Wardrobe

One of the biggest things we miss in our home overseas is the neatly concealed closes that we had in the States.

Here, we only have a wardrobe.

And though Narnia makes them sound all magical and like portals into a fantasy world, ours, is not.

More like a portal into a world where clothes and toys overtake every inch of a 2 by 4 by 6 box. Please, step into my sand filled horror world.

Last week, we were off of school for our Easter break and one of my goals was to get Grace's wardrobe under control. I didn't have the forethought to take "before," pictures, but here are the "afters" of an afternoon's endeavor.



1. Grace's Easter bunny from my parents plays "If You're Happy and You're Know It," and it claps its hands and flaps its ears. Grace can see it from the changing table and she lights up every time we turn it on.

2. To the left of the wardrobe is where all of our baby gear is stored. Infant tub, bouncy seat, play mat, and several bags of clothes to pass on to other families.

3. The left side of the wardrobe is where we keep her "fancy" clothes (read, do not send her to day care in these clothes,) and her extra clothes.

4. The top, right side is where we keep some toys.

5. The bottom, right drawers are where we keep her bed linens, towels, and burp cloths.


6. At the top I have stored Grace's shoes, hats, and head bands, in flat storage containers. On the right side is our travel diaper bag (it is huge!) stored with other infant gear.

7. On the far left of the hanging rack, you can see a garment bag. I tied off the bottom and cut a slit in the side, and it is where I store all of the matching bloomers for the dresses.

All of Grace's "fancy clothes," are on hangers. I had a hard time with this batch because she has been given SO MANY clothes. It is such a blessing but also a struggle as I try to get her in everything before she outgrows the size! Also, on the far right of the rack, I have a hanging bag with all of her swim suits, rash guards, hats, and flip flops.

8. On the bottom of the wardrobe, you can see our pack-n-play and our storage containers for Grace's past and future clothes, arranged by sizes (newborn, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 12-18, and 18- 24 months.)This whole side was wasted space before, as I had been keeping 3 of the storage containers here. Now it is making for some great toy storage!

9. The top shelf is for all of her infant toys. The cans are formula cans that I spray painted and taped off the top to prevent cutting on the edge. These were all part of a bean bag toss game for Grace's 1st birthday party but I repurposed them to hold her rattles, blocks, animals, and such. She doesn't really use these toys any more but on a day when she is really bored I can easily pull out a can for her to explore.

10. The middle shelf is for all of her "later," toys. They are either toys that I have picked up at an amazing discount (like a wooden dollhouse family or a Melissa and Doug bowling set,) or are toys that have been given to Grace but she is not ready for them developmentally (Fridge phonics, ball drop, bath tub boat/fishing set.) These are all just set aside for when she is ready for them- like having our own in house toy store.

11. The bottom shelf is for her "now," toys. These are toys that are appropriate for her developmentally right now, but perhaps she needs assistance or modeling with them (the baby doll or the bag of Arabic books,) or they make alot of noise and we don't want her having access all the time (can of musical instruments, singing snail with blocks.) These toys are for when we are playing with her and can spend some time showing her how different toys are used. She has her normal toys out at her level and she can access them whenever she wants but it makes these even more special when we can pull out something "new" and play with her!

I'm really glad I got this project done this week. I was able to cull out alot of clothes that I want to pass on to another family, and also weed out the clothes that another family lent us but aren't season appropriate or that Grace has out grown. Considering we're moving in two months, this was a good first step to organizing and slimming down on Grace's things!

I'd love to see how you keep yours or your kids clothes and toys organized!

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Wardrobe

Moving on UP!

Well, it's happened. It was a bit overdue but, the master procrastinator had put it off for nearly a month now.

Today, we moved Grace's wardrobe from her 3-6 months clothes to her 6-9 months clothes.

And yes, she is 10 and a half months old.

What pushed us over the edge? When I dressed her today in her sweet little outfit, her shirt only covered her belly button and didn't come all the way down.

I suppose several of her pajamas were too small too, seeing as she couldn't straighten her legs out in them.

I was pretty sad as I packed them away and pulled out the box labeled "6-9 months," but got excited as I saw all of the cute things she gets to wear this season. Sweet sundresses, cute bathing suits, and bright onesies.

And, she drink her formula out of her sippy cup, instead of her bottle, for the first time today!

AND we have plans to make a grocery sore run to get her more finger foods. I just didn't have time to prepare much food for her, so she's been eating baby cereal, plain yogurt, or applesauce for pretty much every meal for a month now.

Big day for the baby girl!

Let's just hope this momma's heart doesn't break from growing pains.

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Moving on UP!

Shoes from the Devil Himself

I'm sitting in the Salt Lake City airport viewing the majesty of God's creating that surrounds us.

