My Trip to the Goodwill: Frivolousness or Frivolousless?

I may not be doing so well on the challenge.  Already I've been to Qdoba (I told you we liked to go there), and we also ventured to the Goodwill last weekend (Have I mentioned I'm a big fan of Goodwill?)

That means I have definitely spent money I didn't need to.  First - the food.  Definitely frivolous, but remember I did get a free drink just for being a teacher.  Second - the Goodwill.  Definitely not a frivolous place, but did I really need the 5 books & shirt that I bought there?  Then again, the books are for my classroom, so I'm not sure that's too frivolous.  The shirt probably was, but I put back two skirts and another shirt.  That was frivolous-less, right?

Oh well!  At least I got a cute shirt!  Here are a couple pics of me with my new shirt (WiWW), and a couple other previous thrift store finds.

Shirt - Goodwill (that's the new one)

Cardigan - Ann Taylor Loft

Skirt - Gap

Belt - Kohl's

Tights & Shoes - Target

Necklace - I think it's a hand-me-down from Allison!

 Another purchase from the Goodwill - this khaki skirt... with POCKETS!

And my jean skirt also from the Goodwill.

These have all been worn in February, and are now in the "keep" pile!

What I Wore Wednesday

This is just a quick little What I Wore Wednesday...If you've made your way over from The Pleated Poppy, here's a little background on our little blog: My sister and I are embarking on some fashion adventures. Last month we could only wear 6 items of clothing for the month. This month's challenge is to wear all of our clothing to figure out which items we can live without and then donate them at the end to simplify our wardrobes.

First up is actually Monday's outfit (which is significantly cuter than today's). I couldn't choose just one picture - I love all the different facial expressions - so I included all three!

Sweater - anthropologie

Skirt - Gap (from long ago)

Gray T-shirt - H&M

Tights - Kohls

Boots - Emu

Scarf - Primark in London

Last night my cute little first graders had their music concert (in which I had a starring role as one of three narrators). This meant I was at school until far too late, and this morning I felt like it should not be time to go back already! Combine that with the FREEZING weather we are having, and I just had to wear something warm and comfy today. (This is actually a step up from sweatpants and a sweatshirt, which I wish I had been wearing all day!)

Sweater - Gap

Pants - NY&CO.

Scarf - Primark in London

Earrings - Sweet little birds from Etsy (Christmas gift from mom!)

Shoes - Be glad you can't see them. They are the oldest black shoes that I only wear to work!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Clean Out the Closet Challenge Update: Week 1

Here's the Good, the Bad, and the Changes for February's challenge so far...

The Good:

1. I have already found a few items of clothing to donate. Two pairs of pants and a sweatshirt have gone into the pile.
2. I am enjoying wearing all of the clothes I couldn't wear last month!

The Bad:

1. You already know that the jeans situation has been a problem.
2. I am spending too much time trying to decide what to wear everyday!

The Changes:

1. Jeans can be worn more than once. (Hopefully this will be the only change to the rules!)

And just so you can be sure I am not cheating by wearing items of clothing more than once, here is a peek at my outfits from the 1st week...

(The gray sweaters in the last 2 pictures are different, I promise! If you look closely at the sweater on the left, you can see the little white dragonfly on the shoulder!)



Frivolousless Update: Week #1

Frivolous-less February

It's been about a week of Frivolouslessness, and I decided to reflect back on the week...

It hasn't been too hard, especially since I didn't leave the house from Tuesday afternoon until Thursday afternoon. Not many opportunities to be frivolous in my house! I did go to Chic-Fil-A on Thursday for lunch but only spent $1.38 on my meal (thank you, Christmas gift cards).

The hard part came Friday after work when I stopped at The Land of Great Temptations (aka: Target). I had something to return (which I actually left in the car - oops!) and a few (non-frivolous) things to pick up. Here are my stories of frivolousless victories at Target (who knew it could be done?):

1. I needed a stapler (thank you, naughty first grader, for breaking mine on a day there was a sub in the classroom). Instead of buying the cute, purple one, I got the basic black for $2 less.
2. I was starving, but instead of getting a chocoloate-peanut butter heart like I really wanted, I got a banana - A BANANA! Cheaper and healthier!

These may seem like small victories, but for a girl who regularly spends more at Target than she should, it was quite impressive!

I also realized this weekend that if I am really sticking with my rules of spending no extra money, I will have a very boring month! Saying no to the movies and dinner out all the time and sitting in my house all alone doesn't seem like a good time. The gift cards alone just aren't going to cut it! So I am revising the frivolousless rules a little bit:

1. The no extra spending rule definitely still applies to clothing, accessories, shoes, etc... Nothing new to wear. The challenge is to clean out the closet, not add more to it!
2. A little bit of entertainment (going to the movies, going out to dinner, etc...) frivolousness is ok. Use gift cards as much as possible, but don't become a hermit just to be frivolousless.
3. No extra spending still applies to all shopping! If you don't need it, don't buy it!

Hopefully these rules will be a better fit. I'm not planning on any more changes!

Meet the {Other} Teacher

Since Allison linked up with The First Grade Parade, I thought I might as well join the party.  After all, I'm a teacher too.  So as Allison mentioned in her post, our blog really isn't about teaching, but little bits and pieces related to our jobs might be thrown in here and there.  We started our little blog to document our journey through January when we attempted to wear only six(ish) items of clothing, creating new outfits with our accessories.

I'm on the left, Allison's on the right.  We had to share a few accessories throughout the challenge!

