When I turned 24 a few years ago, it herald some new things for me in life. Some of those things were awesome... landing my current job, I bought a new car, and I got an apartment with the Mister. That was also the year, I started wearing glasses. I was not too happy about the last part!
It all happened because I was getting terrible headaches at night and after a couple of doctor visits with no diagnoses, my doctor suggested I get my vision checked. I went to an optometrist and found out that I am woefully near sighted which was causing my eyes to try to do this sort of "auto-focus" all day long and by the end of the day, the strain was causing me to have the headaches. The doc told me contacts or glasses should clear it right up.
I wanted contact lenses but no matter what brand I tried, I could still feel them in my eyes and they drove me absolutely nuts! So after a month of puffy, red eyeballs and even worse vision, I decided glasses were the better option for me. That was when I got my first pair from JC Penny's. I really wish I could find a picture of them but they were generic silvery-pink wire frames and there was nothing that special about them aside from the color. I still ended up paying about $180 for them total. The sad part is that I wore them maybe 20 times.
I wasn't happy with how that pair matched a lot of my clothes or jewelry. I wanted to get a different style but I was not about to spend another two hundred bucks on glasses. That was when I heard about the best thing EVER for us four-eyed girls on the
Clark Howard Show. There's a company called
Zenni Optical and they sell glasses, super cheap. Clark swore by them so I thought I'd give them a try and ordered a pair. I have been addicted ever since! The colors, the style, the CHOICES! I compiled a sampling of some of my glasses and this isn't even all of them.
(Click the picture to bigify it!)
And yes, the sunglasses are prescription also! The best part is that each pair cost me between $12 and $20 bucks and that INCLUDES the tint or anti-glare coating. Quality wise, I think they're great. The color holds up on the plastic frames and I've only broke one pair and that was because I sat on them with my big butt. If I had a pair of glasses that didn't break in that situation, I would be amazed.
So let's do some math... for the cost of one pair of glasses at the mall, I can get between 10 to 15 pairs from Zenni. In addition to saving all that money, having so many options helped me to embrace wearing glasses. I'm not self-concious about them at all anymore and I even feel like they're an awesome fashion accessory... what do they call it now days, geek chic? Yep, I'm rocking it. :oP
Lots of Love!
Kim
P.S. -- I hear a disclaimer is good for when doing unsolicited reviews of products so here goes... I am not affiliated with Zenni Optical or Clark Howard. I just happen to love their products and I love a good deal... I also like sharing good deals with other people because, well, I just do. I mean really, who doesn't like saving money? :o)
On a side note, I'm generally comfortable with myself, chubb and all, but one thing that I have always had issues with is the dreaded back fat. I hate, hate, HATE seeing pictures of myself where I have that little roll bulging out over the top of a tight tank or tube top. Call me weird but it bugs me to death so I love the fact that the shrug hides that without hiding everything else.
