Wallet and Chain United!

The new chain has been removed and is just hanging out being a chain.  The old chain has been attached to the new wallet and all is right with the world.

Jockey's Slip Shorts.

In the quest to live life without chafing thighs, I purchased Jockey's Slip Shorts.  They are light and breathable and not at all restrictive like Spanx and other girdle-type shorts are.  I loved how they fit, they were very comfortable.

Unfortunately, the "slip" turned out to be a verb and not a noun.  Those shorts would not stay in place.  Wearing them under my uniform dress, I had to hike them up roughly every six steps.  And that's too much adjusting of underwear in public.   I tested to see just how far they would slip down by walking to the store without hiking them up.  I hadn't gone a block when they had crawled down to my knees and I resorted to holding them up at knee level to keep them from ending up around my ankles.

There was no clear sense of sizing either.  In the dressing room I tried on LG, XL, XXL, XXXL in different colors and lengths and all seemed to fit exactly the same.  I went with the smallest size I tried on.  Maybe I should have gone smaller?  Or maybe this product needs to go back to the drawing board.

I don't disagree, but that doesn't mean I have $1600.00

O, the Oprah Magazine has this feature every month.  It encourages you to purchase well-made, classic things because it pays off over time.  This month they have a Burberry trench coat.  I love it.  It's beautiful, and in Portland, Oregon, would be my main coat for three of four seasons.  There's only one problem.  The cost.

Lint results.

As you may recall, my Lint projects this year were to meditate daily and to eat mashed potatoes every day.  Here are my results:

As you can see, I was much better at eating mashed potatoes, only missing two times.  The first time (March 22) I completely forgot, remembering at 9:00pm that I had yet to eat potatoes. The second time I just didn't prioritize eating mashed potatoes.  I must note that I still like mashed potatoes and I will eat them again, but I was quite happy on May 6 to not eat them.  It turns out that while I could eat them every day of my life, they are not quite as pleasurable as when I don't eat them every day of my life.  It would be interesting to see if Andy Lee-Hillstrom (the person responsible for this particular  Lint Project) would have a similar experience.

The mediation was harder, mostly because once I make a batch of potatoes and portion them out, scheduling the eating of them is no problem.  Whereas I must find time every day to meditate.  Most days that's just a thing that takes some effort and then there are days that even effort doesn't get it done.  I missed two each of Sundays and Thursdays and Saturdays, one Friday and Three Mondays.  Mondays are my longest workday, and Saturdays and Sundays have less structure, so there's no "automatic" meditation time.  On weekdays, my "automatic" meditation time is right after I get home from work.  Thursdays, however, are movie night and I usually plunge right into the movie, which causes me to skip the meditation.

I will keep up with the meditation because I feel much better when I do it on a regular basis, much less high strung.

Here's my final mashed potatoes breakfast, hidden under the spinach and eggs.

Orthodox Lint Project

Hey!  Orthodox Lent is just beginning!  Just in time for my new idea for a Lint project:

Mashed Potatoes and Meditation!

Yes, that's right.  From now until Orthodox Easter (known as Greek Easter to my family) on May 5, I will meditate every day and also eat mashed potatoes every day.

Why?

I have a sneaking suspicion that my insomnia might be tied to a lack of meditation and I want to test that theory.  Plus, meditation is good for me and I've fallen away from it.  As for the mashed potatoes, my favorite local actor, Andy Lee-Hillstrom (U of Idaho graduate!) ended his bio for the play The Velvet Sky with the following: Andy's a sucker for a good montage, the sound of fingernails being clipped grosses him out, and he could eat mashed potatoes every day of his life.

When I related to Matt that I too could eat mashed potatoes every day of my life, he didn't believe me.  So I'm eating them every day of Orthodox Lent.

New Otz Shoes

They are quite comfortable.

House Frau and others

When you don't have much clothing (and I have a goodly amount by choice, but not a ton) sometimes you need to wash everything. Other times I desire to be dressed because I have things to do around the house, but don't want to actually put on pants. What do I need? A House Frau dress. I've been wanting one for awhile and my trip to the Goodwill yielded this classic. I love it. It's a great color, not binding at all and, yes, incredibly unflattering. But that doesn't matter, because after this picture, the public won't see it.

It was a good Goodwill trip in other ways. I also got this great shell which is a bit more flattering than the House Frau dress.

