March 21, 2016

Spring Capsule Wardrobe

After the past few months of wearing all of these items for my Winter Capsule Wardrobe, I’m excited for my Spring Capsule! Honestly, I can’t believe I actually did it. I wore everything and only dipped into my reserved clothes stash once (we had a Hawaiian themed dinner to go to).

I really loved implementing my capsule wardrobe because:

I was able to be more creative with my clothing combinations
I now understand what a minimalist wardrobe is all about
I loved all of my outfits
I learned about myself & how to manage my shopping impulses

The bottom line is that when I have a minimalist approach to my closet, I can make more deliberate choices about my clothes. The creative challenge keeps it interesting and in the process I found the shapes, colors and combinations that work well with my body lifestyle. I have less clutter in my mind when I get dressed because the choices aren’t overwhelming. My closet is still super CLEAN and I am never feeling like I have nothing to wear. Success!

Ok! So let’s talk about SPRING:

I was looking at the Pantone Spring Fashion Color Rep for 2016 and none of these colors really scream TRACY. Those colors don’t work well with my complexion, so I’m going rogue and doing my own thing. This is great because I don’t really have to buy much for this capsule. The whole idea is to use what you have and I’m gonna do just that.

Now that this is my second time doing this, I went back through my Pinterest Board to compile the looks I liked. I went through and looked at all of the articles of clothing in each outfit and pulled stuff from the clothes I packed away in my guest bedroom closet.

From there I built my color scheme:

Navy/ Gray/ Denim/White with pops of Purple Kelly Green & Tan (the tan comes from leather).

I kept some of my base/foundation pieces from my Winter Capsule because I knew they would easily transition into Spring. I find this super reassuring because it means I’m coming up with my go-to-looks/uniform and perhaps by the end of year of doing this I won’t have to think much about my wardrobe.

Here are my foundation pieces. These are the pieces that I will build outfits from.

I might end up adding a pair of leggings. We’ll see.

And here we have the jackets & dresses. I think I sectioned these off into a separate category because they are filed together on the right hand side of my closet.

GRAY JACKET
NAVY BLAZER *bought for this capsule
ARMY GREEN JACKET
GINGHAM TUNIC
STRIPED SWING DRESS *bought for this capsule
DENIM DRESS

The tops & sweaters are kind of basic this round. I think that I want to play up all of my outfits with accessories and pops of color. I know it’s going to be raining off & on for the next few months, so I have to have a lot of layers. If you live in the Bay Area, you always have to wear a lot of layers. You just never know if the fog is gonna creep in one day.

And we end with the fun part. Here’s where most of the color comes in. I really like mixing floral with stripes so these scarves will help with that. I want to keep my jewelry simple this season. My hair is getting a little bit longer and I’ve been playing around with colorful clips, so I feel like I have to tone it down in the jewelry front.

FLORAL SCARF *bought for this capsule
DAISY SCARF (I have something similar in my collection)
LEOPARD SCARF
NAVY CLUTCH *bought for this capsule
PURPLE TOTE
PURPLE STUDS
BELT
BLUE TOMS
HOOP EARRINGS
SILVER BAR NECKLACE
PURPLE CLOGS
TAN CLOGS

There you have it! That’s my Spring Capsule Wardrobe. It’s kinda preppy and packed with jewel tones, huh? I suppose some of these items could go really well in an Autumn Capsule, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

I’m going to be traveling to Vancouver with some of these clothes and it’s going to be my first time packing for a trip using the capsule foundation. I’m kind of excited about how easy it’s going to be to do that. Hope this inspires you to pair down/edit your wardrobe!

Be sure to check out my Winter Capsule Wardrobe & Closet Organization posts!

my everyday life, Photography

March 19, 2016

My Everyday Life: Week 11

Here’s what My Everyday Life- Week 11 looked like:

California poppies are out!

A drive to wine country.

We took Cooper out to breakfast at Ad Hoc.

So cute.

Love these leaves.

Goals.

Life is beautiful.

To DO list making.

Painting things gold with this paint. I’m kind of obsessed.

Dying things!

I never use gloves…which is bad.

In my bath tub.

A little bleach adds the rust color.

March 18, 2016

I LOVE LISTS

Stop Thinking / Start Doing
Foods that regrow without dirt!
How to make an Irish coffee. Pro tips.
Dreaming of Palm Springs…sigh.
Why Work Life Balance is overrated.
Waffle S’mores. Can’t even deal with that.
Travel Expectations vs. Reality whoa, Brazil.
Don’t leave me alone in a room with this tart.
3 Time Management Rules
40% off doesn’t mean what you think it means.
I love whiskey. and WAFFLES!
There are hidden rooms in King Tut’s tomb!
Stovetop Mac & Cheese for one (lovely lady)
How Different People Spend $100 at the Grocery Store
“Engineers” who “fixed” things.
People are amazed to see what designers used to do with their hands.
This will make you want to go to Souvla in San Francisco
Bringing this book on our anniversary trip.
Dad jokes for your Friday afternoon.
Saying goodbye to my Winter Capsule soon! I’m so excited for Spring.

Food from the archives for your weekend:

Things that caught my eye:

Instagram accounts that inspire me:

@jengotch (her snapchat is AMAZING)
@imlauramiller for #froobs
@kingblottothethird for calligraphy porn
@drakeoncake for Drake lyrics on cake! #totesmaj

recipes

March 16, 2016

Brown Sugar Pecan Sticky Buns

I have a thing for store-bought pizza dough. I like having some in our fridge because it means I can easily make pizza, garlic butter rolls, herb bread twists, pizza rolls or broccoli cheddar rolls if I feel like it. I can also turn the dough I bought for making pizza during the week into an impromptu Saturday morning breakfast because you can turn pizza dough into Brown Sugar Pecan Sticky Buns. See??!

All you do is roll some butter into the dough. Chill it. Fill it. Roll it. Bake it. Eat it.

The best part is that the bottom (or I guess top part?) gets crispy because the butter and sugar caramelize and the dough crisps up. Definitely putting this one on the MAKE FOR GUESTS lists. Totally making these for guests because Casey and I would eat an entire batch in one morning if we’re not careful.

#yolo

recipes

March 14, 2016

Orange Soy Glazed Ribs

I’m always trying to take flavor combinations my child likes and apply them to other things. Like, my little man loves orange chicken and he also loves ribs. So, let’s turn ribs into an orange chicken hybrid with this Orange Soy Glazed Rib recipe. Seems like it will work, right?

Instead of starting from the ground up and making our own BBQ sauce, we enhance our favorite BBQ sauce with orange zest, fresh orange juice & soy sauce. Sesame seed addition to the end because we’re fancy.

In retrospect, I should have left a few pieces without sesame seeds, because the boy did not approve.

He loved it all except for the sesame seeds.

Life’s not fair, man. Sometimes you just have to eat them.

To be totally honest, I really just made these ribs because I CANNOT WAIT FOR WARMER WEATHER AND TO START GRILLING SEASON. There… I said it. I mean, I am glad we’re getting rain (we need it!), but I am kinda getting excited for the leisurely outdoor dinners coming up soon.

For now, I will turn on my oven broiler and pretend my feet are freezing and eat these while wrapped up in my fluffy robe. Anyways- make these! It’s a new/flavorful spin on an old favorite. Discerning husband & picky child approved.