30 Days, 30 Items, 30 outfits

Ok... so, I'm actually going to do it! I'm going to do the "30 days, 30 outfits" challenge (hereafter referred to as 30 for 30). I first read about this challenge at Kendi Everyday and have been thinking about trying it for a while. When I told M about it, she laughed and said that's what she did in Mexico all the time. ;)

Anyways.... there aren't really any official "rules" or things you absolutely HAVE to do. So, what I decided to do was pick 30 items of clothing from my closet and keep remixing them for the next 30 days. My goal is that every item will be worn at least once and that no outfit will be repeated. Shoes, jewelry, scarves, etc. don't count in the 30 items. For me, the point is to see how many outfits I can make with how small an amount of clothing (although this is probably a lot more clothes than a lot of people have). I think this will help me figure out what really works for me and what I can toss out of my closet.

Here are the items of clothing I picked:

1. Long khaki skirt 2. Long linen skirt from Old Navy 3. Mid-length brown plaid skirt 4. Knee length A-line denim skirt 5. Dark wash denim pencil skirt 6. Mid-length A-line grey skirt 7. A-line purple-ish/ brownish skirt 8. Grey Mossimo sweater 9. Cream Steve & Barry hoodie 10. Black cardigan 11. Brown cardigan 12. Cream cardigan 13. Turquoise cardigan with sparkly buttons 14. Purple cardigan with flowers 15. Black shirtdress 16. Black and cream A-line dress 17. Purple paisley maxi dress 18. Green maxi dress 19. White tank 20. Turquoise tank 21. Red tank 22. Grey tank 23. Purple tank 24. Black tank 25. Long- sleeved green tee 26. Teal top 27. Black top 28. Coral top 29. Purple top 30. Turquoise top




Another one of my stipulations for myself is that I don't buy any new clothes for the month... but then I found out that one of the Goodwills near me is having everthing 50% off for 2 weeks.... so we'll see how that goes...


I started wearing my 30 for 30 outfits on January 2nd, so I should be able to get through this by the end of January. Since I want to show every outfit, and because I only post my stuff every other day, I'll probably post twice or three times per day for a while, just so I can get every outfit in. I can't just save my posts for February because M and I already have something fun planned for that month. So, you'll just have to put up with seeing a few more posts from me! ;)

Red Ruffles

Who: M

When: 12/23/11

Where: Helping my sister pack, shopping, and walking the dog

What: *Black shirt with red ruffles-gift from and embellished by J *Denim skirt-Christopher and Banks $15 *Red flower headband-Charming Charlie's, $1 *Black tights-not sure *Black shoes-gift *Turquoise necklace-gift *Coach purse-30th birthday gift

So my first day back in the States!! I was soooo hoping for snow, but doesn't look like that is gonna happen for me, oh well, there is always next year! First day of real vacation always has to be celebrated by sleeping in until you just cannot sleep any more! So when I finally rolled out of bed around 11, I had the tough decision of what to wear??? But first things first. had to find my clothes to choose from! I leave all my winter clothes here at my parents since I have no use for them in Mexico. As soon as I saw this shirt from J, I thought, "That's it!!"

This was a super fun day that I was able to spend with my sisters and mom!! It started out (once I finally found something to wear) by helping my sister pack up her kitchen. I must say, this trip home is a bit of a sad one. My baby sister and her husband are moving to Colorado to work in a church, and I am sad to see them leave, but happy to see them following God's direction for their lives. I know, crazy to be sad that they are leaving since I do not technically live here anymore... Back to my outfit...lol After we packed some stuff at her house, we headed out with our other sister and mom to get last minute gifts- since we were celebrating Christmas on Saturday, this was our last chance! We certainly shopped until we dropped that night, but it was a fun time with the sisters!

Oh! I wanted to say I stole the turqouoise and red idea from J (see here)!! I thought it worked pretty nice in this outfit! Also to add that one of my favorite pieces of clothing is this long denim skirt, perfect for so many situations!

Holiday Hair Recap

Challenge #1- The twist (from this post). This one was pretty simple to do. I don't usually like my hair all pulled back from my face, so I'm not sure how often I'll wear it like this, but it is a nice option for those days when my bangs might be a little uncooperative.

Challenge #2- The headband (see post). I actually liked this a lot more than I thought I would. In the past, I've been afraid that these type of headbands might be too "costume-y", but I think I'll definitely wear this one again.

Challenge #3- Half-up/ half down (check it out). I really really liked this style and have actually worn it a few times since then. I was afraid that my hair was too heavy to stay up for a long amount of time, but with enough hairspray and bobby pins, anything is possible!

Challenge #4- The braid (read post). I left my bangs out of the braid so I wouldn't have all my hair off my face, which I think made me a lot more comfortable with this style. It added a little flair to my regular ponytail, and if I'm planning a ponytail (meaning I leave time to do something with my hair and I'm not just throwing it back out of frustration at the last minute), I'll definitely add a braid again.

Challenge #5- Waves (surf on over... get it? hee hee). Ok, I admit, this is a little bit of a cheater challenge since I wear my hair like this so much anyway, but I HAD to include Jennifer Aniston in my hair challenge! 

