Wardrobe Overhauls and Forty for Forty Updates

Last weekend, Beau was helping me with some laundry and was in our back closet hanging up some of my clothes.  I didn't think much of this until he came in the living room and asked, "Guess how many items of clothing you have hanging in our closet?" with a smirk on his face.

...

Now before I tell you the answer, I will justify (like I did with him) that I hang up pretty much everything.  All four seasons, sweatshirts, t-shirts, dresses, sweaters, work clothes, lounge clothes, you name it.  But I am also good (or I thought I was good) at weeding through clothes pretty often.  So when I guessed 180 and Beau laughed at my response, even I was shocked to hear my final.

320.

Yes, almost one thing to wear for every day of the year.  And what is really sad is that I probably wear about one tenth of that.  

But here is what's fun about this whole closet realization thing.  Beau didn't shame me, but instead inspired me on to what I'm now calling my 2020 Wardrobe Overhaul.  Every day for a year, I am going to wear something new from my closet.  And I'm going to attempt to add nothing new to it!  Whether I love it or not, I'm going to live in an outfit for a day and decide whether it gets to stay at the end of it.  Beau, Cruz, and Mila will help me decide whether it stays, goes, or becomes a maybe, to which I will hang all maybes in a section of my closet to go through at the end of the month.  To help me keep track, I've already turned every single hanger backwards and once items that stay are washed, I will hang them the right way.  I started Sunday and already have 1 keep, 2 maybes, and 1 lose.  I sort through my closet a couple times a year, but have found that it's always hard to make decisions on what stays and what goes where I'm working with the whole thing.  This is a fun little challenge that takes no time, and also pushes me to give everything a shot and be creative with what I already own.  And my hope by the end of next year?  A closet that's cut IN HALF.  At least!

I've learned a lot about self-identity this past year, especially thanks to the enneagram which type-casted me as a successfully struggling 3.  And my 3-ness really comes out in areas like my closet overhaul.  I actually love tasks that involve planning and organizing my life, especially when I can create little systems that I can list and manage and weave into a rhythm that helps me feel disciplined and accomplished.  And there are so many areas of my life that reveal this!  When I was a little girl, I used to start a "Christmas planning list" at home.  Starting around October, I would cross things off a list as I readied our home for Christmas.  I'd collect all the Christmas books and store them in a pile in Taylor's room, reading him one every night until Christmas.  I'd clean out junk drawers, organize movie drawers, and put up a little Christmas tree in our basement family room to create a pretty space to enjoy for the holidays.  That is what I did "for fun" when I was 7.  And I still do that for fun. :) 

And most recently, I drafted a 40 Before 40 Bucket List on my 35th birthday, including 40 things I'd like to do in the next five years.  And then, I figured out a plan for doing them. :)  Every month, I pick a focus area.  I coined "Skin Care September" as my first month's focus.  I made an appointment at the dermatologist to get a full body scan for moles, and discussed options for a manageable skin care regimen.  I went through all my old products and got rid of a bunch, and ordered a new line I am absolutely loving.  And at the end of the month, I treated myself to my very first facial at Jiva!  I've seen improvements in my skin already and have mostly followed better habits of washing my face at night and applying sunscreen in the morning.  

Last month, we rented a cozy cabin in the woods and enjoyed The Head and the Heart in Ames, their new album and that song Honeybee playing on repeat all fall.  And we started a "Kindness Jar" to document little acts of kindness we can sprinkle throughout our weeks.  The kids got in on this too, Mila using her love of coloring to make lots of cards for people she appreciates at her new school.  

And this month, I started a neighborhood book club.  This was such a fun yes.  I devoured Daisy Jones and the Six, loved the characters and style and story of this book so much, and waited in anticipation all month to gather some ladies here to drink some wine and talk about it.  I played Fleetwood Mac, made some pumpkin bars and charcuterie, and sat in our living room for hours with both new and familiar faces to dig deep into a book and laugh a whole lot while doing it.  Kari should be sending our next book title today and that text will feel like Christmas.  Although I have a feeling Daisy Jones is going to stay with me for awhile...  

