It's been a few months so I thought'd I'd update a bit about my closet organization quest!

When I seriously began to consider a capsule wardrobe, I knew that in order to figure out what I wanted I need to start with what I didn't want. That was super easy because I can easily recall most of the issues I had with my traditional, packed closet full of clothes because they were the same problems I ran into over and over again.

In my capsule wardrobe I didn't want...

To be surrounded by dark clothes. My old wardrobe wasn't made up of all dark clothes, but the few items that I wore over and over again all had very similar features and the predominant one was that it was dark. I loved to wear black because I think it was the only way to appear slimmer and I felt 'safe' being able to hide behind the fabric that hid all my flaws.

To have clothes that didn't fit. This seems like a no-brainer, but for as long as I can remember, I've had clothing within arms reach that I either shouldn't have worn or couldn't wear. Clothing that was either too big or too small took up a large part of my closet, making it increasingly frustrating when trying to put an outfit together.

To have reminders of the past. I've held on to clothing for years. Yes, there are some staple pieces that I hope to invest in over the course of my capsule wardrobe journey that last through seasons and years, but those pieces should be timeless. The clothing that I've had since I was a teenager? Those are simply exhausted and ready to be laid to rest. I've got the dress I wore under my high school graduation gown, the bridesmaid dress that I will never wear again and pieces I didn't realize reminded me of certain times of my life until I put them on and thought, "oh, I remember when..."

To have to do laundry often. I knew there would be a few pieces that I wanted to have two of. For example, since I can't wear jeans to work, i'm going to be wearing dress pants daily. I knew that if I only had 1 pair of dress pants I'd need to do laundry more often, so making sure I had several choices for clothes was a must. I also knew I needed to stay away from clothes that couldn't be worn more than once. If a shirt started to stretch and lose its shape after one wash, it wasn't going to work for me. I also knew that I wanted to be able to wash my clothes at the same time. Having to run a delicate cycle, an all white cycle and a color cycle wasn't going to work with my plan. I also have plans to air dry a lot of my pieces instead of using my dryer! I think that by having a smaller wardrobe and doing laundry less, this will be feasible.

To have pieces of the wrong season at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. I've been the girl who wore long sleeves with jeans in the middle of summer to an outside event because it was the only way I felt comfortable with my body. I was miserable, yes, but mentally I felt okay because I thought I was covering up all my flaws. In my first spring/summer capsule wardrobe, I didn't want to accidentally create a winter capsule. I wanted to purchase short sleeves, skirts, and shorts. Sure, having a long sleeved jacked made sense to keep around in case of a cool night or rainy morning out, but I shouldn't have an abundance of hoodies & coats to hide my frame.

So after narrowing down what I knew was off limits, I was able to clearly articulate what I did want. I wanted soft colors, light fabrics, low maintenance care, seasonally appropriate pieces, delicate accessories, pieces that could work with each other & a structure / set of rules that were really easy to remember and stick to.

The Rules
I began researching like crazy trying to find the perfect number of items that should go in my wardrobe. Some say 37, some swear by 33. Some believe you can make it off of 20 pieces (what?!) and some suggested the number simply be less than 40. Some people included jewelry, some included shoes, some only included clothing... I was finding it really stressful to figure out which set of rules to follow and then I realized that the point of this capsule wardrobe was to eliminate stress from this area of my life. Who cares what worked for all these other people? I needed to use a system that worked for me. I decided then that while I was giving myself guidelines, the minute I felt overwhelmed or stressed because of a made up rule, that rule was toast. My guidelines would be to stick to a specific number of pieces (33 for now), to stop shopping for the duration of the season once the capsule was complete & to only break the rule if I found a certain piece to be inefficient. If I purchase a piece for my capsule and I don't wear it after a few weeks or find that I don't like the way it fits, it needs to be replaced.

Special Circumstances
Once I started researching different people and how they assembled their capsules, I realized that many of their choices revolved around the life they lived. People who worked from home and could remain casual every day had a different approach than someone who worked a 9-5. I knew that I had a special circumstance because my work requires me to follow a strict dress code. I have 4 tops + vest that are work specific, and at first I contemplated having a mini-capsule just for work but I decided against it. Instead, I put my work clothes on one side of my closet but still included them in the breakdown of my capsule.

