How Do You Scrub Out?....326 day to go.....!!!!

As much as I'd love to put on the image that I am immaculately dressed at all times, and that I sleep in elaborate satin negligees and high heels...that's just not me!  Although it'd be wonderful to be so glamorous and fabulous at all times, I find no greater joy than in taking off my skirt n' heels at the end of the day and slipping into some sweats n' slippers:). Yes, indeed, I LOVE my scrubby clothes.

Here are the 3 components to an awesome scrubby "outfit" (in my view. I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts):

1) Sweatpants. Or yoga pants. Either way, they just have to be comfy. Here is a pair of my husband's Air Force sweatpants, from 12 years ago, that I have stolen. They are the ultimate in comfy.:

2) Slippers. I love my fuzzy L.L.Bean slippers, and I am not trying to advertise for the company. I just love them, and they last a long time. And the tread on the bottom means I can wear them out of the house...not that I'd do such a thing.  I felt really dumb taking this picture...but I love my slippers so much, they deserve a portrait, right?

3) ROBE. I Love Robe, almost as much as I Love Lamp. I have...(counting in my head)...9 robes. 10 if you count the one I often steal from my husband (I can't help it, it is fuzzy).  You might refer to me as a Robe Enthusiast. Robes are essential, especially during the winter in my area. It gets COLD.

So, tell me, how do you scrub out? And, do you ever steal your male companion's clothes because they are comfy? I gotta say, the Air Force makes some NICE sweatpants!

Dresses Dresses Dresses.....330 days to go!!!

So you know what wants to make me shop EVERY time? Seeing ADORABLE, vintage-y DRESSES! I love love love dresses. When I was a kid, I would wear nothing but dresses.  And even though I live in a cold climate, and don't have an opportunity to wear them as much, I am still drawn to them like a moth to a flame!

Here's my, when I was little, wearing one of my favorite dresses!:

All the dresses I've been seeing lately are totally retro, very Mad Men, and very drool-worthy. The ones on www.modcloth.com are my favorites! Like this one...

*SWOOOOOON!* Kinda makes me wish that I was shopping. But, my credit card statement continues to make me glad that I am not shopping. As does my continual removal from caring about shopping. Well, until I see those dresses, anyway...have you guys seen any awesome dresses lately?

Which Weird Trend Are You Gonna Rock?.....334 days to go!

One thing I do not miss about shopping is all the weird trends. There are fun trends, like the resurgence of adorable-y vintage oxfords...these are mine today...(and yes, I even sepia-toned them to up the vintage feel! Haha!)

But there are some weird-ass trends...like boots with spats (from piperlime.com):

SPATS! Vintage, but not adorable. Especially with boots.


And socks with open-toed shoes (from urbanoutfitters.com):

Is this a recession inspired fashion? Like, trying to get more out of your summer footwear?

Or one of my all time favorites (not!)...JEGGINGS! (from ae.com):

One thing I think is important is to not wear trends that have their own word designed around them (such as jeggings). Most people who have tried "jeggings" on know that truly, only models can wear them and *really* look good in them!


Now, don't get me wrong, there are always fashionistas out there that can pull these looks off. And I have mad respect for them! However, I don't think they are generally a good idea. But, then again, I can play it rather conservative...today someone told me I look quite J.Crew. Of course, I take that as a compliment, but I also realize I could get a little more trendy, at least when I can shop again.

But for the time being, I'm glad I can't shop because I have yet another excuse to not partake in the recent odd trends. Please do tell which weird trend you'd rock, or any other weird trends you can think of!:)

The Tyranny of Pants.....337 Days to go!

OK, ladies, who HATES jeans/pants shopping?  I don't think I am particularly hard to fit. I am a size 4 tall. I am normal shaped (or so I think until I go shopping for pants). I wear normal sizes in every other kind of clothing. So, why, WHY is it so hard to find jeans/pants that fit? I swear, either it gives me a muffin top, or it makes me look like my hips are gonna burst out of my pants through the seams, or it gives me a ghetto booty...the list goes on. Jeans/pants shopping is hellish enough that it makes me REALLY glad I can't shop right now!

How did this all come up? I rediscovered some jeans I bought at the end of last winter and haven't worn yet (because, of course, you get the best deals at the end of the season!).  I didn't fit them great last season, but I ended up losing weight over the summer. I tried them on, and, of all things, they fit perfectly everywhere but IN THE KNEES!!!! What the hell? They were too small in the knees. My knees, I thought, were a normal size. Totally normal. Maybe even smallish. Nope, not in PantsLand (which, FYI, is basically a 2nd Hell). I am fat-kneed in PantsLand.

Because I hate pants and pants/jeans shopping so much, I generally only buy from 1 brand that I am well acquainted with, and I have one cut (which has been discontinued. Thanks J.Crew), that I like. I just buy many, many, many pairs of the same kind of pants. So, for those of you who know me and strongly suspect that I only have one pair of pants...nope, I actually have many duplicates. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Although, I really should branch out eventually. Now if I could only get J.Crew to continue making my favorite jeans...

And, I do have to say that sewing really helps in the pants debacle. If I don't like some small thing, I can fix it. I can bring the waist in, make the legs narrower, etc. Easy to do. But, do I like it? Not ONE bit. Now if you'll excuse me, me and my fat knees need to go make dinner. Please do share any feelings on the horrors of pants and jeans shopping in the comments:)

Fix That Drawstring!.....339 Days To Go!!!

