Monday, September 7, 2015

Simplify - Summer Capsule Wardrobe

After considerable debate, I decided to give a capsule wardrobe a try. There were two immediate options - Project 333 or Unfancy. Project 333 sounded a bit too restrictive for me, as it includes belts, jewelry, etc, whereas Unfancy allows for 37 items and does not include accessories or jewelry. Of course, as each website details, capsule wardrobes are a "Choose Your Own Adventure" and rule breaking is perfectly fine.

The capsule schedule from Unfancy runs July to September. I wish I had started a month earlier, in June, as my summer wardrobe tends to be much more relaxed than my school year wardrobe. I don't wear shorts on campus (except for weekends if I have to run in to prep or check on something), and I'm ideally only on campus a few days a week during the summer. For June and July, I've been in 4 days a week; for August the goal is once a week. I tend to get less writing done when I am on campus working on projects with students. For example, I got 2 papers and 2 grants out in May. But I have only submitted 2 papers since (6 weeks).

Assembling the capsule wardrobe therefore, required splitting clothes between casual summer wear and clothes appropriate for teaching come late August. The next capsule will also be off - October,  December, January. I'll be in the field for November and will be in field gear.

What did I end up with?
Five pairs of shoes. The recommended number was 9. I picked black flats, copper flats, and brown flats, chacos, and black heels. Not counted: running shoes, hiking boots, beach flip flops.

Five dresses. Two casual, two work, one that can go both ways.

Two skirts. One orange, one black.

Four pairs of pants. Two work, two casual. No jeans.

Three pairs of shorts: grey, beige, purple. The grey and beige are replacement shorts for shorts I had had since 2006. They are the only new items I purchased for the capsule.

Thirteen tops. Three sleeveless, 4 t-shirts, the rest nice tops for work.

Five cardigans. In blue, black, grey, white, and brown.

Not counted: running clothing, yoga pants, two pajama pants, and the torn clothes for painting.

I'm blogging the Kitchen Cure (sort of)

I've decided to live blog the Kitchen Cure (Fall 2015) from thekitchn.com. Well, mostly. The Kitchn Cure runs from 9/7 until late in September, and I do have some travel this month. So I will do the assignments when possible, and give myself some flexibility to the end of the month.

Part 1: Just be present/immediate reactions
I need to do dishes. I need to get up and do dishes. Why are there always dishes? I need to sweep and mop, the floor is filthy.  I need to scrub all the cabinets. Why are they two colors? Who thought that was a good idea? I need to put the pasta maker away. We really need some art and some color in here. The only color is my red owl timer. Why is the phone still up? Didn't we get that disconnected? Why are there dry walls pieces on the stove?

Part 2: Go deep. Open drawers.
Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

Assignment #1 Make a list of likes and dislikes

Likes: It has a dishwasher. It has a fridge. The floor is pretty. I love my owl cookie jar, and the kitchen cart is pretty nice as well. I like that one of the bouquets from our wedding is in here.

Dislikes: The cabinets are yellow. The fridge is yellow while the stove is white. Everything looks worn and dingy. There is no rug. It is dirty. The layout is terrible. You can't really see the bouquet with the yellowy walls. The drawers are falling apart and are a chaotic mess. The brown and yellow cabinets look gross and dingy. There is no color. The room is soulless.

I need to give the room some soul.

Running update: Shoulder injury, so last week only 10 miles.
Total for August 76 miles!