And! In the Halloween section, of all places, I got this fabulous car coat which not only goes with the dress, it bridges the gap between the "too cold for no coat, too hot for the lightest weight coat." Yipee!

Black pants.

Due to secret project that is upcoming, I've been videotaping and seeing myself live and on screen. What I've discovered? I really need new uniform pants. Like a lot. And quickly.

And here we go on the hunt for black pants that fit. I hate everything about this enterprise--the going to the store, the finding the black pants, which are always in six or seven different locations at the store, the dressing room mirrors which are always much too close to me, the having to bring two sizes of every brand because there is not standard sizing, the feelings of dissatisfaction with my body. Other things I hate about the process? Limits on the number of items you can bring in dressing rooms and store personnel who want to assist me. Thanks, I'd rather experience this disappointment and annoyance on my own. I avoid those last two by hitting Macy's first. They leave me alone and don't guard their dressing rooms.

At any rate, I managed to get myself to the store and through all those obstacles. I narrowed it down to two contenders. The Macy's brand which was okay and a pair of Calvin Klein pants that I loved how they felt but the larger size was just a bit too big and the smaller size was just a bit too small. Due to the not-quite right fit and the fact the Calvin Klein's were twice the price of the Macy's brand, I went with the cheaper option. The pants look great, but they are lacking in any pockets which would be a big problem at work if I didn't wear an apron to contain all the items needed for important Administrative Coordinator work.

One big check off for me today!

Uniform!

Police Officers. Lunch Ladies. Park Rangers. Nurses. Only some of the professions where people wear uniforms. And now: Administrative Coordinators at The Emerson School. Yes, that's right, I've decided to assign myself a uniform.

It all started with one of my LEX friends. We write topic letters back and forth and one of her topics was, "do you dress for yourself or others?" In answering that question, I said that if I had my druthers, I would just wear a uniform to work every day. I've had several jobs that require a uniform and I've really enjoyed wearing them. When I wore a uniform, I would get up in the morning and I already know what I was going to wear.

"Hey!" I thought to myself a few days later, "I could just wear a uniform." And so I did.

So this is it:
I have three pairs of Dockers black pants, four shirts from Eddie Bauer in "deep basil" and--what I am most excited about--I now own two cute black sweaters that I really like wearing. I bought some clogs, too. We shall see how we get along. I already have a few black skirts that I can wear when I feel like it.

When the weather turns colder, if I still like wearing the uniform I will buy some long-sleeved shirts and sweaters. I'm pretty excited about this venture. I've told my co-workers at work and they are amused/supportive. We shall see how long it takes before any of the parents or children at school say anything.

Also! I treated myself to some new Keen shoes. I really, really love them. And I'm allowed to wear them with the uniform, too.

Lint Wrap Up.

Well, the season of Lent is over and I think it is time to call and end to my season of Lint. I was going to extend the Lint project through orthodox lent, but I've decided not to as I am busy with the garden and other projects and a soon-to-start class.

I went great guns at the beginning, but the last few weeks tapered off into nothing. I started Parkour classes and those take up five hours of my Saturday with which I would otherwise have been doing Lint things. I accomplished some good things in that time:

• Divided my closet into summer and winter wardrobes.
• Donated all clothing that I didn't like
• Realized how few clothing items I love
• Explored some new consignment stores and reacquainted myself with some old favorites.
• Bought eight items of clothing and accessories.
• Tried on 30 pairs of pants. Found one that fit.
• Read a lot about style and wardrobe assembly
• Learned a handy trick for checking pants to try on.
• Realized I need to shop constantly, not just twice a year.

And so, with that last realization, the lint project lives on. I'm going to try to go shopping at least every other week until I get to a point in my wardrobe that I feel like I have enough. I'll most likely go to the Goodwill store on the way home from church, but I could also regularly visit two clothing resale places that are near my job. I'm still on the lookout for pants that fit and still really need new tops. When I find new items I'll post them here.

Lint Progress: Consignment store names.

What is it with consignment stores and dumb names. For example:

Seams to Fit.

What's Upstairs.

It's like the owners think cute or punny names are fun. To me though, they are just irritating. Even my favorite consignment stores are guilty of this.

