All things EARTH...

Today I tore apart my closet . I have four huge bags to go to good will & what I discovered is I have tons of casual clothes but very few dress up outfits . Of course living in Florida dressing up is a sundress & I do have those . Amazingly my closet is still pretty packed but a lot less so . I got rid of the last of my bigger clothes .The one thing I realized is I shopped a lot more when I was working . I think it was my way to deal with the stress . In fact years ago doing a very stressful period I overdosed on buying sandals . I gave some away & now I am finally down to a reasonable amount . I learned a lot doing this massive clean out . The items I had trouble tossing were JJill but I was tossing Chico's readily .So no more impulse buying at Chico's for me ( except jewelry ).

I know we all like to look at pictures...

So here are my 4 dresses...From left to right: Red salsa dress (I know it looks kind of orange, but it's red), Margaret's dress, Blue/orange sundress, and Green print dress.

Here is that new maxi skirt (print) with the yellow hoodie and 4 coordinating tops (3 tanks, 1 short sleeved) and the tone on tone coral scarf. The nude colored item is a cami...sometimes, I like to layer up the tanks. What I particularly love about this grouping is how EASTER appropriate the colors feel to me...doesn't feel like I'm wearing Fall colors in the Spring at all...a major goal for me:

These are my exercise clothes...tops on the left, bottoms on the right:

Swimming attire...Clockwise from purple: Purple tunic style cover up, Red rashguard, new green Athleta swimsuit, new black skort, pareo-sized scarf, cargo colored swimsuit:

These are the shorts and the short sleeved top:

This is everything that needs to be packed...I taken away my travel outfit (maxi/teal tank/yellow hoodie):

With the exception of most of the exercise clothing...it's a pretty good Earth color party!

These are the shoes I'm taking:

Change of plans for the sneakers. I'm not confident that the newer ones are broken in well enough...so I'm traveling in my Zumba sneakers. Not as cute...but likely to be more comfortable.

I bought packing cubes when I bought my new convertible backpack carry on luggage.

I don't know if I've ever shared how DH and I used to go backpacking. One thing I loved about backpacking was the idea that everything I needed for a limited time was literally packed in the pack and that between DH and I, we could carry everything we needed.

I've watched a documentary about Tiny houses...and I dream of living in a tiny house.

I totally get a kick out of letting go of a lot and having just enough for a while.

When packing our backpacks for backpacking...everything is usually in a stuff sack or other kind of segregating, organizing method. So the idea of packing cubes is right up my alley.

Here is all my clothing packed in cubes:

Medium Cube on the upper left:

3 exercise bottoms

1 tan shorts

1 black skort

3 exercise tops

3 exercise bras

3 exercise panties

2 pairs compression sleeves

2 pairs no show socks

Small Cube on the lower left:

2 wired bras

2 swimsuits

1 purple tunic

1 red rashguard

1 pareo scarf

Large Cube on the upper right:

4 dresses

All casual tops

Coral scarf

Bronze oxfords stuffed with 1 pair of compression socks, 2 pairs of compression sleeves, 3 pair of athletic ankle socks, and 1 pair of no show socks.

Teva sandals

My special combo round brush hair dryer

My special stick on bra to wear with my red dress

The Slim Cube on the lower right:

4 pairs of one style of underwear

3 pairs of a different style

2 pairs of another style

1 light shapewear high waisted panty

1 wireless comfort bra

2 pajama shorts

1 pajama top

This is the main compartment of my luggage. Notice the divider between the two cubes. This helps to keep all the things/weight in the top of the bag from crushing the bottom when you carry it like a backpack. The left is the bottom of the bag when carried backpack style. The left cube is the exercise clothing cube and the right one is the under garment cube. Both can be totally crushed without worry:

Then I added the swim suit cube to the "top" of the backpack...Notice the handy handle on the cube...will be easy to grab to get at my swimsuits quickly when we board!:

Then the large cube with the things I least want crushed on top. The shoes are strategically placed in the cube to be on the "bottom" of the bag in different directions:

Here's the bag with the main compartment closed. I didn't even have to expand the bag (it will expand another 2")...and I still have the top compartment for more packing...toiletries, etc.:

Sally...doesn't it feel so wonderful to get your wardrobe organized! It hasn't been any problem at all dealing with clothes since we did ours...makes life feel easier!

