little moments whenever (and wherever) we can… and leave lots of tips 🥰❤️

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! ❤️🎄❤️

❤️🎄❤️ A Tiny Christmas Story…

A shopper came in to my store Saturday morning to look for something to wear to a Christmas party. She tried on several things, including a pretty plaid dress, which she loved… but she thought it might be too “young” for her, so she left… without the dress.

A short time later, another shopper tried on the dress and found a tiny little earring, barely clinging to the bodice of the dress. We put the earring aside, having a pretty good idea who it belonged to but having no way to contact her. 😞 The dress went back out on the rack, still waiting for the perfect party-goer.

Just a few minutes later, the phone rang… and it was the customer who had lost the earring, doubtful that we would ever find it…yet hopeful, because they were her favorites. We happily shared the good news that we had found her earring. 🥳💕

The customer came back in… scooped up her little earring… and then decided that the pretty plaid dress was meant to be hers 🥰… the perfect party dress after all. ❤️

This time of year, some of us (including me ☺️) need little moments like this to rekindle our Christmas spirit and bring us Joy… and to remind us, as always, that we’re most likely to find it in the little things… 🥰🎄❤️

🤩🎄❤️ Have a holiday party to attend?? Why reserve the glitter and bling for your tree?? (This pic does NOT do justice to the 3-D trees on these 2 vintage holiday pieces, so come in and check them out… but bring your sunglasses!! Lol…) 😎❤️🎄

🥰🎄❤️ Twice as Nice gift cards… for the frugal fashionistas on your list!! ❤️❤️

❤️❤️ Tabletop Christmas decor at my house 🥰🐾🎄❤️

So sorry...but No Consignments until Thursday 12/5/2024! Sorry for any inconvenience this causes:(

Also...THANK YOU!!! Thanks to our consignors as you have brought us some BEAUTIFUL pieces and we are working hard to get your items out!!