Spring Capsule Wardrobe

Last week I wrote about my decision to begin a capsule wardrobe and what kind of wardrobe I wanted.  Today I am going to share with you my spring capsule wardrobe. 

*Quick Disclaimer:  Some of the clothes are wrinkled.  This is because I wear them and they may have been in the hamper getting ready to be laundered. 

I began planning my spring wardrobe in the beginning of March.  I began by brainstorming the colors I wanted my wardrobe to focus on. I found the website http://www.colourlovers.com that allows you to create your own color palettes and save them.  You can check out my spring palette here: http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/4121280/Printemps

I chose four colors.  Two are neutrals (white and a taupey gray).  Two are not (a light pink and mint). 

Next, I headed to my closet.  I found that I had several items that went with my chosen palette, and some that did not.  Ideally, I would love for all my clothes to go with the colors I had picked (with the exception of jeans), however, I need to use what I have.  So I brought those clothes to my spring wardrobe as well. 

 Here are the clothes that went with the palette:

Here are the ones that did not:

I also found that I needed to purchase a few items.  I needed a new flowy white top, a white t-shirt, bootcut jeans, and a pair of shorts.  This is when the fun began!  I got to go shopping!  Here is what I purchased:

That took care of clothing, but what about accessories?  Here are the shoes, jewelry, and scarves I chose to accentuate my wardrobe:

My wedding ring does not count toward my 33 pieces as it is something I wear all the time.  That is why you won’t see it on here. 

Finally, I got to put outfits together and begin wearing them.  The plan was to wear these clothes from March until the end of May.  So I am almost done with my spring wardrobe (which reminds me…I need to work on summer…) 

Next week I will go over how that has been going (mostly well) and what I have learned.  Stay tuned!

Capsule Wardrobing

Late this winter I was perusing YouTube for interesting videos and I came across an entire genre of videos I had never seen before: capsule wardrobes.  Admittedly, any video with wardrobe in the title gets my attention (#clickbait), and I started binging.
I ended up being fascinated by the idea of only having a few pieces that are worn seasonally.  Like most people I am guilty of looking into my closet and finding that I wear the same things over and over OR I have nothing to wear (because the things I always wear are dirty).  Plus I had tried the Marie Kondo thing, but really all my clothes spark joy in me and therefore it did nothing to clear my overflowing wardrobe.
If you have never heard of a capsule wardrobe the concept is simple (and basically stated above):  You narrow down your wardrobe to only a few items that you actually wear.
While watching the hours and hours of videos I found there are many schools of thought when it comes to capsule wardrobes:
1. One teeny tiny wardrobe of all clothes and accessories.  Like a total of 30 items at the most.
2. A seasonal teeny tiny wardrobe of only 20 things.  And by seasonal I mean two.  One wardrobe for fall/winter and another for spring/summer.
3. A seasonal base wardrobe of 10 key (and as high end as you can afford) staple items.  All other items do not count. However, you only wear the 10 key items all season long. You just style it differently with accessories.
4. A seasonal wardrobe (either all four season or spring/summer and fall/winter) of 33 items - including all outerwear, accessories, and shoes.
After reflecting I chose to go with a system like option #4.  I am currently trying it out for spring. I have 29 items that I wear.  Sounds like a lot, but this includes shoes, jewelry, scarves, outerwear, and handbags.  I also chose to go the 4 season route.  I felt like choosing this wardrobe would give me the most options.  'Cause I like having options.  Another caveat I made was that I would have two additional wardrobes - workout wear and professional attire.  My workout wear is pretty much fleshed out, but I have yet to work on professional attire as I am currently staying home with my daughter.  However, when I return to work in the fall I plan to have a field day sorting through what I already have and filling in the gaps to create an awesome professional wardrobe.

So far I am really enjoying having a capsule wardrobe and I am learning a lot.  I don't want to give to much away.  At the end of May I plan on sharing my complete thoughts on my wardrobe.  Next week I will share how I created my spring wardrobe.  If capsule wardrobes sound intriguing I highly suggest looking them up on YouTube.  And of course following my journey!

Have a great day!