I got my knee brace today. Not a happy day. I pretty much hate this non-custom knee brace...it is major motivation for me to get into my desired shape so that the custom brace fits the long term body...not an overweight body.

I admit. I cried. Not a good Anita day. Packing and thinking about vacation helps a lot though...

Great job Anita! I think I need you to come pack for me! I have pared things down to one suitcase and use packing cubes also. But yours looks so pretty! Mine are mishmash of colors. Looks like a circus clown threw up on my bed!:eek:

Have a great trip! Looking forward to pic to from you and Pam.

Happy Easter all!

Anita, I was loving your list, and I really love the visuals too! I love how earthy things look. Even when it is not every single item, it is the majority, and I love the way it comes together. You also touched on an issue I had when putting together outfits the first time for my upcoming cruise...

I am an earth, but I don't want to look like I'm dressing for fall. I realized that was what was bothering me about a few of my outfits, so I have been reconsidering at least a few of them. My newer scarf really opened my eyes and made me see what was wrong. Like many of your things you took pictures of, I had to see my colors for the proper time of year to have that "aha" moment.

Your dresses choices are great! I love the maxi and how it goes with the different tops. Will you be wearing your zumba clothes most of the time during the day, Anita? I believe I saw one pair of shorts. Now that I think about it, you did say that it was a port intensive cruise with lots of beaches involved.

I am trying hard to look for a swimsuit cover up I like, and now I am thinking differently after seeing what both of you have posted. I think I should look for a loose, semi sheer longer top. I just don't like the tube top style dress I have, and I'm not liking what I see in the stores.

Anita, I can't believe your clothes don't wrinkle when you roll them and then use the cubes! I've been debating getting some of them. I think it would be great for shoes, so they don't get anything dirty, then I could put scarves and accessories in one...I just never thought about the clothes and how to do that. E-Bags has a ton of them. I think I will give them a try.

I like your luggage too!

Did you get the lace maxi skirt, by the way? I recall you were thinking about it.

I'm very excited for you, Anita! I can't wait to hear all about your trip when you get back. Take lots of pictures.

Margaret, do you have more pictures to post?

I want to mention something about the dress pictures I took. As you know, I have more dresses, and I categorized them and took pictures of all of them. I am thinking of doing something similar with other things, such as knit tops and so on. I have the tops out over the weekend and I found myself arranging them by color. Not only does that show you where you have a gap or maybe duplicates, it really helps you to see when you have something that doesn't quite belong.

I love variety, but I still think I knew right off when something wasn't right for me, such as a non-earth color or a style that wasn't my best.

It also allows me to look at what I have, and see what I want to bring easier. This is a very different kind of cruise coming up, but next year I will be on Allure and it is not port intensive -there will be a lot of sea days for me to toy with jewelry and scarves and shoes...

When we have a planned shore excursion...I know I'll dress for that when I wake up. When we don't, I'll probably dress in my exercise clothing. And I will likely hang out in that for a while. It's very comfortable for me...it is what I am used to wearing everyday...and I don't mind continuing the trend while on vacation. We only have one sea day...and 5 ports.

I don't really have wrinkling issues...I wear a lot of knits. And when you roll them properly...so that they are perfectly smooth...and then put them in an environment where they aren't crushed...they don't wrinkle. My cubes are packed like my drawers...like a filing cabinet...not in stacks.

I did some rearranging...so this picture isn't the way that I really packed this cube. As I continued to pack, I realized that I hadn't stuffed my oxfords with anything, so I pulled things out of this exercise cube to put in my shoes to help them keep their shape and to be efficient with space. Regardless, you can see how all my clothing are in one layer in the cube:

With one glance, you can see everything in the cube. What this means is that in my suitcase, I literally have only 2 layers of clothing. One cube on top of another cube...with one layer in each cube. The cubes help keep the clothing from getting crushed because the cube itself keeps the clothing in a nice little bundle that resists being flattened out.

