Stream of Consiousness

Forgive me.  Sometimes not being organized is just right.

A few months ago I read "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg.  Key points came back to me today as I was traveling for work.  I am a very habitual traveler.  From the amount of time I like to be at the airport: 90 minutes, to my routine after security:  bathroom, Starbucks, wait at the gate, bathroom right before boarding.  I even realized that on my work trips I take the same flight to arrive at 2pm, drive one hour to the Premium Outlet Mall & power walk around until dark or closing.   One key point the book makes is that every habit has a "trigger" that you have learned automatically to respond to.  If you are looking to change a habit identifying that trigger is the first place to start.  I was having a hard time with making unhealthy food impulse buys.  I would ask James if we could eat at McAlister's so I can get a salad but then when the girl asks for my order I'm blurting out "FRENCH DIP!" ...    I think it is unfair to say that I've struggled with weight.  I lost a lot of weight with Weight Watchers, I just have hit a plateau that I can't seem to get off of.  I know it is the impulse food choices.  And not being more diligent about working out.  I was pondering this on the plane when I was thinking about my travel habits & I was reliving a recent experience - going to Starbucks to get a hot tea & then blurting out "GRANDE DIRTY CHAI" ... Who said that?  Ugh.  As the book suggested I was re-playing the event in my mind looking for clues.  I think I might have stumbled on a big trigger.  I think when I have poor posture I make poor decisions.  My unintentional Starbucks order came in the struggle of being saddled by bags, rain coat, etc.  I realized about a month ago that my once complimented posture was gone.  Making an effort to have excellent posture ripples out to the rest of life.  I tested out my new trigger on the plane.  When the flight attendant was taking drink orders I made a point to sit up straight & say to myself "you are the kind of woman who sits up straight because she takes care of herself" I had a momentary falter in self-discipline when the person in front of me ordered Dr.P.  But I LOVE DR. PEPPER! I WANT DR. PEPPER!  I HAVE A DRINK TICKET, I WANT A CORONA!  IT'S CINCO!  I managed to keep that crazy lady inside my head & repeat my little mantra.  What do you know, nothing crazy came out of my mouth & I was able to say "Club soda with lime."  No regrets on my order.  If my brain is so smart why hasn't it learned that I don't regret good food choices?  Why does it keep screaming Dr. Pepper at me?  I was on a roll.  When I landed in Philly I got a drink for the drive (wish I had taken a picture of the label so I could find it again) sparkling water with juice.  I power-walked tall around the outlet mall.  Because that's what healthy me does.  There is a fab salad place in the food court, which is what I had for dinner.  I again had to steel myself at the register for not ordering a sugary drink.  It's crazy that one tiny thing can have an impact on bigger things.   We'll have to see if this works or if this is a fluke for today only.  What's the worst that can happen?  I stand up straighter? 


The great Wen-xperiment has begun. 
First time using it my impressions were:
1)  It would be nice to only have to buy one product & not get irritated that I can never use shampoo at the same pace as conditioner
2) These directions are crazy!  Does this really need to be a 10 step process?
3)  Smells nice.
4)  After my hair air dried it was very soft, ends a little frizzy, roots looked ok but felt a little gummy
Second time impressions:
1)  Ditto
2)  OKOK I'll take the step "1-3 minutes of vigorous massage" more seriously
3)  I'll use more at the end as a leave-in conditioner
4)  After my hair air dried it was still very soft, little less frizzy, roots felt like fresh washed hair!  Guess the extra massage did the trick ;)


I guess I am loving it because I defiantly poured out travel shampoo to take Wen with me!


As I ate my lovely salad in my brand new Holiday Inn Express room (I should make a joke but I hate how cheesy their commercials are & then I'd be one of them),  I found old Sex & the City reruns on the Style network!  I watched the episode where Carrie won't marry Aidan & they breakup.  Really made me miss James.  He is such a sweetheart.  When you live with your best friend it's hard to be away from them for a week!  Maybe the shopping without his comments about saving money will make up for it a little ;)

And it's Cinco de Mayo & I'm alone in a hotel room business center.  With a salad.  Where are the margaritas?  Where's the party?  How is it almost 9 pm already????  For anyone out there drinking a margarita right now, please drink up for me.

