It started with the closet...

Like so many, I was incredibly inspired when my friend, Denaye, emptied her closet and built a wardrobe capsule from 37 pieces of clothing. Until I saw her (viral) post demonstrating how a few pieces can turn into so many outfits, I thought it was a little crazy. After seeing her photographic evidence, however, I thought that this might be just the change I need.

Over the past three or four months, this idea of the freedom of having less has changed several aspects of my life, starting with my closet. Let's start with a look at the before, where my closet held a (large) collection of lingering maternity clothes, cheap clothes purchased between pregnancies, some impulse buys that I thought would cheer me up after having Elliott, and some aspirational pieces kept from before getting pregnant with Madeleine. Oh, and let's not forget the gifts, sentimental, and too-expensive-to-ever-discard items.

BEFORE

I didn't follow the Kondo rules outlined in this article; rather, I started with a slow purge. Each time I walked into my closet, I would take out an item or two that I knew I wouldn't wear. You see, despite having all those clothes hanging in my closet, I wouldn't even consider wearing most of them. Over a few weeks and very little effort, I removed the visual clutter, leaving me with a manageable amount for the actual purge. When evaluating what would go back into my closet, I kept definite spring/summer "keep" clothes, boxed up "keep" clothes that were better suited for fall or winter, and set aside clothes that I felt deserved one more wear to make the final decision...and then I wore those clothes and only kept the winners. I ended up with maybe a dozen pieces of clothing, which were joined by some terrific pieces picked out with the help of a personal shopper (I know it sounds luxurious, but it's free and exceptionally efficient).

Throughout the process, I did not fixate on a particular number of items but rather chose clothes that (1) feel great on me, (2) make me feel great, and (3) are appropriate for me right now - in this season of the year and of my life. Nothing more. Nothing less. I really took Caroline's approach to heart, and sticking with these principles rather than hard and fast rules gave me control over the process and caused me to continually reflect on why I wanted to do this.

I lived with my nearly empty closet for a few weeks before completely reconfiguring it. My closet now has plenty of space for my clothes and shoes, some inspirational art, space for displaying my accessories, storage space, and some blank space. Do you see that empty floor?!

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

In the end, I chose just shy of 40 pieces of everyday clothes, 10 pairs of shoes (plus business shoes saved for a future return to the office), a small stack of PJs, a stack of workout clothes, a few favorite special occasion little black dresses spanning four sizes, and a small stack of multi-purpose tank tops. I'll share a closer look at my summer capsule in a future post. At the outset, this smaller wardrobe was largely expected; I didn't expect many of its other effects.

I smile every time I walk into my closet. No joke. I love that my days now start and end in this peaceful place rather than the disorganized, overwhelming hole my closet used to be.

While a wardrobe capsule can make getting dressed a no-brainer, I find that I am more deliberate about what I wear. Most evenings, I pick out an outfit, accessories, and shoes for the next day. Because they are all in view and in one spot, it's simple to do and results in a much more put together look than what I was previously sporting. Because all of the clothes in my closet are ones I love, I don't have to wait for any particular occasion to wear something special.

My laundry has plummeted. Do I have your attention? I often give things a second wear before a washing, and I generally have fewer items of clothes. So, less laundry. Less folding. It's beautiful. This is perhaps my biggest motivating factor in planning to do kid wardrobe capsules in the future.

This project spread like wildfire through the rest of my house. I sorted through outerwear, outgrown kids' clothes, linens, toiletries, you name it. Fortunately, George was on board with this purge and even sorted out bags worth of his own clothes. We're also fortunate to have a local reputable charity that will come and pick up large donations.

Beyond our house, I've been inspired to clear out other parts of my life, like my inbox. I'm still not great at responding to email, but now it's easy to see how many unanswered messages I have from among the 50 or 75 in my inbox rather than the 5000 I had just a month or two ago. I finally went through my promotions inbox and unsubscribed to (almost) all of those pesky marketing emails.

While I am a work in progress, this single change has had a bigger and more profound impact on my ability to feel in control of my life than anything I've done in my adult life. Thank you for the inspiration, Denaye! 

Seattle Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon

The story starts back in February or March when I was talking with the other moms at our weekly mom/baby group about getting back into running. I wondered if anyone else was interested in running the local Mother's Day 5K with me. That's when one of the other ladies, Rachel, said that she was just about to start training for a half marathon in June. I asked if I could tag along on some of her training runs, and she agreed.

At that time, my immediate running goals were to be able to run a 5K with minimal effort in the near term and to consider a half marathon sometime in the calendar year. As I started thinking, though, I wondered if this was my opportunity to do the half marathon. After all, training and running the race would be a lot more fun with a friend. I'd started working with a trainer to help me meet my running and other fitness goals, and she thought the half was achievable as long as I used a walk/run strategy. Within a couple of weeks, I'd signed up for the race.

Throughout the training, I ran only once or twice a week, except when we were traveling and running was my only fitness option. I did most of my short- and middle-distance runs with another mom from our group, Erin, and then did most of my long-distance runs with Rachel (and sometimes her husband, who was also signed up for the race). The rest of the week, my workouts consisted of rowing circuits and strength training. In some ways, I wanted to run more often, but doing it this way kept me from burning out too much and was the only practical option given our schedule.

Then, on June 13th, I did it. I ran my first half marathon. Well, I ran the vast majority of it.

Here we are at the starting line.

The race was huge. We didn't make it to the starting line until more than a half hour past the original start. For the first several miles, maybe six or seven, the course was so congested that I had to really pay attention to make sure that I wasn't tripping on someone else and adjust my pace accordingly.

I was really excited to see my cheering squad near the beginning of the race. 

It was a hot day (ok, for Seattle), and a lot of the course was more exposed than the river trail where I did most of my training. The biggest hill of the race is right after 9 miles, and that's where things got messy. Physically, I was fine. Mentally, the end of 13 miles seemed a lifetime away. From there until mile 12, I took intermittent walking breaks while I waved Rachel and Ryan on. I was disappointed in myself at the time, and I'm disappointed looking back at it. I knew that (the mental aspect) was my weak spot from my long training runs.

From the beginning of mile 12 until the end, I ran with everything I had left in my body. I was really excited to finish sooner than the 2:30 that I had predicted when I signed up. Unfortunately, according to my Garmin, the 13.1 mile course was actually 13.45 miles. I saw George and the kids again around 13.3, and asked where I could find the $&*%-ing finish line!

Up a hill, and there it was. I finished in 2:33.

It wasn't pretty, but I'm glad that I did it. Despite George's sacrifice of the last many weekend mornings, he's already asking when I'm going to run my next half. It won't be particularly soon, but I do think I'll do another one.

Next time, I'm going to do more running and be more familiar with the course so that I can be mentally prepared. What lessons have you taken away from your first competition?

Maui, Baby!

I'm going to attempt to summarize our 10 days, 1167 photos, and countless memories into a single post with a few tips from our recent vacation to Maui. We were last in Maui in December 2013 and couldn't wait to go back to its warm, kid-friendly beaches. From Seattle, Hawaii is about as easy as you can get for a tropical destination that feels far away.

On our flight down, we lucked out with an extra seat, which was really handy for giving Elliott some of his own space and allowing the parents to trade off getting a break. We did this by booking window, aisle, aisle seats and having the lap infant assigned to the window seat. We never carry on car seats, but Madeleine rides with a Kids Fly Safe CARES harness, which Elliott will also have once he starts riding in his own seat full time (soon!). We were also lucky to have meals on our Alaska flight that were perfect for sharing with our BLW baby (rice with steamed carrots and teriyaki chicken). Yum!

Our first stop in Maui is always Costco. It's a good way to stock up on food for the week, and they carry a good selection of local specialities, like our favorite pineapple salsa. Conveniently, the Maui Costco is right outside the airport. This was a special trip for our two because it was their first time riding in a cart together!

The next morning, we started our vacation routine: beach in the morning, followed by lunch and nap, and then pool in the (late) afternoon. Both kids loved the sand, and the sand on our beach was powder fine, so that was lots of fun to clean up. Our condo came with a beach umbrella, which was incredibly handy. Like my mom, I always bring an old flat sheet as our beach blanket - easy to dry, remove sand, wash, pack - perfect.

Most mornings, Elliott took his morning nap on the beach. While he slept, I tried to soak in every last sandy detail of his little, chubby body.

When he was awake, Elliott liked to dig in the sand, chew on sand toys, and either shovel sand into his mouth or face plant so he could lap up the sand directly.

He tolerated the ocean but definitely preferred to splash in the waves when Daddy was holding him (higher) rather than Mummy.

Meanwhile, Madeleine was never still on the beach. She was less keen to play in the water than she has been in the past and spent a lot of time being "chased" by the approaching surf. She also loved to dig holes with Daddy and jump into their muddy, sandy goodness.

Although I've always taken our own sand toys, I think this was my last time for that. For $5 at the supermarket, I could have saved weight and space in our bags and not had to worry if a shovel was left behind on the beach.

On the water side, we were lucky that the beach where we were staying is home to one of Maui's turtle towns, and we got to see turtles just about every time we waded out into the Pacific. Despite having talked a lot about doing it, Madeleine wasn't fond of snorkeling (the nose part of the mask freaked her out) and preferred to wear her goggles, though I'm not sure she actually looked underwater at any turtles in the end.

Madeleine loves choosing her own outfits these days and loved when she and I dressed alike for the beach. Yes, I actually asked to be photographed in a bathingsuit, inspired by this and wanting to raise a confident, body-loving daughter.

Several mornings, I got up early and snuck in a run in the early morning hours. I never managed to make it back before the kids woke up or the sun was out in full force, but I loved watching Makena and Wailea wake up.

One morning, Madeleine and I went out for a paddle boarding tour with Brittany. It was a great way to start the day and so fun to mix both me time with mother-daughter time. Madeleine was surprisingly patient during our two hours on the board, and she thought it was so funny when I fell into the water learning how to stand up (for the record, I got it on the second try). I tried my hand at yoga on the board and want to do more of that next time!

Another morning, we met up at the aquarium with some friends who were vacationing on another part of the island.

We pretty much always stay in condos or other multi-bedroom dwellings these days. It hasn't been long since my first rental through VRBO.com, but I already wonder what we did for accommodation before we knew about it. Having a little more space means that we, the parents, got to chill out during the couple hours of nap time each afternoon without having to sit silently in a dark hotel room.

Our afternoons in the pool were fun, and that's where Madeleine really developed her swimming. As I mentioned, I love this float.

When we left the complex, I'd always try to find Madeleine a flower from the ground for her hair. It was a fun, tropical treat even if they never lasted very long. I loved snapping her photo in the lush surroundings, too.

One night, we snapped a few family photos with the timer function of our camera. Not the best angle, but it's hard to get a photo of the four of us.

We didn't eat at restaurants very much, but we ate every meal that we had at the condo on the lanai. Having a kitchen meant that we could prepare our own meals on our own timeline and enjoy treats like homemade smoothies!

By the end of each day, we were all exhausted.

As the sun would set, we'd finish dinner and then get the kids down for bed.

Mahalo for the memories, Maui. Until next time...

Where is your favorite place to vacation? Do you have a family-friendly hidden gem to share?

Friday I'm in Love

I occasionally - and perhaps more frequently going forward - join Misha, Kendra, and Mary Beth for Friday I'm in Love where I share a few things that have recently caught my eye and made my heart go pitter patter.