It's always been my understanding that it isn't folding in and of itself that causes wrinkles...its WEIGHT on top of a folded garment that presses the wrinkles into your clothes.

We fold and pack DH's dress shirts and even his sport coat. We fold them very nicely...similar to when you first buy a dress shirt...same with the sport coat...and then we put the shirts into a big ole ziploc bag and leave air in the bag. Kind of like a prepackaged bag of chips. The air in the bag keeps the shirt/coat from getting crushed. It takes up a bit more space, of course...but it works well.

I did get and keep the lace maxi skirt. I really like it a lot. I think I'm going to bring it on the TA cruise. I have a new scarf that I picked up that will coordinate well with several shirt colors and the skirt. This isn't a great picture of the scarf, but this is it:

http://www.target.com/p/women-s-poppies-print-infinity-crinkle-scarf-brown/-/A-16644319#prodSlot=_1_17.

I love it with the coral shirts, with the new brown tank, (with several tanks in my drawer that are just a bit too tight at the moment), and even with some of the green tanks I have. IMO it's absolutely LOVELY with the lace skirt...so summery.

Anita,

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience with your knee brace. I hope soon you'll have one that you will feel better about. Best of all would be that maybe you'll get to a point in your therapy that you won't need one. Is that a possibility?

I'm always amazed when I see how much you can get into a carry on. I'm just not there yet. Although, I'm thinking that maybe I'll give it a try on my trip to FL in May. However, I do use packing cubes a lot. I use them for so many things but not usually for dresses, tops or bottoms. I use them for workout clothes, swimsuits/cover-ups, underwear, pjs, scarves, socks/tights, shoes, and other miscellaneous stuff. I love them!

I hope you and your family have an awesome cruise!:D

I saw my cousin last night. I got all choked up because she's doing so well. It's a major turnaround and she was just like herself before she had the tumor, which altered her personality. She was talking like a magpie (an endearing quality of hers) and laughing and joking. It was so wonderful to see her in such good spirits. She's even talking about never, ever smoking again and is determined to stick to that goal even though it's hard right not. I'm so happy for her!

I'm also happy for the DS. He sent me a text that took me to a website that was about how his fraternity is doing great things for their community in Tucson. With all the bad news about fraternities in the media lately, he's excited and proud that his frat is being acknowledged for their community service. They just finished cleaning up at the local Islamic Center so that the kids that attend the center will have a nice, clean place to play.

Anita, I love that scarf!! Scarves are something I have definitely begun to really love.

I'm sorry it hasn't been the best day for you. You are a very determined person. It may take some time, but you really are doing great.

It's been a busy week going back to work and getting ready for Passover tomorrow night, but there's so much going on and I feel like there's so much to talk about. Isn't this fun?

I'm in the packing cube camp. I love them and can't imagine traveling without them. I have sm/m/lg but I think I'd rather have two mediums because I don't use the large one much. I roll my clothes. I put all of them in them except the dresses. I put my shoes in shoe bags on the bottom of my suitcase where the roller bars are, and stuff odds and ends in the gaps.

The thing for me with doing carryon only is that I'm ok for about a week, but more than that and I want more stuff. I'll have to think about that, maybe. DH always has to check a bag so I don't really have an incentive to work on it. When I travel by myself I can do carryon pretty easily. I must say I NEVER dream of living in a tiny house. I think the dancer in me wants some space to roam in.

Thank you all for the lovely compliments. Anita, it's interesting what you said about seeing the difference in me. I think I mentioned when I first started posting that the pictures were a bit shocking to me because I hadn't seen myself as being that big. Now I'm in the opposite position because I see myself in relation to my thinnest self and I always feel dissatisfied. It's weird because on the one hand its so much easier to buy clothes now so I'm kind of plateaued on the motivation, but I'm still not happy with my weight. I refuse to be perpetually dissatisfied, though, so I'm going to have to find my discipline again and get back to work.