Getting Started!
The first thing I did to get started with my Capsule was go through my existing clothing and holy cow. I started off by washing all my clothes that needed it and dumping them in a pile. I bought an under-the-bed type storage container from Target for about $10 and decided that all the clothes I wanted to keep for fall/winter needed to fit in there. Anything else would go into 1) My Spring/Summer capsule, 2) my donate pile or 3) my throw-away pile. Why would I need a throw-away pile you ask? Well I'm glad you inquired... I am utterly embarrassed by how many pieces of clothing I owned that either had a hole in them or had a stain or a pick in the fabric or SOMETHING that made them ineligible for donation. I can think back to times when I'd throw on my favorite black, long-sleeve t-shirt and have to position it so it covered the hole in the neck. Or the dress I really loved but had to wear a belt with because there was a slight tear. Why in the world was I holding onto these things? It was really helpful to purge those things and dropping off a few bags at Goodwill felt great, too.

Implementation + Completion 
So, I'd be lying if I said that building my capsule wardrobe went exactly as planned after this point. To be fair, I did sort of jump into the idea after getting super pumped by reading about other's adventures into the capsule lifestyle. So for the sake of all honesty, I'll admit that I don't have the capsule wardrobe I envisioned in the beginning. I love, love, LOVE the idea of a capsule wardrobe and I think one day it'll be perfect for me but here's why I deviated from my plan:

1) i'm losing weight, so I had a hard time justifying the investment of good pieces that I knew I wouldn't be able to wear next season, 2) i'm still learning about my new lifestyle, namely, I live in a city where going out can actually justify nicer clothes that I didn't know I needed until now and 3)my budget has changed a lot since I first started thinking about a capsule wardrobe... i'm buying a house!

So where did I end up? I think I ended up with a really healthy medium between what I used to have and what I want ultimately one day. Currently, about 43 pieces are hanging in my closet. All of them fit and are in good condition, so I no longer struggle with "can I even wear that?" I've also implemented a "one in, one out" rule that I try to stick to when possible. For example, I had two pairs of work pants that were so worn out. Think thighs rubbing together which thins fabric (where my thick girls at?!) along with buttons hanging on by a literal thread. So I watched the sales and found two great pairs of slacks from JC Penney that fit really well. When I got home, I immediately trashed the older two pairs so I wouldn't be tempted to enter them into the "wash, dry, try on, become angry, throw in hamper, repeat" cycle that I'm used to. I'm also much more conscientious about my purchases. That $5 clearance tank top at Target that I just had to have? I actually didn't have to have it so I didn't buy it! But that $30 dress from H&M that isn't made of the best quality but fits my changing body for a night out with my boyfriend? Hanging in the closet as we speak.

Through this entire process I've learned that less can be more, and I think that's the purpose of a capsule wardrobe to begin with. I spend less time thinking about clothes, less time worrying about what to wear and more time enjoying where I'm going and what I'm doing. I still plan to take lots of advice from the capsule queens out there, and I'll be packing up my spring / summer clothes and trading them in for the fall / winter ones in a few months. I'll be minimizing my closet, avoiding purchasing the unnecessary items & once I've reached the weight I'm happy with, I'll start investing in nicer pieces that can travel with me through the years. But for now? I have a cleaner closet, a lighter load of laundry and a little more weight off my shoulders.

I'd say this was a success.

simplify + self discover

If I'm being honest with you, I have a really long list of reasons why I could have used this season of my life to eat large quantities of ice cream in bed, binge watch Netflix as a daily event like it's my job or play a stream of depressing, unrequited love songs as the soundtrack to my life. While there's a time and place for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and OITNB (hello, season 3!), I have made a very conscious decision to only allow these things in moderation, and for the things that resemble outward expressions of self-pity? I simply don't have time for those. My life has been on an incredibly fast-paced road to happiness and I'm overwhelmed at times to be where I am. When one door closed for me, a million others flew open and I've been embracing that daily.

