Autumn Color Palette "Color Me Beautiful"

After reading countless blogs quoting Carole Jackson's "Color Me Beautiful" (the original seasonal color palette book), I finally decided to read the book that seemed to be the foundation.  I LOVED it, and I would highly recommend checking it out.

I decided on a fairly limited color palette with

 - neutrals of brown/cognac, denim, and cream

 - main colors of teal and olive

 - accent colors of coral (spring) and burnt orange (fall)

One thing I appreciated about the book was her insistence that redheads are warm autumns, not warm springs.  I had been struggling between the two, and thus I had too many choices.  The most major difference is that NAVY is NOT a recommended color for me.  I decided to follow one of my favorite quotes from the book: "Why look good when it's just as easy to look great?"  I've always felt that navy looked good on me, but maybe BROWN looks better!  I had been waffling between navy and brown as my main neutral, struggling to make a cohesive wardrobe with both.  So with the help of a friend, I decided to pull the plug on navy.  It doesn't look bad, but it will make my wardrobe much simpler and easier to mix and match if I stick with brown and get rid of the navy.

My classic example is that I bought two blanket scarves, because I was unable to decide which one was better, the navy one or the brown one.  Then I always felt funny if I wore the navy one with my brown coat, because it didn't quite match...maybe I should get a navy coat too?  That's when I realized that if I kept them both, I would almost need TWO wardrobes: one for navy and one for brown.  So with a sigh, I decided to get rid of the navy.  I went through my wardrobe and put away all the clothes that are not in my colors.  I've been shopping quite a bit, trying to replace them with items in my colors.  It's really too bad, because it wasn't that long ago that I started purchasing more navy as I started getting rid of black.  Also, I'm discovering that brown seems to be much more difficult to find in stores.  For example, the dress suit section typically contains suit jackets/pants/skirts in black, navy, and gray.

I have found with the pieces I've added so far (maybe I'll write another post sometime about that), it is much easier to mix and match my wardrobe.  I've added a lot of olive green (it's semi-neutral anyway) and coral.  I had added the burnt orange a few years ago, and I've always had a lot of teal.  I'm having a harder time finding clothes, but when I do, they are worth the effort. 

Sara's Accidental Size 18-month Spring/Summer Capsule Wardrobe

Last July, when we were in the US, I stocked up on the spring/summer clearance sales at Carters in size 18 months for Sara to wear this spring.  She's been steadily true to size in Carters, so I felt comfortable buying seasonal clothes in the age she would be (almost a year ahead of time).  Yesterday, I got them all out to do an inventory and see if I would need to buy anything else for the spring.  

All of Sara's 18-month clothes in a drawer organizer

When I saw how few clothes there were, I thought for sure I would need to buy a ton more for her to have enough.  Normally I have limited her clothes to one drawer full, which holds two drawer organizers.  Then with all my capsule wardrobe experience, I decided to see how many outfits I could make with what she already had.  

As I started laying out outfits, I couldn't believe the mix-and-match capabilities.  I had "accidentally" given Sara a limited color palette (navy/white/pink/light blue - with one exception yellow dress).  And I had a good, balanced amount of each different type of clothing.

Onesies - 3 short-sleeved, 1 long-sleeved

Shirts - 4 short--sleeved, 1 long-sleeved that can be cuffed

Rompers - 2 short-sleeved w/ long pants

Pants - 6 leggings (2 solid, 4 floral), 2 jeans, 1 jeggings

Sweaters - 3

I took pictures of each outfit, so I could count them.  Then the mathematical side of me got really into the combinations, and it ended up taking quite a while to do it all, but it was really fun for me.  It's a fun balance of math and creativity.  I took the outfit pictures by making all the combinations with each top.  I then sorted them into collages by short-sleeved and long-sleeved outfits, because she probably can't wear short sleeves in March, but she also can't wear long sleeves in July.  So, it's kind of like 2 capsules within a capsule.  But there may be some overlap if it's hot outside but cold inside, so the sweaters may still be helpful to bring in the diaper bag in July.

Short-sleeved outfits - 24

Some of these are just a little basic, like I'm not of huge fan of just a white onesie with leggings, but still possibilities.  Even so, this is more than enough!  I realized on our last trip how easy it was to wash a couple of Sara's things in the sink with her bath soap, so if we're traveling and she gets food on her clothes, I don't have to have a ton of other clean clothes.  I can just wash it, and it will be ready to wear in a day or so! I was worried about laundry detergent while traveling, because we use the sensitive kind for babies, but it's not a problem if I use her bath soap!

