Day 2

Alrighty then! Spent last night pulling out all the clothes from closet and dresser and only putting back the items on my list. I know, quite an exciting Friday night!

I still need to get a bin to put all the removed items in, but that can wait until tomorrow.  Looking at my closet now is both an anxious and exciting thing.  On the one hand I am delighted to have space and lightness.  On the other hand, when I pulled back the curtain this morning to put together today's look, I was a bit shocked by what at first seemed a distinct lack of choice.  But I quickly rebounded and put together the outfit below.  Since it is Saturday and was snowing when I got dressed, I have a definite casual thing going on.  Today's agenda included groceries, cooking, and hanging out at home.  Later I'll be driving a couple of hours north to attend a monthly Irish Dance (ceili) in Baltimore.  Versatile and layered was the theme.

Flare Jeans

White V Neck top

Snowflake Cardi

Black Mary-Janes

accessories not pictured but worn earlier: faux fur 'trapper' hat

See you all tomorrow!

Project333 and Me!

I briefly considered starting a new blog entirely to document my progress with Project333 which you can learn more about HERE  .  But that would require too much effort, and if nothing else I am a master at taking the easy way out.  So instead of wasting time thinking up a great name and catchy hook for a new blog, I'll just repurpose this one.  Jus'sayin, will for the next three months, be devoted to my progress, feelings, and struggles, with Project333.  

Today is my first official day and thus far I have made my list, and documented my outfit du jour with a photo. I am also tracking all of this in a delightful little black book I purchased specifically for daily outfit descriptions.  This way, if I am away from the computer (oh no!) I can still update you. You're welcome.

I am also bending/customizing the rules a bit to accommodate my lifestyle.  In the basic rules, sleep wear, at-home lounge wear, and workout wear are excluded from the 33 items.  Well, sorry, but I don't do sleep wear, or at home lounge wear.  So, I am combining those two categories and renaming them "Scarves, hats, gloves, purses, shoes, coats" and including in the workout wear my sport/fitness/outdoor items...ie my ski gloves/boots/jacket, my motorcycling clothes/helmet, and hiking boots.  The originator of this program stresses that it has to work for  the person doing it.  So that's what I'm doing.   But before you cry foul, know that I am limiting my purses to: Teal day bag, Brown day bag, Red day bag, recycled sari evening bag.  My shoes will be: Black high heel boots, Black low heel boots, Brown high heels, Black mary-janes, Black Satin evening shoes, Metallic evening sandals.  Coats will be limited to: Tan Trench, Brown vest, Black leather jacket.  I actually don't have a decent pair of gloves at the moment, and I received two ADORABLE hats at Christmas that I just can't stop wearing.

So here is my list of 33:

1. Flare Jeans
2. Boot Cut Jeans
3. Old jeans
4. Black pants
5. Purple Drape Neck top
6. Black    "         "       "
7. Cream   "         "        "
8. Black V Neck top   Black Lace top
9. White V Neck top
10. Blue  V Neck top
11. Red Blouse
12. White Blouse
13. Black Blouse
14. Grey Ruffled Cardi
15. Snowflake Cardi
16. Black Turtleneck wool sweater
17. Red Turtleneck wool sweater
18. Rose Cowl Neck wool sweater
19. Blue V Neck Merino wool sweater
20. Brown V Neck Cashmere sweater  Grey Scoop Neck Silk/wool Sweater
21. Blue V Neck Cashmere sweater
22. Black and White print dress
23. Black wrap dress
24. Blue sweater dress
25. Black wool pencil skirt
26. Grey flare skirt
27. Green Velvet jacket
28. Black cocktail dress
29. Black shrug
30. Gold silk Tank
31. Black silk Tank
32. Maroon REI shirt
33. Black EMS tech fabric shirt

So there you have it.  My 33.  

And here is what I put together today, based on my scheduled activities of helping stuff envelopes for a school fundraising auction, and shopping for new black boots to replace my falling apart pair. 

This outfit is: Purple Drape Neck Top

Flare Jeans

Grey Ruffled Cardi

Black HH Boots

Rust 30's crochet hat w/flower

Hmm. maybe I should consider just putting the numbers for the items, who knows maybe they'll hit in the lottery and we'll all get rich!


****edited already!****  I made the decision to swap out the Black V Neck top for a Black Lace top, and to swap the Brown V Neck Cashmere sweater for a Grey Scoop Neck Silk/Wool sweater.  I reserve the right to continue to make adjustments if needed. 

My Summer Fling

After five years of sitting on the fence, I finally jumped and went to Celtic Fling.  For those of you who are wondering, CF is a weekend long music festival/highland games competition in Lancaster County, PA.  Bands and athletes come from all over and it's one big party for three days.  There are also plenty of vendors who want to sell you expensive gear (kilts, leather goods, pottery etc) in addition to the entertainment.

Dave and I made the drive up on Friday evening, and met up with our friends who had already been there for several hours (and several cocktails).  The plan for Saturday was hatched, off we went to dinner and then bed.

I won't bore you with a blow by blow of the weekend, but suffice to say, the gang you see in the above picture are a great lot to go anywhere with, but especially a music festival.

