Mixing it up

I found a blog over the weekend where a woman saved a ton of money by shopping in her own closet.

For a year, she didn't buy any new outfits. She just combined clothes, jewelry and shoes she already had instead of buying something new.

I don't think I have enough clothes to do that. I currently have one pair of jeans that kind of, sort of fit (hooray, weight loss?). If I mow my yard in them, I'll end up mooning my neighbors.

But, I liked the blog well enough to maybe pay attention to the message behind it.

This week, in an ode to that blog I found, I'm going to wear something different, something new or something I wouldn't normally wear, each day this week.

Let's mix it up a little!

I did buy two new pieces of jewelry this weekend, but they were dirt cheap on clearance. I have this system in place where I reward myself with pretty things if something goes awry in my life. (The idea is to not use food as a reward, like I used to do.)

So, I was overdue to buy some pretty stuff.

I used to hate clothes. Now that I'm almost 50 pounds lighter and three or four sizes smaller, I love clothes. I love shopping. I have jeggings.

Weird, right?

Today, I'm wearing a new bracelet. It cost me $2 at a craft store in town on clearance.

When I was doing laundry last night, I took stock of what I had. I pulled some clothes out, switched outfits up, and tried to mix some jewelry pieces to shirts I wouldn't normally put together.

A $6 teal and gold necklace with a red shirt? I think that's going to be the outfit I wear tomorrow.

This excites me.

Beautiful

As I mentioned in a previous post, I went to a craft fair in my hometown last weekend.

I took $20, without really knowing what I wanted to buy. I figured I'd find something kind of cool.

I browsed first, and made a mental note of all the things I was interested in buying. And then I turned the corner and saw a booth full of beautiful beaded jewelry.

A lady approached me and talked to me about the necklaces, purses and bracelets that were on display. It turns out a lady in Lawrence, Kan. started a non-profit to help widowed and abandoned women in Uganda.

The women in Uganda make the beads out of paper. Yes, you read that right. Paper!

Don't ask me how it works, because I have no idea. All I know it the jewelry is beautiful and I wanted all of it.

I settled for this necklace, which cost me $10.

I wore it twice this week. When people asked me about it, I got all excited and nerdy. A former journalist wearing a necklace made out of paper?

It was meant to be.

Plus, I'm kind of weird when it comes to jewelry. I'm allergic to metal and can't wear anything that has nickel in it.

I'm special like that.

That eliminates practically 95 percent of jewelry out there. Bummer, right? I hated that when I was younger, but now I kind of like the challenge of trying to find jewelry to wear that won't try to kill me.

Plus, I like jewelry that's kind of eccentric. Anybody can go to a department store and find stuff that's generic.

My jewelry? It needs to have a story.

I'll be buying more from this non-profit in the future. It's called Project Lydia, and it's pretty fantastic.

More info on Project Lydia:

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