January Simple Swap: Clean Closet, Clean Start

We all want to live healthier, more intentional lives, but sometimes it seems overwhelming and daunting to take even small steps toward our ideals because there are so many steps before us.


Simple Swap was born out of a desire and passion to encourage other women on journeys toward living healthier, more inspired, intentional lifestyles through implementing one simple swap per month. 




Each swap will:

1. Take 30 minutes or less to accomplish

2. Be inexpensive to implement or boast overall, long-haul {health} savings


3. Focus on improving health/eco-friendliness, being good stewards of our resources and/or fostering a creative and intentional life.

Some weeks, all three will be accomplished in 30 minutes or less!

My creative cohort Robin from Diet Coke on the Rocks already made her January Simple Swap! Check it out!


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Hello, closet. Look at you. You've really let yourself go. 

I think for your New Year's Resolution, you should really think about shaping up. And I'm going to help; I'm not leaving here without having unloaded a lot of dead weight.


Oh, my closet: a neglected space that has ended up as more of a junk room than a home for clothing, shoes and other essential gear.

Try as I may to keep things organized and neat, simply it's been impossible because we've just have too many things in there.

Too many clothes that are too big for me.

Too many clothes that are too worn for John.

Even too many shoes that I can no longer wear because apparently feet shrink after losing a bunch of weight.

Also, the random items -- a duck-down pillow topper for a bed, unmatched socks that haven't had a partner in years, junky plastic hangers from newborn clothes -- count among the too manys as well.

Part of the motivation behind Simple Swap was to encourage my heart as well as my friends to be good stewards of what we've been given.

In this house, we have been holding onto too-big clothes, unused shoes, unworn shirts and unappreciated household items for too long.

I long rationalized that hanging onto these items was a practical way to ensure we wouldn't have to buy more -- in the event that we needed them again in the future, thus making us good stewards because of all the money we'd save from rebuying the same things.

But a new definition of stewardship has been pressing into my thoughts -- one that says items are made to be used when they are needed, not saved for the possibility of future use. 

There are bodies that need those clothes now, those shoes now.

Aside from that, I've been thinking a lot lately about how our stuff can start to own us instead of us owning our stuff. 

I've been dodging two baskets of clean clothes settled in the upstairs hallway for days because I've been so busy picking up other things -- the toys, the books, the dishes, the Christmas decorations.

We have so many things that need to be picked up that I don't have time to get to it all, which is one way I've easily become encumbered by our things. 

So, in an effort to be good stewards of our resources and in an effort to simply own our stuff, we are going through a long process of disowning about 500 pounds of our stuff.

We made a big dent tonight with the home base of the bedroom closet, as it's been one of our biggest strong holds, consistently overlooked because it's so out of sight.

We discarded all of the clothes that haven't fit for quite some time and are sending them packing to the Tri County Thrift Store, a local organization that uses the profits from donated items sold to help in our community's pregnancy and parenting help center.

I shall not miss you, cute but too-big shoes since I have not worn you in more than one year.

And we said goodbye to some other items by giving them away and posting freebies on good old Facebook. The result? Cleaner and lighter.

Are you ready to get lighter?

Give yourself 30 minutes and disown, disown, disown!

If you're anything like me, you might actually feel the dead weight coming off your shoulders as you free your stuff and free yourself from it.

If you have to think about an item for too long and begin rationalizing ways you'll be using it, simply send it packing.

Also, this month, Simple Swap and Dress Like a Girl are combining forces! 

While clearing out your closet, kill THREE birds with one stone: Disown your stuff, be a good steward and Dress Like a Girl!

Don't miss Melissa's brilliant method for dwindling a closet full of clothing that doesn't quite do the body justice.

The first step to dressing like a girl, after all, is identifying what's flattering and makes us feel good!

After snapping a few photos of your swap, link up here in the January Simple Swap/Dress Like a Girl Challenge co-challenge! BE SURE to visit at least the person before you to encourage her on this journey!

{There will not be a giveaway for linking up this month because the point is to send things packing, not home new items!}

Dress Like a Girl: In the Cold!

There's not much I enjoy about the temperatures dipping below freezing ... or, say, 55 degrees.

Mostly I just like snow in December {and December only} and drinking steaming mugs of hot tea while snuggling next to my husband or boys, basking in the glow of a warm fireplace.

Not that we have a fireplace, but if we did, it would make me a little warmer toward the cold.

Even my relationship with winter gear has been that of a love-hate one.

Mostly I've loved it because it keeps me warm. And that was about all I loved it for during these past few years because it certainly hasn't been, hmm, the most stylish.

The first winter I spent married to my husband I fell cold-feet first into the trap of wearing his outdoor gear because, really, hunters do know how to stay warm.

Warm, yes! But cute? If you're a boy, totally!

John will insist I'd already gone down that rabbit hole of function over fashion, though, because when we met I sported my dad's size 2X down goose parka until probably sometime in April when I deemed it safe to emerge outside in less than four layers {for reals, I get bone cold in the winter}.

Until just last winter, I'd come to embrace the manly winter look, almost enjoying the shock on the stockboys' faces as I disrobed my outer garments upon entering the store, suddenly morphing into a women.

