~dress to skirt in 30 seconds~

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!

Hope you all had a FUN and SAFE evening 

saying goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012.

I have spent the past month or so really

contemplating the things in my life that 

are working and the things that are not. 

Once I had a list of the things that are in need

of change I realized upon further contemplation that

it all stemmed around one major component:

ME.

Or shall I say....taking care of myself and 

making myself a priority. Several of the things

in my life that I am not happy with are the direct

result of just being plain 'ol exhausted,

 feeling crappy about my appearance,

AND

 feeling like my time and energy is spread too thin

resulting in the feeling that I do things "half-assed".

I hate that. 

So-with that being said and out there now,

let me share with you some ways in which I

am going to change this....starting NOW.

-Go to bed NO LATER than 10:30.

Regardless of what project or household

duty I think "has to be done right now".

I'm hoping that with the proper amount

of sleep each night I can make up for the

lost hours at night (when I usually do projects)

by being more productive during the day

because I won't be dragging my butt. 

And when all else fails, if it takes me a couple

extra days to get something done.....OH WELL.

If it means going to bed with a sink of dirty dishes....

BIG DEAL.

I can tell you now, this will be difficult for 

me to stick with but I have no doubt that if I do,

my husband and kids and myself will be much happier :)

You know what they say about "momma not being happy..."

-Rediscover my love of fashion and start taking risks again.

This was really what sparked the whole issue.

I'm sick of feeling like a frumpy, tired Mom.

In my former life...I actually dressed really cool.

I took fashion risks...some were a HIT and

some were a MISS. That's the chance you take and you

never know what fun looks you can come up with

if you never try. I love fashion. So much

so that it's what I went to college for...fashion design.

I want to start taking risks again and devoting more

of my sewing time working on clothes for me instead

of just stuff for my kids or my house. And you know what?

My kids won't know any different.

I don't have to be working on something for them

every second of my spare time in order to justify

the time and distraction away from them. 

-Get healthy by eating better.

I love to cook and I don't actually

buy a lot of crap and processed food

but I know I can do MUCH better when it

comes to this. The key to this is organization

and planning....and then trying to coax the kids

into eating it :)

AND FINALLY....

-Be present.

Meaning, whatever it is I'm doing or who I'm with,

be present in that very moment and conversation. 

Quiet that chatterbox in my head.

Simple as that. 

With this in mind, I decided that I had to ring in

the new year feeling cute. The initial outfit I had in

mind didn't work out. I re-purposed a men's t-shirt 

and although it turned out cute, it just doesn't work on me.

(However, it will work as an excellent birthday

gift for someone I know in January :))

So...true to form-I was scrambling at the last minute

trying to throw something together.

I have to back track a bit....I realized earlier in the

week that if I was going to take full advantage of my

wardrobe, I had to see what I had to work with.

I spent the afternoon yesterday going thru my closet

and getting rid of items that I didn't wear at all in 2011.

Some of the items I still love but they either don't 

fit me right or I don't feel confident in them.

I was astonished by the amount I got rid of.

This is what my closet ended up looking like:

disclaimer: my closet is nothing spectacular, I know.

I'm just showing you this to get the point across that 

a person has to know what they have to work with 

before they can actually start to work with it.

One of the piles I made while sorting thru the closet 

was of items to re-purpose. I took this dress out of the pile:

 

With a pair of scissors and 30 seconds I turned it 

into this:

 

I simply cut off the bodice and paired the skirt

instead with a tank I forgot I had. I topped

it off with a favorite piece of mine I bought

years ago at FULL PRICE from Nordstrom....

...my leopard belt. 

Because I live in a climate

that is bitter cold this time of year, I had

to add a little jacket, tights and boots:

I loved it.

It was comfortable.

It expanded with all the food I ate.

(on second thought...I'm thinking that's not good)

It was kid friendly.

It was perfect for dancing :)

Needless to say, I didn't get in bed by 10:30 last night.

But I will tonight.

Here's to 2012....may it be a good one.