The Spring Capsule at the Halfway Point

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about my spring capsule (you can read all about it here, if you missed it) and even recapped my first two weeks of wearing ensembles from this particular capsule. I'm now halfway through the eight weeks of outfits and wanted to check back in to tell you what I'm loving and what I'm not loving!

Here are weeks three and four, recapped in a little less detail than I did the first time around.

Week Three:

(You can click on that to make it bigger if you want.)

Day One: I think this was my least favorite outfit so far. I just didn't love that shirt and skirt together. I felt like an overgrown junior high student.

Day Two: I had a speaking engagement on this day, so it was nice that it landed on a dress day!

Day Three: This was St. Patrick's day, and the ombre in the skirt wasn't quite green enough, so I added a scarf I already owned. That helped.

Day Four: FREEZING! Come on, spring! Catch up!!!

Day Five: I confess I needed a jeans day by this point!

Week Four:

Day One: I needed some sunshine in my life and the shirt delivered!

Day Two: I discovered there is one lavender stripe in that dress, so my new lavender leggings fit with it! YAY!

Day Three: This was supposed to be a shorts day, but it was too cold. I'd already worn this shirt with the other pair of jeans, so to try to mix it up, I wore different shoes and rolled up the pant legs.

Day Four: I really am loving the white pants.

Day Five: Had to wear a jacket because it was too cold for sleeveless. Again. Still.

So just for fun, here are all four weeks together:

No repeats yet! Not exactly. Some are close!

I'm learning that I really do love some of these pieces a lot and others are not my favorite. Maybe they will become my favorite, and maybe they won't! I'm not sure! I'm continuing to learn more about what I feel good in, what I need to have as part of my capsule, and what things maybe aren't the best fit. Here are a few specifics.

* I LOVE that striped dress. I love how it fits. The chevron one is okay, but it doesn't feel as good on as the striped one. (Probably because it's really a juniors dress and is an extra large and still feels too short.)

* I don't love button down shirts on me. At all. Even though the three in my capsule fit me well, I'm learning that style is just not great for me. My body wasn't made for it. Too bad, since they're so versatile.

* I don't love my denim skirt. I think I've always known that about this skirt, but it's what was in stock years ago the day I needed a denim skirt on the double. It needs to be just a hair longer and more tapered. It's like a big box on me and I hate that. I'll be on the lookout for a new one.

* I love the ombre skirt more than I thought I would, and I am not sure I love the maxi skirt even though I love the fit of it. The ombre skirt is just unique, and I think that's why I like it. I have a hard time finding maxi skirts that fit me right, and this one does, which is why I was so excited to get it. But I'm not sure I love the pattern.

* The floral tank is turning out awkwardly because of its smell! It was practically brand new in look and feel when I found it at the Goodwill. I thought it had maybe never even been worn. And honestly that might be true. But whoever had it before me liked her some STRONG perfume and no matter how many times I wash it, I cannot get the smell out. One day I had to switch the outfit to another one because I had a headache from it. If I can't get the smell out, I"ll have to get rid of it. Not worth it. Sigh.

* I'm missing my other clothes. In a regular world, I wouldn't maybe be such a stickler about following this every single day, but I'm doing an experiment here, so I need to stick to it. But I miss my other clothes - like my shiplap shirt! I enjoy wearing those things on the weekends. Learning that maybe I don't want four distinct seasonal wardrobes, but maybe find a way to dovetail all four seasons so they're a little unique and yet very interchangeable? Still working that one out in my head.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings! :) 

Spring Capsule Ensembles, Weeks 1 and 2

Yesterday I told you about my desire to build seasonal capsules, which will hopefully incorporate a little variety and color in my wardrobe year! My goal was to find clothes that worked well for my work-from-home life, where I don't have to dress up or be fancy, but would also work well for my speaking life, where I do need to look professional and put together.

Here are the first two weeks of my ensembles, based on the outfits from the inspiration capsule. Also...some thoughts on the adventure! {Click on the collage if you need to see it bigger.}

Week One:

* May Day One outfit was made up of a gray and white tank top, a chambray shirt, and jeans. I added my cute new gray lace-up shoes and brought in spring-like color with my jewelry: big pink hoop earrings, a multi-colored necklace, and a multi-colored bracelet. I spent the day working at home (plus running a few errands) and it was a cold, windy, rainy day, so this super casual look worked well and felt good.

