Sunday, February 22, 2015

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Oh Hey...

Still here! We've been busy crunching numbers with financial planners in preparation for my upcoming retirement. Its fast approaching....AACK! We're also waiting for plans to be drawn up to enclose our back porch, once we have them they'll need to be approved by our HOA and we've ordered me a new vehicle. Other than that most everything else has fallen by the wayside. The crocheting, the CY365, pretty much the entire bucket list. I've found that planning for Retirement can be both exciting and stressful. Right this moment the stressful is winning!
In other news, while preparing to try a Spring capsule wardrobe I came across Stitch Fix, they get good reviews so I've decided to try them out. I filled out a short style survey(Plain Jane here), so it'll be interesting to see the items they send in my first Fix. I went with a Fix every other month and if I find it doesn't work for me there is no contract so I can cancel at any time. I'm thinking this may keep me out of the stores and in turn stop the impulse buying. Um...hummm...I just bought a Blue Leather Jacket at Von Maur last Friday, its so pretty, it fit me perfect and the Mr. loves it. It was a pretty good sale so I didn't break the bank and other than socks and skinny tees I haven't shopped for clothing since early December 2014.
Back to the Spring capsule wardrobe, earlier this month when I purged my closet and dresser it was mostly tops that got tossed out so other than a couple of tops it doesn't look like I'll be needing much. Yay! I still need to decide which 37 items will go into my Spring wardrobe and how I want to store the rest of my clothing. I think this will be the hard part. Off I go to make a few decisions.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Simplifying...

A year ago I started packing up everything we owned. Twenty eight years worth of stuff really adds up, especially when you pack it all up in boxes and totes. Everyone told me I should purge things while packing but I just couldn't do it. I wasn't sure what I'd need for the new house so everything got packed up, put into storage and eventually made its way to the basement and garage of the new house. Once I started unpacking I started purging all those unneeded things that just didn't seem to fit anymore. I have purged about 8 totes of stuff to date. We still have a few boxes in the garage and the Mr. has all his collectibles in the basement to unpack. I doubt he will purge anything but those few boxes in the garage must be filled with stuff I don't need. They've been there for 8 months and I haven't missed anything. I'll get to them once the weather warms up.
Last month on FB I came across a couple of websites about simplifying that caught my eye. You can find them here and here. And while I've already started simplifying I plan to take it a step or two further using information from both websites.
I also follow a blog about a capsule wardrobe. I love her approach and feel like it is something that might work for me. This website also provides information about minimalist fashion. Check them out, very interesting concept. A capsule wardrobe consist of choosing a number of items to wear for each season, mixing them up to make many different outfits so there is less fuss when getting dressed each day. It also suggest setting a shopping budget for each season which in turn should help with impulse buying. Sounds easy enough right? My closet and dresser are both full of clothes I do not wear, many still have tags on them and many of them are very old. I purchased a sweater while shopping with my sister, six months later she found it in her closet and brought it to me. Heck, I didn't even miss it. Problem...yes!
My plan is to start with a Spring Capsule Wardrobe. Sometime around the end of this month I'll be emptying my closet and dresser to see what I can come up with for a simple yet fun Spring Wardrobe and I'll also be setting a small budget for shopping. I'm excited to see if I can make this work for me. I'm finding that I like simple. Oh and that impulse buying thing...Guilty!

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Bath Day! Ugh...

Bye, Bye January! I for one am happy to see you go! We've had a stressful month here at the Berlin house but things are looking up. The vet upped Deuces meds, added a couple more and he seems to be doing better.
Today I mustered up the energy to give him a bath. Believe me when I say this isn't easy. Two minutes into it I called in reinforcements (the Mr.) for help. I did the washing, the Mr. did the rinsing...all at the same time to make it quick! Deuce used to love his weekly bath but his anxiety level goes off the chart nowadays during his bath so we've switched to bi weekly baths for now. He also gets groomed once a month. Last month at his grooming appointment they had to take several breaks during grooming to let him gain his composure. Luckily they have lots of patience and haven't kicked him to the curb...YET! Next up brushing...wish me luck!