Laurie, your beautiful parade of dresses is really inspiring. I used to love wearing dresses but lately I just buy one when I need one. I remember having favorites that I wore a lot, and I would love to be in the place again. I'm sorry I don't have any more pictures to share. On sea days I spent most mornings in my workout clothes, and bummed around in shorts and tees the rest of the day.

Our balcony was great! That's an aft corner cabin on the grand class ships. I am so spoiled after that. The wake noise put me to sleep every night, and you feel like you're the only one on the ship back there. Nobody every walked by our door, and we only saw our one neighbor one time. Very private.

Anita, its fun to see some of your clothes again. I always like your dresses and your colors are wonderful. That new skirt is perfect. I'm sorry about the knee brace... as a tangible reminder of interior issues it makes things real in a different way... I understand the emotion involved.

I did Zumba three days on my cruise, it was fun but only 35 minutes, a bit like eating half a meal, not quite satisfying. Then I walked the promenade for 20 minutes and then I'd go for a swim. Unless I was wearing heels I always took the stairs. Between all that and hitting the disco after dinner I felt righteous. :) I still gained a pound or two. I blame the monkey la las.

Mousey, I'm so glad your cousin is doing better, and your parents are stable for now. I've had a bit of a respite as well but I think there's trouble brewing and I'm going to have to go to MI again soon. ::sigh::

There are two versions of the hustle, the line dance and the couple dance. I was totally addicted to Dance Fever on Saturday nights back in the day, does anyone remember that show? I would have killed to be on it, but even at 5'6" I was too tall for many of the guys to want to throw me around, because in ballroom shoes I'm 5'9".

Laurie your comment about wearing fall colors in spring had me thinking. I guess because of where I live I have a more subdued summer wardrobe than most. I don't generally buy clothes that are vacation specific, in that I wouldn't wear them in the course of my daily life. Even things like rash guards and pareos get worn when we're at the lake.

Anita, happy belated birthday, and have a wonderful cruise. We'll miss you!

Sally...doesn't it feel so wonderful to get your wardrobe organized! It hasn't been any problem at all dealing with clothes since we did ours...makes life feel easier!

 

I got my knee brace today. Not a happy day. I pretty much hate this non-custom knee brace...it is major motivation for me to get into my desired shape so that the custom brace fits the long term body...not an overweight body.

 

I admit. I cried. Not a good Anita day. Packing and thinking about vacation helps a lot though...

Anita , as I did my closet redo I was spurred on by your recent closet adventure . It feels so great to have it all organized .

Sorry about your brace ! Hopefully you will be in a custom one soon !

Margaret, this is the outfit that got me thinking. It said fall to me.

But this outfit works for me.

Anita, have a great cruise! Laurie, I love both scarves

Thanks everyone for encouraging thoughts. I only need the knee brace for certain activities, which for me will only be Zumba at this time. I don't need a knee brace for normal daily activity. It isn't horrible...it's just an instance of being smacked in the face again with the situation...and it's still upsetting to me.

Laurie, I totally agree that the dark brown scarf feels more like a fall/winter and the other scarf feels more spring/summer. For as long as we have been doing this now...however many years...every spring, this is my biggest challenge...to still wear my colors but not appear to be dressing out of season. It has taken quite a while to slowly accumulate the colors that seem more appropriate to me, but I am finally getting a decent collection that feels more seasonal.

Most of the potentially hard on the nails stuff is now done. Bathrooms and kitchen are clean. I've changed remade all the beds in a "spring" bed and cleaned and put away the winter sheets. Most of the laundry is done. The last load is in the washer right now.

The men still need to pick out their clothes and pack them up.

I still have to do my toiletries and all those extras (camera, Kindle, etc.).