* Day Two, I wore a coral button down shirt with 3/4 length sleeves. I put a white lace cami underneath since you can see right through the eyelets on the shirt. I wore white jeans and dark gold ballet flats. I contrasted turquoise jewelry with a necklace, hoop earrings, and a bracelet. Though I mostly worked from home this day, it was our monthiversary and we went to a Bible study, so it was nice to look a little more dressed up for the occasion. Plus, it was just a COLD day, so this offered the hope of spring.


*Day Three, I wore a plain navy v-neck shirt with a dark cami unerneath, since you can sort of see through it. I added a knee length denim skirt and a gray sweater. Because it was FREEZING, I added black leggings, and my new gray ballet flats. I accented with big pink hoop earrings, a pink necklace ,and a pink bracelet. I ran several errands throughout the day, and it was good to have a bit of a dressier look for some of them, but it was casual enough that I didn't feel overdressed for things like dog-sitting duty!

* Day Four, I wore this new dress! Because it was freezing again, I added white leggings and the gray ballet flats come back for a second day. I wore a necklace and bracelet that had a good mix of blues and greens and sparkly blue earrings. This dress feels like jammies, so this was PERFECT for a day of writing at home. I was probably overdressed, but I felt cute, and that was important because it was cold and nasty outside.


*Day Five, I wore a gray striped t-shirt. The inspiration capsule called for shorts, but NO WAY was it shorts weather, so I rotated in a second pair of jeans and the cute gray lace up shoes again. All silver jewelry this day - necklace, earrings, and bracelet. I went to a Bible study, so I felt cute there, and then it worked well for being home and writing the rest of the day!

Week Two:

 * Day One, I wore my gray patterned T-shirt coupled with the multi-colored shorter skirt. Again: freezing! Added white leggings and gold ballet flats. It was a badddddd hair day, so into a pony it went, and I wore glass teal earrings and matching necklace, along with a coordinating bracelet to pull out the color in the skirt. I wrote at home all day and only got out to visit Ryan at work, so this worked!

* Day Two, I wore jeans with my white button-down shirt. I put a white cami underneath for layering and so you couldn't see through, and also wore my gray ballet flats. Pink necklace, earrings, and bracelets brought in some spring and color. Though I was home all day, we had our Bible study that night, so I liked being casual yet dressy for the day.

* Day Three, I wore the second new dress and layered my green sweater on top. More leggings and gold flats. Sage green jewelry completed it! I went to a party that evening and wanted to look a little bit dressy but still be comfortable (two hours in the car), so this worked! (Note: I actually should have worn the chambray shirt so I didn't have the green sweater twice in one week, but I got it mixed up!)

* Day Four I started repeating! The coral shirt (with white cami underneath) came back, as did the denim skirt. I added white leggings, gold flats, and a chunky white necklace and coral earrings. I had a BUNCH of errands this day, including Mom's first physical therapy session, so dressy was good!

* Day Five, I wore the flowered tank top, covered by the green sweater and white jeans. Multi-shades of green jewelry rounded it out - and gray flats, too! I had Bible study on this day, and the room gets a little warm, so I liked having lighter layers.

 Ten of the thirty outfits I'll have from this capsule...featured right here! :) 

A Spring Capsule

If you've been reading here for a while, you know that almost two years ago now, I started establishing a capsule wardrobe. I've blogged about it several times and have to say I've really loved this change in lifestyle. I've enjoyed not having so much stuff to contend with and so many choices to plod through each day. I've also enjoyed the blessing of focusing on things that work well together in so many different combinations. (I have a Pinterest board about it here...with my inspirations and all my previous posts on the subject.)

But in order to make that work, I've sacrificed a lot of color variety from my wardrobe. Most of my clothes are black, white, and gray, with a handful of blue and teal accents. I started to sort of miss the chance to wear different colors. I didn't want to abandon the capsule project, since so many things about it are working well for me. But I started doing a little research to see if I had spice-it-up options, and decided to try a seasonal capsule wardrobe.

With a seasonal capsule, I'll take the year and divide it into four quarters (or seasons) and pick a color scheme for each season. Some of my pieces will come from the plain capsule I have now and might even rotate through multiple seasonal capsules too, and then I'll add accent pieces in each season's color schemes to complete it. For the sake of cost and convenience, I'll keep my black/white/gray base, and then I'll just add from there.

