Shecky's Girls Night Out LA: Bargains with a Retro Twist

I don't know about you, but these days my shopping excursions and girls night's out are happening less and less, much to my dismay. The economy has forced me and my gal pals (and many of you too!) to watch our frivolous spending and to become more selective about where we go out and how we spend our money. So I am always on the lookout for fun, girlie nights out that offer a great experience, value and lots of goodies: So let me introduce you to Shecky's!

Shecky's is an online and event destination for women to discover the latest and greatest in fashion, beauty, and entertainment. They put on amazing girls night out shopping events around the country where women get to shop emerging designers, learn about new beauty products, sample delicious cocktails and receive free giveaways (and goodie bags too!). These events offer women a place to escape, indulge, pamper themselves and have quality girl time—without the boys! And you gotta LOVE the Shecky’s Mission: To spoil girls with fashion, beauty, fun and the best girlfriend group experiences. All this is for free if become a Shecky's member or for a nominal fee if you want a goodie bag--What's not to love!

I have been going to Shecky's Girls Night Out events for the past several years, and I always have a blast because it's so girlie and I always find a couple of really cool and different items that I have never seen anywhere else--and that makes this trend maven really happy :-) This year I decided to bring some of my favorite gorgeous gal pals to enjoy the festivities (from left to right: Heather, Lani, Yours Truly and Ingy Baby):

And we all had such fun shopping, sipping and schmoozing! Everyone bought a couple of unique items that they were excited about and we all loved the tone, mood and style of the event.

This year I noticed that the bargains were even more plentiful and the vendors were offering even better deals in light of the economy. Like one of my favorite sexy girl companies Booty Parlor was offering some of their top selling sexy treats (like Kissable Body Shimmer and Melt Chocolate Body Fondue) at a Shecky's special price of ten bucks. Lots of other vendors had bargain bins with many items under $20 and many vendors were offering better pricing if you purchased multiple items from them.

The most noticeable trend that caught my eye at this Spring 2009 Shecky's event was a penchant for all things retro, a trend that this rubenesque woman is very fond of! I am a huge fan of the curvy body loving dresses from Nikki Poulos (I am wearing one of her fab dresses in the picture with my girlfriends above) and I feel absolutely gorgeous and feminine when I wear her beautifully crafted designs. Her Summer 2009 collection did not disappoint, and I fell in love with her 70's-esque Deep Vee Tunic that I am wearing to right along side the designer herself.

And of course no retro fashion diva is complete without a beautiful vintage necklace from Eda and Betty Heirloom Couture. Nikki Massarelli is the amazing designer behind these beauties and her company story only adds to her appeal: she named her company after her grandmothers, Eda & Betty, because as a child Nikki would go to her grandmother Eda’s house and play with her collection of gorgeous jewels and when her grandmother passed she inherited this amazing collection of vintage jewelry--Nikki added an edgy flair to these vintage pieces and everywhere she went people wanted to buy them right off of her body, and thus Eda and Betty was born. Her handcrafted necklaces are statement pieces and her newest designs are customizable and made with vintage Swarovski Chandelier crystals and unique charms. Here I am with the desinger and to the right is a sample of one of her beautiful necklaces.

And one last homage to this retro presence at Shecky's were a couple of vendors with vintage inspired lingerie. I really appreciated the full figured loving designs of Dirty Dolls Lingerie, a company that specializes in catering to the needs of voluptuous women. DD Lingerie feels that curvaceous women are underserved by today’s lingerie market, which fails to offer sexy and elegant intimates in larger sizes and they feel that these women deserve lingerie that fits perfectly and helps them feel alluring and powerful.

So that's a glimpse of my fun finds at Shecky's LA Spring 2009 show, and if you are interested in a fun girl's night out in the future you can find the current calendar Here. Happy Shopping and Bonding!

Have you noticed anything positive about this down economy?

Recently, my amazing life coach asked me a version of the question I have used as my title for this blog, "What are the positive outcomes that you have noticed as a result of our strained economy?" I loved this question because it threw me for a loop--when I think to myself, "Hmmm. . . has anything good or positive happened as a result of our current economy?" This sounds a bit ridiculous at first, but as I begin to think about it further, what I start to realize is that in this challenged time, if we all keep jumping on this bandwagon of 'times are tough' and 'my business is significantly down' and 'I have too many bills and not enough income' and 'no one is spending money these days' etc., with all this negative talk we just keep feeding this negative collective unconscious and continue to attract more lack and less abundance. And if you believe in the Laws of Attraction at all, this negative mindset of having constant money strain and stress continues to perpetuate this problem rather than eradicate it. After taking the time to really digest her question, it finally starts to hit me--the only way to shift this current predicament is to shift my thinking.

So after I am able to jump off the negative money train, I am delighted to realize that I definitely have noticed some wonderfully positive shifts as a result of this economic strain. The most significant positive shift that I have noticed is that people have become more honest and genuine about their financial situation by telling it straight, and not acting like they have more than they really do. This diminishing superficiality has led to more connectedness than ever before. To me, this genuine sharing feels more reminiscent of a bygone era, where hanging out with people, talking and sharing meals was more important than anything else and more of the norm. Among my friends, I have begun to notice this trend taking shape, where people are more interested in hanging out, having potluck family dinners in their homes, enjoying good food, wine, and companionship. This is becoming more appealing than mindlessly going out to a spendy, trendy restaurant that often disappoints in both quality and value. Friends seem to be enjoying hanging out more than ever, seem to enjoy opening up their homes, even sharing babysitters--all in an effort to bond and conserve money, and I see this as such a wonderfully positive shift.

I have also noticed that many fast food and family based restaurants are offering more freebies and deals than ever before. For example, in the last month both Baskin Robins and Ben and Jerry's have given away free ice cream cones and both KFC and El Pollo Loco have given away free chicken, all in and effort to build brand loyalty and let customer's know that these companies are there for their consumers in these difficult times. These businesses want to ease the stress with these free perks and this gratis only contributes to a positive greater good. And these freebies continue every week, like on Mother's Day TCBY is giving mom's free yougurt and on Thursday, May 7 from 4-8pm, the Coffee Bean is giving away free 12oz. Iced Coffees--and the list goes on and on every week. These are positive changes I can get used to, can you?

I would love for you to share any positive shifts that you have noticed as a result of the economy, and please post them on this blog and share any freebies you hear about too! And I promise to continually 'rave' about great freebies or deals that I hear about on this blog too.

Romy,
Gratis and Gratitude Goddess
"I move from poverty thinking to prosperity thinking, and my finances reflect this change"
Louise Hay