A new wardrobe!

So here it is...my wardrobe for the next 30 days. The 33 chosen few!

I have tweaked Project 333 to fit me a bit better, as it is not supposed to be a hardship...so I'm not counting jewelry or most accessories in my 33 items. I'm still waffling on shoes...for now you can see my three pairs on the shelf above the clothes.

So from yesterday's starting list, I have decided not to count the scarf, sunglasses, and earrings. I replaced them with a tan glitter tee, a purple & black beaded top and a pair of brown capris. This is a shot of all the empty hangers...and now even most of the shelves are cleared as I put out-of-season items in a large tub. Ah, the peace that decluttering brings!


Since Elena is in this with me I've given Kai the job of taking our daily outfit pictures. I was trying to stop Elena's silly face in this one...goofy girl!


Really, there are a lot of outfits I can make from my selections and today I didn't feel limited at all--ha! I often think about gals like the pioneers who had two, maybe three dresses to wear year round...it makes the excess of my shelves seem overwhelming. I think next up will be my 50+ cake pan collection. Oh, dear.

Project 333 - Why not?!

I'm starting to think maybe Jodi has a conspiracy going...she perhaps knows I need to do something, mentions some ideas and then sits back and giggles as I take off with some new hair-brained project! Now, really, I know this isn't true (is it?), it just so happens that we are traveling a similar road in life and overcoming similar tendencies embedded in our beings from childhood.

Anywhoo...Today Jo tweeted about Project 333...that it might be something she is considering. So I did it. Today. With both my closet and Elena-bug's closet. Now the two girls under this roof each have only 33 items in their wardrobe. It's a tad scary for me...Elena's was pretty painless since she lives in soccer tees & I didn't make her count accessories. (This is the "before" shot of our closet...note that the top left rod all belongs to Eric--my stuff is on the bottom, the shelves, and the right...conveniently not in the picture...duh!)


Here's the project in a nutshell--in order to live a life less focused on "stuff", purge your wardrobe every three months down to 33 seasonally appropriate items. This includes goodies like accessories (aack! my bags!) and shoes but does not include pj's, workout clothing, under-things etc.

So, since I didn't have anything better to do this afternoon (ha) here was my bed during the sorting progress. I had bags for consignment clothing, donations, summer items and various other wack-o categories, but it all got cleared. I now have 93 empty hangers in my closet!


Here is my starting list. I'm pretty sure this will just be a wardrobe for May as spring wraps up and then will have to swap things out for the heat. If you think there is something I could go without, by all means, let me know as I really want to add in more accessories!!

TOPS
1. Black tank
2. Black v-neck tee
3. Grey v-neck sweater
4. White scoop neck top
5. Coral printed tank
6. Coral l/s tee
7. Aqua 3/4 sleeve athletic tee
8. Aqua cable-knit cardi
9. Lt. blue tee
10. Periwinkle cable knit cardi
11. Navy slinky top
12. Brown knit shirt
13. Black l/s v-neck top
14. White slub tee

BOTTOMS
15. Worn Jeans
16. AE Jeans
17. Denim shorts
18. Black athletic capris
19. Brown a-line knit skirt
20. Black slinky skirt
21. Denim skirt (below knee)
22. Camo pants

DRESS
23. LBD jersey knit

OUTERWEAR
24. Jean jacket
25. Navy hooded jacket

ACCESSORIES
26. Scarf-multi
27. Purse
28. Tote
29. Shades (yup, sunglasses count!)
30. Earrings

SHOES
31. Tennies-athletic
32. Casual tennies
33. Ballerina flats-animal print

Tomorrow I will take a picture of my items all hung nice and neat in one teeny part of our closet. Then I suppose I will start posting about what in the world I am wearing or not wearing to prove (as others have done and are doing) that it can be done! Thanks for the inspiration Jodi...now I just have to cruise around and look for construction sites.

