Operation Spring Cleaning

My apartment is a mess.

Some steps I need to take:

-Throw away all shoe boxes
-Throw away all empty boxes from Zappos, J Crew, Wine of the Month, etc.
-Give up on ever being able to organize clothes like normal people do. Use big clear plastic box to throw tshirts, winter clothes, summer clothes in.
-Fold work sweaters and dress shirts on book shelves in bedroom (find new place for books)
-Switch suiting closet with dress and fancy clothes closet.
-Get something to organize necklaces and earrings on
-Drop of bags of clothing donations
-Throw away piles of metal hangers
-Recycle empty wine bottles

I'm sure there's a lot more that needs to be done, but this will be a start.

I might need to take a day off to do this. The dumpsters are full on the weekends.

New shoes

shopbop

Ok, they're higher than they looked online. I probably can't stand in them too long. But I don't care.

I will wear them with:

-fancy lady tops
-full skirts



And, if all else fails, skinny jeans.

Flirting with Freezing

I hate winter. My skin falls off. My cats are walking balls of static electricity. I hate winter fashion. My Uggs are 5 years old, bought when they were new and exciting. Now I realize their hideousness (but also their usefulness when trudging through the snowy grass to go photograph a sailboat parade on the Potomac at night when no one will see me). I have 2 atrocious puffer coats that I bought on super sale from J Crew that I wear for survival walking up the exposed, windy, tall hill from the parking lot to my office. I prefer a structured cloche, fedora, or beret.

And yet I just ordered an absurd knit ski hat from Kate Spade. Because it says "Hawaii Or Bust". And those words run through my head every moment I'm not on the Islands. I need to figure out how to get back there for good.

THOSE Tights

Like everyone else in the world, I'm obsessed with the Chanel two-tone tights. Not being able to justify a couple of hundred on tights that have a logo stamped on them, I ordered the Urban Outfitters knock off version. The sheer material is pretty flimsy, but it will do until someone does a knock off using opaque ivory on the front side.

The Chanel runway had the tights paired with black dresses and gray tweed suits. I'm going to try it with a black and dark gray subtle plaid mini skirt, black leather brogues, and a dark gray cashmere sweater.



We'll see how it goes in the morning.

Brogues

On a whim I bought a pair of black leather brogues. Without really thinking about it, I wore them, and now I can't take them back. I think I can work them into my wardrobe, but I haven't come up with more than a couple of ideas.



On the plus side they are a flat and way warmer to wear than ballet flats. They could be good for winter, once I figure out what to do with them.

Some inspiration:

Why I Love Taipei

It can be 87 degrees and 90% humidity, but dammit, it's November and the girls are going to wear knee high suede fringed boots. And wool hats. Sadly, I have no pictures of those outfits. But plenty from the insanity that is a Taipei night market (the temperature does dip down to 80F at night).

Carry-on

I travel with an absurd amount of electronics. I just ordered a Kindle after buying too many books in a panic at the airport a few weeks ago and then having to lug them around for a week. And it kills my back, but I wouldn't go anywhere without my SLR.

I also have an arsenal of bags for every length of trip imaginable. This collection has been built through trial and error. I have a lot of suitcases I've given away because they just didn't pass the real world test.

I also have a good selection of comfortable clothes for flying in. Ponte knit skinny pants, jeans with like 20% stretch, tees that look fancier than the 100% cotton label implies. The trench and scarf can double for blankets when the flight attendants can't seem to locate a single one anywhere on the plane.

I should probably spend more time actually packing rather than writing about things I would pack.