Drawstrings in pants are a pain in the ass. They come out when you are washing pants, they wind everything else in the wash load into a giant ball, they get tied up, they get tangled, the list goes on. But, here's one thing I can actually help you with: putting a drawstring back into your pants after it has come out!

This may seem simple. Well, because it IS simple. But you would be astounded by the number of people who would pay me to put a drawstring back in their pants. That's right, they'd pay me my full hourly rate just to put a drawstring back in. Astounding!

I was looking through my lil' basket of horror...er...joys (from my post on my basket of projects...) and I found a pair of sweatpants that had simply lost its drawstring. So I decided to fix it today. I mean, it is getting to be sweatpants weather.  These aren't fancy sweatpants. Nor are they sexy. But, they are comfy. Meet the sweatpants:

Here's how to put a drawstring back into a waistband!

1) Round up a drawstring to put into the pants. You can use 2 shoelaces (clean shoelaces, or new shoelaces) tied together with a square knot, you can use a cord purchased from the fabric store, you can sew one...in this case, I used an old drawstring I took out of a pair of yoga pants that didn't need a drawstring.

2) Round up some safety pins. I like to use a big one and a little one. Or, in more scientific terms, a 2" one and a 1" one.

3) Anchor one end of the drawstring onto the pants, by the holes, with the big safety pin.

4) Attach the little safety pin to the other end of the drawstring. This will be the end that you push through the waistband.

5) Push the little safety pin and attached drawstring into one of the waistband holes. 

6) You are going to use the safety pin to navigate the drawstring through the waistband. Gather fabric up onto the drawstring...

7) And then hold onto the safety pin and pull straighten the fabric. This will move the safety pin and drawstring along through the waistband. Keep doing this....

8) Here's what it will look like when you are about halfway done

9) When you get all the way around, pull the little safety pin and drawstring end out through the hole on the other side, like this:

10) Once you get the end of the drawstring to the other side, pull the 2 ends of the drawstring (after unhooking the anchored end) until they are about even. 

11) Working your way out from the center, work the waistband over the drawstring until it is even.

12) Shazzam, your pants are fixed!!! Congrats:)

Now isn't that easy? Hopefully you'll never go drawstring-less again:)

p.s. This literally took only 5 minutes. Oh, and leave a comment if you have a question or problem!

How Would You Challenge Yourself?......341 days to go!

Since I've started my No Clothes/Shoes For a Year Challenge, I've had a number of people tell me that they were inspired to shop less, or to repair an item of clothing long forgotten, and I've even had some people start a challenge of their own! 

My dear Brother-In-Law, started his own challenge to not eat fast food for a year!  And, my Husband was so inspired by his brother and his fast food challenge that he decided to not eat fast food for a year AND to go on a hike up the hill by our house every day for a year! They made their own set of rules, and, as far as I know, they've been sticking to them. They started around the same time that I did. I am very proud of them for trying to better their lives by changing habits they were not happy with! Plus...it's really nice to have company in the form of family while I make these changes! Here's our big dog, who is SO HAPPY about getting to go on a hike EVERY day with my Husband!

Now, I am not telling you this to tell you what an inspirational saint I am (although...I mean...you could draw your own conclusions...JUST KIDDING!!!! Haha:)). I am telling you to lead into this question: If you were going to challenge yourself to change something for a year, what would it be? I know clothes shopping was the major thing I wanted to change, but I have already been thinking what I will do next year after I finish this challenge! I can't wait to hear your comments, thanks for reading:)

As If You Want to Hear More About My Sweater....342 days to go!

Well thank you, everyone, for the thoughtful sweater thoughts (they were very thoughtful...did I use that word enough?) So, here's the sweater in question..I got it for something like $4.00, new, from Tulle's on Tulle's Day.

Tulle's Day, blessed event that it is, has now been discontinued. But before it's discontinuation, it was on the first Tuesday of every month. Some months were better than others. But, I got practically a whole new wardrobe from Tulle's, for a SONG. This sweater was one of those items. It's just perfect...it is modern, but with that classic, Tulle's vintage twist....the knit is nice, not scratchy, it fits great. But, I found some of the Tulle's Day items can be a little sketchy in the quality department. It seems like it is always All or Nothing with them. This is the 2nd Tulle's item I've had fraying with, in the boob area (And like I said, I do NOT qualify as well-endowed! Not by a mile...or a cup size).

Anyway, I thought I would show you the sweater. It looks better on...but seeing as I refuse to wear makeup on Sundays, I'm gonna skip self-portraits.

Here's a closeup of the dreaded hole...it looks worse in person, or when the sweater knit is stretched.

And here's me pointing to it's placement. 

It's not a super big deal....but I really can't wear it until I fix it, because that hole will only get bigger! BUT! I have a game plan...I'm gonna do one of the following things:

a) Bring it home and beg my Mom to help me. Very grown up, I know!
b) Try to bring the loops of the yarns together with some thread and tie it off. I could hide the threads up under the seam.

Although, the bedazzler option that someone mentioned is sounding more and more simple, and classy.

I hate to make SUCH a big deal out of a sweater...but when you aren't buying clothes for a year, suddenly a sweater seems much more important than it did! And, of course, I am mentioning it here because it is topical. So, it's time to spill your guts...have any of you lost a beloved sweater or any other piece of clothing?  I'd love to hear about it in the comment section below:) Have a great week! I'll try to do some alterations out of my alteration basket! Maybe I'll even transform an item or two!