There is the very hard to say out loud:

Here We Go Again Consignments

And even my my most favorite consignment store has a lame name:

Savvy Plus

It sounds like a more innocuous version of Mr. Pinky's Hefty Hideaway.

The only consignment store with a good name that I can think of offhand is:

Zombie.

Lint Progress: Goodwill on 10th part II

I had some time to kill before watching the Oscars, so I made my way back to the Goodwill on 10th. I tried on a lot of pants and found a pair that fit--black even--but I didn't really like them. I realized that if I bought the pants, I would just be perpetuating the dislike of my closet. So I put them back. Having more time to kill, I tried on skirts. Nothing really worked there either. Then I moved on to dresses.

I've always loved dresses, much more so than skirts. I like that you just put on a dress and you are done. Of course, the mix and match abilities are more limited than with a skirt or pants, but dresses are more fun for me. I found two excellent additions to my wardrobe.

This is an excellent dress. It can crossover seasons and can be dressed up or down. Though probably I shouldn't appear in public in stripy socks and slippers. It also, as the picture indicates, has excellent twirl factor, something I'm always looking for in a dress. The material is thick and luxurious feeling. When I bought it, it was a bit too big at the sides, so I had it taken in and it fits perfectly now. I'm very excited about this dress.
This is also a fabulous dress. It's got a very nice wrap front and two layers of fabric which makes for a nice skimming effect the style books are always talking about. It's a little fancy for where I work, but I can wear it to things like winter weddings, (which I bought it for) holidays and parties.
I also found some shoes. They were barley used and much more comfortable than the shoes I was wearing. I snapped them up.

It was a good shopping trip.

Lint Progress: Closet Tryout

Today was part two of shopping in my closet. After removing all the things I don't love and am not wearing, I was to try on all my clothing and find great new combinations, making note of them on the handy form I cribbed from "Ready to Wear." Then I could make a list of what I needed to take with me while shopping.

It didn't go as planned. I was very tired from my weekend in general, but had made it a goal to get this step done. I started with my long black skirt. I paired it with every top and top/jacket combo and made note of what worked. And that was all I could take.

I know I should do the mix and match things, but it's not going to happen. I basically know what I need: about three more pair of pants, all new tops, new dress shoes, new lace-up shoes, new bras, new underwear, new socks. We'll just go from there.

Lint Progress: What's Upstairs

I still had time to kill after "Seams to Fit" so I wandered up 23rd Ave. for some window shopping. On my way I came across another consignment store called "What's Upstairs." It's located at 736 NW 23rd Ave. I climbed up the stairs to find out what was there.

It was a store I didn't like at all. The person working there was not really very friendly. Though I realize that the person could be unfriendly for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with me, the first thing I think is that I shouldn't be shopping there. So that was the first strike against them.

As stated before, I don't really like to shop. This means that I like things to be divided by size, so I can avoid looking through the smaller sizes. This shop was divided not by size, but by color. All the black pants were together, and all the black shirts, black sweaters, black jackets. On another wall were all the white things. In another room were all the colored things. All sizes, mixed up together. It was my shopping nightmare.

Clearly, some people like this store. Someone on Citysearch would "move to PDX FOR THIS SHOP." I'm glad she's happy. I won't be going back.

Lint Progress: Seams to Fit

After a doctor appointment, I stopped by "Seams to Fit" to see if anything fit me. The store is located at 2264 NW Raleigh and, according to it's website, "offers an upscale retail environment for consignment of your quality articles." It is a very nice environment and the clothing was very high quality. It was also very expensive. I'm not really an Armani-suit wearing person, but if I were, I would shop here.

I had a lot of time to kill, so I tried a lot of things on. Including super fancy clothing that I had no intention of buying, even if it did fit. Clothing that costs over $40.00 makes me a bit nervous to wear. Some of the dresses I was trying on were $80.00 to $100.00. Used.

Nothing, sadly, fit. I'm being very picky about fit and nothing fit the bill. Still, I left in good spirits. This won't be a main clothing store for me, but I'll probably stop in once in awhile.

Lint Progress: Savvy Plus

I love Savvy Plus. One of the things I hate about shopping is that it is so uncomfortable. In retail stores, I tend to feel grubby and worried that I "shouldn't" be shopping there. It's mostly all "me" stuff, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. Being on the top end of normal clothing stores isn't fun, either. I tend to feel huge in normal retail stores. Savvy Plus is the solution. It's a clothing store for sizes 12 and up with resale and some new items. Both are reasonably priced.

