Hot Flash

Been wearing my hair up lately. Most days I try to wear it down, but at a certain point in the day the clip comes out and up it goes. Yesterday that point was before I even left the house.



The reason I have been wearing it up is that at the ripe old age of 44, I have started to have hot flashes. I'll be talking to my doctor about them at my annual physical this month, but in the meantime they are just a nuisance. My skull and nape are always the parts that get hot and sweaty when I overheat, so that's where the hot flash impacts too. Having thick hair doesn't help as it gets immediately soaked. Ugh.

Anyway. I have been purchasing a lot of clips and nice elastics. :)

Onto the outfit!



The post about Forth & Towne made me nostalgic so I opted for one of my few remaining sweaters from there, a sweet coral short-sleeved wrap. It's getting a little faded but I am not quite ready to edit it out. The coral still stands out, and I love the way it looks against my grey pintstriped Gap bootcuts. It's one of the few colors I have that blends nicely with them.





The necklace is another little-worn goodie, from a local jewelry store as they were going out of business. Three strands of grey pearls on brown knotted string -- it's an interesting mix of dressy and casual, you know?



Funny, Angie just had a post this morning about the benefits of outfit repetition, and this is definitely one I have repeated in the past. The colors work together nicely, and as I just noticed, on their own, I don't any of these individual pieces enough. It's only as this outfit that I am most satisfied with all of them. Hmm, that's something to ponder.

I also did a little more closet rearranging, moving some of my summer shirts that I had left in the closet down to a drawer, and bringing the winter layering tops from the drawer up to the hangers. In doing so, I realized I have a lot of layering tops of certain colors, like white, and they aren't getting enough wear.



I think the problem is I tend to select my outfit from the statement piece first, then build from there. So I pick my blue blazer then find the top and pants. Or I choose my red polka-dot blouse and select the right pants and blazer. That often means that some layering tops rarely get chosen at all.

So for the next week or so I am going to go by color; all of the white tops will get worn, and we shall see what combinations come from that. I suspect I may end up pulling out jackets and bottoms that also don't get as much rotation, like I did here with the coral sweater and grey pants.

Oooh, it's casual Friday. This should be fun!

My (not so) secret friends

Hello, strangers! Found a new place to take indoors photos for the winter months -- Hubby finally cleaned out the basement enough that there is some blank spaces of wall for me to use. So here I am!

The top is one of my new Lane Bryant purchases, one I got with my sister on my Christmas trip. We both had a good time shopping together, and I am sure she will pleased to see that I did actually buy something for myself too (I was a good Santa to her there, LOL). It's a snakeprint in grey and black, sorry I didn't get a closer shot. I added my beloved short-sleeved LOFT sweater to it, just to add a minor layer, a pair of medium-faded Old Navy Dreamer jeans, and my silver Privos sneakers.

Perfect outfit for bumming around on the weekend, I thought. Not too lazy, not too casual.

Monday, I went to work.



The key top is from Gwynnie Bee. I wasn't sure if I would like a peplum tunic top on me, but it turned out to be awesome. I am keeping it for a second wearing, maybe for a casual look this weekend. The pants are Gap modern bootcuts, and the shoes are my new Clarks booties.



So, um, have I ever told you guys that I own mannequins? I can't remember if this ever came up before.

As long as I am telling you about them, I should tell you that I own two.


(When you are a size 20, it is never a good idea to stand next to a size 0. Just sayin'.)

I got them from Forth & Towne years ago. As we were closing the store down, my boss asked me to bring my camera and get photos of everyone. I did get some incredible photos of everyone, but I also became obsessed with taking photos of the displays and mannequins as they piled up, and the store itself. It was a gorgeous, elegant store.











We sold bubble necklaces years before J Crew. :)



As a photo subject, I could not resist the mannequins.








"Thanks for coming. I've called this meeting to plan our escape..."



Or the empty space. Seriously, it was a stunningly beautiful store.







Each dressing room was uniquely decorated, with a vanity and stool.





Everyone had fun with mannequins. In the end I had to buy a couple of my own. $20 each, what a deal!



I put some clothes on her once I got home. The sitting one stayed in the backseat of my car for years, causing much mayhem and laughter as drivers passed me on the roads. :)



But in the end, they have been relegated to my basement. I've purged lots of things, but I can't get rid of them. They hold such fond memories for me of a special time in my life, working with really lovely people in a gorgeous place. That's where I met Shopping Friend, for goodness' sake -- and I'm standing up in her wedding in a few months. The mannequins will always remind me of her too, and everyone else from Forth & Towne.