Postpartum Depression: My Warning Signs

First of all, let me apologize for not blogging yesterday.  This was, in fact, the blog I was to post.  However, my depression was out of control.  I am lucky to have gotten through the day without hurting myself. It was the worst day I have had in months.

My baby girl (Elizabeth) was born on October 22, 2015.  I had a scheduled c-section, and though I was in more pain than my first c-section, emotionally I felt great.  I was riding high on new baby happiness.  Here is a picture of me and newly born Elizabeth:

This was such a happy time for me.  I was so in love with life!  It is hard for me to look at myself, knowing that my brain was about to pull me into some really dark times. 

Fast forward a month.  By this time it was Thanksgiving.  I still loved my baby and my family, but I began feeling strangely.  In order to understand how I was feeling, I think it is important to know all the circumstances:

1. I was adjusting to a new house, new city, new baby.  Any of these would be difficult on their own.  

2. I had left a job I loved to support my husband's career.  

3. As supportive as my husband is, he never wanted me to stay home.  Knowing this, I constantly felt (and still feel) pressure to help him any way possible.  And to make money.  Anyway, I was letting him sleep and I was getting up every 2 hours at night. 

4.  Holidays were coming and I love to give gifts.  I also love to give to families in need at Christmastime.  Impossible to do when I am not making an income. 

5. My older daughter Claire is fabulous.  She is wonderful, but learning to share Mommy with baby was a trying time.  I felt our relationship strain after Elizabeth was born.  

6. My body was (and again, still is) recovering from having a baby and surgery.  

As you can see, I was going through a lot.  

Back to my strange feelings.  The first thing I remember feeling was discontent.  I felt like my husband (Chris) was not paying enough attention to me.  I thought he could be kinder to me.  In reality, he was fine, in fact he was very supportive, I was just looking to him to fill something within me.  

The stranger feeling I had was jealousy.  While my relationship with Claire was strained, her relationship with Chris was stronger than ever. And I resented both of them for it.  I felt like he was nicer to her than he was to me.  I felt she liked him more than she liked me.  This was completely in my head.  It was postpartum depression whispering in my ear.  Because that is what it feels like.  Like there is another person in your head saying really horrible things to you.  And I am not talking about your normal mean girl voice.  She is there too.  Postpartum depression (for me) was a new even meaner girl. In my head.  Whispering.  

Here I am on Thanksgiving day, looking happy.  I wasn't. 

  

Things only got worse after Thanksgiving. 

She began as a whisper, but she was soon yelling.   

Stay tuned for next week when I write about my darkest days.  

Compassion Project Update

Back in March I wrote about how I wanted to be a more compassionate person.

While this is still true, my recovery from postpartum depression has slightly shifted my focus.

You see, the depression was causing me to be compassionate to everyone - except myself.  So I am shifting my focus a bit.  Don't get me wrong, I still want to be compassionate toward others, I just want to focus on treating myself just as well.

Back to March.  At that time my focus was on making eye contact and smiling at people as I passed them.  I am happy to report that while I don't always do this I am looking others in the eyes and smiling most of the time.  And it feels good.  Just the act of acknowledging someone's existence and, sometimes, having the same returned is wonderful.  This may sound silly, but it is an affirmation that they are human and so am I.  Looking them in the eyes acknowledges their existence.  Smiling tells them they are worthy.  At least that is how I feel when someone does this to me.

Such a small thing.

I will continue practicing this act.  To shift the focus toward being compassionate with myself, I will do this when I look at myself in the mirror.  Also, when I look at pictures of myself.  That definitely sounds silly, but I often cringe when I see myself in a photo or video.  I think I need to be nicer to that girl.  So I will look at her and smile instead of think about how awful I look.  After all, that girl is a worthy human being.

I hope you are having a wonderful day!  Thank you for taking the time to read this post!

Finding Joy in Something I Hate

Exercise.

Yuck.

Why would one willingly pick up heavy objects just to put them right back down? Or run for no reason at all?  I just don't get it.

However, my doctor says it is healthy.  It will help me lose the baby weight and also help with my postpartum depression.  So, exercise I must.

Bleh.

