It’s been a minute hasn’t it? Once again, I’ve been hard at work on an exciting new project for the blog that you are going to love! Problem is, once I dive into a project I forget to come up for air…and new blog posts.
The new year and new semesters (am I the only one who still divides the year into semesters?)Â have always brought about a need for starting fresh for me. When I was in college, before the new semester began I had to do all my laundry, change all my bedding, wash and gas up my car, plan 2 weeks of meals and buy the groceries, clean my apartment top to bottom, buy all my books, and do anything that could possibly take my time aside from school and work. I needed to be distraction-free while I focused on the new schedule change.
I’m still that way, and New Years is always time for cleaning, purging, organizing, laundry, and prepping for the new semester. I mean year. We emptied a room for my new office. If you are a member of the Stunning Style Society Facebook Group, exclusive to those who purchase the Stunning Style Wardrobe Guide, you got a tour of my current office and my new office. I’m waiting for my desk to arrive next week, and then I’m moving in and setting up!
We cleaned out and purged the storage room, which I do every year when I take down Christmas on December 26 (and I ALWAYS take down Christmas on December 26), the kids’ rooms, our room, hung pictures, meal planned for the entire month, set new budget goals, grocery shopped, loads and loads of laundry, and more. This ritual cleans my soul and gives me mental space to focus on my focus for the year. I’m actually planning to do a seasonal purge in my closet and am considering videoing it. Is that something you would like to see? Comment below if that would interest you.
my new focus for a new year
I may be the only blogger on the planet who has yet to share my New Year’s Resolutions or Word or whatever you want to call it. I call it a focus. Last year my focus was Health. I’ve been very sick for about 7 years, and was kind of sick before that. I’ve been actively working on it this whole time, but last year it was my focus, and I finally made major headway. In fact I had a doctor appointment today to discuss my latest labs, and I got lots of smiley faces instead of frowns.
This year my focus is simplification. I feel overwhelmed, and have for a long time. I think a lot of us do. There is so much sensory and workload overload in our society. We can be more places, communicate with more people, and get more done than ever before, and we fill every minute of our lives with it. We are chronically tired and stressed. My husband and I have been looking at how we can simplify our lives and get some control over the overwhelm. We’ve put a few things in place that have already made differences, like planning a month’s worth of meals. I added an alarm on my phone at 1 p.m. to do any dinner prep that I can. Those two things have simplified dinner on a whole new level. We have more plans to put in place, but in order not to overwhelm ourselves, we are taking it one thing at a time.
If you are looking for simplification, saving time, effort and money, my Stunning Style Wardrobe Guide is 31 Classic Pieces (I bet you have a lot of them in your closet already), and 100 outfits. No thinking to get dressed or to shop! I provided all the shopping links!
So, on to what I wore when the year was new, I was cleaning, purging, adjusting, planning and preparing for a fresh start.
These are outfits #29 and #62 from the Stunning Style Wardrobe Guide. Something as basic as a black and white flannel can be worn multiple ways. Today I showed 3 ways. There is the obvious way of wearing it alone with jeans and boots, which can be perfect for a day around the house, but you are still ready to answer the door, run to an unexpected doctor appointment, or purge the storage room. Next I paired it with a red coat for a punch of color. I love wearing colorful outerwear to make a statement that I can take off when I want. I don’t have to commit to wearing color for the entire day. Last I made it a little edgier with a black leather moto jacket, which is how I wore it when I left the house that day.
Shirt (on major sale right now!!). Jeans. Boots similar here. Coat similar here, here. Moto jacket similar here.
Are you noticing a lack of color this week? Me too. I’ve gotten a lot of requests to share the scarf tying tutorial, so I did my first Facebook Live in the Stunning Style Society Facebook group to show this one. I’m figuring out how to wear this leather vest in a way that doesn’t make me uncomfortable. Basically, zipped up is the only way.
Tee similar here. Vest similar here. Scarf. Jeans. Boots similar here.
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Speaking of purging, this sweater is going. I love the leather patch pockets, the quality is incredible, but this year I can see it’s not a flattering length of fit for me. I become blind when leather is involved. There’s my little sidekick. We do everything together.
Blue and white today. I love, love, love this tissue tee turtleneck. I swear I can’t feel it at all! I’m also really excited about this navy corduroy skirt I got over the holidays. I’ve wanted one for a while, and this is THE ONE. I can’t decide if I’m going to paint the buttons silver or remove them. I use those pockets, so it stays unbuttoned on at least one side. Also, do I really want to draw the eye to the widest part of my body? Probably not. The stripes in the tights mimick the stripes in the top.
Shirt similar here, here. Skirt. Tights similar here, here and here. Boots similar here.
School is back in session, and I went on a school field trip with my second grader. I love doing that, and love that I’m able to. I’m pattern mixing here, which isn’t something I do a lot of, partly because I don’t wear a lot of patterns. Stripes are my favorite color, so I consider them a neutral. The jacket also cuts down on the amount of stripe showing, making it less busy for someone who doesn’t like a lot of action in their clothes.
Tee similar here. Jacket similar here, here. Scarf. Jeans. Boots similar here.
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