"We love broken, beautiful people.  And it doesn't get much more obviously broken and more classically beautiful than Daisy Jones."  

Our Cabin Weekend, Part 2

I woke up early Saturday morning and debated whether to lay still in that amazing bed in the upstairs loft, or try and steal what I could of the quiet and chance to read by myself before anyone else woke up.  I decided to tiptoe very quietly downstairs, turn on the fireplace, and wrap up with my quilt and book I had been especially saving for our weekend away.  I turned on the oven and baked up the breakfast casserole I had prepared the week before, successfully attempted my first pot of French press coffee, and snuggled up on the couch with Daisy Jones and the Six.  I fully expected my early bird Cruz to join me within minutes of opening my book (isn't that always the case?), but much to my surprise I enjoyed an entire hour of morning all to myself.  And sweet little Mila and her bed head greeted me first just as that casserole started to smell.  

We had no view of the east due to a big bluff and a road high up above us, but I loved how we could watch the sun expose the gold trees out our west window.  And the frost that covered everything gave me glimpses of getting snowed in here.  It would be the most perfect place to get snowed in. 

Once everybody was up, we had breakfast casserole, cider donuts courtesy of the Shaws, and coffee and cocoa.  The kids asked if they could have hot cocoa again later, and Beau said maybe even two more times.  

The rest of the morning was slow.  We started a puzzle, finished our movie, I finished my book, and then we all climbed in that jacuzzi for a morning soak before showers.  

And then there was our afternoon.  The weather was once again perfect for a fall afternoon around the fire.  We had butternut squash soup and sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies and Honeycrisp apples, then went for a walk along the creek to explore the land.  We played two-on-two football, sipped Jefferson cider and more hot cocoa around a fire, and sat on tree stumps and talked and talked.  Then we decided that although it sounded quite all right to have dinner in the cabin again, a burger and French fries sounded like heaven.  We drove into town just in time for a show-stopping Wisconsin sunset, fried cheese curds, pull tabs, and shake a day.  Four little Iowa kids and a whole lot of Badger fans.    

We ended our night with one more jacuzzi hang before pjs and Harry Potter before bed.  I think we made it two pages before Mila had moved on and Cruz was sawing logs on my shoulder!

And Sunday morning, cinnamon rolls and more cocoa and packing up all the things too soon.  We were so sad to leave, but rested and grateful for the chance to bottle up the goodness from our weekend and sprinkle it throughout our own spaces back home.  And I'm pretty sure I had enough to last me through the rest of the year.  

But we weren't quite finished yet!  Sunday was beautiful and we decided a day to revisit some of my childhood stops would be a good ending to our weekend.  We started with Cabelas to show the kids the animal display, went to Starks for whiskey and Titos, and from parking lot all the way around and back to our car at Pikes Peak.  And then we finally timed a St. Olaf's famous tenderloin just right, an endeavor we've been trying to accomplish since I was a kid.  The tenderloins were just okay, but the buildup may have tainted them a bit. ;)  

Our Jorgensen fall getaway was a success and I'm certain we'll be back to play house in that beautiful cabin again one day.  And while I'll know to expect the beauty of the driftless area and that pretty cabin, I'll also expect to soak up all the sweet details that surface when together is our only aim.  Details like Mila calling Cabelas a "Spanish name", Cruz's imagination coming to life as he and Mila "fished" in the creek, and the four of us panting and laughing as we punted the football and tackled the kick-returner straight to the ground.  Details like how crisp the air felt around us as the steam rolled off that jacuzzi, the taste of whiskey and cinnamon simple syrup around that fire, and the tears in Cruz's eyes at the end of We Bought a Zoo.  Laughter from the tree swing, Mila playing school in the upstairs loft, Beau struggling through that impossible puzzle that the rest of us lost interest in.  Details that made us laugh, made us shed a tear, made us really thankful for each other.