Recap Overview Uniform Experiment

Well Hello!  Where did the month go?  So I continued with my uniform experiment with a few variations for the month of September.  I mainly wore black and white or black with a basic type of top. I kept it very simple.  I was amazed at how much easier this felt. I just got up and put on the basics. There were no piles of clothes left on the floor from multiple changes of outfits or thoughts back and forth "should I wear this or that".  It felt much less stressful.  More peace of mind.

My outfits are kindof boring but at the same time I felt much lighter by not being so worried about what to wear.  I'm continuing on with this experiment to see what else I can discover.

I've also been doing a very intensive productivity course this past month and its all about cleaning out the clutter from your mind and your life overall so that you have priorities set and less time to have to think about things that are really not all that important.  I've been working on simplifying my life as much as possible, especially at work.  Its been great in some ways and very challenging in others.

Highly recommended is this book I've recently read: The Life- Changing Magic of Tidying Up . I started with my clothes a few weeks ago and what a huge relief. My closets and drawers all look so beautiful now since I've organized them all so neatly.  I've donated bags and bags of stuff to the thrift stores.

One of my bonus weekends this month was going shopping with Sheila again.  She is a luck magnet thats for sure. We saw so many great things, stuff I would never find on my own.  And, as always, I'm always inspired by her awesome flare for fashion :) and thankful to spend time shopping and hanging out with her.   Shybiker... we are still waiting for you to book your trip up to visit us :)

Thats all for now. I hope you are all enjoying your weekends.

Uniform Week 1 Experiment

Alright. Week 1 of the "Uniform" which is basically black and white basics.  It was actually fun-- I did not have to think.  I even wore the same pair of pants 2 days in a row.  I would NEVER do that otherwise and I would NEVER even wear the same piece of clothing 2 times in 1 week.

I've been doing alot of reading about productivity since its something I've always had a passion for and even train staff at work in.  One of the things I keep coming across is how taxing it is to have to make so many decisions in each day.  That one should reserve great thinking and decision-making for important things and minimize taxing your brain on small things (ie. what to wear today, what to eat for breakfast, etc).  

I'm not saying I want to be like a robot and automate everything or take away choice. I'm just playing around with things right now to see how it impacts my thinking and ability to focus.

My plan for Week 2 is to plan out my 5 outfits in advance to I have them ready and also can put together some combo's that are abit different.  We'll see how it goes.

My favorites from this week were the outfit with the scarf (it has bikes on it :)  and the all black with the pointy flats.

What are your thoughts on the connection between productivity and decision-making and how it all connects?

Uniform Experiment Day 1

I actually felt really good in this outfit. The photos are bad quality. Thats what happens when you ask someone else who does not know how to use a camera all that well to take your photos :(

Onward!

Work Uniform Experiement

Its been a crazy busy month. For unforeseen reasons, we had to move out of the building where our work office is. That is 10 staff and 10 years of stuff we had to sort, purge, shred, pack up.  Not much got done this month other than all the preparations for a move that had to take place in less than 1 month.  Between that and the rest of busy life, I've not even thought about outfits or fashion- its all been about whats comfortable for being in the basement sorting archives.

Anyway, our big first day at the new place is September 1.  We'll be sharing the space with about 25 other people doing similar work.  I must admit I've been feeling a bit of stress around having to dress better given I will be around alot more people on a daily basis. Don't you know its all about looking good? :)

I came across an article about Matilda Kahl, an art director in New York who got tired of focusing on
how to dress each day and chose to create her own work uniform so it took the thinking out of what to wear each day. She said that she was way more productive out of doing it and felt alot less stressed. You can read all about her story here.

I'm going to take this on for the month of September and see how it goes. My plan is to keep it simple and basically wear black and white as basics and can add accessories for color.  I'm planning on posting regularly so lets see how this goes!

Has anyone else tried something like this?

Blue Sleeveless

One photo turned out today. For some reason the rest were blurry.  I had to drive today so could wear a pencil skirt.  Lots going on lately, very busy at work, we are moving into a new building with a very short timeline for the move so we suddenly have to go through all our old documents and purge a bunch of stuff. All this on top of the regular workload.  Then at home we are replacing all the gutters on the house and studio as well as repainting the whole outside.  The garden is growing like a monster and we have so many cabbages even the neighbors are turning down the offer of free cabbage (they've already all gotten some once before :)

I LOVE this time of year, the hot weather, having sun makes me feel so alive and healthy. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.  Off for a nice hike this weekend with a friend I haven't caught up with for ages so am really looking forward to that.

