{30 Days Dressed}

So my sister Eliza and I have been chatting lately (whining? bemoaning?) about the classic problem of having far too much clothing and yet nothing to wear. And don't get me started on the seemingly endless mountains of laundry. In a semi-dramatic fit we decided to do something DRASTIC and cut back our wardrobes for the month of June and just see how it goes. Many, many, many skype sessions later we decided to make up our own challenge instead of going with one of the ones already out there; since most of them are either working in the single digits (6 pieces seams a little risky with my boys) or are for the entire season, and I don't think Virginia summers work like that. So after much debating between my preference for even numbers and her's for prime, we compromised on 21 pieces. Then came the (slightly humiliating) tricky part. Which pieces?? And...do I really have that much clothing?? Now I (like a lot of mamas) need to keep a few sizes around because this post baby version just doesn't shrink quite as...permanently as I like, so that accounted for some of it, and then there were those winter clothes that never got packed back up... But really what good is it to constantly be looking at clothes I want to be wearing that are a size or two too small? I've heard the arguments for a "goal item", but a closet full of clothing that is too small is not inspiring, it's depressing...which doesn't help anyone reach any goals...and more often than not results in yoga pants and Joe's t-shirts because if that cute dress doesn't fit then why bother?? Of course I am working on these baby pounds so it seemed silly to just toss everything into the donate bin when there most certainly will be a day when I need them again. For now they are all bagged and binned up and stashed in one side of my closet...baby steps, folks, baby steps. 

Now insert into the story a few frantic, stressed/panicked skype sessions where we were convinced we had come up with the WORST IDEA EVER...thankfully not at the same time so we were able to help each other out. ;) Before we knew it we were down to 21 items... and more excited than worried (maybe. mostly.)

Now for a better idea of the guidelines we created... 

What counts in for the 21 items? ~Clothing, accessories, and shoes

What doesn't count? ~Pajamas, work out clothes (to only be worn for working out and gardening--no yoga pant errand days), underthings (including camisoles and tanks worn under clothing) and any jewelry that's worn all of the time-- for me that's what I like to call my "bonus piercings" and one or two rings, depending on how swollen my hands are on a day to day basis.

Rules? ~We kept it simple, no buying any new clothing all month (duh), wear every piece at least once, and get fully dressed each and every day.

I went mostly with separates that I can mix and match about a million different ways. 

~Two knit dresses

~Four skirts: black maxi, black yoga skirt, khaki wrap skirt, and a gorgeous hand died wrap skirt from etsy

~Six shirts, they're pretty clear in the above photo

~Two cardigans: one black, one green, although it's pretty washed out in the photo

~Two pairs of shoes: my charcoal grey TOMS and a nice pair of wedges for the fancier occasions 

~One white scarf, one layered silver necklace, silver hoops, a wide brown belt and a narrow grey belt

And folks, that's it. I pulled out my pajamas and work out clothes so that I didn't have any reason to poke through the locked down items and I have to say I'm feeling really inspired! There's still time if you want to join us, we're starting Saturday, but we wont tell if you're a day or two late! If you want to follow me on Instagram (mackenzieh87, and Eliza is eliza_stclair, we are both set to private but approve anyone who isn't obviously spam), we are using #30daysdressed to keep track of our pictures there, and will be doing a weekly blog update with our thoughts and outfits from the week. Now make sure to run over and read Eliza's intro post! For as close as we are, and as heavily as we depend on each other for clothing advice, we most certainly do not dress alike ;)

{Five}

Oh wait, not him...

Yes, this one. This sweet boy of mine is officially FIVE. Honestly I have no idea what to do with that number...seven, five and two...what ever happened to my babies?? But these numbers are awfully exciting and I really can't wait to see what they hold for my "babies". Bobby's birthday marks the end of our busy birthday season, although with such a large family, it never really ends. (That link runs over to a handy who's who on my sister's blog...while you're there check out her Home Tour series she's working on!)

{Ahem, that would be a "B" for Bobby, not an "8", I assure you...}

Explorer gear is my new favorite little boy gift idea! There is so much COOL FACTOR to be found! Ponchos, reflective heat "blankets", compass, lanterns, mini first aid kit, snacks, binoculars...the options are nearly limitless, and this time of year, very easy to come by! We wrapped it all up in a sturdy backpack with his very own stash of AA's and headlamp. I'm hoping to help him make a few field journals to tuck into the pocket and he'll be ready!