I miss you guys!

I think I might need to move the mannequins around in the basement so they can be in more pictures. Hubby moved the standing one over by his new workbench, and dressed her in his fishing straw hat and his high school tennis shirt, and ---



-- hey, she's not wearing any pants!

;-D

Closet Purge: a new monthly feature

Egads! According to my blog archive, I only posted 3 times in September. I am so sorry to have abandoned you, internet! I have been very, very busy during our time apart, with work insanity, social engagements, and just general lethargy. But I am back, and I promise to get back into posting more. In fact, I will promise to post every day for the rest of the month, just like Jenful did. Some posts might be pretty brief, but I need to work my blog muscle again. :)

One of the things that has kept me busy was a huge, massive closet purge. MASSIVE.

Long-time followers will remember there was a time, nearly 3 years ago now, when I was very fit and thin. And I slowly gained it all back, right in front of everyone. As I crept back up, I didn't want to get rid of sizes that I swore I would get back into, so I squirreled them away all over the house, one size up at a time. I ended up filling:

• 2 portable closet spaces in my husband's office
• 2 more portable closets in the basement
• 5 jumbo plastic bins
• 3 random boxes
• 2 garbage bags
• 1 extra drawer in the hall bureau
• 1 flat plastic bin under the bed

I am not exaggerating. Here is our basement before the purge.




All five bins are overstuffed.


(Yes, those are mannequins. I bought them when Forth & Towne closed. Don't ask.)

Two weekends ago, I tackled the basement and office closets.  I went through every single piece of clothing I had, and sorted them into 3 piles: one for donation, one to keep, and one to give away to a couple of my friends. My method was pretty cut-throat, out of sheer necessity; I really streamlined what I kept down to favorite pieces or ones that were of excellent quality and were classics. The ones for my friends were styles and brands I knew they liked, or ones I hoped would fit them well. Everything else went to donation.

When I was done, this is what it looked like:








The clear plastic bins are all I have left for myself. The two blue bins went to my friends.

The rest that went to donation filled my entire back section of my CR-V with overstuffed garbage bags. Twice.

• 19 blouses
• 23 button-downs
• 33 camisoles
• 27 long-sleeve knit tee's
• 52 short-sleeve knit tee's
• 53 long-sleeve sweaters
• 21 short-sleeve sweaters
• 15 pairs of jeans
• 5 pairs of pants
• 9 skirts
• 29 dresses
• 6 blazers
• 10 pairs shoes
• 9 purses/wallets
• 18 belts
• 6 outerwear coats
• everything else that I gave to my friends (uncounted)

Yeah. It was a lot. In my defense, I inherited some of it from Shopping Friend and my sister, and it does cover sizes 8-20, and it took me several years to purchase all of it, but still...I am glad I don't shop like that anymore. Being a size that is harder to find has its perks, I guess.

Once the big purge was over, I was ready to tackle the everyday closet. I had been keeping too many items in there that didn't quite fit anymore, or that I didn't want to admit was a shopping mistake. They were hogging up my ability to see what I really did have, so it was time for them to go.

When I was done, it was amazing. I sorted everything by type and then by color.



Hubby gave me the whole tall section of our closet (we had been sharing this part) so it went pants, skirts, dresses, and sweaters. (Boots and casual shoes are on the floor. The bins are clutches/small purses in one, and athletic shoes in the other.)


Sweaters by color. I did not realize how many purples and corals I had!



The second half of the closet. Hubby has the top part, I have the bottom. It goes on longer past the left edge of the photo.


Tops by color. I included even knit tees that I wear as under layers; stuffed in a drawer, I tend to forget they exist, and I end up buying more tops than I need (as evidenced by the 121 that I gave away!)


Jackets and blazers. I've been wearing more of them lately as I am attending more meetings at work.

I love it. LOVE IT.

Everything is on good wooden hangers (Forth & Towne again!), it all has room to breathe, and now I can see everything at once. This makes it 100% easier to figure out what to wear every day, and what hasn't been worn in a while. I can also see where my "wardrobe holes" are, and even more importantly, what I have too much of.

Angie at YouLookFab has written many times about maintaining control of your closet (the physical storage space) and your wardrobe (the clothes within it), the latest being a great blog post about asking what your wardrobe goals are. While I have no desire to establish a one-in, one-out system like she does, I can see now that for some item sets -- sweaters, for example -- if I buy any new ones I will have to get rid of some so they fit in the space. Truthfully, there are a good three or four sweaters already in there that I probably should have purged but that I decided to hang onto for one last chance for this fall/winter.

