Minimalism Week #6- Purging Pants

I went through my pant collection this week.  I have gone through my closet several times over the past year.  I am always surprised that I can get rid of more!  I keep saying that minimalism is a process and that is proving to be true over and over again.

I moved all of my summer clothes downstairs into my summer storage.  I know that I won't be needing my shorts or capri pants any time soon!  It has been downright frosty in the mornings for the past few weeks.

Here is my before:

After:

I got rid of two pairs of stained sweatpants (so not flattering).  I donated a pair of black leggings and a pair of black dress pants.  I also put a pair of two pairs of pants into my maternity clothes box, as they fit well when I was expecting.  I kept two pairs of yoga pants (perfect for going for walks), one pair of sweat pants (for movie nights on the couch and lazy Saturday mornings), one pair of grey leggings, one pair of black dress pants, and two pairs of jeans (only one pictured here).

I feel confident that I am only keeping the clothes that I wear.  I have actually worn all of the pants I kept in the last ten days.

I left my Summer pants for now.  I plan to go through them next year.  I will try everything on and decide from there.

Have a fantastic week!

High Five For Friday! Better Late Than Never!

Hello Everyone!  Happy Friday!

I had a wonderful, busy week!  I hope you all had a great week, as well!

1.)  I had the privilege of attending my cousin's wedding in beautiful Banff, Alberta!  The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was so much fun!

2.)  I got to meet my friend's new daughter and received an invitation to visit her and her family in France.  We are seriously considering the offer and I couldn't be more excited!

3.)  I hit a great sale and scored an awesome Coach cross-body bag!  I needed a black one (so practical) and there it was!  I used a gift card from my birthday so it was free (to me)!  What a great find!  

4.)  I got to see my best friend and her two kids yesterday.  I love them all so much it and it is always awesome to spend time with them!  We only see each other every couple months so we enjoy getting together!

5.)  My hubby and family treated me to a special birthday over the weekend.  They were all so wonderful and I am thankful to be surrounded by such great people!

Happy Friday!  Link up at thelaurenelizabeth.com.  Have a fantastic weekend!

Minimalism Week #5- Throwing the Throw Pillows

I am back from a beautiful wedding in Banff, Alberta.  I totally enjoyed myself and therefore my minimizing was not so impressive this week.  I did visit with a good friend in Calgary and her condo made me feel very inspired to get back to paring down.

Throw pillows.  That is where we are at this week.  After Miss. E was born, I shoved all the pillows into my linen closet and hope chest.  They were just one more thing I didn't want to deal with.  Between the laundry and feeding my daughter, there was no time to arrange the pillows.  As a result, my linen closet looked (even more) terrible!  I made a decision.  Did I gain anything from these pillows?  Did they really enhance my life?  The short answer is no.  I originally bought them as a way to bring colour into my home. As I developed my interior design, the pillows became less important to the overall look.  I have decided to get rid of them completely.  My husband is doing a happy dance as I write.

Before:

After:

The linen closet and hope chest have room again!  I will have to tackle the linen closet one day, but that is for another time!

High Five For Friday- Birthday Edition!

Hello Everyone!  I hope you all had a pleasant week.  Today is my birthday and I am feeling so grateful.  I have the best gift of all this year- my daughter.  The past few years most of my prayers and all of my birthday wishes were for a child.  My husband and I struggled for three years before we had Miss. E.  Last year, I was about six weeks pregnant on my birthday and praying that the pregnancy would go well and give us the child we had yearned for.  I can not tell you what a blessing it is to wake up and know that my every prayer and wish has been fulfilled.  I am so excited to watch my daughter grow and discover the world around her.

Here is my High Five For Friday:

1.)  Today I get to meet my friend's brand new baby daughter!  I am so excited!

2.)  We are heading out to Banff, Alberta for my cousin's wedding.  I have been there many times, but never with Miss. E and never for a wedding.  I am looking forward to the nuptials and all the sight-seeing we are going to do!  My cousin and her husband-to-be are such a wonderful match and I could not be happier for them!

3.)  I got to see my brother over the past weekend.  He moved away recently, so it is nice to see him when we can.  I will get to see him and his girlfriend at the wedding this weekend.  I am so looking forward to it!

4.)  Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back!  Need I say more?  Yum.  Simply... yum.

5.)  Sleep.  Miss E got moved to her crib (we still have her in our room) and she wasn't a fan for a few days.  She has finally settled in and is sleeping again.  Yay!  I love my sleep.

How was your week?  Link up at thelaurenelizabeth.com!

Take care and have a fabulous weekend!