Day 38 - Gratitude

Today is Good Friday. I hope you are able to take some time to reflect on the great goodness behind the crucifixion of Christ. Really, our whole lives revolve around the events of this weekend so many, many years ago.

On to the blessings from my Thursday...

1. A satisfying cup of tea with a dear friend after some good, hard, work!

2. The joy brought by the left over cupcake Eric brought back home...split three ways, three happy kiddos. Well, Zane wanted more "cream" aka frosting.

3. The fact that Eric made, frosted and cleaned up after concocting the 2 dozen cupcakes for his work meeting...not me!

4. A unique group of women gathered to discuss some of our favorite things...yay for the JA Club!

5. After a long lent, Easter is almost here!

Day 36 - Gratitude

5 Things from Tuesday:

I am thankful for...

1. A newly organized coat closet that holds all the backpacks that were living on the entryway floor.

2. Playing puzzles with Zane uninterrupted for half an hour...I don't think I've done many puzzles with him before...poor third child!

3. Finding missing vacuum attachments in above coat closet! Plus the missing bar to my hanging clothes rack! Score!

4. Starting MI5 season 7...exciting! (I'm loving me some Netflix...and RA's not bad either! Amy, am I allowed to post this in a gratitude list?)

5. Watching Elena tear it up on the soccer field...cold, but fun!

Day 35 - Gratitude

The 35th day of Lent...a Monday. Will it? Can it?...be good? I started the day standing in the shower praying again for grace and patience in my roll as a momma. That I would be quick to listen and slow to anger. God answered that prayer...but made me work at it! At one point I asked the children if we could please just go FIVE whole minutes without someone crying.

Between a huting, almost-out, loose tooth, eyes that simply couldn't 'see' to finish writing one sentence of copywork and Zane really wanting to swing 'ou-side', it was a challenge they couldn't quite meet. However, we did all survive the day with semi-cheerful hearts, school work finished, the house tidied a bit and some free time in the afternoon to boot!

Through all of that...here are five things I'm grateful for:

1. Grace! (I've said that one before, but it's truly the theme of my life)
2. The idea for Kai's "morning routine" cards to keep him focused on getting going.
3. Elena no longer lets perfectionism keep her from starting a new sketch...she drew a beautiful bluejay with a farm in the background.
4. So many friends on our new T-ball team! It's going to be a fun season.
5. Clean sheets on everyone's bed! (Another thing I'm not so hot at doing regularly).

Days 32 & 33 - Gratitude

Wowie-zowie...some days just go faster than others! Now the challenge...10 things over the last two days to be grateful for.

1. Elena, old enough now to go to Grandma's and help with younger cousins staying for the week.



2. Time with just my boys while she was gone.

3. Spring flowers blooming gloriously before the wind and rain ravaged their delicate petals...and the bouquet plucked just in time to grace our kitchen.



4. Goodies arriving from thirty-one! Can a girl ever have too many bags? (Love my purse Sara!)

5. CVS...it needs a whole post of it's own...I do a version of CVSing that involves only things we need or can donate to charity. All for almost free. What fun and a great blessing.


6. Play date with a new-er friend for Kai--who seemed a bit at a loss without his sis around.

7. An afternoon chat and prayer time with good friends.

8. The BBQ & Bluegrass fundraising dinner at Parker Elementary tonight with family.


9. All my in-laws with birthdays this week--Happy Birthday Chrissy, Kim & Nate!

10. No phone calls for awhile...amazing how much I stay tied to my phones. We canceled the home line this week and my sim card died today. Oh well, the quiet is nice.

And the winner is...

Congratulations Kelli! I will get your gift certificate to you ASAP for your new flexi clip from Lilla Rose. Thanks to everyone who entered to win...I have another friend hosting a giveaway later this month and will post info when it's up!

*The winning number (5) was chosen by Random.org's True Random Number Generator...and my own comment was removed before the drawing.*

The majestic cross (left) is Lilla Rose's April Flexi Clip of the month, available only for a limited time.