37 pieces???

  Happy Thursday! The sun is shining and the weather is gorgeous. I love spring and summer when it is actually spring and summer. No cold weather for me. Blech! Hate it.

 I have been researching a new concept regarding my wardrobe. It is based on the concept of only keeping 37 pieces, including shoes-what???, and rotating the outfits out throughout the season. Think lots of basics and making your outfits pop with accessories. Now, that is 37 pieces per season, so 37 for spring/summer and 37 for winter/fall. The concept comes from www.un-fancy.com.  She has a great blog and I love this idea. The only thing I need to tweak from her idea is I need a more defined work wardrobe. I work at a company that is business casual to business dress, so I need less casual then her ideas. I started working on my wardrobe this weekend and have gotten rid of one trash bag full of clothes and shoes! I changed out my winter wardrobe, got rid of things I did not wear this season and then only kept the things I loved and wore out of my summer wardrobe. I think I can get my 37 pieces, but I may need to add a couple of things. I need a good white button down that is suitable to dress up or down and I need two work jackets. I have never been a jacket (think woman’s suit coat) wearer, but I need to dress up my outfits a bit and a jacket would be perfect. I thought I had two purchased, but the size 4’s I purchased were too small. I really need a 2 for the classic fit. This is going to be a huge problem because size 2 is just about impossible to find. The place I got my jackets from does not even carry the jacket in a size 2! So very frustrating!  This weekend I am on a quest to find these jackets. Wish me luck. I will keep you updated on my 37 piece wardrobe, complete with pictures to keep me accountable. I am a clothes and shoes fanatic, but I am trying to change my hoarding ways.

 I am so very excited! I am finally well enough to go run with my girls tonight at Women Run Arkansas! I miss my group. They keep me laughing and I am awed at the accomplishments from every one of them. You are welcome to join us tonight even if you have not officially registered for WRA. We are at War Memorial from 5:30 to 6:30.  Would love to see you! Tonight we are running 4 minutes and walking 1 minute for a total of 31 minutes. I believe I may die. I have not run in two weeks so it should be interesting. I try to remember something I read which is great advice: “Your mind always gives up before your body does”.

Hugs!

It's National Walking Day!

It is National Walking Day. How are you celebrating? At the office we are participating in a company walk. I work downtown, so we are starting at Broadway and walking to the Capital Building and back. It is going to be sunny and 70 degrees and should make for a beautiful walk. 

 I finally am getting back to the land of the living. I have been struggling with some health issues the last couple of weeks and things are finally starting to level out. Once I fully get over the hump, I will share my story with you, but needless to say I slept decently last night for the first time in forever. Yippee!!! I hope this trend continues because this girl needs her sleep.

 Last night hubby and I went to the European travel informational meeting last night. Youngest stepson is traveling to Europe for 10 days with his high school. I am excited for him to have this opportunity. He, his mom, and grandma have paid for the majority of the trip and hubby and I have picked up the last minute expenses. Hubby and I did not contribute more because, honestly, we have multiple kids to take care of and believe what we do for one, we should do for the others and we do not have the finances right now to spend a couple thousand dollars to send kids to Europe. I am glad his mom and grandma have been able to provide this for him. It should be lots of fun. When Brother Richard was talking about the trip, it made me long to travel overseas again. I have been fortunate enough to have travelled internationally. I have seen all of England, Scotland, Spain, Amsterdam, Canada and Mexico. I loved it and it is an experience I will never forget. Experiencing other cultures is fascinating to me and makes me appreciate home even more. Hubby has never been overseas, so we are in the midst of planning an international vacation. It will not happen for a few years because like I said earlier, we have multiple kids to pay for.  Plus, we are trying to narrow down where we would like to go. I would love to see the Orient, but hubby is leaning toward England. I guess being the soccer fan that he is, I can understand that. We have friends who live in England so we already have somewhere to stay, plus I would love to show hubby my old stomping grounds. I encourage everyone to travel overseas at some point in their lives. It really is a wonderful experience. 

Have a fabulous day and get out there and walk!

Hugs!

Catch up!

 Wow! Almost a month since I have last blogged. Crazy. This is our busy time of year and the days are flying by. I am home today with an illness I am getting over(will expand upon this later) and decided to catch up on my blog. Sorry for the absence my loyal readers!
 What's been going on this month:

1. Princess made high school cheerleader. I am so proud of her for this accomplishment. She worked hard and succeeded. What a rock star.

2. Oldest son finally decided where he wanted to attend college. He was accepted at the 6 he applied for, but in the end, he decided to be a Razorback. I am proud of his choice and the ball is already rolling in preparing him for departure in the fall. He has picked a roommate, someone from Houston, Texas. They have never met. They found each other through a website kinda like match.com only for college roommates. He graduates in one month and I am mentally preparing myself for this. His graduation invitations came in and I only cried a little bit.

3. Still loving my job. Passed the 90 day mark and they still like me so I guess I am staying. I will say, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arkansas is a wonderful company to work for and I can see myself retiring here. It is so nice to finally have a career. My college degree really paid off.

4. Women Run Arkansas is going amazing. I hate that I am missing tonight. These ladies inspire me and I love them dearly. I am also really enjoying the running we are doing. We are up to 3 1/2 minutes running and 1 1/2 walking. We are true rock stars. I am ready to rock out the graduation 5K with these ladies in 3 weeks. And, you should see my legs and ass! I got a bit jiggly over the last couple of years and I am toning up nicely.

5. Hubby is doing fabulous. He is training to run the Rocket 5K and I am so proud of him. He gets in about 6-7 miles every day. He gets up early and runs with Wally. Of course, this is after he gets my coffee and breakfast ready. I told you I was spoiled.

6. Youngest stepson went on his first college tour last week. For some reason he is interested in all these expensive private schools. Now, I am not knocking these schools and he has the test scores and grades for them, but none of them give full scholarships. Why not go somewhere that you will not have to get a loan or grant?

7. Oldest stepson? Hmmmm, not sure on that one. I hardly ever hear from him. I am going to assume that he is doing well. He and his dad text and talk occasionally, but have not seen his face since his birthday dinner. Pretty convenient, huh?

8. Hubby and I are celebrating our anniversary next month. 3 years! Like I said before, time has really flown. We are making plans to do something fabulous to celebrate because, we are so thankful we have found each other. Like he said, I was not his first because you always save the best for last.

Hope all is well with everyone and remember to do something amazing today.

Hugs!