Minimalism Week #4-Dress Dilemma

If you are like me, you like to buy a new dress for an occasion, be it a wedding, party or baptism.  I don't love wearing the same dress twice.  Dresses are a big money suck.  I don't need a new dress for every occasion, yet I seem to buy them.  I also like wearing dresses in my every day life as well.

I went through my dresses today and asked myself some questions:

1.)  Does it fit?
2.)  Do I like how it looks?
3.)  Is it functional? (ie. Does it work for breastfeeding?  Can I wear it to more than one type of occasion?)
4.)  Do I wear it?

There are a few dresses that I kept that don't work for breastfeeding, but I did wear them a LOT before I was breastfeeding.  I hung onto these dresses, knowing that they have classic styling and I will wear them again.

Here is my before:

After:

It has occurred to me that I should really learn how to use my dresses for both fancy and casual occasions.  I will put more effort into learning how to dress up and dress down my dresses.  Any tips?  Do you try to use your dresses/dress clothes in more than one aspect of your life?  I would love to hear your ideas!

High Five For Friday!

Another week has come and gone.  I can hardly believe it!  Time is flying!  It has been a bit of a difficult week.  The woman who taught my prenatal classes and breastfeeding class has passed away.  It was an unexpected tragedy.  I also knew her through work.  It breaks my heart.  She was a truly lovely, positive, encouraging woman and she will be deeply missed.  When I found out that I was finally pregnant, the thing that worried me most was breastfeeding.  I really wanted to breastfeed, but I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to do it.  The breastfeeding class that this woman taught made me confident that I could breastfeed.  She also told us that we could call her if we needed any help.  She was an amazing lady.

Here is my High Five For Friday:

1.)  Good vet checks.  I took my furbabies in for their vaccinations and check ups.  Both pets (one canine and one feline) are doing fantastic!  I know that they are "just pets", but they are truly furry family members to me!  Neither pet attacked the vet, which is always wonderful!  I worry a little about my cat, as she has "cattitude".  To my delight, she did not try to claw the vet or take out the dog.

2.)  Hair cut!  I left Miss. E with my mom and went for my first trim since I had my daughter.  My hair has been doing some crazy things so I was happy to talk to my stylist about them.  Hormones!  I tell you!  My hair has been falling out.  Not in clumps or anything, but I seem to be shedding like crazy.  This is totally normal, by the way.  Thank goodness!  My hair has also been super oily.  My hairdresser was able to recommend a cleansing cream to help me with this and a dry shampoo.

3.)  Last Sunday was eventful!  Before church on Sunday morning, I was folding laundry.  I had Miss. E laying on the floor on a blanket.  She was playing with her toy and I was rushing around putting away clothes.  I entered the room as she rolled to her side.  Not a big deal, as she has done this since birth.  That was when it happened!  She rolled over to her tummy!  I was super excited!  I called Hubby who was working.  I texted the grandparents.  I know this is not exciting to anyone else but it is to me!

4.)  I ran into a high school friend at church.  I don't get to see her very often, so it was a lovely surprise!  She is currently expecting her first child so it was fun to see her "bump".  She also got to meet Miss. E for the first time.  We had a nice chat.

5.)  No snow...  I have been watching the news and the cities that many of my family members and friends live in got pelted with snow this week.  It has been dubbed "Snowtember".  Although I am looking forward to cooler weather, I am not ready for snow.  I am thankful that I don't have to break out my parka just yet.

How was your week?  Link up at www.thelaurenelizabeth.com!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Minimalism- Week #3-Shirts & Sweaters

I dove into my closet this week.  I decided to begin my purging with shirts and sweaters.  I have been getting a pretty good feel for what works for me and what doesn't.  I am currently breastfeeding and hope to continue to breastfeed until my daughter is a year old.  I only want to keep shirts that work for this purpose.  I didn't include my nursing tank tops in the pictures/purge because I wear them constantly.  I often layer them under my other tops.  I also didn't include my workout tops.  I only own three and I don't feel that I need to pare them down.  There were some shirts in the laundry when I did my clean out.  I didn't worry about those shirts, as I obviously wear them.

Here are some "Before" and "After" photos:

Before:

After:  

Before:

After:  

Before:  

After:   

I donated most of the tops that I no longer want.  I put a few of the tops into my maternity clothes collection, as I wore them a lot in my pregnancy.  Hubby and I hope to have more children so I will hang onto the maternity clothes for now.

Here are questions to ask yourself when going through your clothing:

1.) Does this fit?  Do not keep clothes that do not fit.  The exception, of course, is when you are pregnant or when you have just had a baby.  Those weight fluctuations are often temporary.  Clothes that are too big or too small are not flattering.  They are taking up prime real estate in your closet.  Let them go.