28 Outfits with onesies (and the green shirt)

22 Outfits with shirts (I miscounted the first time, thus the 2 blank squares)

That makes a total of 50 long-sleeved outfits.  I suppose that would've fit neatly into two 5x5 square collages, but miscounting is not worth doing all that work again.  That's incredible!

I counted dresses separately, because honestly, I typically only put Sara in dresses for church on Sundays.  I've realized that 3 dresses is plenty, and it will mostly be cold in church, so the sweaters add a few more possibilities.  I'm not sure when she will start walking, so she may need leggings even underneath the dresses to crawl around on the floor without hurting her knees.

Dresses - 3, making 5 outfits with sweaters

Also, we bought traditional Romanian outfits for the whole family, so Sara will also wear that to church sometimes while we're in the US.

Out of 23 items, I made 74 outfits!  After doing all the outfits, I realized there were a few things I had forgotten that were hanging in the closet:

Forgotten items

The navy vest will create more outfit combinations for sure.  The pink sweater (it looks like a coat, but it sweater material) is meant to match the blue onesie.  Then there is a rain jacket I bought in July, and a trench coat I bought at Zara for the fall that will also fit in the spring.  I didn't realize Zara's sizing was bigger than Carters, so we had to roll up the sleeves and put the snaps on a tighter notch this fall.  It should fit perfectly in the spring, though.



I may buy just a few things, like more white short-sleeved onesies, but I feel really good about this capsule!  It depends on how long she continues crawling what she will wear around the house, so I'm going to wait and see if I should buy some basic leggings or maybe even shorts/skirts/rompers to wear outside the house in the summer.  We will have her sleep in her size 12-month sleepers at least for a few more months.

I'm looking forward to catching the winter Carters sales to stock up on size 24 months!  Or maybe some 2T?  I'm thinking of getting a good mix of both.  I love onesies, but I know they don't work for potty training, so I will probably get good use out of both sizes.

Personal Training - it's Christmas!

My original goal when I started personal training in August was to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight by Christmas.  About halfway through I realized I wasn't losing as much weight because I've been gaining muscle along the way, so I changed my goal to be able to wear my pre-pregnancy clothes.  I have met that goal!  I'm not to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I'm basically the same size.  However, I feel better than I did before I got pregnant, because I'm in better shape.  I'm eating better.  I have more energy.  And really, that's what it's about - being healthy.

I had a little bit of a setback emotionally when I went to a checkup this past week and saw that my BMI is considered "obese."  I mean, I know I'm overweight, but I didn't remember that I was in the obese range.  If I lose 2 more kilos, I will be in the "overweight" range.  But the thing with BMI is that it doesn't take into account the muscle mass I've gained in the past few months.  I would be interested to see what my body fat measurements are with calipers, but I didn't do that when I started, so it would still be hard to see how I've improved.  Anyway, when I talked about it with my trainer, she agreed with me that, while I'm not where I need to be, BMI is not the best measurement of a person doing strength training.  Ironically, my original goal weight when I started trying to lose weight before I got pregnant, is the highest weight in the "normal" BMI range.  I had actually picked that weight because it is what I weighed in college, and I felt it was an appropriate weight for my body and bone structure.  But now if I'm gaining muscle mass along the way, I think a better goal for me would be to look at my jeans size.  I'd like to go down one more jeans size, but not more than two sizes.  Also, my belly is still proportionally a little bigger than I'd like, but it's much better than it was.

I've decided that I'm going to continue with personal training for a while longer, until I get to a place where I want to just maintain.  I'm realizing that at this point, I wouldn't push myself enough physically at the gym to get the results I want.  I need someone else to help me know how much I can do. 

And of course, what started out as an experimental diet has become a lifestyle for me.  I originally only planned to do the "Sugar Detox" temporarily, but it has made me feel so much better to eat a lower-carb diet.  I have more energy and I no longer have "sugar crashes".  It will be harder in some ways as we spend six months in the US next year and travel a lot, but I want to eat well as much as it is within my control.  If we go to someone's house, I will eat what they serve me, but if we go to a restaurant, I will order a low-carb option.  I'm thinking about having one "cheat" day per week, where I can splurge a little, just for the emotional strength to keep going for the longer term.

