Shoes, cont'd.: Summer Collection

So, five pairs of shoes per season. I like it.

I'm not going to throw anything away though. I mean for this to be an ongoing process. Sheerley just introduced me to 6pm.com, which I think will be a big help because you can get out of season Fryes for much cheaper. And they never go out of style!

Right now it's summer.

Summer pairs:

Light-colored flats
Don't have these. Really want to try Frye Carson Ballet--think I'm a 7.5, but need to know before I order online. Will try at the store.

Black sandals
Right now I have the Crocs Sexy Flip. Keema ate my Tevas so right now they're fulfilling the black sandal category as well as summer walking shoes. I also have a pair of black and nude Clarks sandals, which aren't great when it's really hot or for a lot of walking, but I'm keeping them at work. Maybe next year I can get a pair of Fryes.

Brown sandals
My Frye Carson Ts are still going strong. I would say they have a summer or two left. Part of the permanent collection!

High-heel sandals
Have a couple of aging pairs of these floating around: black wedge Clarks, tan wedge strappy Clarks, sort of open-toed tan high heel Clarks (lots of Clarks!). Will keep wearing until they die, but someday would like one pair of nude/tan Frye wedges, maybe like these.


Bottom line: I should be good for now for summer. Maybe try on the Frye heels and flats so I can see if I want them someday. If I do buy anything this summer, it should be light-colored flats.

Five Pairs of Shoes

I used to be obsessed with shoes.

I've noticed it waning in recent months (years?). I'm not sure what has happened, and occasionally I get on a kick about something (new hiking boots, etc.) but in general I think my purchasing frequency has drastically decreased.

I have a new idea! Wouldn't it be great to only have 5 pairs of shoes? (This, of necessity, does not count specialty shoes, such as rain boots.) Five pairs that I can wear to work, for parties, weddings, etc. I think Frye could help me out with this. It would be a huge initial investment--probably stretched out over a few years--but I think in the long run it would be cheaper! Fryes last forever.

So here's what I think I would need.
**Already updating: 4 pairs per season (ha!)

WINTER:
Black ballet flats (for both seasons, already have)
Short boots (already have, black)
Tall boots (already have, black; next pair could be dark brown)
High heels (black, comfy!)

SUMMER:
Light color ballet flats
Black sandals
Brown sandals (already have)
High heel (wedge) sandals (natural color; already have Clarks; could use new wedges)

The problem is colors. What if I have black high heels, and need another color? Sigh. But I still like the idea. (I think the winter/summer thing may solve this.)

In addition, I need, well I already mostly have:

Flip flops (Teva, have)
Sneakers (Saucony, have)
Dog-walking sandals (Keema ate them; still have the Crocs)
Winter/hiking boots (Keen, have)
Cute winter boots (need)
Rain boots (Hunter, have)

God this seems like a lot. So high-maintenance. We're already up to 10 pairs. But I really need to stop buying high heels. I don't wear them, even at work.

Here's some samples of my planned collection.

Already have Born flats. (Apparently they don't make them anymore!) Would like next pair to be Frye.

Would love some this color too, for summer. Don't know if I can do the pointy toe though. Would get another Carson or the "Agnes."

Then short black boots like these (also similar to the ones I have now, could be Frye next, but I love the ruching):

Tall boots--I still like my Eccos, can stick with them. Maybe something like this next time?

High heels--tough. Maybe need winter and summer? How about 5 pairs per season? (This is getting ridiculous...)

LOVE these--almost $300!! Yikes. 

How about black for winter, or high heel sandals. To be continued!

Hairy Goals

So, here are some things I want to try (or continue to try) on my hair...in some TBD order:

1. Mud wash + ACV rinse
2. Conditioner washing
3. Water-only washing
4. Homemade dry shampoo
5. Very occasional sulfate-free shampoo

I also want to try making flat-iron waves.

Today, about 16 days in, my hair looks pretty truly greasy. Had to wear it up today, and according to my current "schedule" I am not due to wet my hair for another 2 days.

Typically I shower every other day. What I'm going to try for a while (shower days only):

Day 1: Mud wash + ACV rinse
Day 3: Shower, do not wet hair
Day 5: Conditioner wash
Day 7: Shower, do not wet hair

Start over. This means I do a mud wash every 9 days. Might be too infrequent? I could also try doing water-only washes on days 3 and 7, or as necessary. Maybe just on day 7.

Tuesday: My hair looked really, truly greasy to me yesterday. Well, actually, people said it still looked OK but it felt heavy and wet. I wore it back all day--must say, wearing it half up looked good and it stayed perfectly put!

Anyway, I need to shower every day lately. It's so gross outside. This morning I washed my hair with baking soda and ACV; really didn't want to do shampoo. It got really clean. I will use mud next time. Going to follow the schedule above, but possibly water wash my hair on days 3 and 7 as the above is really more of a winter schedule.

Wednesday: Hair still looking clean and fine. Not gorgeous shape,

Waking Up & Being Mindful

This Week's Goals:

1) Get up at 7am every weekday.

I already failed at this today. But it's something I really want to focus on. (Also, added bonus: no hair-washing!)

2) Eat/drink intuitively.

Not going to keep a food journal this week--I think I saw last week that I can go pretty low-meat when I want to, and I'm going to aim to avoid meat at restaurants and eat what I get from the CSA. Again, keeping the 80% rule in mind. But I have been having lapses in being thoughtful about what I want. I've been doing OK, but I can do better; I'll keep some notes on it.