Dancing, drinking, singing and laughing were the featured activities.

Never a dull moment!

Just when the semester had ended and I was FINALLY about to head out on my long awaited, much anticipated, and desperately needed camping trip.....BOOM!  My darling daughter came down with Appendicitis.  I didn't think people still got Appendicitis, but apparently they do.  And when they do, it goes from zero to sixty faster than a Ferrari!

Thanks to the staff at PRMC, Lani was diagnosed and operated on within a few hours of the onset of her symptoms.  I must thank the nurses of Pediatrics for  the exceptional care they showed her, and her surgeon for the concern and care he demonstrated.  It is absolutely horrible to watch your child lie in a hospital bed, but the nurses made it bearable for us.

A week later, Lani is home and enjoying her first shower in 7 days...she has a long 5 weeks of recovery ahead, but that's a small price to pay for a healthy body.

Additional Thanks to all our friends and family who came to visit, or sent cards and gifts to the hospital.  It really helped Lani keep her positive attitude, knowing that so many people love her.  And of course; Dave, Mom and Monica.  You three kept ME sane and Lani giggling.

new things afoot!

That's right, things are afoot.  Tonight I completed Day1 Week1 of the Couch to 5k program.  I haven't really run since my sophomore year of high school, which was about mbmmdmbm years ago.   But tonight I laced up my new running shoes, turned on my IPOD and hit the streets.  Thanks to the wonder of podcasts, no thinking was required.  A nice man told me when to run, and when to walk and when I was finished.  EXCELLENT!  If I have to THINK and RUN at the same time....well, let's just not go there.

My first semester back at University ends in a week.  So I'm a bit stressed and overwhelmed, hopefully the running will help with that.  And with any luck, I'll get back to this blog a bit more regularly.

ciao!

Holiday ramblings...

So now that we are on the fourth day of Christmas,  (and those 4 calling birds woke me up early this morning),  I thought I'd take a minute and catch you all up on what's been happening 'round here.

I had a hard time getting into the Christmas mood this year.  Not sure why really, but I just didn't have my normal giddy elfishness going on.  Perhaps it had to do with moving down here to Salisbury and not being in my own house for the holidays.   It might also be that with homeschooling, we didn't have all the usual school/parish activities leading up to the big day.  This was the first year in a long time I didn't have a Christmas pageant to attend, or Breakfast with Santa, nor any of the craft fairs and other events that we usually volunteered for at St. Pius X.  And sadly, we said goodbye to a really wonderful lady right before Christmas.  Miss Neva, David's grandmother, passed away suddenly at her home in Ayden, NC.  I am grateful to have met her and spent time with her, as she was truly the embodiment of grace and charm.  The world is a bit less lovely without her in it.

We did attend the Christmas Ceili in Baltimore...always a good time.  (Shameless plug here:  if you are ever in Baltimore on the first Saturday of the month Oct-May, the Emerald Isle Club hosts a ceili at  the Parkville American Legion on Putty Hill Ave.  7 pm -11 pm.  It's a blast!)  Our good friends, the Reddings were there with the adorable Meagan, and dancing and laughs were the order of the night.

                                                
But, when you have a darling 10 year old daughter, the show must go on...and it did!  Cookies were baked (thank you to Ron and Joanne for allowing me to commandeer their kitchen for an ENTIRE day!), songs were sung (thanks to Dave and his guitar), presents were wrapped (on Christmas Eve!) , and a delightful time was had by all.  Our dear friends Tina and Kurt invited the 3 O'Neill girls to join them for a Christmas Eve potluck dinner, and we contributed our dad's famous fondue, Monica's Delmahvelous Meatballs, and witty banter.  Then on Christmas morning:  the main event....unwrapping gifts!

As you can see by this picture, Santa knew exactly how to make a little girl happy!

Aunt Monica hit the nail on the head as well

Hope your Holidays are filled with love and peace.

Seriously!

This wasn't my original topic for today, but I had to write about it.  
I was conducting my daily job search online this morning and came across a posting seeking a "Professional Nanny/Sitter".  I have no great desire to raise anyone's child but my own; but I went ahead and read the listing.  To summarize, this person is looking for a Nanny to care for her 18 month old, approximately 13-15 hrs/day, five days a week.  The pay?  $150/wk.  WOW!  That averages out to about $2/hr.  You read that right....$2 per hour to take care of an 18 month old.  I charged more as a teenage babysitter in 1984.

I completely understand the difficulty of being a single mom (I am one!) and trying to work and support yourself.  And I know how hard it is to find good childcare.  But who do you think is going to take a $2/hr job????   Other civilized countries have state run child care that runs 24/7, and pays the caregivers living wages while remaining affordable for parents.  Why can't we have these same options available?  I'm lucky, I have family willing to help care for my daughter.  So I can work my wine industry job, which involves night hours, and know that she is safe and well loved.  Not everyone is so blessed.

I know we have a plethora of issues in this country right now, but maybe we need to step back for a minute and take a look at what's really important.  Much lip service is paid to the importance of family, education, and keeping our kids safe and healthy.  Funny how we don't seem to do much to actually back up those ideas.