Project 333 and a happiness update

Remember my happiness project? Well I’m happy to say I’ve been sticking with it! I decided to just lump all our happy moments together (vs. one special pic for each of us). Enjoying the moment and not having to worry about capturing every detail is a lot easier. It’s been about 75 days, here are some highlights.
happyapril
Happy moments: 1. Tuesday at Forest School 2. Special night at the symphony with Grandma and Grandpa 3. Apple blossoms 4. sensory play for Bennet 5. bike ride to our chicken friends (and their parents) 6. olive trees! I bought olive trees (yes I still live in Oregon, cross your fingers) 7. “Papa I need a fridge for my outdoor play kitchen” 8. When your aunt and uncle surprise you with “relaxers” you gotta relax! 9. Bennet very happy I finally cleared off the mess on this thing and brought back out the learning tower.
Um, going back through just that month made me realize just how little I’ve blogged about, slacker over here! Also how long it takes me to make collages like that. So sorry, you just get a taste. Anyone have a grid drop in PSD file like this with masks?
Now I was going to tell you about how I joined in on another online project, Project 333. The basic idea is to pick 33 items (clothes, shoes, accessories) to use for 3 months. Work out gear, Pjs, under things and socks don’t count. Can I just say if socks counted I would last maybe a few days? I don’t like dirty feet. I digress. Here is my closet (via a crappy phone pic) after some intense clothes trying on/debating/tossing/packing up.
my closet-1
That’s it. There is no tee shirt drawer, no mounds of sweaters, these are all the clothes I will be wearing. It’s not 30, it’s more like 35:
Shirts x 12

Skirts x 6
Dresses x 4
Bermuda shorts
Black pants
Jeans
Fleece
Sweater
Belt
Bangles
Necklace
Bag*
Roxy flip flops
Silver Birkenstocks
Brown teva flip flops
Sanuks
(I have no idea why there is a space between shirts and skirts, but when I try to make it go away it adds a space between skirts and dresses.) I let myself have the freebie of tank tops as undershirts since I’m still nursing. I wear them under most non nursing shirts to hide my belly while I lift my shirt to nurse. Instead of keeping two drawers full out (?!?!) I just tucked them under the shirts that need them on the hangers and put three in my underwear drawer for workout (let’s be honest – gardening) clothes. I have a totally empty dresser! Minus my one tiny drawer for under things! When I go to get dressed I will look right here and be done! I’m very excited about this. I’m also excited that I only have things I like, and that fit, hanging up. Also that I found this dress:

dress-1
I mean this makes me look good! And look, never opened bangles on my wrist! I think I can put these two things together and go somewhere! Plus it’s a nursing dress, which is the only kind I can wear. (yes I basically let the kids run around in the background while this was happening. I’m not going to lie, we ate pretzels UPSTAIRS!!!!).
I put a few things that hopefully won’t be, “what was I thinking”. That long crazy print dress in an example. But I think if I don’t wear it this summer I might not have the nursing breasts to fill it out ever again! ha! I was annoyed at having to have long pants, closed toed shoes and a fleece, but we do live in Oregon, so leaving them out would probably be a terrible idea. As it is I have three sweaters and two t-shirts left out as possible back ups. I don’t know, can I get through the summer with out a white tee shirt?
*Oh ya, the asterisk. I would be perfectly happy with one bag. But it totally depends on the kids and what we are doing (tomorrow, the zoo), so narrowing down that was not happening. I am going to attempt to use the bag I got at the end of the summer… it still has the price tag on it. Oops.
Now, there are SIX giant totes in my storage area full of clothes because of this. Yes, I got rid of a few things, but a lot just went in there. Two of those bins are things I can’t fit in (like not even close, I wore this on my honeymoon type), that I can’t part with. They also have dresses and other things impossible to nurse in. Two are mostly winter things. And two are outcasts from this experiment (a whole lot of tee-shirts).
Anyone try simplifying like this? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Join the Conversation

7 Comments

  1. This looks very much like my closet. I don’t buy a lot of clothes, and I wear them over and over. I have one black dress, three skirts, two pair of shorts, two cardigan sweaters, three pair of jeans/pants, and a few tops for my summer wardrobe. I have four pair of summer shoes total, including tennis shoes. If I haven’t worn it in about a year, I donate it. I have been carrying the same purse for a few years now because I love it so much, and it was expensive. I just bought a cheap cross body purse at Target last week which is perfect for the park, and travel, and play dates.

  2. I’ve read a few blogs about this. It’s such a good idea. I think I need to do it. I also need to get some new work clothes (scrubs) because almost every shirt has a hole or is getting faded (or both…) and maybe this will help motivate me (I hate clothes shopping).

  3. Great idea! I think Athena’s parents did something similar, but I think they could only have 20-something items… either way, it’s a nice way to cut out all the stuff you think you NEED but don’t really. Also, you just reminded me: I need to get nursing dresses for the summer. Any tips to get some decent priced ones?

  4. I love all the color in your closet! I’ve been doing Project 333 for a few months although I give myself the option of swapping items out if I’m not wearing them. It’s really helped me find the things I have that I love and identify what needs to be replaced. And it makes getting dressed so easy. Have fun!

  5. This is lovely! I love the bright colors. Like Vici, I also am a swapper, and I don’t include outerwear, jewelry, bags, belts, hats, etc because what I need for work as an attorney is different enough from my casual style that I have to get creative to live with 33 items. (I almost never can do fewer than six pairs of shoes, for example).
    That said, I’ve been dressing with some type of capsule wardrobe for a year and a half now and I love it. I’m starting to find that there are things I’ve never wanted in 18 months, and guess what’s going to Goodwill for my next Minimalists Game in October?

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply to mary m Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *