Mr. Picks Mondays: Back at it

When it was time to pick out my outfit, my Mr. asked where my 30 for 30 clothes were. I started to tell him, then I realized he was going to choose from them:

Me: "Noooooo! You can't choose one of those! Pick something else - I have a WHOLE closet to choose from!"

Mr: "But you got dressed so much faster with only 30 things to pick from."

Me: "Soooooo. They're all in the laundry. The dirty laundry."

Mr: "No they're not."

Me: "I lost them. All of them."

Mr: "No you didn't..."

He finally came around and chose the pink shirt you saw above, I chose the pants and the sandals. I realized after we took these pictures that I was wearing Old Navy from shoulders to ankles. What can I say? They have a lot of stuff I like, at oober reasonable price points.

Any suggestions for next week to help him get back into the groove of picking out my clothes? Should he just pick out my clothes EVERY DAY this month? There's an idea...

Shirt: Old Navy

Pants: Old Navy via Plato's Closet

Sandals: Maurice's

Sunglasses: KMart

30 for 30: What I did/didn't do/learned/saw/discovered/decided

Above are the items I started my 30 for 30 challenge with. I tried to choose some things that would lend themselves to mixing & matching, and some that would stand on their own. Not sure how well those ideas worked out in practice, but that was the thought I started with.

And here is what I came up with. All 30 of them. Any favorites? 

So let's recap/reflect, shall we?

What I learned from my first 30 for 30 challenge...

- I get dressed a lot faster with less items to choose from. My Mr. thinks I should always do a 30 for 30 for this reason alone...

- I love to wear my white sandals.

- It's too hot for pants.

- Next time, I should choose items that are all brown OR black (or all tan, etc.), not a black blazer with brown wedges.

- I think this challenge would be easier for me in the winter - I could layerlayerlayer and come up with different combinations to my hearts content.

- More neutral shoes might have been a better choice, instead of pink sneaks & sparkly white ones.

- This past month has made me realize I really don't need any more clothes - I need to pare down my HUGE closet AGAIN and keep what I LOVE and reflects ME, and is flattering. So, why did I go shopping this month? Great question, friends. The items I bought weren't that expensive - but maybe that's the issue. I buy inexpensive (but cute!) things and then just hang onto them foreverrrrr. Ask my BFF, she'll tell you.

- I'm impressed with myself that I kept this up and didn't flake out. Not that I'm flaky, but it would have been easy to throw my hands up in frustration and call it quits.

- This challenge made me experience a whole range of emotions regarding blogging: overwhelmed, excited, underwhelmed with myself, sad, happy, excited, apprehensive, and looking forward to posting. Sometimes, all within 1 day!

- Packing only a carry on with only these 30 items to choose from was pretty simple.

- I sometimes looked forward to having a limited number of items to choose from when getting dressed - less decisions to make.

- But I was also really excited to have full use of my closet again :)

So, there it is! I did it! Maybe I'll do one again this fall or winter. What do you think about completing one? I can only recommend it! Any other challenges I should try?

Happy Tuesday!

Aaaaand, I'm linking up today with My Thrifty Chic :)

30 for 30: Day 30

Day 30

my skirt looks kind of purple here, but it's really gray

Ta-da! I finished my first 30 for 30 challenge! Wahoo! Happy dance! *THE CARLTON*

Anywaaaaaaays, it's done! And I've got a "recap/what I learned/what I would do differently/what I've taken away from this" post coming your way. Some of my professors always said one of the most important parts of the learning process is reflection, so, you'll get some of that shortly :)

*cue the song "Reflections" from Mulan*

30 for 30: Day 29

Day 29 

I successfully put my hair into a top-knot! (with the help of a bun shaper thingey-deal...)

what I wore to my friend's shower

I DO love my monogram

the metallic wedges I wore to another friend's wedding a few weeks ago

As I mentioned in my initial 30 for 30 post, I planned to wear something NOT in my 30 for my friend's shower this weekend and another friend's wedding a few weeks ago. This dress I got at Old Navy last week for a song - a less-than-$13-song. 

And then I put on something a lot more casual for the rest of the day. We had a nice date night that started off with dinner at Noodles & Co., saw Monsters University, and then indulged at Coldstone. AND THEN I got word that a group of friends was at dinner, and then were heading downtown after. So, we went! And had a great time catching up with friends we don't see too often. We called it a night around 11 (early for some, late for us) and headed home to the pups, and kept saying to each other "We should be social more often!" And really, we should! And we will! Sometimes we're just homebodies and would rather have a night in than head out downtown. 

And you know what? 

That's ok, too ;)

30 for 30: Day 27 & Day 28

Day 27

above: What I wore on my trip home. I ALMOST missed my connecting flight in Chicago, even after sprinting through the terminal, wearing a backpack and pushing another carry on bag. That was fun. Not. But, I made it! And I made it home to my sweet husband and cute pups. Another successful family reunion completed :)

Day 28

this is me reacting to being told to stop posing with bent legs

the beginning of 200 cookies we (I) made for a friend's shower this weekend. I dreamt of cookies & cookie cutters that night...I'll be posting what I wore to that tomorrow! 

Days 27 & 28 complete! This challenge is just about wrapped up - woohoo! I'm so excited to have use of my entire closet again (I did some shopping and can't wait to wear my new items!). I'll be posting a recap of this challenge in the next few days, so, if you're interested, keep your eyes open for that ;)

30 for 30: Day 25 & Day 26

Day 25

humidity! love it! NOT. do you SEE the lion's mane that is supposed to be my hair??

that's a flower/weed thing, but it was pretty, so into the line up it went

 Day 26

me & Dad hanging at the pool. I got a wee bit too much sun...

Master of the Grill. just kidding

Wait. Is that the same shirt I wore the day before? 

Yes.

*GASP*

Let me explain. I had been wearing a different shirt and was helping make dinner. Some of dinner (possibly the baked beans) ended up on my WHITE shirt, so I had to make a switch before documenting this outfit for the entire internet to see. But my shorts and hair are different, so, points for that?

PS - my sister in law got FIRST in her cutting competition! So proud of her!!!

30 for 30: Day 23 & Day 24

Day 23

So, the first night of our trip, most of my extended family was at dinner. Then my sweet Dad announced to everyone that I have a blog. I turned bright red and mumbled a description to the whole table about how it's "about my clothes, and what I wear..." Shortly after, we headed outside to take my outfit pictures. My brother & uncles knocked on the windows since they could see us, and this is me waving back. Cue red face.

hamming it up for my photographer for the week: my Dad. we're  besties. true story.

So, my Dad spilled the beans on my blog. Not that it was a big secret, but it's awkward to just tell people you know and love "So, I write things on the internet and post pictures of myself." So I guess I'm glad my Dad just blurted it out to everyone - I gained AT LEAST 3 new readers. Hi family!!!

Day 24

that is a fish. jumping. RIGHT BEHIND ME.

our view for the week. I love my mountains but this is nice, too :)

me & Dad

I taught him how to pose like a sorority girl: skinny arm & head tilt. However, he didn't get the memo to hold his drink out of the picture...next time?

this is me wearing my brother's size 14 flip flops. I get a kick out of it...

A few more tidbits about my family reunion trip are headed your way, and of course, the rest of the my 30 for 30 challenge. I'm not too original with what's left, but packing everything in a carry-on really limited my options. #firstworldproblems