ONE: Freemie

I feel like I should start a blog about all the things I've done while pumping...and I'm only about a month into this second pumping journey. This time around, I'm about a million times more mobile and about a million times more tolerant of pumping due to the wonderful invention of the Freemie cups, which fit right inside any bra. A dear friend got me these cups as a gift, and they have really transformed how I think about pumping. Now that I'm a Freemie convert, I typically pump while enjoying breakfast with Madeleine and at night while doing something else...like catching up on email, sewing, or reading. I realize that I could be a commercial for this product, but I promise that the lovely folks at Freemie have no idea who I am. I just love their cups this much. Oh, and I use them with an adapter kit and my Medela Pump in Style Advanced.

TWO: Somersaults

These guys are my new favorite snack. My current favorite flavor is salty pepper with Dutch cocoa in a close second. Yum, yum.

THREE: Amazon Smile

Did you know that you can donate to charity while doing your shopping? Yep - if you do your shopping at smile.amazon.com rather than traditional amazon.com, a portion of your spending goes to the charity of your choice. Same products with a little bonus. I love it. Find out more here and here. So, what's your charity of choice? Mine is Hopelink.

What are you loving this Friday?

Summer Update II

The changing leaves and grey skies tell the story of fall's arrival. I love changing seasons, and this change gives us a chance to reflect back on our summer. What a summer!

At the beginning of the summer, I shared our aspirational summer bucket list. A bit later, I shared our update from the first half of the summer. Today, I'm happy to share that we made more progress on our list without accomplishing everything.

JUMP AT THE TRAMPOLINE PARK: Just last week, I was finally able to take Madeleine for another morning at our local trampoline park ($5 for an hour and a half of toddler-exhausting jumping is a steal in my book). It was nice to spend an hour and a bit with my girl, bouncing and smiling, laughing and making memories.

"1, 2..."

HELP MADELEINE WITH COUNTING: Counting and ABCs are frequently heard around our house these days. Her counting is coming along but still not perfect; it usually goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11. I'm a bit confused about this development as she used to insert 8 as every other number. She can fill in the alphabet when we sing together and is really close to being able to do it all herself, though pronunciation for L, M, N, O, P will probably remain comical for a while. I feel a little guilty about it, but I haven't exactly drilled Madeleine on any of her academic concepts (numbers, alphabet, colors). Rather, they seem to be coming together organically by talking about them in everyday life.

HAVE A BABY: Check him out!

FINISH THE NURSERY: Fun fact: according to my blog history, I finished Madeleine's nursery one day earlier than Elliott's nursery. Given that Madeleine was born on her due date and Elliott one day after his, their nurseries were completed the same number of days in advance of their respective arrivals.

STOCK OUR FREEZER WITH FOOD: Even though I saved it for later than I should have done, I am happy to say that we have a chest freezer full of meals. Most of them were made during the two or three nights of marathon cooking that George and I tackled together. Hopefully they'll be handy as we adjust to the reality of our new normal (ie life after George's parental leave ends).

TAKE MADELEINE DOWNTOWN ON A BUS: I wrote a whole post about Madeleine's bus adventure. Apparently the experience made quite an impression because she requests a repeat pretty much every time we see a bus, which is pretty often.

HAVE A WEEKEND WITHOUT PLANS: It probably defeats the purpose when you have to actually schedule a free weekend, but we did manage to have a weekend without plans before Elliott's arrival. Come to think of it, I think there was only one weekend without plans in the six months or so before he joined us. No wonder we're a little lost now that our schedule is so wide open.

VISIT AT LEAST THREE DIFFERENT FARMERS MARKETS: We made it to three different farmers markets but that was it. I admit that my Saturday morning prenatal yoga commitment precluded a lot of visits we could have made, but I wouldn't trade that time for anything. The markets we visited were fun and full of delicious produce and treats, and one of them was held during a festival celebrating basset hounds. The Basset Bash is another experience Madeleine routinely requests to repeat. Our most recent farmers market included the newest member of our family, who was a trooper until about 3 minutes before we were going to leave.