SO! For the spring capsule, I used this example as my template and decided to use a sage(ish) green and coral as my accent colors. I wanted to keep this as cost-effective as possible, so I relied heavily on the Goodwill to fill in the blanks for me. (And thankfully I hit the jackpot the day I went. Took me an hour and a half of scouring, but I found almost everything! And it took me f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to find the remaining few missing pieces after that day.) I also had to make just a few modifications from this exact template, but it was a good guide.

This was my inspiration collection.

2 Dresses.

These two stinkin' dresses proved to be my nemesis in capsule creation. I only own a small handful of dresses and none fit the bill for the spring capsule, because I wanted some with print/excitement. I'm still damaged from the floral prints of the 90s, so every dress I owned was plain. Since I had to shop, I wanted to find dresses that worked for dressing up when I am out speaking BUT weren't so overly dressy that I would feel weird wearing them at home when I'm just hanging out. That's a lot to ask out of a dress, and then to take that times two felt nearly impossible. The Goodwill failed me entirely, as did almost every single store in town. I finally found the Chevron dress at K-Mart  for $12.00 and the striped dress at JC Penney for $26.00. (That was way more than I wanted to pay, but I do love the dress, and I was desperate.) The Chevron dress is an extra large in the Joe Boxer brand. I really needed a large for it to be long enough, but they didn't have large in stock, and medium was WAY too short. So I swallowed my pride and got an extra large - comforted only by knowing it's a junior dress. The striped dress is a medium a.n.a. brand. Both are very comfortable and feel like jammies.

2 Button Down Shirts.

I had been looking for a good basic white button-down shirt anyway, so finding it as a piece of this capsule was a good nudge for me to actually GET the thing. Button-down shirts are hard for me to find because of how I'm built. It's hard to find one that's big enough in the bust/shoulders/back without being too flowy in the middle.I thought finding a coral button down to mimic the inspiration capsule was going to be hard, but I actually hit the jackpot and found both shirts at Goodwill for $4.00 each. The white button-down has TONS of buttons, which means I don't have to worry about it gapping at the chest, like button-downs tend to do one me. It's a Dress Barn shirt and looked brand new with a little angled striped pattern on it that makes it a bit slimming. The coral shirt is actually a Tractor Supply Company shirt that still had tags on it. Both shirts are 3/4 length sleeves, and the coral one has tabs to roll the sleeves up and hold them.


2 Sleeveless Shirts. 

In the example capsule, one of the sleeveless shirts was a bold print and one was gingham. I was pretty sure I wouldn't find a gingham one in coral, so my goal was just to do the best I could. I found one sleeveless shirt at the Goodwill that had a fun flowery print in green (Basic Editions brand, size medium and looked brand new) for $3.50, so I got that.  Though I wanted to buy another brighter option, I couldn't find one that fit (literally or figuratively) so I decided to use a gray and white striped sleeveless shirt I already owned. I got it at Kohl's last year (Sonoma brand, size small) when I was building my basic capsule. The good part about that was...it was free! I will probably keep my eyes open, and if I find a better option for a future year, I'll snatch it up.


1 Plain Shirt.

Although the inspiration capsule featured a lacy navy tee as a dressier shirt option, I really wanted to find a dressy shirt in coral or green to pull in more of the spring colors. Alas, I couldn't find one that flattered my figure, so I decided to pull a plain navy v-neck (Rock & Republic, size medium) from my existing capsule that I got last year at Kohl's while building the basic capsule. It's not perfect, and maybe along the way I'll end up replacing this one, but for now it works. And it was free! (And who knows? I might find that having the blue is a good mix-in even though it's not truly springy.)

2 Patterned Shirts.

In the inspiration capsule, one patterned shirt was gray and white striped and one was brighter in color. I actually had a gray and white striped shirt at home, but it didn't fit in the most flattering way, so I kept my eye out for a new striped shirt option as well as something brighter. Again, I rocked it on the new striped find when I shopped at the Goodwill (Rough Hewn brand, size medium), so I snatched that up for $4. It's a true t-shirt, but it's comfy! Sadly, I couldn't find another pattered shirt that fit right, but I did find a gray patterned tee at Goodwill for $4 (Mossimo Brand size medium), so I got that one.