And, it is run by Gaya who completes the package. She's very nice and full of good energy and also has my favorite combination of leaving me alone to navigate the store, but also providing more attentive service if I want it. She let me take her picture, even though I could tell she doesn't like to have her picture taken. Who wouldn't want to buy clothing from someone so great? It's also the kind of store where people pipe up with their opinion if something looks great on someone. The whole experience is shopping without all the baggage.
I hit the pants first. Gaya nicely told me to leave whatever didn't work in the dressing room. I appreciated that, as it is one of those things I'm often not sure about. I tried on six pairs of pants, but nothing worked there. I wandered around the store looking for a new black sweater that fits. I found a sweater-like thing that ties in the front. It was 50% off so only $7.00. When I got home I banished the "bit too small" sweater from my closet to the donate pile. That was a nice feeling.
I also found this jacket which fits very well and has both black, white and gray in it. It was 30% off and came to $16.80.
Savvy Plus. If you are female, size 12 or larger and live anywhere near Portland you must go there. Don't delay.

I've just realized that I might not need any more blazers/jackets/sweaters. I think I need to do step two of Ready to Wear before I shop again. That would be figuring out how many outfits I have in my closet and generating a list of what I need. I'll do that tomorrow.

Lint Progress: Closet Cleanout.

Today I did the big closet clean out as recommended on Ready to Wear. The plan was to go through everything and only keep things that I love and I am currently wearing. The rest go into piles and get put some where else. My piles were: Out of Season, Tailor, Donate, Other Closet, Like.

Tall order. I suspected that I wouldn't love many of my clothes. Thus, the "Like" pile.

The closet before:


And with everything I love. That gives me 3 skirts, one pair of pants (I was wearing them) two tanks, 2 shirts, 4 sweaters/jackets. I added back in a lot of the "like" stuff. Loving everything will be a goal for the future.
I then moved onto my drawers. Before:

And after:



Here are my plies:
This is a pile that cropped up mid-sort. It is the "cut these t-shirts up to save for the quilt you are making someday" pile.
Here's the "like" pile.
The "summer clothes" pile on the left and the "put it somewhere else" pile on the right.
On the left: the "donate" pile. On the right: I had nothing to go to the tailor, but these shoes are going to the cobbler before spring arrives. I love them.
Shoes I like that went back into the closet.
The following is a list of the "like" items I put back, and the reasons I'm not in love with them:

• 2 black tank tops--cut a bit too low for work.
• Orange striped shirt--faded
• Green sweater--nothing to wear with it. It also draws attention to the psoriasis on my arms
• red long sleeved shirt--faded
• black sweater--is a bit small, but I need it to complete outfits, so it has to stay for now.
• straight long black skirt--I wear it all the time, but I know it isn't the most flattering thing.
• khaki pants--I had them hemmed before I washed them and they are a bit short. I've also gained weight since I bought them and so they are a bit tight. Until last week, my only pair of pants.
• black skirt--I'm on the fence about if this is a flattering skirt or not. Also, I don't think it looks very good with flats, but I don't wear heels.
• Long black skirt, a-line. I keep reading that short people shouldn't wear long skirts.
• Running shoes--I really need a new pair, but if buy any new ones, I will destroy my clothing budget.
• Black heels--I hate heels because they hurt my feet. Still, it's good to have them on hand, and these are more comfortable than most.
  
• Old running shoes--I wear these for project work. It doesn't matter if they get paint or sawdust on them
• black birkenstocks--I've been wearing these every other day in fall, winter and spring since 2004. I'm a bit tired of them, but buying new shoes would (as above) destroy my clothing budget.
• sliver heels--I actually really like these shoes a lot. They aren't really the kind of shoes you can walk in though, so they aren't practical. I tend to carry them to events where I wear them. Then I don't walk too much.
  

Now my closet is much less cluttered and I have an entire empty drawer in my dresser. The next step will be making outfits and generating a list of what I need. I'm starting to suspect that this project will be longer than 40 days.

