#115 Tackling!!

I kind of love spring cleaning & decluttering.  Everything feels so fresh afterwards! I hate it while I'm in the midst of it though, but I know the reward will be worth it.  This spring I decided my wardrobe really needed a cleanse.  I have a tiny closet and I feel like I'm always saying I need to get rid of some clothes.  I find it gets harder and harder to do this as you get older, though.  After a little soul-searching, these are the reasons that directly relate to why the size of my wardrobe has  gotten out of control:

• My current sense of fashion lends itself more towards classics(realllly hard to get rid of)... but I like trendy stuff too!
• I've been approximately the same size for the past ten years.  
• I tend to wear more separates than suits or dresses (anyone else a blouse + jeans or t-shirt + skirt girl?)
• I'm very sentimental.
• I hate doing laundry.
• I love shopping.

Please tell me someone else out there has these problems too.  Because of these tendencies, I have approximately 50 tees that are all similar styles but in every shade of the rainbow (this goes for tanks, collared shirts, long sleeve tees and sweaters as well), way too many cute blousy tops that can be casual and dressy at the same time, lots of shorts & skirts (these tend to fall in the 'trendy' category), and I don't even want to talk about the shoe situation...

I started my purge by reading every closet organization article I could find.  The classic "if you haven't worn it in a year" rule was just not cutting it anymore.  I needed something more compelling to battle my sentimentality.  Here are the top 4 sources I found that go beyond the basics of decluttering:

• Oprah knows best- Decluttering My Life & What to Keep & What to Toss
• Inspired Everyday Living- How to Clear Clutter
• Makeunder My Life's Closet Makeunder series- Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4
• Kendi Everyday- Working Closet Series

The ideas from all of these posts that helped me the most were to judge if the piece really supports the life I want to have right now & to pretend like you are shopping your closet- would you buy that item again and be excited about it? The other thing that helped was trying things on.  I had some really nice shirts in my closet I hadn't worn in a while, but I wasn't sure why. I found out as soon as I put them on- they just fit weird--bye bye! And others that I thought fit weird were actually really cute when I tried them on!  I dreaded this part of the process the most, though.  I would stare at my self in the mirror trying to figure out if I should keep the shirt then get distracted and think, "Why did I eat cookie dough for dinner??! I need to go to the gym." But it was worth it.

All done!

Outcome: I ended up with quite a few bags of clothes to donate!! 

Conundrum: My closet is still pretty packed.  Where were all those clothes I'm donating hiding?? Not in my closet obviously. 

Realization: I had lots of stashes of ill-fitting, out-dated, or worn out clothes around my apartment. Shoes hiding in the hall closet, t-shirts and jeans in a box in the top of the closet, nicer items like skirts & dresses in another closet & more boxes under the bed.  It was crazy!  Everyday clothing lives in one place now (special occasion dresses are in another closet).

It took me more than an afternoon to attack everything, and clothes were strewn from one end of the apartment to the other, but I purged many items that don't fit my life anymore.  I know they will find a second home that will treat them right.  

Need a little piece of encouragement? When you purge everything that's dragging you down you feel a million times better and your closet will be awesome :)  And let me know if you need help! I'm a nerd and love organization projects. 

perfect rainbow wardrobe 

via design darling here 

{For more closet inspiration check out my Pinterest board!}

#89 Tips for the Weekend...or How To Walk on Walls

Welcome Weekend!!  How I've missed you.  During the week, responsibilities and worries can get you down.  But if I've learned anything in the past year, it's that you make your own reality.  Mine is Friday.  Friday is most certainly the best day of the weekend, as all the fun still lies ahead.  That feeling of anticipation, and possibility of amazing things happening is like electricity running through your veins.

 Sometimes we all need a reminder that life is a magical thing. 

 photo via i can read.
 

photo via {this is glamourous}
 

Sunshine and warm-ish days await!
  

#75 Summer Celebrations...or How To Prepare for Another Year of Being Alive

Nothing beats August birthday parties, BBQs and Southern adventures.  They are always rejuvenating and a last hurrah before the cool weather sneaks its way in, taking over the summer and turning to fall... 

Except in Alabama where summer lasts into November... & sometimes January.

Happy Birthday to all my fellow Leos!

photo via oh joy! by Our Labor of Love

photo via coco+kelley

photo via dance with voices

#72 How to Do Everything & Nothing At the Same Time

It always seems like the more you get done, the more you have to do.  It's a never-ending cycle.  Work is crazy.  Moving is crazy.  Putting in an air conditioner too small for the window it needs to go in is crazy.  Finding simple white curtains is one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do.   Making friends with very nosy and judgmental new neighbors, also difficult.  Putting together the new bed was child's play in comparison.  As they say, "when it rains, it pours."

It doesn't just pour craziness and difficulty though, I've also have so many great friends, family, and neighbors who have lent a hand to help me overcome the crippling anxiety that is bound to set in when you have taken on more responsibility than you are accustomed to or can handle on your own.  I'm grateful for all my friends that helped me move, paint & put together furniture.  I'm so thankful for my friends & family, & complete strangers that distracted me from my worries, reminded me to eat, encouraged me, let me live in their homes when I didn't have one & put a smile on my face.  I'm grateful that there are still honest people in this world, like the movers that returned the lost box containing all my jewelry.  

Thanks everyone!!!!  Here's to hoping all my boxes and suitcases are emptied & put away soon...

violet may bag via {thisisglamorous}

"...Treat the feeling of overwhelming anxiety as our friend, for it is an emotional indicator letting us know that we need to slow down, and to readjust our center of focus on something else that makes us feel better.  

It is also a reminder that life doesn’t have to feel bad, that we have choices, and that we can design our day and especially our experiences.  

And no matter how rough our day was today, or yesterday may have been, every morning is a new beginning, a new chance for you to rewrite the story of your life..."   -Tina Su of Think Simple Now

#69 How to Survive While Being Homeless

1.  Breathe

2.  Make it work

3. Indulge in super girly clothing fantasies...

photos via {this is glamorous}

#68 How To Avoid Being Homeless

Easiest answer to that is find an apartment.  Sounds relatively simple right?  Well, not exactly...  The fun part of a new apartment= decorate the apartment!!  Wish I could skip the "finding" portion and move right to the "decorating" portion, but everything comes in its due time.  

Inspiration!

 photo via coco+kelley

A bit too fancy, but the colors are right up my alley!
 

photo via somewhere I forgot, if u know where it's from let me know!

A bit too minimal, but if you've ever been to my apartment you know how much I love photographs and artwork!

photo via also somewhere I forgot...

Just right!  Such a bright happy room! 

#36 The Last Show... or How to Be a Ghostly Angel

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010 Collection.  Just a few looks from the master's final collection... & a few other things.

 photos via Vogue

Braided rope headband via Jennifer Behr

Karmela earrings  & Pour La Victoire sandal via shopbop

photo via {this is glamorous}

#19 Hair a Hat Can't Mess Up... or How to Endure Ear Shocks

The snow is really pretty and all, but I have a strong dislike for winter.  It's all the extra clothes you have to wear...And all the static and getting shocked in the ear by your iPod headphones.   To make things worse, you have to wear a hat that completely flattens your hair to the top of your head.  I've been on the lookout for hat resistant hairdo's to make winter bearable, and I may have found one!

photo of model Constance Jablonski via Jak and Jil blog

I will be trying out this braid over the weekend.  And have a feeling if things work out, I will be wearing braids all the way into summer... 

also check out:  
this dreamy headpiece & hot headbands of power at ban.do