Okay, so maybe I don't hate all exercise.  I mean, I love to walk: on trails, through neighborhoods, or through the mall.  Walking can be relaxing.  I also enjoy jumping on a trampoline.  For a couple of minutes. I kinda like to swim.  

I have spent the last two weeks walking every day.  And I. Am. Bored.  I need something else to do.  Fortunately, I have a plan:
Think of all the workouts that spark an interest and try them all.  Hopefully at least one will stick and voila!  I will have a new healthy hobby!

So here are the workouts I am going to try out (and maybe a couple I already have tried):
1. Walking (Duh.  I mentioned it above)
2. Hiking
3. Water Aerobics
4. Barre Class (I always wanted to be a ballerina!)
5. Aerial (This one is the scariest but most intriguing!)
6. Dance Fitness/Zumba or Zumba-esque Class
7. Trampoline Cardio
8. Women Lifting (Even though I mocked lifting above)

Eekk!  I never knew I had so many interests in moving my body.  I certainly have quite the task in front of me!  Stay tuned - next Wednesday I will have an update!

Update and Future Schedule

Hey there!  Hi there!  Ho there!

It has been forevvvvveeeerrrr since I blogged.  Why? (you may or may not be asking)

The short answer is it's complicated.  I have been suffering from postpartum depression the last few months and fears of inadequacy and the feeling of worthlessness pretty much my whole life.  Wow.  No one knew I am such a Debbie Downer.  With a blog title like Happy Stephanie one would expect confidence and an exhilarating, excited about life attitude coming out the ying-yang.

Yeah right.  Life doesn't work that way and neither do I.  I am a real person who has her own sad story that I am healing from.  However, I do (generally) have a pretty positive outlook on life, and most people who get to know the me I project to the world would say I am a happy person.

So that was the update.

Now that I am back I am (trying) to blog consistently.  I want to be a writer when I grow up, and this is good practice.  I have several series that I will be working on:

1. Postpartum Depression
2. Mom Life
3. Wardrobing
4. Home Decor
5. Compassion and Confidence
6. Healthy Life, Healthy Wife
7. Miscellaneous

Titles may change, but content should fall into those categories.  I still need to work out which day I post what, but expect to see a new blog post later today or tomorrow.  Then more will follow the next day!

You are jumping up and down and clapping, aren't you?

Thought so.

TTFN!

P.S.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog.  This is a hobby of mine I hope to maybe one day become a career.  I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Compassionate Life Project Introduction and First Step

Something I have always admired in others is the ability to assume the best intentions.  I do not have this ability, and for good reason.  Based on my experiences I tend to think the worst of people and more often than not I am proven wrong.

This trait needs to change for several reasons:
1. I am very, very defensive.  If I feel like I have been slighted in any way I will get an attitude.  I can't stand this about myself as I end up pushing so many people away.
2. I am also ridiculously sensitive.  While I feel this could be a benefit to becoming more compassionate, my sensitivity currently has me jumping to incorrect conclusions.  I have ruined several relationships by doing this.

Obviously, my altruistic mission is incredibly selfish.

But really, I am so tired of hurting people so much that they want nothing to do with me.  It is unintentional.  I have had quite a few bad experiences and my guard is always up.  Time for it to (at least seemingly) come down.  Time for me to open my mind to the good intentions of others.

The struggle is, of course, how do I exude kindness and at the same time be realistic?  My image of kindness involves people being taken advantage of by swindlers.  This perspective is what is standing in my way.  I have known some very intelligent people who were incredibly kind while also being...well, I can't think of the correct term, but let's just say the opposite of a doormat.  So, how is this done?  I really have no clue, but I am going to try to become more like this one step at a time.

That was a lot of bad rambling.

First step toward my goal of being compassionate:
Make eye contact and smile.

Sounds like no big deal.  However, how many times are you walking through a store and you stare straight ahead? You avoid eye contact with people, and why???  Because they will think you are creepy???  I really don't know why I do this, but I know that when I actually take the time to look at someone and smile, they tend to reciprocate.  And when someone makes eye contact with me and smiles, well, it makes me a little more joyful.  Just a smidgen.  And really, compassion for others begins with actually noticing their existence.  So I will notice.  And I will hopefully bring just a smidgen of joy to them.

Status report coming in one week!