Ready to wear: an experts guide to choosing and using your wardrobe. Mary Lou Andre

This is the first book I've finished of the slew of wardrobe-choosing books I've checked out from the library. I liked it a lot and have made it my main "planning my plan" book for my Lint project. Mary Lou Andre first suggests removing all clothing from your closet and keeping only the items you love and are currently wearing. Then she has you shop in your closet for outfits and write down those outfits on a handy chart she includes in the back of the book. As you shop your closet and see which items are missing, you then make another list of what you need to take shopping with you. This makes sense to me and solves one of my biggest problems, namely going to the store and dithering about what I need.

There are also fun stories from her business and descriptions of essential parts of your wardrobe as well as smart tips. My favorite was that once your tights get a run or hole in them, to slit the label.

Lint Progress: Here We Go Again

I'm a big fan of Here We Go Again. Despite the slightly awkward name, it is a very good consignment store. When I lived in SW I liked to go to the store on SW Carolina. Since the move to North Portland, I haven't been, but they recently closed their Barbur Blvd. store and opened one on NE Broadway which is closer to me.

I'm on their mailing list, so I knew that they were having a sale that started on Valentine's Day at the Carolina location. I got off work at 4:30 and had a class at 6:45, but I figured I could navigate public transportation and still have 40 minutes of shopping.

Alas, it was rush hour and the bus was running a bit late. I had about 30 minutes of shopping. The sales staff was wonderful as always. They are very nice and leave me alone, which is what I prefer, but I get the feeling they would love to help me if I wanted that. Every colored tag (about 80% of their merchandise) was 40% off and white tags were discounted too. Once again I concentrated on pants.

The selection wasn't as good for me this time as it has been. There were a few size 12 and even fewer size 14 pants. Larger sizes must not be consigning there as much lately. It didn't take me very long to try them on, but nothing fit. I grabbed a few dresses too, just for fun, but struck out there. I went through the jackets and there was a very nice leather jacket that I really wanted to fit, but alas it was a tiny bit too small.

I ended up with this bag. I'm pretty excited about it, because I've been carrying things in a backpack with a duct-taped strap. The backpack is a very roomy bag and when I was going to the gym could hold my food, my newspaper and all my gym stuff. However, since I haven't been sleeping I haven't been going to the gym and the duct-tape strap, even though I specifically bought black duct-tape to match the bag, makes me feel a bit shabby.
Backpacks are better for the back, but I think this bag won't be too hard on my shoulder. It's big enough to fit my lunch and thermos as well as my camera, wallet, and my letter writing kit. I also like the green lining. With my 40% off, it was $15.00.

Lint Progress: Goodwill on 10th

Goodwill on 10th is what I call the "Fancy Goodwill." They have better-quality clothes in a smaller setting for more money. I find this to be a good thing due to the Expanding Clothing Size Decreasing Quality Theory. That would be the theory, formulated by yours truly, that if you are size 10 and below, shopping in thrift stores is easy, or at least easier, because those are the clothing sizes that women either gain weight and grow out of, or buy in hopes of someday getting into. Or alternatively, women just are those sizes, and are happy about it so they take care with their wardrobe. Size 12 and up, however, it becomes more difficult to shop in thrift stores because women who are that size mostly spend time wishing they were a different size. So they don't take as much care with their wardrobes and/or wear their clothing until it wears out. In those sizes, there is a bunch of crap at thrift stores. Any place that will winnow out the crappy clothing is a good place, even if it charges more money.

I stopped after church to see what they had in pants. I tried on 10 pairs and found.........a pair of khakis just exactly like the ones I was wearing. But pants that fit are pants that fit and I bought them. $14.99.

After the pants shopping ordeal was over, I looked around for other things. They had a rack of coats on sale for $9.99 and I got this coat, marked down from $39.99. I'm really excited about this coat. Its an Ann Taylor rain jacket and it should serve me well this spring. Sorry about the blurry photo.
On the way home, I bought a full-length mirror, you can see it behind me. We didn't have one in the house and they come in handy. The Ready to Wear book suggests to buy two and hang them in one corner of a room so you can see more than one side of you. I plan to do that, but the store had just one so I'm starting there.

In looking for a picture of Goodwill on 10th I found a post that explained that the clothing at Goodwill on 10th only comes from two stores. Although another article says that they come from a central processing facility. And yet another article says the best days to shop there are Monday and Tuesday. Given that this store is on my way to and from so many things, I may just stop in weekly.