Towering, snow capped Rocky mountains take my breath away and the people watching is in abundant as well.

There is one downer to this situation.

The state of my feet.

You see, for my sister's wedding, I bought this super cute pair of red pumps.

{Danger! Danger!}

I didn't break them in ahead of time, or really even see how they fit.

{Red Alert! no seriously, they're red.}

See?

Well, I wore them to the rehearsal dinner and developed a blister and severe cramping in the balls of my feet, but it really wasn't a big deal.

So the day of the wedding rolled around and I didn't put those shoes on until I was literally walking down the aisle (at a very fast clip, might I add, due to the extreme length of the aisle.)

About 5 minutes into this form of torture, my feet began cramping up and I was sliding forward in them, placing almost all of my weight on the tips of my toes.

I am no trained ballerina, mind you.

Fast forward 50 minutes later, after the recessional when I ripped those shoes off of my feet and slipped into some flats. Feet cramped. Hurting.

4 Hours later, the balls of my feet are SO swollen that when I stand flat, my toes don't touch the ground.

And did I mention that my middle toe was completely numb?

I suspect a pinched nerve.

Well, it's been four days of sitting with my feet propped up and the swelling has finally made some progress! That is just the craziest thing ever!

*Sigh*

What a girl does for fashion.

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Shoes from the Devil Himself

Not Cool

So, usually, I'm not all "doom and gloom," whenever anything happens to my clothes. Usually.

Today however, when I was sitting on the couch and I watched my in-laws' 3 year old dachshund run into the {off limits} office and come back out with a mischievous look for the second time, I knew something was definitely not right.

Then, before I could stand up, my husband walked by the office door and froze (I couldn't see into the office, mind you.)

He yelled and moved quickly, and within seconds, he came back out holding one of my brand new ugg boots.

I sprang into action and grabbed the boot from him before running back to our room.

I couldn't look at it!

I got back safely into the room as my eyes were welling up and finally worked up the courage to take a peek at the damage.

Alas, there was only a few slobber marks on the outside......but I certainly felt my heart start to race on that one!

(in hindsight, this isn't a very Thanksgivingy post, and since it is only 38 minutes until it officially Thanksgiving, let me just make a little amendment to this post. I am hereby thankful that my brand new Ugg boot, that I had waited so long for, was not obliterated by an 8 pound dachshund.)

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Not Cool

Who Says Whining Doesn't Pay?

Apparently my whining on here paid off.

I'd been sobbing, whining, and complaining about my impending frozen footsies with a "northern," winter on our near future. I just couldn't figure out how to wear socks with ballet flats without looking completely ridiculous, or, you know, European.

(now, come on. You know those people with sandals and socks at Disney are all mostly European, let's not fool ourselves!)

Tonight, at girls' night, my best friends presented me with a pair of Uggs!

My very own!

It's really a funny story though. The girls contacted my husband in secret, letting them know that they wanted to do this for me. Ian knew my size (really a shocker actually,) and what color I wanted (chocolate brown please,) so they were good to go. I guess they were going to wait until Christmas, but when I started showing signs of premature frostbite, they decided to gift it to me a little early.

Maybe just to shut me up.

hmmmm.

Well, either way! I now (as in sitting in my pj's, blogging,) am wearing my beautiful, new, most expensive pair of shoes I've ever owned.

And I love them.

AND, I love THEM (as in my friends.)

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Who Says Whining Doesn't Pay?

The Shopping Results!

We finished our shopping trip last week. It was quite the adventure, let me tell you. First of all, I learned about how guys can really "fit," into anything, as long as it is their size.

Ridiculous.

For most women, a medium isn't just a medium. It is simply a category that they might fit into!

We started off our shopping with, by going to the outlets here in Nashville.


We went to GAP, where I got a purple and grey sweater, kind of like this one, but with a darker purple and about one inch stripes.
And a V-Neck Long sleeve tee, like this one, but in a great tangerine color!



The next day, we headed to an upscale mall in Nashville, where one of our first stops was my favorite....

Jcrew!

Only, I didn't buy much from there, because I just couldn't bring myself to buy that 70 dollar hoodie that I wanted.

I did get this beautiful coral color, turtleneck tissue tee. Now I just need some sort of necklace to go with it!We meandered into the beautiful Banana Republic, where, of course, hubby found his favorite polos and flat fronted shorts for 10 dollars a piece (on sale.)

I was content with just looking for a perfect piece.

And then, I saw it. The heavens opened up and I {literally} picked these two pieces up and ran to the dressing room, leaving hubby with his purchased goods thinking "I thought we were done here!"
This Italian Merino Cardigan in Beige, is just perfect. Seriously. It has some great little details, and is the perfect weight for adding some layer underneath without too much bulk.
I'm watching for it to go on sale so I can get it in taupe {and navy blue, and cranberry!}
Pair that perfect taupe sweater with this GORGEOUS fuschia satin trimmed tee from Banana Republic. It is so classy and simple, but just pulls an outfit together.