We survived and (I think) passed with flying colors, and since we had so much fun blogging about it, we decided to keep our blog going with a new February challenge: Frivolous-less February.
This month we are trying not to spend money frivolously & we're also trying to clean out our frivolous closets by wearing everything inside them.  If we don't wear an item, it gets sent to the thrift after February.  So far, Allison's doing a great job, and me - well, I'm doing okay (but I only made half-hearted commitments to this challenge!)

Alright, onto the Q&A from The First Grade Parade (minus one because I couldn't think of a good answer):

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t a teacher?                                           
A:  I don't know because there's about a zillion things I want to do (and I'm always thinking up more).  The truth is that when I'm not a teacher, I'll probably be a stay at home mom.  But in my dreams, I'll ALSO be an author, a co-owner of that little bakery Allison mentioned, a photographer, an etsy shop owner, a tutor for kids in the inner city - starting all kinds of programs I have in my head, and a whole bunch of other stuff that I just can't remember I want to be!  

Q: What are your hobbies?                                                                                  
A: Right now: blogging & crafting.

Q: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?                   
A: A teacher (we loved playing school) & a singer (we also loved singing on the fireplace with our hairbrush microphones).

Q: What are your guilty pleasures?                                                              
 A: Diet Coke.  And chocolate.  And ice cream.  Okay, anything sweet.

Q: What is your biggest fear?!                                                                   
 A: Squirrels.  Seriously, they kind of freak me out.

Q: When you’re on vacation, where do you like to go?                               
 A: There's no set place.  But my favorite kinds of vacations are the ones in WARM places, the kind where you mostly just sit on the beach and do nothing.

Q: What do you value most in others?                                                                 
A: I love people who just genuinely love other people, even if those other people give them nothing in return.  (Does that make sense?)

Q: If you could choose one of your personality traits to pass down to your kids, what would it be?                                                                                                      
A: I think I have to say almost the same thing as Allison, but one of the things I love about our family is all the fun little things we do.  The other day, I was telling Nate about all the fun things my parents did for us when we were little (dying lunch foods green for St. Patrick's day, Decorating our rooms with crepe paper for birthdays, hidden buddies for Valentine's Day, etc., etc.) - Fun, inexpensive, but unforgettable!  I hope that fun-ness continues with me and is passed down to my kids.  Showing love (to our families & others) in little, thoughtful, genuine ways.  I know that's not really a personality trait, but close enough!

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world….living or dead…who would it be?                                                                                                            
A: Well, I love lunch with my husband, but I don't think that's the idea behind this question, so maybe... oh dear!  This is pathetic.  I can't think of anyone.  So, yep, lunch with the husband would be the best for me!

Now tell us one random thing about yourself:

Well, I told you I like to blog, so I guess my random fact will be that I also blog over at Someone's Gotta Pay.  This is my little blog devoted to another passion of mine - little choices I can make to love people around the world, simple ways that I can try to live ethically.  Check it out if you want!

Hope you had fun learning a little bit more about me, and be sure to check out all of the other fun blogs in the linky party...

The Denim Dilemma

Confession: I secretly want my 6 item challenge back. The challenge of wearing each article of clothing just once is much harder than having only 6 to choose from! I am trying to ration some things so that I will have them to wear later, and trying to wear others so that I will be sure to keep them at the end of the month.

Example: Jeans. With the 6 item challenge, I knew had a pair. It was always the same pair, but at least I could wear them whenever I wanted! I haven't even been doing this challenge for a week, and already jeans are becoming a big problem! We had two snow days this week, so one of the days I wore jeans. Poof! Into the forbidden laundry basket they went. Then it was Friday, a typical jeans day, and since it's sooo cold, I really didn't want to put on tights and a skirt. So, jeans again. Ahhh, another pair gone! Now it's Saturday and I can't decide if I want to waste another pair. See what I mean about the problems?!

Perhaps the rules on denim will have to change (and soon)!

I'm In.... Well, Kind Of

Maybe you've been wondering if I've decided to join Allison for "Frivolous-less February"  (or maybe not), and the answer is yes.  Well, kind of yes.  I'm in for bits & pieces of it.

Here are the commitments I'm making:

(1) The closet challenge - YES - with my own rules:

• I can wear items more than once.  (In case you don't know Allison, her closet is bigger & more full than mine!  While she may have enough clothes to dress differently everyday of the month, I'm not 100% sure that I will.)  I'll try not too, but I already know that my jeans will be worn more than once.  For sure.
• This probably goes without saying, but just in case, clothes that are out of season don't count.  Of course I won't be sending all my summer clothes to the thrift after the month is over.
• I will be sending a pile of the unworn clothing to the thrift (or to my crafting collection for some upcycling) at the end of the month.
• Same as Allison - accessories don't count, special occasions do, and this is for clothing worn most of the day.

(2)   The spending challenge - HMMM..... It's not that I plan to be frivolously spending this February or anything, but I'm just not sure I can totally commit.  After all, I already went to lunch at Chick-fil-A today - with Allison, I might add, but while she had a gift card, I was spending real money!  So, I think I'll commit to semi-frivolous-less (that's a mouthful) February for this one.  I will TRY not to spend very much money.  But the husband & I are known to make trips to Qdoba for taco salads when we don't feel like cooking.  (Can I count that as frivolous-less since teachers get free drinks?).  I don't know if we'll be throwing that one out the window.  So I'm leaving this challenge with a half-hearted "I'll try", and I'll just keep you posted on what happens.

I told you I was in.... well, kind of!