one of those annoying “no specific topic” posts

The realization that we’re buying a freaking house has sunk in. It’s big. Huge. Ginormous. In fact, I think I’m hyperventilating a little bit. We now have just less than 2 weeks to pack up the crap we have here at my parents’ house to prepare for the move. Which isn’t actually a lot. Of crap, I mean. Because most of it is in storage. Actually, the only crap we have here are clothes, our bed and our couch, our computer and accompanying desk and a file cabinet.

I’m also feeling slightly overwhelmed at the thought of cleaning and painting the house. Several friends and family members have offered to help paint – for which I am eternally grateful. But, I’m a control freak, and trust very few of those people to actually do the job correctly. So it’s my own fault that I’m overwhelmed. Because I can’t just let go.

I am surprisingly not concerned about moving day. Because we don’t have much, and, as previously mentioned, most of it is in storage, so it should go smoothly.

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I bought this end table on Columbus Day from the Pottery Barn Outlet, but got it $70 cheaper. I’m sure that’s not such a great deal to you, but I was pleased. Because the table is just so darn beautiful. And also, we don’t have any end tables, so I would have probably paid twice that just because.

(We were using tv trays as end tables at our apartment. Barbaric, right? I just couldn’t bring myself to allow that in our home though.)

I also got three really cool wooden candle pillars for 99 cents each (!) but the Pottery Barn website doesn’t have them anymore.  You should know that getting them that cheap was an EXCELLENT deal, because they were originally $30 and $40. I almost had to fight a lady for them. Just kidding.

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My sister, whose name is Andrea, (which is relevant to the story) works at a grocery store (also relevant) and told me this story the other day, and I nearly died laughing:

“I was standing at my register waiting for the next customer. A man came into my line, and while I was ringing his purchases up, he was staring at my name-tag. Finally, he asked me – “Do you pronounce your name Aun-dray-uh (Aundrea) or An-gel-uh (Angela)?” “Um, neither.” I said “My name is An-dree-uh (Andrea).” “Ohhhh! Aaaann-dree-uh. So it’s not Angela?” he asked “No.”

You’re welcome.

wearing it well – classic look

Here’s this week’s wearing it well look -

Hey, I never said I would capture it well. I’m working in limited space, people.

Anyway, I’m not so sure that there’s a piece more classic than the black turtleneck. I love that thing. With a passion. Obviously, it’s not my new(ish) item. I wore the heck out of that thing last fall/winter, because for one, it’s black, and apparently, my taste in clothing is the depressed, sort of poetry-reader look. Secondly, it came from the tall women’s section from Gap, and so, that means it’s long enough. For this, I am eternally grateful to those lovely folks. But y’all already know how I feel about that.

My new(ish) pieces are the boots and the skirt.

I’ll start with the boots.

Since I purchased them, (2 years ago? maybe?) I have probably worn them a grand total of 3 times. Pathetic, huh? They go with everything. I’m not sure what my problem is. Fear of being way taller than everyone else maybe? I dunno. Either way, I will be wearing them more often from here on out.

On to the skirt. I saved this for last because I’m ashamed of myself regarding this skirt. I’ve had this thing for well over 5 years, and I can count on just over one hand how many times I’ve worn it. I’ve never transitioned it into the fall, so this will be new for me.

All in all, I feel pretty confident that this outfit is a good one. It’s a nice mesh of classic and trendy, and I usually feel most comfortable hanging out in that particular department of the fashion world.

What do you think?

Do you want to participate in Wearing it Well? Dig out those items from the back of your closet, put together an outfit, and then post your picture! Be sure to let me know if you participate!

tired of the same old, same old

Imagine the scene…

You’re out shopping, you walk into a store, you buy a shirt/pair of pants/some shoes or boots/a purse/jewelry that you think just looks adorable. It’s trendy, but you think to yourself that you don’t have too many trendy items, and so you can add this one teeny tiny little thing to your wardrobe.

You take it home, put it in your closet, and next thing you know, it’s 2 years later and you find it buried in the back with the tags still on it.

No? Just me?

I’ve got to tell you something, if ever there was concrete evidence for excess, I’m living in it.

In an effort to make our lives (and the lives of those helping us) easier when we move into the new house, I’m trying to take care of the tedious stuff up front. Pulling out fall/winter clothes, putting away spring/summer clothes. Packing up bags, purses, shoes that I don’t use frequently. And i’m telling you, that when I unloaded fall stuff, and packed away summer stuff, I was disgusted with myself.

In addition to 2 large trash bags of stuff I’ve given to Goodwill, I had another trash bag worth of stuff that I passed to my sister and mom. Add to that a full closet, and full dresser, and you’ve got mind-blowing excess. But that’s not even the most bothersome part -

Most of the junk I have, I either haven’t worn at all and it still has tags on it, or I’ve only worn it once or twice, certainly not enough to get my money’s worth out of it.

Well, I’ve had enough.

I have decided that from now on, I am going to try to wear at least 2 new(ish) items a week. It doesn’t have to be on the same day (although what a bonus that would be!) but I’m tired of the money that I waste on this stuff, money that, if I’m being honest with myself, really isn’t even mine. For crying out loud, I don’t think my husband was deployed for a year so that I could buy 3 (yes! three!) pairs of boots and only wear them each once. (yes! once!) I shudder to think of the extra money that we could have had in our savings account if I didn’t go through my “you’re gone, and I miss you, so I think I’ll spend un-nameable amount dollars on a bunch of stuff to fill the void” phase.

Why should you care?

Because from now on, there will be a weekly “Wearing it Well” post of my 2 new(ish) items of the week. Until I get through them all. Hopefully, you’ll get some fun outfit ideas from them, and you can copy them for yourself!

And if nothing else, at least it’ll stop me from constantly posting my house-woes. It’s really win-win.