And I still need to do my nails...normally, I do my nails the very last thing, enjoying a lovely glass of wine and sitting and do that final primp. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to do the exact same lovely Azure color on my toes...it just screams Caribbean to me!! But I'm thinking that I might like to go lighter on my fingers and not do my typical super dark blue...I do like my fingers and toes to be different but in the same color family...so it really remains to be seen what I end up doing.

I'll probably read more later...but in case I don't have time to post...

Happy Passover!

Happy Good Friday!

Happy Easter!

Well...it's so late! Actually, it's not that late...we tend to be night owls...and I'm sitting here waiting for my nails to dry. I DID paint my nails Azure...I just have to have blue toes for the cruise! I really wanted to do something new on my fingers, so I did very deep purple, a color Mom gave me for Christmas...OPI "Viking in a Vinter Vonderland."

We are mostly packed. There are still the last minute odds and ends to do...the things you do in the morning...toothbrushes, etc.

And I need to finish gathering my "things" for my personal item...

But wow!! We are packed in carry ons only! One garment bag, one wheeled bag, and my new Motherlode backpack. DH and DS have a backpack each and I have my beach tote for our personal items.

I'll take lots of pictures!

Not only do I remember "Dance Fever"...we were acquainted with the host! LOL! I was actually on a few of the local dance-type shows back in the day (in FL and in CA). In the 60s, 70s and 80s...I was the ultimate Dancing Queen! I don't think I ever missed but a few of our high school's Friday night dances. The DH and I still love to tear it up on the dance floor when we cruise. :D

Here's hoping Anita and her family have an amazingly great time on their cruise!

Happy Holidays to All!

Here is my latest discovery regarding clothes maintenance.

Friday night I spilled hot wax on a tablecloth and my shirt, both of which I really like (my great-grandmother cross-stitched the tablecloth). So I did a google to see what to do. I placed brown paper over and under the wax, and ironed with a hot iron, and ta da! Wax on the paper, not on the fabric. :D

I'm missing my family today. DH has promised to get me a chocolate bunny to make me feel better. We had a really fun Passover meal on Friday, though.

We always talk about our next trip on the flight home, to ease the PCD. You know I want to go to Africa in the worst way, but we've decided to hold off for a bit since we've got the expense of the apartment reno this year, and hopefully mr. man's job situation will be more stable in 2016. So here is the short list for next year:

Star Pride Panama Canal

Norwegian fjords on ???

Wind Spirit Tahiti (a distant third b/c we've been there already, but we love it and the Wind Spirit)

Windstar's brochure prices are scary but they almost always have a 2-for-1, and if we do the PC off-peak it's actually not bad. Plus we'd get to visit parts of Costa Rica that we missed last time. Also, no sea days!

Have you visited the website for the UNESCO World Heritage sites? We'll never get to them all but it's fun to include one if we can.

Ok, the burning question is... Denny Terio or Adrian Zmed??

Margaret, going to Africa sounds so exotic! I haven't been to very many places yet, so I haven't really gotten to thinking outside "the norm", as they say.

My husband very much likes historic places, and exploring the U.S. I do too, but I get quite a bit of sticker shock when I see how much it costs to travel to more popular areas in the states. Seeing the Grand Canyon was absolutely amazing, but it was also much harder to plan.

I like a mix of cruising and the things my husband likes, so I would ideally like to rotate. What makes our upcoming cruise so unique is how it combines cruising and the U.S. in one trip.

I'm going to go back a few pages and see where Anita has gotten some of her workout clothing. I think the C9 apparel at Target is a great quality, but it is almost all black with some gray. I have found some turquoise, but it is definitely fire. They have a pair of capri length black bottoms with a turquoise waistband and a big turquoise stripe down the side. I like it, and it will mix and match with the top I have. I picked it up and put it back down a zillion times on Saturday, then walked out of the store without purchasing it. As much as I like it, and can envision how it will look, I truly don't want to buy anything black.

What would be best is to have about 4-5 tops and about 3 bottoms that I could mix and match. I found a few things I wanted to order on Ideel, but I realized that the top and jacket, while looking somewhat earthy, have no top to go with them.

