P.S. Ten Items or Less

The 10 items or less experiment ended on Day 20.  I missed certain items of clothing, and the laundry every other day was getting annoying.  However, there is a big bag of clothes I did not miss waiting to go to Goodwill.  Yes, I'm a terrible procrastinator.  (Odd phrasing because actually I'm quite good at procrastinating...)

Lessons Learned:

• Good quality, well-fitting basics will get you through 95% of life.
• If you're not going anywhere, pajamas are a good way to not dirty up an outfit.
• No one pays attention if you wear the same clothes 2 days in a row, or they are too polite to comment.

Upcoming Tuition

The credit card was high because of the tuition for 3 classes (2 for the husband and chemistry for me).  We always paid the statement balance, but it wasn't ever getting close to zero.

Well, we've paid down the credit card so its again close to zero.  Just in time for the next tuition bill.  Maybe we'll get some Christmas money from the families.

Green Guilt

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/garden/30guilt.html

I will admit that we didn't recycle for many years, despite claiming to be pro-environment.  New Hampshire doesn't have bottle and can deposits, and the bins for separating took up so much room and work.  But now our town has single-stream recycling, which might be the best green invention ever.

After reading this article, I'm glad to see we're in good company.  We will probably use disposable diapers too.  And I've never seen "An Inconvenient Truth," either.

Day 20: 10 Items or Less

It's day 20.    New England weather being New England weather, I was complaining last week about it being so cold and not choosing enough warm items of clothing.  Now, after 2 days of rain, the sun is back at full force, along with heat.  Pants wearing is too hot.  Shorts wearing is inappropriate for teaching.  All 10 items of clothing are spoken for (yes, the shorts made it in, no, I haven't gone to the gym).  Add to that, I did the wrong load of laundry last night (the wash tomorrow vs. the must wash because all 10 items are dirty) so I am seriously considering taking a day hiatus from the challenge.  You know what?  I am taking a day hiatus from the challenge for my mental and temperature.  My rules means I can change them at will, amirite?

Today's outfit: blue dress with green cardigan and a blue polka-dotted scarf.

Cream Scones

Yesterday was my birthday, so I celebrated by having some friends over for a tea party. As always, I over-prepared food, but I do like having leftovers! So for the next few days, we'll be eating cake, olive and cream cheese sandwiches, and delicious, delicious scones.

And, I've discovered my new favorite tea: Madagascar Vanilla Red from Celestial Seasonings.

From the Joy of Cooking:

Preheat the oven to 425.

Whisk together in large bowl:
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
1Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. dried currants, raisins, or other dried fruit

Whisk together, then add to dry ingredients all at once:
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. grated orange zest (optional)

Mix together just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gather dough into a ball and knead 5-10 times, gathering dough stuck to the bowl. (I added a little extra flour at this point because the dough was too sticky to knead).

On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into an 8" round about 3/4" thick. Cut into 8 or 12 wedges and place at least 1/2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Brush the tops with cream or milk.

Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and sugar (optional).

Bake until tops are golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Let cool on a rack or serve warm.


These are still delicious the next day, especially with some butter.

Week 1.5: 10 Items or Less

Well, as you may have guessed from the frequency of posting, I'm a bit bored with the 10 items or less challenge.  In some ways it has made my life easier, and in some ways harder.  Easier since I don't try so hard to come up with the perfect outfit.  Harder because I am constantly doing laundry.  I feel as though I'm wearing the same thing over and over again, because, well, I am.  So far, it's been jeans everyday because those 95^o days disappeared as soon as I included shorts on my list of items.  I hope to still use them for the gym.  Then again, I've meant to go for the past 3 weeks and still haven't.  We'll see.

The uniform is:

Jeans.
Blue t-shirt OR white tank top OR teal long-sleeve t-shirt OR brown t-shirt.
Purple cardigan OR green blazer OR brown corduroy jacket (new addition to list).

8 items so far.

The dress, black pants/skirt, green shirt, shorts, and gray sweater haven't made appearances yet.  I start teaching this week, so the black bottoms will definitely make an appearance.  Then I have one item left.  Shorts for the gym?  Dress for the tea party?  Time will tell.

Day 2: 10 Items or Less

Sunny today!  I have chemistry class in the morning.  As someone with over 10 years on these freshmen, I'd like to wear something nicer than athletic shorts or pajamas.

I think today calls for jeans, white tank, and purple cardigan, since the science building always has the a/c blasting.

Day 1: 10 Items or Less

Quiet day at home and it's a little chilly out, so it's jeans and the long-sleeve teal shirt.

How Long Can 10 Items of Clothing Last?

I was inspired by this article on The Huffington Post.  Ysolt Usigan is limiting herself to wearing only 6 items of clothing for NY Fashion Week, but she in turn was inspired by an internet challenge to wear only 6 items of clothing for one month.

There were some exceptions like undies, socks, shoes, outerwear, and sportswear.

I have decided that for my experiment, undies and socks would also not count towards the item limit (otherwise eww), but sportswear would since many of the people said they would wear workout clothes all day, or when they weren't exercising since they didn't count.  Huge loophole in my opinion.  Outerwear I accept excluding since it's not part of an "outfit."

So, in the interest of loophole-minimizing and the fact that the temperature here in New Hampshire has ranged from 40^o to 95^o in the past week, I will try to wear only 10 items of clothing.  I will try to last one month, longer if possible, but I accept the limited wardrobe will probably need revision as the northern New England winter approaches.

Strategies learned from reading Six Items or Less:

• Neutrals
• Limited color palette
• Leave a slot open for unexpected events/weather

Foreseeable events and activities in the next month:

• climbing/ gym
• casual dinner party
• apple picking/ family reunion
• teaching night school
• birthday tea party 
• hiking
• yard work

Tentative Clothing List:

1. jeans
2. tennis shorts with pockets
3. black pencil skirt OR black pants
4. white tank top
5. purple cardigan
6. white/blue/brown/lime print dress
7. green blazer
8. light blue graphic t-shirt
9. teal long-sleeve t-shirt with scoop neck
10. brown v-neck t-shirt
11. nice green knit top
12. gray v-neck sweater

So, 12 items.  We'll see which ones don't make it.  Basically, whichever 10 get picked first will be the 10.


Time to do laundry in preparation. I start tomorrow!

The Intent

I admit I am a procrastinator.  I have big ideas of what I want to do and how I think we should live.  Somehow, I don't quite get around to doing them.  This past school year, I was a first-year teacher, so I used that as an excuse for not having time.  It was only a one-year contract however, and I did not find a new job for this year.  I am choosing to use this time as a gift to myself and make some life changes.  No more excuses!

My goals for this year are:

Live frugally.
Minimize impact.
Give back.
Keep learning.
Stay healthy.
Create beauty.