3 Sweaters.

Confession: I am actually not much of a sweater lover. I feel like an old lady in them even though I know they are no longer "old lady clothes." I went shopping with an open mind, looking for a white, coral, and navy sweater. The coral search was a bust, but I did find a green one at the Goodwill for $4 (Maurices, size medium) that was lightweight and had short sleeves, so I got that. Unable to find any others that looked right, I decided to use a gray sweater I already owned (and love and wear a lot!) and instead of a sweater for the third one, I decided to throw in the chambray shirt I already owned. The gray sweater was a gift from my Mom for Christmas a year ago and came from Gordman's (B Design, size medium), and the Chambray shirt was one I bought as an early-on capsule piece. Got it at Cato (size large)!


3 Skirts.

The inspiration capsule featured a shorter denim skirt, a mid-length white skirt, and a pencil coral skirt, but I made some modifications. I owned a denim skirt already (Cato, size 10), so I threw that in. (It looks awfully boxy on me though, so whenever I find one that is a better fit, I'm getting it.) I couldn't find a white skirt I loved, but I did find a cute one at the Goodwill for $4 that had white, green, and tan in it (Daisy Fuentes, size 8), so I went with that. It was quirky and unusual and kind of a long tennis feeling style. Since both of those skirts hit above the knee, I decided to go with a maxi skirt for the third one. I found one at the Goodwill for between $3.50 (Tryst brand, size small) that was white and gray and fit well, so I added it to the cart.


2 Pairs of Pants.

Before I put this capsule together, Ryan bought me two new pairs of jeans because some of mine were rather (ahem) baggy in the back end. So I pulled out a pair from that purchase from Kohl's (although confession: I own more than just that pair and can fill in with one of the others if this pair happens to be dirty). The ones I pulled out were Lauren Conrad Brand, skinny size 8. Then I went on the hunt for white jeans. I'd been wanting some anyway, and Goodwill to the rescue! Found a practically new pair for $2.00 (Bandolino Brand, size 8)!


1 Pair of Shorts. 

Shorts are rough in the spring in Indiana. It's hard to have days that are warm enough for them, but we're having such an unseasonably warm spring that I thought it just might work! I pulled a pair of dark denim shorts (Kohl's last year size 8) from my capsule and threw them in. If the days are too cold, I'll supplement with extra jeans.


Shoes

The capsule called for three pairs of tan/nude shoes. Two flats and wedges. But I went a totally different direction. I actually found 2 new super cute pairs of shoes at Cato! Both are gray. Lace up casual shoes for $15.99 and dressy slip-ons for $9.99. I owned a pair of goldish ballet flats already (ironically also from Cato), so I put those in as my third pair! 

NOTE:
Because we have had such a cold start to spring, I also added a white and black pair of leggings to help on the skirt days (already owned both, so no additional spending) and I threw in a white and black cami I already owned to wear under a couple of the shirts that are a bit on the thin side. I skipped getting new purses, and I also use a variety of my existing jewelry to spice it all up. 

So...this is my spring capsule! For six weeks (five days a week), I'm rotating different combinations of what you see above, and I'll report in with those combos every couple of weeks so you can see how it works! I have to say that so far, I'm loving it (really loving some outfits more than others but haven't HATED any outfits yet) and I'm enjoying some new pieces!

Linking up with Tamar

The Shafferland Shuffle

I feel like this last week has been busy, but not necessarily news-worthy. So it may not be the most interesting shuffle in the history of shuffles, but I shall soldier on and document!

* Last Sunday, Mom told us NOT to come out to visit. (She worries we spend too much time on her.) Her exact quote was, "I don't want to see you today." So naturally, we sent a selfie so she had to see us. Hee hee hee. Ryan was doing a big paperwork sorting project, but he paused for a nap, so Braeya "helped" by sitting on top of all the stacks while they were unoccupied. Me? Well, I just read blogs.

* On Monday, I did a full day road trip over to our old stomping grounds of Marion to deliver books to folks who wanted to use them for a Lenten study. It was like the days of yore, packing up my car for a day of commuting! While I was in town, I felt it only right to go to Poppy's Xtreme Donuts to get Ryan a treat! And after stopping to visit Mom, I discovered I had a treat of my own waiting when I got home...NEW SCRAPBOOKS ARRIVED!!!! Woot woot!