{Pumpkin Bars & Cream Cheese Frosting}

I think these kids are more better than not...but we certainly aren't 100% yet. There are still very, very, low appetites, lots of napping, and the occasional bathroom dash. Between that and three straight days of rain this mama needed a bit of a pick me up. The roads were flooded, even if they weren't too sick to be put in the car so I decided to scrape together some of our remaining groceries (please be better so we can grocery shop babies, we are out of everything!!), and I made these wonderful pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting. I changed up the recipe a bit to make it a teensy bit healthier, but I mean...it's still cake and frosting. With a big glass of milk and a few episodes of Dawson's Creek (giggle), it was just the thing. Just excuse these iphone pictures, my camera is off on a fabulous adventure with my sister in Dublin. ;) (Yes, I'm waaaay jealous.)

Thank you all for your sweet words yesterday, it was good to hear from you ladies! <3 p="">

{Hi there}

Oh my, where to start? My laptop got kicked off of the bed by a certain now 2 year old. Back in...January. Immediately I knew what had happened. It's happened three times before. I knew that when I brought it into the shop they would say something about recovering my files for me. And then they couldn't. And then I go through a period of mourning. Mad at myself for not just BACKING UP THE FILES (AGAIN!!!!)... I knew how it would go and so in my usual method of dealing with things, I put it off as long as possible. Until I felt ridiculous about it. And so now I have a laptop back. With everything gone. EVERYTHING. I'm glad I never listened to people about clearing pictures off of my phone, and grateful my camera's card is large enough to hold many pictures in between dumps...and that I live close to family so there are lots and lots of pictures of my babies floating around the universe. But oh my goodness, it still really, really SUCKS.

Enough with the excessive use of CAPS LOCK. I'm back in the blogging world, and if anyone is still coming by to check in, then thank you for your patience and a warm hello. I'd offer you tea but my babies have a stomach bug that just wont leave. Only actively sick for about 12 hours, but then they have just been crying and sleeping for two days now? Surely it must be more than that. It's been difficult but we have survived and I think we will be able to creep out of the house this weekend for a drive, and maybe a stop at our local(ish) farmer's market. 

I'm going to try to go over some of the highlights of life in the past few months, although really it's just been more of the usual. Lovely in every way  but not too many big events to mention. Miss Jenny is seven now, and Nomi is two...we are waiting on Bobby's fifth birthday at the end of the month and birthday season will have passed. Other random highlights would be: My sister and her lovely husband moved back from Georgia, and are living in his hometown about three hours away. We see each other A LOT, with lots of driving halfway to meet them and snag her for a few days of girl time. It's good for both of us. We have planted our first garden! Hopefully the torrential rains the last two days haven't done any major damage, and I made a mental note that yes, I do in fact need to add drainage holes to the pail I planted the mint in. I've never had much luck with plants, but I am trying oh so hard this year and the kids are naturals so I think we might actually keep these plants alive long enough to pick some tomatoes and peppers. I'll share more about the garden soon, once I sort out pictures. We still have to plant squash, and Bobby's pumpkin patch, and (hopefully) lots and lots of flowers, but what we have is already a lot to be grateful for and proud of. I'm not feeling like tilling anything else, so I think the squash will be planted in little mounds and it can just spread and take over as it likes. We are renting so I don't want to turn too much of the yard into garden, as tempting as it is! 

 {from Jenny's birthday}

Let's see, other news. My hair is purple-ish now. Not neon, but as of last Friday it is very blackberry inspired and I *LOVE* it. I expect funky hair colors will hang around for a while. I've been knitting a ton, and I'm trying to carve out some time to add sewing into the mix. My mission to keep us going on our journey of cooking with whole foods (and gluten and corn free) is continuing on. Like I said, just living life. I do have so much I want to share here from our little projects, and I've missed writing and chatting with you all. I'm off to start scrubbing down the infirmary ..I think they are at the point where a quick shower and change of sheets will start to turn things around and remind them what healthy feels like.