#120 Spring Revival!

This is my attempt to bring this blog back to life! Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging and you don't feel like you really have much to contribute to the internet already chock full of inspiration/information.  But then faraway friends are like, "What happened to your blog?! Is it dead? That's how I keep up with your current life happenings."  Well, here goes. A revival. Seems appropriate that it's happening now, at the beginning of spring.
I've been desperate for spring since February, but that's how it goes in nyc.  Everything seems to go on hold until spring finally arrives. Example: "I should start doing yoga, but I'll just wait until spring when it's not freezing cold walking back from the gym." Really anything that involves leaving the apartment gets put off because it's just too darn cold outside. So, I've been doing a lot of indoor activities- knitting, interneting, baking, netflixing, gold leafing, etc.

But now it's spring! And leaving the apartment doesn't feel so much like a chore. I've made a couple of goals for April that aren't necessarily outdoorsy, but are ways to feel refreshed in different areas of my life. Doesn't it seem like new year's resolutions should happen at the start of spring?

1 - spring clean 
2 - bring blog back to life 
3 - knit a sweater
4 - make art
5 - plan summer trips
6 - make goals

Making this list has really helped me to get focused and make progress.  1- I've made a good dent on spring cleaning and have driven a load of stuff to donate already, which feels awesome. This was also my first time driving a car in the city, with a very supportive Dude in the passenger seat helping out with directions. 2 - I've made the first step to bring the blog back to life right here!  3 - I just placed an order for the yarn to make the sweater in the photo above (it was very conveniently on sale). 4 - I pulled out my watercolors last night, inspired by my friends Heather and Susan who have been working on their watercolor skillz, and did some experimenting of my own.  5 - And some of my girlfriends from architecture school proposed a get together at the beginning of the summer which makes me pretty excited. 6 - I find "making goals" to be the hardest, but here's to dreaming big! Do you have any plans for spring?

#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!}

#110 Secrets & Shopping

What's the secret to the perfect Fall wardrobe? Perfect boots? Perfectly cozy cardigan sweater? Cute hat & gloves? A new fall bag? I'm pretty sure it's a combination of all these and more (forgot to mention jackets, scarves & a pile of crunchy leaves!).  Something doesn't feel quite right with my current wardrobe though.  So, I've decided to do a wardrobe "make-under" (check it out at MakeunderMyLife.com).  It started last week.  I took everything out of my closet & put it all on the bed in my guest room. "Nice job!" I told myself.  The next day I get an email from a friend who's coming to visit.  Yay!  Friends!  Pile of clothes returned promptly to closet.  This week I'm going to start afresh.  No trying to get out of making decisions by just throwing clothes in the guest room.  No trying to keep everything and just rearranging it.  I'm going to be serious about only keeping things that fit my perfect wardrobe.

unrealistic dream of a wardrobe via pinterest

My other remedy to the wardrobe blahs has been to go shopping.  How come there are so many good deals?!  Here are my newest wardrobe additions to shake up the massive piles of t-shirts & jeans that have taken over my closet.  A leopard print coat (I'm not normally a leopard print kinda girl, but I'll try anything once), grey practical (i.e. "flat") loafers & a deep forest green a-line wool skirt (totally chic & goes with all those t-shirts).  I'm still dying for a new bag...

latest & greatest: Old Navy leopard print coat, Sole Society Capri loafers, J. Crew skirt

What's your secret to the perfect fall wardrobe?  And if you have any wardrobe make-over/under secrets, I'd take those too.

#106 Oh My Shoes!

Anyone out there wear a size 8.5 or 9 and need some cute gently worn shoes?  Come to my place immediately!

This may not come as a surprise, but I have too many shoes.  Waaaaaay tooooo many.  There are so many that they've been mentioned in articles by my roommate in our college newspaper, been the test of boys I'm dating to see if they are freaked out by how many there are, the cause of injury when the door organizer has come crashing down, etc.  I have trouble getting rid of them because, heck, they are just too darn cute!  But currently I'm running in purge mode, and they must go.  I probably have at least 10 variations of black heels.  And let's be honest, with all the schlepping I do around the city, they've been in hibernation for a while and aren't likely to come out for a while.

If I had fewer pairs of shoes, I could organize them very cutely in a little ottoman with the extra cute ones having a special spot on a wall of honor!  And for my Southern friends--if we had known about this in college and sold them on campus we would have made a small fortune: the flip flop hanger.  

show off cute shoes!

via Martha

keep the pairs together!

via deliciously organized

...and a pair for the road

by ruthie davis

#46 Shiny Office

I have a strong propensity for organizing.  I tend to organize spaces within an inch of their life...you can ask any of my roommates or family members.  The weird thing about it is that I actually get joy out of the process of organizing.  Give me a messy closet/pantry/desk, a couple of hours to get the job done, a trip to the Container Store, and I'm a happy camper.  I kinda wish my desk needed a cleansing & makeover right now, so I could go gold with all the accessories...hmmm, I think the gold scissors will def be mine very soon.

Gold alumicolor architectural scale, Kate's Paperie gold-toned scissors, lightning bolt book via  { wit + delight }, gold pencils, gold stapler, to-do list stickies, gold cups to organize all the bits & bobs, & gold striped happy tape

image via {this is glamorous}
 the perfect desk... 
you would need a little gold bottle of windex to go with it though

#27 Temptation & Organization

Everyone has a soft spot for something.  Something you can't resist and eventually leads to your demise...  

Mine is shoes.  At this particular moment, these shoes:

 
Prada platforms

 
Seychelles Gypsy

I'm not sure I can even say why or when my obsession with shoes started, but it's becoming a problem because I have a tiny apartment.  I wish I had a room that looked like this just to use as a closet/dressing room: 

 
Jenna Lyons' dressing room 
photo via habitually chic

Oh one day... one day