We Lost a Great Lady

Rest In Peace Lilly Pulitzer

There is a great article about her Biography & Obituary on Vogue UK.  And the Lilly story is also told on the blog Lilly Pulitzer: Our Story.

In addition to gorgeous clothing I really admired the Lilly story.  I am most impressed by women entrepreneurs who take something feminine they love & turn it into a great business.  More so than women who just succeed in a man's world.  That's why there are so many "how to succeed in business" books for women.  I think you're wired for the aggressive business world of typical corporate America, you force yourself to be someone else during the work day, or you recognize the value in what you love and create something amazing with it.  Something those men at the top would not even think of.  I hope to become like Martha Stewart who made a successful career out of baking cookies!  Or Julia Childs who re-taught us how to cook & appreciate real French foods!  Or Lilly who started a juice stand & realized she needed bright prints to hide the juice stains!


Thank you for bringing such beauty & happiness in all your designs!

Photo taken 4/7/13

Closet Organization

I am obsessed with organizing!  Or as some people say "OCD" (James).  Tómato. Tomáto.

I can always tell which DVDs James has watched because they are the ones not in alphabetical order.  One of my co-workers is afraid for James, referencing the movie "Sleeping with the Enemy."  But I just love having everything in it's place.  I got shot down from registering at the Container Store :(

I normally keep things very organized.  However after James moved in I didn't quite get my closet the way I like it, things kept piling up & finally today I was FED UP with that MESS!  It was time for the closet makeover!  In addition to re-organizing I wanted to improve the closet too & make it my "wife-cave."  Now I love being in there.  I wish it was big enough for a chair.  I would seriously hang out in there.  :)

In true Kristina style I started by taking Every. Last. Thing. out of my closet & cleaning it!  (No halfway projects here!)  Chipped my gel manicure.  Worth it.

The first step to organizing anything is to reduce.  There's a reason your space isn't working ~ there's too much stuff in there.  I sorted through to find out what I could donate, what belonged with my summer storage & what could find a home somewhere else.

Next I drove to Goodwill (for a drop-off) & then to Target!  Normally when I re-organize I do not buy new things I just work with what I've got, but I was making a "wife-cave" it needed some pretty things :)

I purchased some of the Michael Graves collection items:  purse organizer & three self organizer.  It is not online but the collection also included a hanging bar for additional storage (see photos).

Not in the collection was a two pack of black Cubeicals Fabric Drawers & I added to my flocked hangers (originally bought at Costco) with this kit Huggable Hangers that included more variety (skirt hangers).   I hope to have my whole closet in these hangers, they are so awesome!  And create so much more room in your closet for new friends!

One of my biggest organizing philosophies is to keep items you use the most easily accessible.  In the morning you should not be "digging" for clothes.  If you go skiing once a year you can "dig" for ski pants.  My closet was a mess because I was not prioritizing my space correctly.  Valuable space was being used for old college t-shirts, etc.  If you're like me, not having things at your fingertips creates piles of clothes.  I got out two shirts, decided to wear green with my brown suit today, will wear blue tomorrow with my black suit, let me leave it on top of this random t-shirt pile so I won't have to look for it tomorrow.  Piles = Evil.

Following are before photos (don't judge!) and after photos with my organizing tips!

                           

Before ~ nasty piles everywhere!                                            Before ~ crazy shoes!  dry cleaning bags?

The After Photos!

After ~  Looking into my closet from the bathroom!  That carpet is SO vacuumed!

  

After ~ Looking to the left front eye level, I hung my belts on the wall, have small space for hanging jewelry & my robe.  Then the new 3 shelf organizer from Target with my lululemon collection :)  and other workout gear! On the top of the organizer I keep buttons & tags for items of value I may sell on eBay later.