So for a before and after picture, I found some pictures I took in June (at that point I was in the middle of the C25K but I hadn't yet done the Sugar Detox) and recreated them tonight.  The only thing I changed was that my navy leggings in the June pictures were maternity and I put them in storage, so I wore gray leggings.  Also, it's kind of funny that my smile is bigger in June, but I'm really tired and I didn't notice that I didn't have a good smile in my after pictures.  I promise I'm happy!  :)

Cold Weather Food Capsule

We *sort of* have a new cold weather food capsule going, so I thought I'd share.  Basically, I've been trying to make the switch from salad to soup.

Breakfast hasn't changed much, but we have made sweet potato pancakes a few times, which is a fun way to mix up the routine.

For lunch, I've started making two different vegetable puree soups: green (broccoli/green beans/peas, seasoned with parsley) and orange (sweet potato/carrots/cauliflower, seasoned with sage).  The orange soup has a little bit more carbs, but not too bad.  We usually eat them with ham and cheese rolled up.  Sara eats ham, cheese, and cut up vegetables, because she refuses to eat "baby food."  :)  I had aspirations of making other soups for lunch (chili, chicken vegetable), but so far we've had chili for dinner and never made chicken soup.  We also found a restaurant that delivers with a great cream of broccoli soup and grilled chicken, which we order quite a bit.  Occasionally, I still have salad if we're out at McDonald's or Subway.

For dinner, we have had chili, tacos, or a meat (salmon or burgers, usually) with sautéed vegetables (two of either broccoli, carrots, Brussel sprouts).  We also recently started making spaghetti again.  We've tried spinach noodles, but I'm looking forward to trying a spiralizer I bought recently to make zucchini noodles.  We made our own sauce for the first time last night, since the store-bought kind has sugar in it.

What looks best? I'd like your opinion.

Lately I've been experimenting to see what shapes are most flattering on my body.  I thought maybe it would be helpful to expand beyond my and my husband's opinions.  The better I know what looks best on me, the better I can narrow down my wardrobe.  Which do you think looks best, and why?  Please be kind and constructive!  :)

1. green maxi skirt
2. navy maxi skirt
3. green short dress
4. navy short jersey skirt
5. navy short circle skirt
6. brown corduroy pencil skirt

 (side view of the same skirts, dress not pictured)

1. tall cognac boots
2. ankle cognac boots
3. short brown boots w/ heel
4. metallic flats

(another church outfit I've worn lately)

Capsule Wardrobe - Fall Oct-Nov 2017

For the first time in a while, I decided to try a capsule without teal as one of my colors.  To keep it more fall-ish, I decided to use olive green instead.  Traditional fall colors are some of the best for my coloring as a "Warm Autumn/Warm Spring," so I made this capsule as an experiment to see how I feel without teal.

Colors: Navy, cream/white, burnt orange, olive green

Shirts:
Chambray
Orange/navy plaid flannel
Dark green flowy
Navy long-sleeved tee
White short-sleeved tee
Olive short-sleeved tee
Navy short-sleeved tee
Cream/navy 3/4 sleeve tee

Sweaters/Blazers:
Burnt orange blazer
Navy 3/4 sleeve blazer
Cream/navy stripe blazer (not pictured)
Navy open sweater
Cream/navy stripe open sweater (not pictured)

Bottoms:
Dark denim skinny jeans
Medium wash bootcut jeans
Dark green corduroy
(Wishlist: olive jeans)
Brown leggings (not pictured)
Navy leggings (not pictured)

Dresses/Skirts:
Denim shirtdress
Olive green dress
Burnt orange dress
Navy maxi skirt? (not pictured)
Navy/white striped maxi skirt? (not pictured)

One of my 3 church outfits

Accessories:
Brown/orange blanket scarf
Navy/white blanket scarf
Burnt orange scarf
Dark green scarf
Navy scarf
Burnt orange winter scarf (not pictured)

Shoes:
Navy slip-on sneakers
Short brown boots (w/ heel)
Short brown boots (flat)
Tall brown boots

Outerwear (not pictured):
Navy jacket
Green trench raincoat
Dark green puffer vest
Brown puffer winter coat
(Wishlist: stretchy denim jacket? Olive jacket?)

