NEW 52 | Capsule Wardrobe

Bear with me here...this is going to be a longer, yet fun blog post. Pull up a seat and grab your coffee....

So I came across the concept of "Capsule Wardrobe" about two months ago. I was instantly excited about it and loved the concept. For those of you totally unaware of this creative fashion concept, click here. My only setbacks were: 1) Could I really limited one season's worth of clothing to 37 pieces (not including workout clothes, accessories, purses, etc.) 2) Where would I have the time to plan for this let alone document it. 3) Would it make me want to buy a whole new set of clothes to make outfits coordinate.

My answer is both yes and no, but I could totally do this. It matches my personality to a T. So while I am in the beginning stages of becoming a "fashion minimalist", it doesn't mean that I have to throw away 3/4 of my closest. It just means that it takes the 10 minutes of guesswork every morning and allows me to slowly add the clothing items that I really need. And slowly sell or donate the ones I don't really care to wear anymore.

Since I work from home, I don't have a lot of dressy clothes in my capsule. But, I still want to look fashionable even if I am home alone tapping away on my computer. I even can venture to say that this is forcing me to nail down my exact sense of style...and that makes me happy!

In the middle of December, I will begin to plan my winter capsule wardrobe (January-March) and allow myself to buy a few things that I might need. I've already noticed that I do not have any nice white shirts....must be because I am a mom and know my kids will get my shirts dirty one way or the other.

It took me about 10 minutes to go threw my closest and pull out the things I like. I also can look to Pinterest to help me pull my outfits together. I am really excited for this challenge. I guess my Fashion Merchandising education has been suppressed for a really long time!

So, I realized after taking most of the photos that the photo quality was not so great, but I didn't have time to make it perfect. I will work on better lighting for my winter wardrobe photo shoot.

All in all, I am right around 40 pieces of clothing, including shoes, and I am totally OK with that. It really not about the exact number of clothing items that I am going with in the end. It's more about minimizing to build upon my own style.


Below are just a few pieces that I will be wearing this Fall. In the end, I selected 17 tops, 8 jackets, 8 jeans, and 6 pairs of shoes.

Project Life | Weeks 40-42

WEEK 40 | private gymnastic lessons for my little dancer, love notes at school...

Flowers from Daddy, a card from my Granny, dance practice with new costumes, and baseball/soccer games.

WEEK 41 | Hank turns 38 and a few sick days in our home

Travels to Phoenix and LA to visit the Naimos and attend Mason's memorial. Considering the weekend was full of emotion and travel, there were so many amazing moments along the way.

WEEK 42 | Travels home to Colorado, happy to see my kiddos again, and Fall leaves everywhere

My parents came for a visit. Adventures included Casa Bonita, Elitch Gardens and i9 sports.

NEW 52 | Casa Bonita

Last week on a road trip with my good friend Robin who grew up in Colorado, she told me about at a restaurant in Denver that we just needed to visit. Well, today was that day! My parents are in town for a few days and our original plans fell through. So we ended up at Casa Bonita. It took some encouragement from families exiting the restaurant to sway our decision. The restaurant was in a vacant strip mall that looked a bit sketchy. And the catch to entering the restaurant featuring a 30 foot water fall with daring cliff divers is that every person in your party has to purchase a meal. Even though we weren't super hungry, we decided to go for it.

My kids loved Casa Bonita! We had dinner on a balcony looking over the waterfall. Casa Bonita has shows every 15 minutes so it kept us entertained for a couple of hours. The restaurant was also decorated to the nines with Halloween decor making it a spooky experience. My little ones are already asking to go back again. The food was actually decent as I was forewarned it wouldn't be very good. You pay for the experience more than anything. Maybe in a year or so we will return.

We Keep On Going

He pretty much wanted to give up baseball altogether after the second game of an eight game season. He would rather high five everyone running the bases and strike up a conversation or check out the grass for its comfort. In fact, at some moments, he would rather do anything than be on the field waiting for a ball to come to him.

As Ryland's coach and mom, I won't let him give up. I paid my hard earned money for him to be in this league. And if I have to be there, he has to be there. I just won't let him sit out. What would it say to all of the other kids? That we could just quit when we feel like it? Nope.

As I've come to realize, it's much harder for me to coach my own child. If another dad tells him, "Ryland, cover your base!" He will...at least for a few more minutes. So I've had to have a weekly talk with my little dude about giving it your all, even when you don't feel like it. And boy, do I feel like a hypocrite.

As I've struggled to find joy in the past 10 days, I've re-learned to be joyful about the little things. First, that I have a son. Second, that I get to be his coach and spend one-on-one time with him while his siblings are playing soccer. Three, that he loves me and wants to follow me wherever I am on the field.

Ryland has (God willing) a long life ahead of him. He can take his sweet time finding out his passions in life and them strengthening those skills. I don't really care if he turns out to be an MVP or not. I just want him to never give up. I want him to develop perseverance for the toughest of times ahead. And, I want him to know that no matter what, I will be cheering him on from the sidelines. Because no matter what, he is an MVP in my eyes.

Project Life | Weeks 35-39

This is really week 35.  After I took the photo of this week's spread, I noticed that I accidentally put in a week 36 card. I've already changed it but am too lazy to redo the photo. You get the concept though :)

WEEK 35 | Colorado Springs Balloon Festival with family.

WEEK 36 | On Labor Day, we took the kids to Dave & Busters.

The kids were invited to a birthday party at a gym. And all three kids started the fall league with i9 Sports.

WEEK 37 | Lots of family in town to celebrate Oma Mies turning 80!

Lots of family time...

WEEK 38 | Field trip to Miller Farms

WEEK 38

WEEK 39

WEEK 39