Therefore, I am going to steal a page from my blogger friend Lorena, and not only purge every month, but document what I got rid of, what I added, and why. I am always fascinated by her monthly edit posts and her monthly purchase posts. Now that I can see my own wardrobe, with everything lined up so nicely, it's obvious which items are on their last legs. It will be good discipline to go through them more often.

The Goodwill by my office is going to love me. :)

Sunday Cooking: Mish-mosh

Yes, it's Thursday. Do not adjust your monitors. :)

It's been a rough week, and while I didn't think I did much in the way of cooking, somehow we've stretched it through the week so I figured I should post about it.

Also, I managed to take a few photos of outfits (GASP), and I bought new sandals. Yay, summer!



Lunch has consisted of all my favorite foods of the moment, cutely packaged up in little portion-controlled containers.

There was another batch of spaghetti squash au gratin



(and one of cauliflower au gratin for Hubby)



and a black-eyed pea and cucumber salad. (A recipe I make at some point every summer.)



Wasn't completely in love with how this turned out this time. I used a bag of frozen peas and boiled them, but they were really mushy in a way that fresh or canned peas do not get. Plus I didn't have enough feta, and I omitted olives for Hubby, so it was missing a good dose of salt it needed to give it enough flavor. Hubby liked it though!

Lastly, there have been lots and lots of strawberries. Sometimes with yogurt at lunch, sometimes with a slice of angel food cake as dessert at night.



I didn't get any pictures last night, but Hubby grilled a couple of frozen crab cakes for me (he had a burger) and a pineapple cut into long strips. Warm, carmelized pineapple was an excellent side dish, then I finished off the meal by cutting the rest of it up and piling it into a bowl with cool strawberries and soft angel food cake. No pun intended, but it was heavenly.

+++++++

It's been hot this week, and both Hubby and I have been stressed about work so there are nightly chats on the patio under the umbrella while he grills our dinner. George likes to come out and join us. I think he really likes the feel of the warm cement under him.





He is such a weirdo. :)

++++++

My hair is much longer this summer, and I am rather enjoying it. My new stylist gave me a long bob; a lot of the time I have been letting it naturally curl up at the edges instead of forcing it to curl under with a brush and blow dryer, and it just feels healthier and more energized.



This is definitely the summer of draping blouses, although some work better than others. I love the vibrancy of the the hot pink of this Old Navy blouse, as well as the drape at my shoulders. It buckles weirdly at my waist, though, which doesn't photograph well. Oh well! My chunky smoky quartz statement necklace and a gold bracelet add the right amount of dressiness for super-hot weather.



Another variation on the same sandals and black pants look, this time with a coral faux-wrap sweater from Forth & Towne (boy, I still miss that store), white tank and tri-stone necklace. The wind was blowing every which way that morning, so this is the best shot I got.



Sheila has been doing neutrals month over at Ephemera, which inspired this combo that I have been wearing like crazy. Target short-sleeved cardigan and this darling tie tank from Lands End -- that's the whole outfit. I am having a pair of white modern Gap bootcut pants hemmed right now (my first white pants maybe ever!) and I am really curious to see if I can wear this top combo with that too.

Funny, I just realized I have been wearing the same Clarks olive wedge sandals in all 3 shots. I have been rotating through my other ones, I swear! The flat sandal craze has been intriguing me, too; most of mine are heeled wedges in various colors (turquoise, orange, nude, olive, etc) which are great for work. But I wanted some for play, too. Behold!



I know, right?!

The Sam Edelman Gigi's are one of the sandals of the season, and come in a million colors. I debated going for the mixed-print pair, but in the end I could not resist the stripes.

The other pair I got were the DV by Dolce Vita Archer's, another hot sandal of the season. I needed a blue casual pair to go with my maxidress for our summer vacation, and I couldn't resist these when I saw them on Corporette.

The last new shoes I am getting are a pair of summer walking shoes, for exercise. (Yes, I said it.) How can anyone say "no" to walking if they have these adorable New Balance Classics in their closet? On sale for $49, too!

(I am exchanging the 9s for a 9 1/2, but overall they look and feel great.)

++++++

So, food, outfits, random cat photo, shoes. I think I covered all the necessary topics! Am I forgiven for skipping a few days/weeks of posts? :)