2.)  Do I like this?  If you don't like the item or how it looks on you, don't keep it!  I think that sometimes we hang onto clothes because they look good in theory, but not so much in real life.  If something doesn't sit on you properly, has an odd colour or simply isn't your taste, let it go.

3.)  Have I worn this in the past six months?  With the exception of dress clothes and seasonal items, this rule should apply.  It is a pretty good indicator of what you like to wear.  There doesn't have to be anything wrong with an item for you to choose not to wear it.  Let the item go.  Someone else can get use out of it.

What are your rules when going through your closet?  How do you decide on what to keep?

Minimalism- Week #2-Scarves

I planned to take care of my scarf collection for this week's project.  I didn't address my heavy winter scarves because I plan to tackle my winter accessories in a different post.  I like to wear scarves, but I inevitably end up only wearing a select few.  I brought out all of my scarves and kept only the scarves that I wear regularly and look nice on me.  A few of the scarves in this group double as winter scarves on warmer winter days or dressier occasions.

Here are the scarves that I owned:

Here is what I have left:

The sort of purple/pink scarf in the first photo is actually a winter scarf, so it is in the winter collection.  I do want to purchase another scarf for the Fall season.  The scarves that didn't make the cut were either too heavy for my short frame or the wrong colour.  Seafoam green doesn't exactly flatter my skin tone (super fair)!  I will pay more attention to the weight and colour of any future purchases so I don't buy something that just sits in the closet.

High Five For Friday! (Already?!?)

Hello!  It seems that this week has gotten away from me!  I had the best of intentions for getting my Wednesday "Minimalism Week #2" post up, but it is now Friday and that obviously isn't happening.  Miss E is going through quite a growth spurt right now (eating, eating, eating, eating) and we spent Saturday-Tuesday five hours from home.  When we got home, the piles of laundry were overwhelming and I desperately needed to grab sleep when I could.  I plan to be more organized and have my posts written BEFORE my next excursion, so that when I get back all I have to do is hit publish.  I will be posting my "Minimalism Week #2" post over the weekend.  Thanks for your patience!

Okay!  I can not believe that it is Friday!!!  This week flew by!  We got home late Tuesday night, so I guess we didn't have a "true" week this week, but still.  It seems like time is flying.  Here is my High Five For Friday:

1.)  We got to meet the newest member of my husband's family this weekend!  We met his cousin's baby who is just two weeks old.  She is so tiny and adorable!  She made Miss E. (three months old) look like "Godzilla".  A very cute "Godzilla", of course!

2.)  Shopping for Miss E!  I had gone through all the gifts that Miss E. received and washed the 3-6 month clothes.  People have been very generous!  I noticed that most of the clothes are Summer outfits.  I picked up a few long sleeve onesies, leggings and sweaters for layering with the Summer outfits.  I even bought her a snowsuit for our Fall/Winter walks!  Anything pint-sized is adorable so I had to rein myself in a bit.  We also picked up her Halloween costume.  My mother-in-law used to make my hubby's costumes and my mom used to make my costumes.  I am not so talented with the sewing machine, so Miss. E will have to settle for a costume from the store.

3.)  Fall wardrobe!  Fall is my favourite time of year to dress for!  I usually put together a list of items to add to my wardrobe for each season.  I picked up a few of those items this weekend and I am quite happy with them.  With each season comes the time to go through my closet, so that post will likely be coming soon!

4.)  My hubby's Godmother (his auntie) and Oma.  My husband has such wonderful family and his Godmother and Oma hosted us this weekend.  They are wonderful, loving women and they absolutely spoiled us!  They made us delicious meals and gave us a place to stay!  I so enjoy being around them.  They make you feel right at home.

5)  My in-laws.  My brother-in-law made a beautiful photo slide show of Miss E for us.  It was beautiful and well done.  It brought me to tears (of course)!  My mother-in-law had it put on a USB for us, along with all the photos and videos she has of Miss. E.  I appreciated this greatly, as Miss. E and I were separated for 36 hours after her birth.  She was transferred to the NICU in a different city, while I was forced to stay behind, in hospital, due to an infection I had acquired during my labour and delivery.  Hubby went to the city with Miss. E and his parents met him there.  I was so grateful that my mother-in-law had the idea to film Miss. E for me and take lots of pictures.  Even though I couldn't be there, I didn't have to miss out on her first few hours entirely.  My mother-in-law is extremely considerate and kind.  I am so grateful to have her in my life.

I hope you all had a wonderful week, as well!  Link up at thelaurenelizabeth.com to join in on H54F!