* Tuesday was crazy busy with all kinds of chores and errands, so I took just a quick second to sit and rest in the afternoon before hopping up to cook, because we had friends over for Tuesdays at the Table! This time we had friends from our old church in Marion. They hadn't seen our house yet, and we had a great time hosting them! :)

* Well Indiana proved the old adage true: March came in like a big old mad lion. Woke up at some ridiculous hour with weather radios going off and hail hitting the windows and the power going out. Whew! It finally calmed down, though. My sister came up to be with Mom that day, so I had the WHOLE DAY to work in the office. Braeya was so happy, she snuggled right up with me while I wrote! And it was the first day of the great spring capsule wardrobe project. More on that later!

* Thursday was our 51st monthiversary, and it was nothing but pure chaos and not much time together. Ryan didn't even get to come home for lunch that day, so I took lunch to him and we ate in his cloffice. By the time we got around to taking our official photo that night, we were both exhausted, I'd had a massive meltdown, and it took THIRTY TRIES to get one good photo. (And I don't even really like IT. I was just tired of redoing it!)

* By Friday, we were just pooped. I tried to cram in steps during the day, and Braeya kept high-fiving me whenever I walked by the bathroom. Ryan and I had plans for a double date that night, but we had to reschedule it, so we just stayed home and watched a movie. It was much-needed down time! And at the end of the night, Braeya played hide-and-seek with us. Do you see her?

* Ryan had to work yesterday, so I stayed home and did work there. We'd awakened to snow, but it melted off when the sun came up, and it was just a nice blanket/work/coffee/sunshine kind of day. We had to run some errands, so we went for coffee, and found out it was a BOGO day for macchiatos. SWEET! We went to visit Mom, and check out the amazing sunset we got to see! And with that...our crazy week was complete!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Well there certainly has not been a shortage of events this week!! Full, full week! Here we go!

* Last Sunday, Ryan had to work, which is a rare thing, but it does sometimes happen. (By Friday, he had worked 13 days in a row, and we were both exhausted.) When he got home, we went to an open house for a recently built house in our neighborhood. We love to see what's new! Ryan likes the light fixture and I photo-bombed. :) And that night, we began the first of allllllllll the visits to the hospital. That night? To see his mom.

* Monday I spent an hour and a half at the Goodwill, buying clothes for my spring capsule project (more on this later). I think that may be a record for the amount of time I've spent at the Goodwill in one day. That night, we went back to the hospital to see Ryan's mom again, and then out to my parents' house to drop off the 30 freezer meals I made for them. (They were surprised!)

* Tuesday was Mom's surgery day, so I hurried to get all my chores done in the morning and then we spent the whole afternoon and evening at the hospital with her. (And threw in some visits to Ryan's mom while we were at it.) We had Bible study that night and made minor pigs of ourselves on the snacks provided, because we'd never gotten around to having dinner!

* I'm sure it will surprise you that I spent part of Wednesday at the hospital, attending Mom's therapy sessions and delivering flowers. Ryan and I went back that night to see her again and to get our daily hospital selfie. We tried to get one every day this week, but this was the last day we actually remembered to do it.

* Thursday morning, we went on the first portion of our "C" date (more on this to come), and then while Ryan went to work, I went back to the hospital to be Mom's therapy coach. Even got to eat lunch with her! Ryan and I went back that afternoon to help with her release and to get her home and into the house safely. Quite a production!

* Friday morning, my dad had a previously scheduled appointment, so I went to sit with Mom while he was gone and to help when the home health nurse came. (Lots of questions and Mom was still pretty groggy from all the happenings of the week.) Came home, worked all afternoon and then that night, Ryan and I had part two of our "C" date. We were so tired, we ended up sleeping on Mo and I missed the entire end of the movie we watched!

* Woke up yesterday to SNOW. COME ON, INDIANA! Snow was so last month. Let's move on to spring! We went out for the third and final portion of our "C" date, and then I had to get back home for a podcast interview. It was Ryan's first day off in two weeks, so he enjoyed updating his phone and doing other fun at-home chores. Well-deserved. We paid a quick visit to my parents, and it's great to see Mom doing so well!

The Saturday Six

One.

Source

If it's cold and snowy where you live, today would be a great day to curl up and listen to a podcast! I've got the first Conversation Cafe of 2017 with author Erica Wiggenhorn. I've told you about her new Bible study, An Unexplainable Life several times, because I just completed it at the end of last year. (It's also the study Ryan and I are leading together with our small group.) I really enjoyed this study and it was a treat to get to hear from Erica herself about her passion for Christ and what she learned from studying the first half of Acts. If you're looking for a good study to start 2017, pick this one! And take a listen to Erica's heart!