Challenge #6- Flowers in my hair. As you may have read in this post, I wasn't a fan of this look. I don't know what it is, I just can't get flowers to look good in my hair. Well, the flowers look good, and my hair looks good, they just don't look good together. It may have something to do with the fact that I look more like a Midwest farm girl than an exotic beach goddess. Hmmm... maybe I should try a sheaf of wheat or something... ;)

Challenge #7- Big hair. I think this one is tied with the half-up style for my favorite from this challenge. I've always had bigger hair, even when it's completely straight, so I felt like this style kind of just let my true self come out. You'll for sure be seeing this one again!

My self-imposed Holiday Hair Challenge was a lot of fun- I got some new ideas for things to try, and it got me out of the rut of the same 3 styles over and over. And.... I have the satisfaction of knowing I finished it!

Mad about Plaid (Holiday Hairstyle Challenge #7)

Who: J

When: 1/1/12

Where: Church

What: *Brown cardigan- Spenser Jeremy, thrifted, $6 *Green top- Kohl's somewhere in Florida *Brown plaid skirt- gift from sister *Pewter flats- K-Mart *Wooden bead necklace- Beall's Outlet in Willcox, AZ *Brass rose ring- The Jewelry Box, $1

My first outfit of the new year!! It was actually pretty warm on New Year's Day, so I went to church with bare legs. Looking at these pictures, I can definitely tell I've been wearing tights for a while... talk about white legs!! I wanted to pair the brown plaid & the brown sweater with a pop of color, and I really like how it turned out with the green-y blue-y top. And I love my $1 ring... seriously, if you have a store like The Jewelry Box near you, don't be intimidated by all of the cheap looking stuff in there- if you are willing to spend some time, you can find some treasures!

This is my last hairstyle in my Holiday Hair Challenge. I had "leftover" volume from the day before when I let it just dry naturally (this post) and didn't wash it, so the curls turned out nice and big.  I think this will definitely be a hairstyle I try again!

Here's the original to compare it with:

pinterest

Purple, Pink, and Yellow

Who: M
When: 12/12/11
Where: Teaching school
What: *White shirt-Suburbia 100 pesos ($10) *Pink undershirt-Kmart $7 *Black skirt-thrifted. $1 *Shoes-Gap $20 *Purple sweater-Arie, $20 *Yellow necklace-Dots, $7 *Headband and bracelet-gifts

First off, I want to apologize for the wonderful pics...my photographers of the day were my kindergarten students...who insisted that they help me take pictures and since I had run out of time before school, I thought, what the hay...lol. Then I did not have time after school, but liked the outfit, so I wanted to include it despite the less than great pictures!

So this was my attempt to run away from black and white for a day! Let's just say I get pretty bored with these colors rather quickly. So I thought...hmm...let's add as much color and as many colors as possible to this plain white and black craziness... So I started with this awesome bright yellow headband! Then thought "What goes well with yellow?...PINK!" so I added the light pink undershirt. But the outfit still felt rather colorless, so I added the purple sweater. The sweater turned out to be the perfect addition! I must add that I LOVE this sweater! It is the perfect weight for wear in Mexico...light enough to keep on all day, but thick enough to keep me warm in the chilly mornings.

Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their New Year's weekend!! I'm really excited to see what 2012 is going to bring! How many of you are "resolution" people? I usually don't make a whole lot of resolutions, but this year I set some goals & have planned out some ways to reach them. M and I also have some pretty fun things planned for the blog like: A "Month of Color" challenge, a "30 days, 30 outfits" challenge, more information on things like thrifting and borrowing inspiration, and a few other things we'll let be a surprise!

Personally, I've made goals for my health (make it to the gym at least 3 times per week), music (learn 1 new arranged piece of music for the piano per month), marriage (plan 1 themed date night per month), and personal confidence (go one week without makeup- yikes!!!). I'm looking forward to seeing how all of these things play out, and I'll try to keep everybody updated on how it's going!

Have a happy and safe remainder of your New Year's weekend!

                                                                                           -J

P.S. Here are some pictures of our New Year's celebration. #3 is my favorite!

Where Flowers Bloom (Holiday Hair Challenge #6)

Who: J
When: 12/31/11
Where: Lunch at 5 Guys with N, shopping, running errands
What: *White sweater- Target *Purple tee- Walmart *Purple undershirt- Walmart *Denim skirt- thrifted & shortened *Pewter shoes- KMart *Necklace & earrings- gift from M *Flower in hair- bought in floral department at Walmart.

I've been trying to work my way through a Holiday Hair Challenge and I just have 2 hairstyles left... which is good, because when I took these pictures, I just had 2 DAYS left. I've tried to incorporate a flower into my hairstyle several times now, and just haven't liked how it has looked. But I was determined to finish that part of the challenge!! These pictures are the result. I don't think I really like how it looks, and in the interest of honesty, after I took these pics, I took the flower out. Hey, I just said I was going to TRY new hairstyles, not necessarily wear them all day. That's what I'm telling myself anyway!


Here's the original photo:

photo credit

I realize that my interpretation doesn't look a whole lot like this, but I basically was just going for the look of wearing a flower in my hair. This look wasn't one of my favorites, but at least I can say I tried!