After ~ Looking to the left bottom, I have some shoe storage.  This is for boots, tennis shoes, daily flats & sandals.  In the plastic bins are (left top to bottom) Spanx/slips, panty hose/dress socks, cover-ups; (right top to bottom) sports bras/ workout headbands/ etc., workout socks, swimming suits.  Again keeping to the philosophy items for work are closest, then work out, swimming items on the bottom due to lack of use (sadly!!!).  

After ~ Left side above eye level, is all shoes sweetie!!!  Bottom two shelves are for in-season work shoes that I wear most often.  Top two shelves are for out-of season work shoes.  I usually keep evening/dressy shoes in their boxes on the right side.  Back in the corner are boot boxes (I will move some boots into their boxes & out of the way during the summer).  

After ~ Left back side eye level,  after the hanging organizer of workout clothes are blouses, jeans, winter dresses, cocktail dresses, summer dresses.  To make plenty of room I removed summer blouses that I can't wear under a suit jacket to work & put them in storage.  As always my clothes are in color order from sleeveless to long sleeved.  I strayed a little from my strict color arrangement (ROYGBIV) & went for blacks/whites/neutrals then warm colors then cool colors.  I found this made it easier to find work clothes (do I need a shift under a suit? or a shirt with sleeves?).   Jeans are in order of length.  Dresses arranged by seasons.  

                   

After ~  Looking straight into the closet.  You can see here the black fabric bins, the purse organizer & the extra rod hung below the purse organizer.  

After ~ Straight eye level, hanging on the left are my dresses I wear to work.  Followed by my suit jackets in color order.  Right below the jackets are the skirts on the left & pants on the right.  

After ~ The Purse Organizer!!!!!!!!!   Probably my favorite part of my closet :) I typically have one purse & carry it everyday for a long time.  I am not a frequent purse changer.  But I do enjoy keeping them in the closet instead of in an old comforter bag under the bed!  This is a much prettier home for them :)  The top has a nice mesh pouch for wallets, clutches & phone cases.  I have three big purses I am not using, each with their own cubby.  The top right has small purses/large clutches.  The outside has hooks used for cross-body bags & my Lilly P market bag.

After ~ Straight above eye level.  I looked EVERYWHERE in Target for a hat rack, to no avail!  My hats are now balanced in my derby hat on the left.  I plan to find a hat rack & put above the door.  The black bins are perfect for overhead storage!  The left one has t-shirts & sweatshirts.  They are now out of sight & when I want one I am not pulling at the middle of a pile hoping the whole thing doesn't fall down on me!  The right one has travel bags for toiletries, makeup, jewelry, hanging garment bags, etc.  On the right side is closet cleaning items, Febreeze, Downy wrinkle releaser & an air freshener. 

I didn't get a good picture of it (see right side of photo above) is my "inspiration wall" where I have pinned quotes or pictures that I like.  I use them for inspiration for being a better lady, ideas for outfits, positive thinking.  And my infamous big-gal photos!  Long story short ~ due to depression & exacerbated by happy-meds I gained 30 lbs in 2009!!!  When I decided to make positive changes through counseling, prayer, and being healthy (instead of masking my problems with prescriptions) I took photos of myself in a tiny bikini.  I printed that bad boy out in COLOR on a WHOLE SHEET OF PAPER with the quote "Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels" along with my weight & the date.   Yikes!  Nothing like looking at that every day!  Keeps the food out of your mouth & your booty off the couch!  This was the best idea & made all those purchases of Oxygen magazine worth it!  

Also not pictured are my "skinny jeans" from ACU.  They are hanging on the back of my closet door (front of closet door has full length mirror, see first photo).  I was not in the habit of weighing myself in college or grad school.  What thin person cares about the scale?  I didn't.  So I am not sure what weight was my "starting weight" but I do know what my starting jeans were.  It hasn't been an easy road getting back to them.  Around the time of my wedding I can get them on, buttoned & zipped!  I had some muffin top action & I didn't try sitting down :)  But I am close!!  5-10 lbs more?  I heard somewhere 10 lbs is a jean size.   Maybe I can work out more now that I'm not digging in my closet for clothes so often!!!  

Whew....  time for a break!  I am tired, my nails are chipped & my organizing heart is happy :)