Two.

Source

I found this post by Wendy Lawton at the Books and Such Literary blog, and though it's geared toward writers, I think the words are helpful for anyone working from home/getting back into homeschooling right about now. Wendy gives permission to ease back in, which was my exact plan as I returned to work this past week. I appreciated her validation that easing in wasn't slacking off, and perhaps we'd all have a better start to the new year if we allowed ourselves this very thing, rather than rushing headlong into a busy schedule and finding frustration at the inability to keep up!

Three.

 Source

I haven't blogged much recently about my adventures in styling my capsule wardrobe, because I haven't completed any new sections of it! But when I started this adventure, one of the most helpful blogs I found was Audrey over at Putting Me Together. She is down-to-earth, real, shops at normal stores, has a normal body type, and I found her tips and ideas very helpful! This week she shared this post that I LOVED! Tons of ideas on how to figure out what you need in your wardrobe, if that confuses you. Really helpful post!

Four.

Source

One of the hard things about waiting for answers in the whole medical world is...well...waiting. I don't do it well, especially when I have to watch my Love hurting so much! I had mentioned in passing to one of my friends this week that I was frustrated as to whyyyyyyyyyyy {yes, read in a whine} God wasn't answering, and she reminded me that wait was an answer. {Sigh. I know.} Later, she shared this post with me, which was really convicting and comforting at the same time. Don't know if you're in a waiting game right now or not, but if so...read up! 

Five.

Source

Last year, I had the opportunity to join up with a team of writers to share posts in the Annesley Writers Forum. This week, they published one of my articles, which happens to be about our "Tuesdays at the Table" project. I'm excited to share that with you today, both to share about this project I love so much and also to share the site with you. Lots of great articles each week by a variety of women! 

Six. 

As you know, this past year I got in the habit of reading a book every week and reviewing it here on Saturdays. As far as I know, I plan to keep that habit this year, because I have loved returning to books after so many years of not having time to read.

But today I feel funny calling this last part a book review, since the book I read this week is considered an American classic and isn't going anywhere whether or not I loved it. But though I won't call it an actual review, I'll tell you that for the first time ever in my life, I read Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden.

I had mentioned on a podcast not long ago that I'd never read the book, and my mom happened to have a copy that someone gave her for Christmas in 1947. (That's 69 years ago if anyone is doing the math.) So not only did I read an old book this week, I actually read an old book. I think it was as much fun to hold an old copy in my hands as it was to read the story.

Have you read The Secret Garden? If you haven't, the quick synopsis of the book is that it's the story of Mary Lennox, a little orphan girl who comes to live at Misselthwaite Manor with her uncle - although perhaps it's more accurate to say she comes to live with his staff. He's rarely there. She arrives in the winter, and the Manor is a giant, gray, tomb-like place to be, so Mary sets out exploring to keep herself occupied on the long days. As winter creeps into spring and she spends time outside in the gardens, she discovers a secret garden, one commanded closed by her uncle following the death of his wife.

The book was written in the early 1900's, so some of the words are unfamiliar to us now in daily use, and other words are used very differently in our language today. (I told Ryan I'd never read a book in which a female character talked about how excited she was to get fat.) There are also some sections written in a heavy Yorkshire dialect, so you have to slow down in those parts and read carefully to fully understand.

Mary and some other characters in the book believe the secret garden has magical powers, so if magic talk bothers you, you'll want to be prepared for that. But even with that, you could see a sense of innocence and fun throughout every page of this book that seems to be missing from much of what we might read in present-day books.

I particularly loved the way this book simply told a story. I'm pretty sure Frances wasn't worried with character development and multiple plot lines and all the things authors have to mess with today to be successful. It's just a fun story, and I was able to simply enjoy it.

When I was in college, one of my professors dearly loved to visit used bookstores and hunt for old copies of books. Treasures. I never understood it, but after reading this one, I am starting to see her joy in that. (Oh dear. I feel a trip to a bookstore in my future.) I say this because as I read through some reviews of this book on Amazon, I realized many of the copies for sale today are abridged versions and rewritten versions. There was something lovely about holding an untouched version in my hands to read, and I think I might like that again with another classic.