After my Winter ended, Spring stole my heart and I felt pulled to start purging e v e r y t h i n g. I needed room for all the growth I was experiencing, so our apartment has been in a constant state of simplification + organization. I'm incredibly happy about how things are flowing and I've made a goal of organizing a different area of our life each month. In April, it was all about developing a filing system + implementing a budget / financial plan. I'm so, so pleased with how this turned out! I'll be posting a bit about each of those over the next few weeks, so if you're interested in seeing how I managed that, be sure to check those out!

May is dedicated to my closet, and I'm really excited about building a capsule wardrobe! I've been tossing around the idea of doing something like this in my head for long time, but after reading this post by Brittany over at Invasion of Personal Space, I discovered that what I wanted to do was actually a real thing! I was so inspired by her motivation to simplify + self discover her style that I decided there's really no better time than now to do it myself, too! I'm still tossing around my plan to make it work for me and I'm getting inspiration from others who have taken a similar challenge, but I'm so excited to implement it for myself! I'm gathering lots of ideas from different sources and since I'm a little late to the game for Spring, I'm combining the Spring + Summer capsule into one. So far I've purchased 4 button-up tops & 3 tank tops, as well as all the jewelry that I'll be wearing. I'm transitioning through the end of May and my goal is that by June 1st my capsule will be completely ready to go. I am SO excited about having it for the summer, and I'm hopeful that I find it to be something I stick with.

So that's sort of what I've been up to since I started blogging again. I never promised I would be posting frequently but I think I'll write more often. I've missed it so much!

i'm going back to basics.

I'm not new to the idea of blogging. In fact, I was pretty proud of myself for a few years because I was updating my blog constantly... with pictures might I add. And then a big life event happened in May of 2013 and I just never wrote again.

That big life event was my husband coming home from his year long deployment in Afghanistan. That day, no matter what has transpired since, remains one of the best days of my life. I can still close my eyes and go back to that day and feel the excitement of seeing someone you love for the first time in a year...military homecomings are so much more than just that, though. That first hug isn't just an, "I missed you so much," hug. It's an, "I am so glad you are back home and alive," kind of hug. It's an, "I know I heard your voice as soon as the plane landed on US soil, but seeing it is believing it," kind of hug. Homecomings are also bittersweet because you realize in that moment, that not every family gets to have one. There are those who never make it home, and the experience is humbling. You just can't forget a moment like that.

The days that follow that day, I remember too. Some of them I remember better than others, and there are a few I'd like to forget. But all of those days led me to today and I'm incredibly thankful for that. So when I decided to begin blogging again, I came back to the blog I had been using since February of 2011. I read through so many of my posts... I laughed at myself, I cried a few times, and I saw exponential growth from the person who wrote those words and the woman that's keying these. While it was tempting to hit "New Post," and pick right up where I left off,  I felt like it was time for a fresh start. I'm definitely not deleting that blog - on the absolute contrary! That blog has the most detailed accounts of my life for those precious years and I wouldn't trade that for anything. The good, the bad...that story is mine. So it will stay with me, but it will also stay where it belongs: part of my past that develops my future. I may reference it from time to time or link to certain posts, but that blog is not who I am any longer.

This blog, however, is about who I am now. Right now I'm a 24 year old woman living in a different city who is going through a most definitely unplanned divorce & is reevaluating every part of her life while analyzing every decision she ever made...but is managing to still put a smile on her face and a pep in her step. I totally wasn't managing that 7 months ago, but right now? I'm healing every single day and each one is better than the last. And I'm kind of biased but I really like the "now" version of myself. I'm doing lots of things in life that have completely surprised me, and daily I am learning how to walk a path with confidence that I didn't design for myself, but that is full of new life. I'm taking the time I need to get back to the basics of who I am as a person and I'm learning about what makes me completely and totally happy. One of the things I love is writing, so this seemed like an excellent decision along my path of self discovery.

I'm 100% okay with talking to myself, but if you'd like to follow along on this life journey of mine, I say the more the merrier. I don't promise to update all the time and this may not be the cutest blog on the block, but it's a continuation of my story and I'm ready to write again.