I’m getting organized. And I’m going to do it in style.

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So I am clearly going through something.

It’s like I’m nesting. Except I’m not pregnant.

I know why. It’s a number of things. I know I’m feeling like a lot of my life is out of my control right now. So the urge to get things cleaned up is partly about that. There is also the fact that while my husband is out of commission and I am solely responsible for bringing home the bacon, I need to be organized. I don’t have time to waste looking for things that have gone missing. And I really noticed how much time I was wasting looking for stuff when we were on vacation and not surrounded by clutter.

But then there is the other thing. I’m also just ready to feel good about myself. You know, on the outside.

Last year I when I would drop off Number 6 and 7 at preschool, there was a mom there who always looked fabulous.

I used to be her. I used to take pride in my appearance.

Then, like so many moms, I had kids, gained weight, wasn’t sure if I was done having kids, and then was just too tired to care. I logged well over the obligatory number of hours in the yoga pants phase.

I’m ready to care again.

Plus, now that I’m starting to book more speaking engagements, I want to look presentable. And I don’t want to find myself in the situation where I am running to Kohl’s two hours before I need to be somewhere because I don’t have an outfit that I feel good in.

But my main problem is that even though I’m ready to present myself differently to the world now, I had a bunch of clothes, but hardly any of them fit or none of them really went together or I just didn’t love them.

I’ve been wanting to declutter and purge for a while now. I’ve also been wanting to get a capsule wardrobe together for a long time because I don’t want a lot of clothes. I just want a few great things that I know will look good together.

So about a week ago a friend of mine gave me the book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I started reading it, and I was ready to get started cleaning up my stuff. As recommended by Marie Kondo, the author, I was going to start with my clothes.

And then later that day, I was contacted by a woman named Alison Lumbatis. And you know what she does? She has a virtual styling program, called Get Your Pretty On where she provides a seasonal shopping list with pieces and options for a capsule wardrobe, for you! She asked me if I’d like to try out her challenge for free. She also asked me if I’d like to be an affiliate. That means if anyone signs up for the challenge through me, I get a small commission.

I fucking hate shopping. This was a small miracle.

Maybe this was a coincidence.

But maybe it wasn’t.

Maybe the universe is trying to take care of me and help me get my shit in order.

So I registered for her challenge, and then I got to work on my clothes.

Now I don’t have a dresser. And my closet sucks. It’s made it easy for me to say I’m going to get organized but I’m going to wait until I have the perfect setup.

But that will never happen.

 

One day I hope to have a kick ass closet. But for now, I need to make due with what I’ve got. Since it’s so small, if I want it to be manageable, I really can’t keep anything in it that doesn’t spark my joy.

So I took all my clothes and put them on my floor.

Then, one by one, I went through all of them.

Oh, when I was taking everything out, look what I found:

Those are from last year. I had no idea they were even in there.

So half of my Christmas shopping (and wrapping) is already done, and it’s technically still summer. That’s like a new world record.

When I was done going through my clothes, I ended up getting rid of this:

And I was left with this:

Next I had to put my clothes away.

Marie Kondo is a little unconventional. She wants you to treat your clothes with love and respect. She wants you to let them rest.

It doesn’t take long to adopt her out-there way of thinking. I couldn’t put my clothes directly onto those wire baskets. That couldn’t be too comfortable for them.

So I took a couple old baby blankets that I just don’t have the heart to get rid of yet, and I wrapped them around some cardboard from the recycling bin. That would be a nicer resting place for my clothes.

Plus those blankets spark joy in me every time I see them.

Then I “filed” all my clothes away.

And now my closet looks like this:

Those are all my clothes. Not just my summer clothes.

All of them.

Now  I am ready for my capsule wardrobe! I’ve already registered for the Get Your Pretty On Fall challenge. I have my wardrobe list, and I already had some of the pieces on the list in my closet.

Now I just need to get the pieces I am missing. Lucky for me it’s my birthday next week, and my parents always give me some money for a gift. This year, it will go toward completing my capsule wardrobe!

I can’t wait to have options available to me that fit right in my super organized closet. I can’t wait to know exactly what I’m going to wear and know exaclty where it is.

And I can’t wait to feel AWESOME about the way I look again.

If you are ready to throw your yoga pants in the garbage (yes, I actually threw mine away) and start feeling awesome about the way YOU look (without having to spend lots of time shopping), you can join me by registering for the GYPO Fall Challenge here.

Let’s all get pretty and organized together!

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