So that was my week with The Secret Garden. Ryan has asked if a movie version of the story is available. ;)

Simply Bliss {ooh! and a giveaway!!}

It's been a little over a year since I started my capsule wardrobe life, and in that time, I've learned quite a lot about what works and what doesn't. I'm still building it, piece by piece, and I just got something new!

So because I like to think we're the kind of friends who go shopping together and give opinions after trips to the fitting room, check this out!

As you know, I have {for many years now} shopped at Cato nearly exclusively, but in an odd twist of fate, Kokomo does not actually have Cato. {What!?!?} My backup store was Old Navy and Kokomo's store closed right around the time we moved.

Sigh.

So I've started shopping online a little more, even though this makes me nervous, because I'm a girl who kind of needs to try on clothes to make sure they fit my oddly proportioned self.

Here's a shop I just learned about: Simply Bliss Boutique. It was started by two friends {who are, by the way, adorable} who met in a class at church and ended up going into business together! Their desire is to provide clothing options to women and girls who want to be cute and trendy without losing all modesty in the process.

And it just so happened that one of the pieces in their boutique is the exact thing I was looking for to add to my capsule. Happy coincidence!!!

Here's the thing.

It's no secret that my thermostat is broken. Like my personal thermostat. It's hard to layer up when doing so produces an overheating of gargantuan proportions. So "throwing on a sweater" just doesn't work for me. I had two vests in my capsule that were sleeveless and lightweight, and I liked them, but I needed one more: a neutral one that could go with anything.

AND THEY HAD ONE!!

I was so excited.

One thing I've learned in this capsule building process is that when you're not buying clothes all the time, it's important to go with quality when you do buy something. And this thing is quality. It's heavy duty {in a quality sort of way} without being heavy {in a temperature sort of way}.

Besides the heat factor, I struggle with vests and sweaters because they tend to just hang, and I need a little definition in my clothes. I don't need the extra invisible pounds of hanging clothing. So guess what? This vest has a drawstring! I love it! I can pull it in and give a little bit of shape, which makes me feel so much better about myself. 

Wanna know my favorite part?

UNENDING POCKETS.

Oh my word, people. I cannot tell you how happy I am when I have pockets. Seriously. Why were clothes even designed without them? This vest has multiple pockets - six, to be exact -  so my phone will be safe and at the ready for my endless picture taking. {Because that's really what it's all about.}

It also has a hood, which is just cute, and even though I probably won't use it unless I get caught in a rainstorm, I like the extra little bit of personality it provides to the vest. But if you hate hoods, it zips right off completely, and you don't have to wear it at all.

It has a lining that gives it durability without making it too heavy. It both zips and snaps, or you can just wear it open. Works with dressing up or dressing down, which is a requirement of anything I put in the capsule. And because it's neutral {stone, if you want to be specific}, it can go with anything.

I am thrilled. It's perfect for me and feels so comfy. You're going to see a lot of this on the old blog in forthcoming pictures!!

The nice ladies at Simply Bliss sent this vest my way in exchange for an honest review, and I'm excited that I honestly LOVE IT!!

So here are some things you might need to know.

* Go check out Simply Bliss Boutique. You can subscribe to their emails and get 20% off your first order. {SWEET!}

* Free shipping on orders over $50. {DOUBLE SWEET!}

* If you like the vest I got, it's called the utility vest in stone, but they have other vests too, if you prefer a different style.

* They told me {and were right} that if you're unsure of which way to go between two sizes, to go with the bigger one. Since I lost weight, I wear mostly medium, but I tend to be bigger through my back and shoulders, so I went with a large on this, and it fits perfectly. A medium definitely would have been too small.

* They do have a return policy, outlined here, in case you want to know the particulars before shopping for clothes online.

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND Simply Bliss is providing a $25.00 gift card to one of you so YOU can shop, too!

So if you want to win, leave a comment and tell me your favorite thing you're looking forward to wearing this fall. {I love the return of fall clothes.} I'll put your names in a hat and Ryan {aka my photographer extraordinaire} will draw on Saturday night and I'll announce it before the Shuffle on Sunday! {You can comment anonymously, but type in your name in the comment!}

Thanks for shopping with me. Hope you had fun...and if you win the gift card, hope you have some fun of your own!

Thanks, Simply Bliss, for all this fun. I'm looking forward to shopping again soon!