On top of these anticipated experiences, we also visited the aquarium, had a visit from Grandma Janie, and had a big girl bed transition. Between all of this fun, the second hottest Seattle summer on record, and Elliott's arrival, we won't soon be forgetting the summer of 2014.

In the spirit of the new season, here is a "foxy" picture of our kiddos all ready for fall:

Summer Update I

About a month ago, I shared our summer bucket list. We've ticked a few things off of our list and had a few non-list adventures as well. Here's a look at how our summer is shaping up so far:

• ZOO: We took Madeleine to the zoo for her birthday. She slept in that morning, so we didn't get as much pre-nap zoo time as we had anticipated...and we got caught in an utter downpour (unusual for Seattle and very unusual for Seattle in summer) as we were trying to make our way back to the car. We came away without a single photo, but it was really fun and somewhere I expect us to revisit...maybe during maternity/paternity leave time. (Ok, now I'm getting really ambitious, huh?)

• FIVE YEARS OF MARRIAGE: George and I celebrated our anniversary with our annual dinner at Canlis. Each of us had independently contacted the restaurant to make special arrangements, so I was greeted with a beautiful long stem rose at table number 1 and the pastry chef had prepared a unique version of pavlova (filled with berry compote!) for our dessert. Perhaps the most special moment was the one that we couldn't possibly have planned - it happened when my eyes filled with tears because the pianist was playing Forrest Gump Suite, the very same notes to which I walked down the aisle and married my one and only five short years ago. 

• HAVE A NIGHT AWAY: We decided a while back that our anniversary would be the perfect time to take one night in the city while our babysitter stayed home with Madeleine. I can't speak for George, but I found it remarkably easy to fall back into our couple (rather than family) dynamic with constant chattering and plenty of doing nothing at all. Because we were downtown on the night of the super moon, we went back to Kerry Park (where we took some of our wedding photos) to join the hoards of people checking out the best view in the city. Of course, we were both happy to come home to a very happy toddler the next day...and even happier to learn that she had no separation anxiety from us (after a rough week in childcare). 

• LAVENDER FARM PHOTO SHOOT: I chose the hottest part of one of the hottest days of this hot summer to suggest we head down to the lavender farm for photos, but it was still great fun. As soon as we opened the car doors, the beautiful lavender aroma filled my nostrils. We had a nice time wandering around the lavender before enjoying some ice cream in the shade and then running through the sprinkler, and we even got to share it with Grandma Pat! This is truly one of Woodinville's hidden gems! 

What does the bee say?

• BAKE A PEACH/PEACH-BERRY PIE: Peaches are just now in season enough to make a pie, and this past weekend was the perfect time to do so as we had Kiwi cousins visiting from Australia. I'm still hoping to make another one before the end of the summer. 

• MADELEINE'S HORSE ENCOUNTER: The day before her birthday, I took Madeleine to the barn where our friend, Jessica, boards her horse. Jessica graciously showed us around the barn and introduced us to all the horses. Madeleine wasn't quite ready to sit on any of the horses, but she was happy to touch the gear (saddle, reins, stirrups, etc.), learn about what they were eating, master the proper way to pet a horse's nose, and practice talking to them. I caught this cute video of her calling horses, though I was too busy keeping her from getting too cuddly to take any other photos. 

• HOST GRANDMA PAT: Madeleine's Grandma Pat came to visit for her birthday, and she got to enjoy lots of cuddles and Grandma reading time. It wasn't on the list, but it sure has been one of the highlights of Madeleine's summer! 

• PLAY AT ALKI BEACH: Also not on the list but a summer highlight was the morning we spent at Alki Beach playing with our friends, Kelly, Cooper, and Nicholas. The day was far cooler than we anticipated, but that didn't stop Madeleine from wanting to dive into Puget Sound. I was really fortunate that we went on a day George had off from work so that he could chase her and swoop in after her just before she got completely drenched. 

How are you spending your summer thus far?