I may get those bottoms, because they will go with two tops I already have.

I also found that when it comes a bra, I really prefer a racerback when exercising. I found a few bras so far that seem to offer decent support. As Anita has told me, I will need a good bra and can always cover it with one of the stylish, meant to be seen bras. For the time being, I have two regular racerback bras that do not get a lot of use overall that I am using.

Oh, and of all things, I'm really liking the stairmaster a lot. And they cycle, especially the courses. There are some great classes at this gym that I want to try too. Right now, I'm just getting myself acquainted with going on a regular basis, and trying out the different equipment.

Margaret,

We knew Deney Terrio.

He was a little bit full of himself if I remember correctly. It's been years!

Had a great time on Sat. We drove up the coast a bit to one of our favorite joints. It's called Neptune's Net. It's on PCH right at the Ventura/Los Angeles County Line. They serve all kinds of seafood. One side makes the fried fish stuff and the other side makes the steamed stuff. It's a really popular place with the biker crowd but really everyone goes there. It's always crowded especially on a beautiful sunny, warm day like yesterday. It's a total no frills place right across the street from the ocean. It's first come first "gets a picnic-type table" type place. The DH, our BFF (the DS's Godfather), and an old girlfriend of ours (we all used to live in the same apartment building for 13 years until the DH and I got married and moved to our first house rental) had a great time. We are part of a group of friends that all lived in this one apartment building in West Hollywood for years and years. We had some wild times and even wider parties there over the years. Anyway, my girlfriend wanted to go shopping after we ate and she took me to a small boutique that I'd never been to in Malibu before. It was filled with some cute and very stylish clothes and accessories and for Malibu...very nicely priced. We both ended up getting the same dress only in different colors. She got one in olive green and I got mine in (and Cholla Chick would appreciate this)...in black and white! I know, I know...but I just loved it and when I came out of the dressing room to look in the mirror...everyone loved it one me...so I bought it. LOL! It has "spaghetti" straps with a "V-neck" in front and back. It's maxi length and, best of all, it has "pockets." I plan to wear mine with a 3/4-length very lightweight t-shirt under it because as you all know I hate my upper arms...but she can wear hers without one as she's younger than me and her arms are still to her liking. We love our new dresses! We had so much fun and plan to go back again in a couple of weeks and do it all again except we discovered a new Italian restaurant next to the boutique and will have lunch there (that will make the guys happy)!:D

Sure hope Anita is having a blast on her vacay!

MJC. So glad you got the wax off your heirloom! Laurie, try TekGear & Fila at Kohls. I just bought chocolate brown Capri workout pants & a teal/chocolate top. I also bought a long racer back tank that is multi colors - it'll go really well with navy

Margaret,

 

. We both ended up getting the same dress only in different colors. She got one in olive green and I got mine in (and Cholla Chick would appreciate this)...in black and white! I know, I know...but I just loved it and when I came out of the dressing room to look in the mirror...everyone loved it one me...so I bought it. LOL! It has "spaghetti" straps with a "V-neck" in front and back. It's maxi length and, best of all, it has "pockets."

How funny ! I just bought a new back &white stripped maxi dress with pockets . No spaghetti straps though . I love it . It's linen and will be perfect for summer in Florida .

Melody, I'm wondering if they are only available in stores? I couldn't find anything brown online. I have an item to bring back to Kohls, so I will have to take a look in person!

You know, it is interesting how companies make mostly black or gray bottoms, then a decent variety in tops. I found some cute bottoms on Ideel, but there was no shirt for me to wear with them unless I bought black or white, so I didn't get them.

We don't have too many boutique type stores around here, Mousey. But, we have a HUGE mall that is almost too big...it takes so long to get from store to store, lol. As of late, I find myself shopping online because I just can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I think I'd be fine at the mall, but you have to devote a tremendous amount of time to shop there. It even takes a while to find a place to park and then get into the mall.

Laurie, I seldom shop on line, I have to try everything on. No sizes are consistent anymore. These items were in the store