A Balanced Wardrobe

I've been trying to work a bit more on all those New Years Resolutions that I seemed to have promptly forgotten about by Groundhogs Day this year. And one of those resolutions that I was carrying into 2009 from the previous year was to improve my wardrobe. I've definitely made some strides, but lately looking in my closet had become a frustrating thing. I felt like I was lacking some key things to make my wardrobe work for me. Revisiting an article I had kept from a past issue of Real Simple, The Essentials of a Well-Balanced Wardrobe, I made a list of things I felt were missing from mine. And then this weekend Stephanie, Holly and I hit the stores (with a Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic 30% off coupon in hand) to try and fill in the gaps. Followed the shopping excursion up with a few calculated online purchases the next day.

Basics bought:
.T-shirts- I lacked a lot in this department, and what I had was wearily worn. I got three v-neck short sleeve tees in gray, black and navy and three crew neck long sleeve tees in white, black and gray from the J. Crew outlet. All of them were on sale, so it averaged out to a mere $10 per tee! I followed up with the additional online purchase of a crew neck short sleeve tee in white from Gap, as they were out of my size in white at J. Crew.
.Chinos- After going to FIVE Gap stores on Saturday and not finding my size at a single one of them I had to throw in the towel and order the khaki chinos that I love from their website. I had these same pants in a gray, so knew that this cut was exactly what i wanted to replace my old khaki pants in need of retirement.
.Denim Jacket- I didn't go into the day with this item on my list, but I have avoided wearing my denim jacket for quite sometime. It fit me poorly and was in a wash that I no longer thought remotely attractive. I found a new jacket that seemed to be a vast improvement at a good price.
.Sweater- Gray and white argyle sweater, not really a basic (unless you're me and love argyle as much as I do), but it reminded me of a J. Crew sweater I coveted from a previous season. How could I resist?
.White button down- I ordered a short sleeve version of the classic white button down shirt. The one hanging in my closet was a whopping 12 years old. Seriously overdue for retirement! I have a long sleeve button down which I may also need to replace, as the fit is poor and I of course didn't return it in time after originally purchasing it. I might be able to have it altered, an extra button and a little nip in the sleeves might fix things.




















Left to buy:
.Tennis shoes- I need a new pair of black Chuck Taylor's and want to get a white pair as well this time. I love my chucks and wear them constantly!
.Straight leg jeans- I've got a nice pair of trouser jeans, a couple of pairs of skinny jeans, and a few pairs of boot leg jeans. I think a pair of straight legs would round everything out well.
.Pencil skirt- I could use one in denim and one in another color/material.
.Black pants- I own no black pants. Aren't I breaking some sort of law?
.Jewelry- I own very little jewelry, so I really need to work on this area.

Additionally I think part of the reason I feel confused when I look in my closet is it feels like it lacks cohesion. I'm going to try and rearrange everything by color this weekend, and see if that makes a difference for me.

How to Start

I get so easily stressed when tackling big projects. When we were first thinking about trying to buy a house the whole idea was so overwhelming. And soon thereafter I had to start the process of completing a lot of dental work (still not completed, but soon to be I hope). One thing that I found very helpful was an article in Real Simple by life coach Gail Blanke. I wish that she were still writing for the magazine, and I also wish that Real Simple hadn't re-tooled their website, removing all but one of her articles. Luckily I saved all of her articles from back issues that made an impact on me so that I can revisit them when I need to. Here is her suggestion that really helped me see how I could get from crappy apartment to homeowner, and how I could overcome my fears and manage to get through my dental work step my step (again, still stepping here). Now I need to work out the steps to get from living out of boxes to a well-run household and open dirt, rocks and weeds to a beautiful back yard and garden. I didn't make a "mountain", you guys now how I love a list, so adapt the idea to work for you.

Gail Blanke:
"Design the future from the future. Pretend you've already accomplished your goal. You've got the job, the bod, the girl or guy. How'd you do it? Draw a triangle on a piece of paper. At the top of the triangle - or "mountain" - write the date when you'll have gotten what you want. Be specific. Put down the day, date, month and year. Then, working down the "mountain" ask yourself, "What did I do right before that, that allowed for that to happen?" Write it down. And then, right below that write down what you did right before that to make that happen. Continue all the way down the mountain with your "steps" until you reach today - the day you've decided to design the future. When you're done, you'll have a plan. Now all you have to do is execute it."

Thoughts

I recently updated some of the inspirational quotes that I have posted on my computer screen here at work. Thought I would share the new additions. They make me smile and keep my spirits up.

"Invention, my dear friends, is 93 percent perspiration, 6 percent electricity, 4 percent evaporation, and 2 percent butter-scotch ripple."- Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

"Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver."- Ayn Rand

"We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry."- E.B. White

Bonjour!

We're back from our visit to see my sister Nicci, her husband Bryan, and our friends Destiny & Will. We also got to spend a little time with my youngest sister Lindsey, who was with us on Friday, and my dad & step mom who each came up on Saturday for lunch. And now that we're back from that trip I'm moving on to a new task- learning French! Ever since I read about it in the cover story of the March 2007 issue of Real Simple I've been reminding myself to check out the French Pod Class. And I decided that it was finally time I take the plunge and give a new language a shot. I took French in high school, but never made it past the first few weeks of French 2. And that was about 10 years ago, so my knowledge of the language is pretty minuscule. The great thing about these classes is that you aren't just learning about the language, but also the culture through the musical breaks and movie excerpts that are included. I also love that I can listen to a lesson over and over while I'm at work. I learn better through repetition, and what better way to make use of the 11 hours I'm stuck in my office than by expanding my mind and horizons? I'm going to make some flash cards this week too. I'm more of a visual learner, so I'm hoping that will really help me retain what I'm picking up. And the review sheets that accompany the mp3 lessons will make my flash card project a breeze.

Interested in learning French? I highly recommend Sebastien and the FrenchPodClass.

Simply Cheerful

Over the past few weeks I have been cleaning up my office at work. My office is at the back, rarely seen by clients. That translates into a storage area for boxes, furniture, and old, broken equipment. Coming into my office everyday, as the boxes slowly began encroaching, was beginning to crush my soul. So while my boss was out of town, meaning I would have less ASAP tasks thrown at me, I decided to do something about it. I couldn't get rid of everything, in fact most everything is still in here. It's just organized better, or at all for that matter. And now I can actually look out my windows to my really awesome view of the tree covered hills and downtown Fort Worth. I'll have to take a picture of it sometime to post, cause it really is great. If I stand up I can see the river too, since it flows right beside our building.

Real Simple magazine has a page at the back of each issue called Real Simple To Go. They have tidbits of information printed on perforated paper for easy removal. I went through my back issues last night and collected the thoughts cards that I really liked. Today I taped them on the edges of my flat screen monitor for daily inspiration and cheering up. When you're at your desk for around 11 hours a day you can use all the cheerfulness you can find. Here are the quotes that will be inspiring my thoughts for now.

"The Beautiful is everywhere; perhaps more in the arrangement of your saucepans on the white walls of your kitchen than in your eighteenth-century living room or in the official museums."- Fernand Leger

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for example."- John Ruskin

"There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich."- Marlene Dietrich

"You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by. Yes, but some of them are golden only because we let them slip."- J.M. Barrie

"Nature gives you the face you have at 20; it is up to you to merit the face you have at 50."- Coco Chanel