Then we went to Express, where I picked up two washes of the Eva Fit, because they are literally the only jeans that fit me!


The next day went to DSW {aka heaven,} to get Ian a pair of black dress shoes.

I was supposed to be looking for boots. To be honest, I got so overwhelmed. I don't where *skinny* jeans so I wasn't sure what types of boots would go with the pants that I wear. I almost broke down into tears. Seriously.

But then I found he clearance aisle, and I found these beautiful shoes... They are "Rocket Dogs Memories Thai Silk Knotted Flats."

And they are seriously the most beautiful shoes. Color and all.

I also got a pair of black flats that are very similar to my old pair, but I could not find a picture of them.

Then, I ordered this jacket from Lands End, in a Heather Grey. It will be arriving in a day or two, so we'll see if it is fitted or not.

If I could get a few more pieces, I would definitely get this little black dress from Ann Taylor Loft. It is conservative enough for me to wear (probably not in the Middle East, but out and about on vacations at least.)

I'm still waiting to get these beautiful Chocolate Brown Uggs (the regular height ones.) I tried them on at Dillards (size 7,) and am just waiting until Ian gives me the okay to order them. We might wait until after Christmas (but to me that seems silly because my poor little toes will have frozen for 2 months!)

I also L-O-V-E this Jcrew textured Jersey tee. It fit absolutely perfect and was so soft, but couldn't bring myself to paying the 49.95 for it. So I'm stalking it online.

I also need to get a pants suit for our appointment/ordination coming up in a month, but we are waiting to see what happens financially first!

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The Shopping Results!

Shopping List

Since we finally have some money (due to the sale of my car,) combined with the fact that I haven't gone clothes shopping since January (I bought two pairs of jeans and a shirt,) Ian and I have decided we need a wardrobe revamp.

I called my sister, Heather, because she is the fashion guru of the family, and asked her for some advice. I needed a launching point of sorts, in order to know where to even start!

We have spent alot of time weeding through our wardrobe and donating clothes and shoes to charity. Now we each have about 20 things on hangers and two dresser drawers. And that's it! It's really opened my eyes to our country's over indulgence and need for "more."

We established that we were going for quality over quantity, mainly because we need to be able to fit all of our clothes/shoes/hygiene items in 6 suitcases, ha!

Heather sent me a little list to work off of, and I have been browsing and adding for a sort of "shopping inspiration list" in order to keep myself focused and on track!

Tim Gunn's "Top 10":

1. The trench-ish coat (we decided a wool coat was more practical,)
2. A sweat suit alternative (something to wear on weekends that doesn't look trashy)
3. The boot, the pump, the ballet flat. (I will be getting Ugg's, per everyone's suggestion, and new pair of black flats, because mine are a mess!)
   
4. The shapely jacket and the go-anywhere top (This sweater jacket from JCrew has sold out, but it is what I am searching for now!)
5. Signature jewelry. I have this necklace that Ian gave me for our 1 year dating anniversary, that is a heart with my name in Arabic script, but I am thinking I might like a little something classier. I will be searching for something for our 2 year anniversary- when we have been on payroll for awhile!
   
6. Good under clothing :) VS is best!
7. Day dresses (I'm moving to the Middle East, so dresses are pretty much out. Think pretty conservative!)
8. The little black dress
9. A new, cheap, terribly trendy item - spend money on classics and 5 bucks on the latest necklace at F21
10. Denim - 1 dress up and 1 every day (Got em'! Express' Eva jeans are the only jeans I have found that fit me right! We picked up 2 pairs yesterday.)
    

I'll let you know how our shopping goes!

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Shopping List

Oh, How I Love Thee...

Let me count the ways:

One: These awesome casual shorts. Of course, I would love them in a plethora of colors!



Two: Pink. Flats. 'Nough Said. I would wear these with my dark dark jeans, and this cute cute white shirt (um, that I don't have...yet.)



Three: Oh OH it's magic.... You knoooooow. Isn't this beautiful? Except for the gold part (I don't like yellow gold,) but even then, I think I could find a way to make this piece work!


Four: Simple. simple. Simple. It is incredibly hard to find simple tees with unique detail, and this store excels at it. Plus, olive green rocks with my indian baby skin.

Five: Ditto

Six: As Mrs. Angela and my mom now know, I have a new found obsession with coral. I love it. Spring and Summery (at least here in FL,) and would match with a bounty of my wardrobe!

Um, I think this is the girliest post I have EVER done. I just thought you might want to share in my new found love for the Crew.

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Oh, How I Love Thee...