Capsule Wardrobe - August-September 2017 (size Large)

When I was in the US in July, I bought some new clothes that fit me currently.  Most of my clothes were too small, and I felt so self-conscious wearing them. I had gone through all of my clothes in June to make a list of what I wanted to buy (see this post).  I ended up getting a really nice collection of things from Old Navy outlet, which I finished out at Kohl's.  I also bought a few pairs of shoes at the outlets.  Overall, I'm really happy with my purchases.  After we got back home at the beginning of August, I made a capsule wardrobe for August-September.  I've discovered that 2-month capsules work better for me, because the weather is more consistent.

I actually started writing this post mid-August but never finished, and I think it's really interesting to look at what I planned vs. what I actually used.  

This was my capsule:

Bottoms:

1. Skinny jeans cuffed
2. Bermuda jean shorts
3. Navy striped maxi skirt
4. Navy/brown pattern maxi skirt
5. Army green flowy pants
6. Elephant pants
7. Navy knee-length skirt
8. Blue/green knee-length skirt
9. Navy leggings?
10. Brown leggings?

I wore the bermuda jean shorts almost every day.  I really am just a jeans girl.  I also wore the long jeans cuffed when it was a little cooler.  I wore the green flowy pants several times, mostly to the park.  Unfortunately, my elephant pants got a hole in them, so I can't wear them anymore.  :(  I'm hoping to ask one of Cameron's classmates to pick me up another pair in Thailand.

I've realized that it works perfectly if I have exactly 3 outfits to wear to church.  I can rotate them and it doesn't seem like I'm wearing the same thing too often.  It made it incredibly simple for me to decide what to wear.  I bought a solid navy maxi skirt (not pictured above), and I rotated it with the navy striped maxi skirt and the navy/brown pattern maxi skirt.  I couldn't wear the shorter skirts yet, because I needed to wear longer shorts under the skirts to keep my legs from rubbing together, so I never wore them at all.  I also never wore my leggings, because it was too hot.

These are the three outfits I wore to church:

Continuing my capsule:

Dresses:
1. Army green mid-thigh
2. Denim shirtdress
3. Navy floral (special occasion)

I never wore any of these dresses, because they were too short.  I will be able to wear them with tights/leggings when it gets colder.

Tops:
1. Pink lacy tank
2. Jewel green leaf tie-back tank
3. Cream/navy striped tank
4. Chiang Mai tank
5. White tee
6. Jewel green tee
7. Teal lacy square neck tee
8. Navy tee
9. San Diego tee
10. Navy striped lace-up tee
11. Brown batwing tee (replace?)
12. Teal lacy flowy vest

I wore most of these, except for the Chiang Mai tank (still a little too tight) and the brown batwing tee (which I would've worn with the elephant pants that got a hole).  I think my capsules tend to have more tops because I have so little variety with bottoms.  I basically just wear jeans all the time, except for church.  I'm wanting to try colored jeans, but it's hard to find them in a curvy fit, and my size is still changing, so I don't want to invest too much money on pants that may only fit for a few months.

Shoes:
1. Brown teva flip flops
2. Tan strappy sandals
3. Brown Sketchers wedges
4. Navy walking shoes
5. Navy wedges (not pictured)
6. Teal gym shoes (not pictured)
7. Black/pink running shoes (not pictured)

I wore all of these, except for the navy wedges and the black/pink running shoes.  I found it easier to wear the same shoes to church every week, and these brown wedges are slightly more comfortable than my navy wedges.  I really want to find a tan strappy wedge, but I haven't found the perfect pair yet.  Obviously comfort is a top priority for me for shoes, especially since I do a lot of walking in the city.

It's really interesting how, since I got pregnant, I've been forced to live with a smaller set of clothing - first for maternity, and then now since most of my pre-pregnancy clothes are too small.  This time has helped me separate myself from a lot of the clothes that I used to wear and further define my uniform and what's most important in my wardrobe.  When I set out to buy this size large capsule, with the hope it would only be temporary, I wanted to buy only the essentials to make me feel good in my clothes but not have a bunch of things I didn't need.  I feel like I can better pare down my wardrobe in the future and not just put back in my closet all things size medium.  I know better what I actually wear on a regular basis.