Then I found this knit ear band. It was pretty. It had sparklies. But I had little hope it would actually be thick enough to keep me warm. I tried it on anyway, because did I mention it was really cute? And it had sparklies?

I know; it's hard to see the sparklies. But they are there!

Miraculously, so I felt at the time, it was actually warm -- something I've rarely come across with winter women's fashion. {Perhaps all of these years I'd never been looking in the right places?} Of course, I shelled out the $20 it cost and wore it proudly -- clothed in its beauty and warmth -- amid the chill of late autumn.

I began avidly searching for more cold-winter gear last year, and I was re-inspired to continue my search after Melissa issued the Rock Fall October challenge, that didn't make me feel like a lumber jack or a big burly hunter foraging acres of open field in search for anything that moves{sorry, honey, your camo is warm, but it's not exactly stylish}.


And I found a warm, long scarf with the slightest of shimmers interwoven into the black wool

as well as purple gloves with finger holes and mitten covers, perfect for keeping warm while still being able to grip important things like the steering wheel, little hands and my phone

and the softest knit scarf from A Soft Landing and Quince and Co. that my husband immediately took a liking to and has been eyeing ever since I opened the package and let him touch it.

lovely knit from A Soft Landing

So while I haven't traded function for fashion, I've found fashionably functional gear that makes me feel a lot prettier while simultaneously providing the warmth I so desire when it's absolutely frigid {below 55 degrees} outside.
What are you sporting this fall to stay warm while still feeling lovely?  Have you fallen into the lumberjack trap?



Take the Dress Like a Girl challenge to Rock Fall and share your transformation at Melissa's! Did I mention that Melissa is giving away a $30 shop credit to A Soft Landing for those who link up?

Dress Like a Girl: In the Bedroom

There's no place I need more encouragement to dress like a girl than when it comes to the bedroom.

If John were to weigh in, he'd probably agree. I mean, one of my most frequented pajama shirts is from 1991. I know because the faded date of the festival from which the shirt hails is still miraculously readable. Relatedly, last year, I had to thrust a pair of frayed and tattered pajama pants in John's unsuspecting face, turn my head {dramatically} and exclaim for him to take them away to the donation bag before I changed my mind.

To which he replied, "Honey, you cannot donate those. They will probably disintegrate on the drive to the thirft store."

So, um, yeah; I needed help.

In my defense, it makes sense -- I mean, these worn clothes are the most comfortable threads I own; totally soft to the touch and thin, they are perfect sleeping wear.

While favorites are comfy and cozy, that's most certainly where the appeal ends. Honestly, come night time, my wears are anything but pretty, and that kind of rubs off on the way a girl feels, you know? {And the way we feel when we enter the bedroom shouldn't always just be pooped and ready to sack out, you know?}

So I resigned to retire some of my rattiest pajamas and trade them in for some new threads that are as cozy and comfortable as they are lovely.

And, thus far, I'm feeling pretty good about this decision and just plain pretty, too.

Why yes there are wildly half-dressed littles jumping on my bed behind me!

Cute, comfy Hotter slippers coupled with flannel pants.

You're seeing that right; there IS lace on my tank! :)

What about you? How's your bedtime dress? If you need some motivation, you still have time to Dress Like a Girl in the bedroom and link up! Pop over to Melissa's for some inspiration and a the linky.

Dress Like a Girl: Get outta the jeans, woman!

So I SWORE that I'd nevereverever wear mom jeans.

And I've kept good on that promise.

But I do wear jeans. Almost every day.

It's admittedly really, really hard for me to break out of my jeans rotation and slip on a dress or a skirt.

Because about five minute into wearing a dress or skirt, I begin the self-talk process that ends with me wearing jeans out of the house again:

Why are you wearing a skirt? You're going to end up crawling through a tunnel tube at the park in a dress after two rowdy boys who've become shell-shocked. You'll feel so restricted in a dress.

But, honestly, I don't want to fall into the mom wardrobe cycle, so when Erin and Melissa issued the Dress Like a Girl challenge, I jumped on board.

And I wore a skirt all.day.long.

Unfortunately, this half-picture is all I have to show for that day.



But let me tell you -- it felt good to wear something pretty, something lovely for a day. John even complimented my efforts, which made it all the sweeter.

I have to admit John was one of my top motivating factors for this challenge; he never says anything negative about my jeans wardrobe, but he almost always notices and appreciates when I'm dressed up. And I fully believe in taking the time to make my outer appearance appealing to hubby because, you know, that's important for a marriage.

For the challenge, I was wearing a Indian-silk saris converted into a wrap dress/skirt from a little boutique I came across {like this one} while I was in Southern California a few years ago. I wrapped it into a long skirt for the day. The sandals are compliments of the Target collection, and my shirt was a pinkish-purple tank top edged with lace from Banana Republic -- all very feminine!

I promise better visual documentation for next month's challenge, which is donning cute beach wear like sunglasses, hats, sandals, swimsuit cover-ups; I hope to sport all of those accessories this weekend during our first visit to the cottage {!!}.

Want to dress like a girl, too? Visit visit Melissa or Erin for details.