Sunday night I ate a little too much, not sure why, and spicy food, and relatively late (around 9pm). Had to sleep practically sitting up. I HATE doing that to myself. No more overeating spicy food late in the evening, that is not gentle!

Monday: Today I got up at 7:30ish. It wasn't great, and I did feel a little bit rushed. Well really what happened is I did all my new (more leisurely) routine and didn't get to work until 9:45. (I like to be there by 9:30 at the latest.) I do think the (hopefully) reduced morning routine will help. I love the idea of having more style-able hair, and even doing it once I get to work.

Wish I could give up makeup too...it just makes me look SO much better. Sigh.

Tuesday - Thursday: Didn't do great getting up early, but didn't feel TOO rushed and got to work mostly on time. One day I turned off my alarm (another reason not to hit snooze!), yesterday I got up at 7:15, and today slept in until 7:40, not great. Made it to work by 9:15, ha!

Eating this week has been OK though. There have been some later-in-the-evening cravings that I've managed to think through--mostly thinking that they will likely make it harder to sleep.

Hair is still going strong. The boar brush is great, although it's a little gross when I brush it upside down and flip my head back up and it stays straight up in the air! I think I'm going to wash it once a week with conditioner, with maybe an occasional baking soda/vinegar wash if I feel like I'm getting buildup. I bought the Shea Moisture conditioner to try.

June's Little Victories

Monday the 22nd: I had an anxiety attack after getting "locked out" of the house. I really wanted a drink when I got home because I needed to calm down. I had just decided to really avoiding alcohol at home on weeknights (getting up early this week!) and didn't want to fail on my first day. I didn't have a drink. Just went to bed early instead.

Wednesday the 24th: Went to buy snacks with Sarah who bought ice cream. I feel like normally I would've just automatically bought some because we don't go to that store often and I'm not opposed to treating myself! But I honestly didn't want it; I had just had a big lunch. Didn't want it, didn't buy it. Intuitive eating, woo hoo!

Thursday the 25th: Only had one beer out at dinner. I probably would have if Kari ordered a drink though...

Waking Up & Eating Plants

This Week's Goals:

1) To get up at 7am every day.

For some reason this is always easiest for me on Mondays, and I don't know why. Either I'm rested up from the weekend (definitely the more likely scenario) or I'm getting too much sleep the rest of the week (as I tend to only sleep ~7 hours on Sunday nights). But today I had about 2 full hours to get ready, and it was great. I had time to shave my legs, eat breakfast, and even clean a little bit. It's just so nice not feel rushed. Like it's my time. Like I get to spend some time in my home before running (or not) off to work.

That's one day down, 4 more to go.

2) To keep an establishing food journal.

I don't really want to do this anymore. It's so boring to keep track of what you eat, on par with counting calories. But I want to sort of look at a baseline of how I'm eating right now, and how much meat. I can tell you off the bat I'm having trouble controlling alcohol. And that I'm not always remembering to be intuitive. So I just want to keep track for a week.

Monday -- Got up at 7.
Breakfast: Fresh fruit (banana and peach)
Lunch: Leftovers (Asian beef and rice noodles and greens), cucumber, beet hummus
Snack: Small serving of pita chips with beet hummus
Dinner: Takeout pizza. It's a long story involving sort of but not really being locked out of the house. It was vegetarian.

I did remember to powerwalk with Keema this morning.

Tuesday -- Got up at 7.
Breakfast: Smoothie of yogurt, banana and frozen peaches
Lunch: Beet/cheddar casserole, few bites of pasta salad
Snack: Chips and salsa
Dinner: Rest of the takeout pizza.

Did powerwalk with Keems. Want to do 7-minute workout, but it's 85 and like 80% humidity, like being in a lung. Walking makes me sweat, and my feet are swollen. I'm actually excited to try it though!

Wednesday -- Got up at 7:15. BUT--did stand up and get out of bed at 7, which was hard because my alarm woke me up, only to find roommate in the shower. But as soon as she got out I got up!
Breakfast: Smoothie of yogurt, banana and frozen peaches
Lunch: Beet/cheddar casserole
Dinner: Sweet potato fries, fish sandwich (with half bread), fried pickles, super small frozen custard
Alcohol: 1 beer (Hoponius Union, mmm)

Did an OK walk with Keems, went to YMCA dog park and so it was very flat. Did walk an extra street, but it was only about a mile total.

Thursday -- Got up at 7:20. BUT--(haha) I do know it seems like I'm creeping later, but Mary keeps being in the shower at 7am! I woke up, and waited for her to get out, then I got up immediately. I still had plenty of time to have a sit-down breakfast!

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs over sauteed greens
Lunch: Sushi at Fin's
Dinner: Asian slaw w/ soba
Also had a Tim-Tam :)

Pond walk with Keema, walk around the block after work.

I haven't been washing my hair this week, and it made it from Saturday to Friday morning! Wonder what it will look like tomorrow...I'm hoping eventually I could wash it only once a week, but it means getting used to a much different style, it has to be brushed several times a day

Friday -- Got up at 7:20. No BUT today. :)
Breakfast: Smoothie of yogurt, banana and frozen berries.
Lunch: Asian slaw w/ soba
Dinner: Small bites, then late night bread, cheese, charcuterie
Alcohol: Lots of tastes of rum, beer, and mini-cocktails. (Small victory: did not order a cocktail when we had apps before the rum-fest.)

Going to a rum-tasting party tonight. Going to try really hard to be intuitive about eating and drinking!