Stitch Fixer Upper

I just wanted a reason to reference my #relationshipgoals couple, Chip and Jojo, with the title for this one. WHO DOESN'T WANT TO BE CHIP AND JOJO?! But this has nothing to do with my latest unhealthy addiction to HGTV interest in their TV show. Let's move on to the real stuff here. You guys, I did Stitch Fix!

Thanks to Alex and Heidi and a cool Christmas gift idea, I got to experience Stitch Fix for the first time this past month. Here's the deal: You are assigned a stylist, whose job it is to give you clothes that you love. You click through a bunch of pictures to show them what kind of outfit would be your thing, you give them all of your sizes, and schedule for your box to arrive. Then BOOM on that day a box of brand new clothes that you like and fit into are waiting to be opened. It was like Christmas on January 21st! (Which, let me tell you, is something. Because January is a hard month to be a teacher. Christmas break is painfully over! Spring break is so far away! Testing is happening! Indoor recess! Germs! Report cards! Agh!) Let's just say it's a good time to get a little dose of retail therapy.

You only keep what you like, you only pay for what you keep, and you mail back the rest in a prepaid bag. The only time where you would pay for stuff you didn't buy is if you decide to send EVERYTHING back, in which case they charge you 20 bucks for the trouble of your stylist's time. So basically, you should resolve to keep at least one thing.

Now, word to the wise: unless you have a million dollars, don't go too crazy on Stitch Fix. I could see it being a huge money drain for our budget if I did this each month. When setting up your preferences, you have the ability to set a price range, but even at the cheapest possible setting, my pieces averaged 50 - 60 bucks. That's fine for a quality item! But it's just not plausible for me to be spending $250 on dress up in addition to everything else each month...that is if you would keep all the clothes sent in the box. Just something to think about. However, you can set the box to arrive however often or seldom you would prefer. I did a one-time box in January, with plans to maybe do a Stitch Fix box 3 times a year or so, to freshen up my closet when the seasons change or if I've been saving and feel like I want a treat. This is a better system for me than 12 times a year, in which case Brian would have to sit me down and just take. away. the. credit. card.

With that disclaimer in mind, I loved it! There were items in there that I would definitely pick out on my own while shopping - and I love them because I won't be wearing the same things as everyone else I see roaming the halls at school. The brands are somewhat obscure, which I appreciate as I tend to nest in Loft, H/M, Target, Anthro sale rack, and GAP and never leave. It broadened my horizons a bit.

SO. You ready to see the winners? (Don't look to closely at my dirty mirror or messy hair or anything else one can be judged for):

The sleeves are made of sweatshirt material so my shoulders fit! Rare find!

I like my work clothes to resemble pajamas as closely as possible.

Seems like a normal black sweater....

....but it had this cool slit all the way up the side. I dig it. 

...andddd the losers! Here are the two pieces I sent back. The plaid shirt was sent back because it was too tight on top and the button was sort of pulling because it was struggling to stay buttoned. NEVER IN MY LIFE has a shirt fit me in the shoulders and not fit me in the bust. THANKS SHIRT for making me feel very voluptuous! But sorry, totes inapprop. The yellow pants were sent back because although they felt like velvety heaven when I pulled them on, they were just a leeeeeettle too pastel. A leeeetttlee too close to a skin tone color. I did a double take to my own reflection in the mirror because at first glance it looked like I wasn't wearing any pants. Can't be having people think I'm not wearing pants. That's a deal breaker. All I had to do for these two pieces was to seal them up, drop the package off at our school's business office, and voila. Done.

Wanna try it? Check it out: https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/5084387

Do You Believe in Magic?

I did something that felt super grown up yesterday. Over the last week I read the book called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and took its advice. Written by Marie Kondo, a celebrity personal organizer and de-clutter-er from Japan, it tells you everything you need to know to employ the KonMari (her trademarked system) method of decluttering your life. I decided my closet was the perfect victim for this organizing trend, and so Monday was the day it happened. Be forewarned that if you drink too much of her kool-aid, you might start talking to your clothes, thanking your socks for their hard work, and greeting your home each time you arrive at the front door. Whatever, man. The closet looks good, so she must be on to something!

Before I go into the details of how and why this worked for me, let me just say I feel like I'm channeling Gwyneth Paltrow and all of her rich-person minimalism with this whole program. Suddenly I was like "Hmm maybe I'll make kale shakes for breakfast now...and name my firstborn child Apple...and be spiritual but not religious." Then I was all like, "But wait, Anna, remember how you like pop tarts and Jesus and not scarring children for life?" Right. So maybe not.

I digress.

First, I will say that it's always good to evaluate our relationship to stuff, and I found that this kind of confronted the root emotional reasons why we keep stuff, instead of doing a more legalistic "get rid of one thing each day" or "throw away everything you haven't worn in a year" type of method. Here are the steps she follows - distinctive from other advice you've probably heard about putting your house in order. The first step, obviously, should begin with getting rid of stuff.

1. Downsize by category, not by room. Don't go around the house tidying up one room at a time. Work on clothes first. (This is the only one I'm doing - since it's the only category where I had an extreme amount of excess, but you could apply this method to everything you own.)

2. Get ALL OF THE THINGS from one category and put them on the floor in one place. And I mean EV-ER-Y-THI-NG. Yikes. This is where my first-world-guilt kicked in. As I stared at that massive pile of possessions, I couldn't believe that this all belonged to me. Just look at that beaut.

My mountain of stuff. 

3. Physically pick up each item, and ask yourself, "Does this spark joy?" This was the most important question, and the central idea to why you should keep anything. You don't ask whether you wear the item a lot, whether you have worn it in the past two years, whether it is in good condition or not, or even whether somebody gave it to you as a gift. You should be surrounded only by things that you love, that spark joy for one reason or another.

4. Keep the joyful stuff - pitch the rest. For real. Get rid of every last item you own that doesn't have a spark of joy. Now, I had to think around a few things. For example, exercising is something I love to have in my life, but it doesn't spark joy at first - I know it always comes after the workout is finished. So I kept the workout clothes with this in mind. Or, while I don't absolutely love my school-issued Timothy Christian School polo, I do love my job, and it is a joy to work there, so I kept the shirt for our spirit day Fridays. Basically, I tried to be reasonable. After I got going, the "joy" test was very effective and I ended up making all of my decisions to keep or not to keep within about 90 minutes. I sent a crazy amount of stuff off to be donated. For those who are counting, that would be 9 large garbage bags filled to the top, along with a 3-drawer set and a huge storage container, all filled as well. I gave over half of my clothes away. 

5. Put each and every item that you keep back in a specific and intentional place. This seems simple, but it was a really important part of the book. One bonus tip she added: hang things on hangers so that they slope up and to the right. It just looks good that way. So I put my wedding dress on first, then maxi dresses, then regular dresses, followed by skirts on the end.

6. Reevaluate all you know about folding. You can see from some of my pictures how I've changed my folding habits. Here's an article with a few tutorial videos attached: http://goop.com/the-illustrated-guide-to-the-kondo-mari-method/. This is my favorite part, as I can get a good view of everything I own, and, unlike my old method of the stacked-up piles, I don't make a mess every time I want to pick one shirt off of the shelf.

Tank tops, sweaters, and t-shirts

My athletic t-shirts now all fit in one drawer! I gave 30 away in the donation pile. 

Jeans and other pants. 

So there you have it. My closet renovation. AKA, I have too much time on my hands because I'm a teacher on winter break. 

Happy tidying, everyone!