I also went to see a nutritionist today and was very excited about seeing her and what will come out of that. I'm always interested in learning more about how to be even more healthy and changing things up abit.  Will share more with you as I go.  Hope you are all well!!

Golf Dress?

Hello lovelies! It's been awhile.  I can't believe its almost the end of July already. I've been away alot with work and then was away doing a couple of trail races in the US and Interior of BC, then a trip to visit family. Lots going on at work, garden growing like crazy... you know... life stuff!

We're busy spending the rest of the summer painting the exterior of our house and also landscaping the front yard. That project is taking forever :(  ( I wont go into the reasons why).

I'm taking friday off since monday is a holiday so am looking forward to a 4 day weekend. Woot woot.

Will be back soon. Miss you all.

Grandma Dress

 I bought this dress back when I went shopping with Sheila.  I got lots of compliments on it today too so thats nice. I would never have picked it out myself. Is nice and flowy and was fun riding my bike to work in it with the skirt flapping in the wind :)   I had a great weekend. Did my big ultra race.  I feel really good too, not even limping around or anything.  All that hill training certainly paid off. Next big race is one in the interior of BC at a ski hill, alpine and very very steep, 7 peaks we have to climb.  I have about 6 weeks to do tons of squats, lunges, hill repeats to get in top shape for that killer race.

I hope you all had a great weekend, wow, its already almost the weekend again. Gotta love THAT!

Ship Ahoy

 Last day at work and we are packing the last bits of run stuff and nutrition, clean the house, dump the compost and then head out on our trip for our big ultra adventure.  My in-laws get to stay with the fuzzy white granddaughters this weekend (its a long weekend here in Canada this weekend), and I mean they are here with the cats of course :)

Forecast is for rain where we are doing our run.  Running 100km in the rain. Please let it NOT rain.  Good karma come to me now. PUL LEASE.

Have a super weekend and I'll report back next week.  I love this outfit by the way.  I love fitted clothes and I love these pointy red shoes and I love pencil skirts.  I need to find the equivalent of this outfit in terms of how I feel wearing it so I feel this way every single day (at work at least :)

Over n out.

Flowy Dress

Not my usual kinda dress. I love wrap dresses but all the ones I have are in stretchy material. This one is more flowy.  I actually felt really girly wearing it.  It kindof swooshes when I walk.  I'll try it with different shoes next time since I still need to pull out all my summery shoes.

Am just starting to pack for my big trip to the US for my 100km trail run.  It's a little nerve racking when everyone around me who is not an athlete keeps commenting by saying "You're NUTS", Thats CRAZY", "HOLY SH&T" and stuff like that.  Okay okay, I get it. But the comments aren't helping.

I am both excited and nervous. You never know what to expect on the day.  I could feel awesome. I could get a blister.  It could rain.  You just NEVER. KNOW.  That's the fun of it. Life is unpredictable.  If your life has become too predictable you may want to check your pulse and see if you are still alive.  Time to shake it up abit. Get outside of your comfort zone.  Like me in this girly dress.  Ha ha. Yeah Right :)

The 80's called...

When I was getting dressed for some reason my inside voice said " The 80's called.  They want their outfit back..."  I wore short dresses with leggings and these kind of shoes back in the 80's. Yes I am dating myself but I'm sure you can tell I'm that old by my character-building wrinkles and lines anyway.. hah hah.  I was in the office working on a proposal all day and wanted to be comfy so this was the outfit. YES I can even ride my bike in these shoes.  Went for a fantastic 2 hour trail run before work this morning. What a beautiful way to get the day going. Peaceful. Fresh, clean, crisp air. Birds chirping.

Hope you are having a super day today.  I'll be by to visit shortly :)

Zebra and Red

I felt frisky in this dress today. I mean, bounce in my step and really comfortable.  No, I didn't ride my bike in this today:)  Got several compliments that this style of dress suits me.   Bought some girlguide cookies for the hubs and of course ended up eating a bunch myself.  Why, why did I DOOOOOO that?  Hope you had a great day.

Houndstooth and Red

Wow, I had a super trip to San Francisco. I love that city. So awesome. I walked so much. Just sight seeing and enjoying people watching. Lots of excellent restaurants and coffee shops.  Wish I had a few more days there but back to  work it was for me today!  I can only wear this pencil skirt on days I use the car. NO way can I ride my bike in this one :)   I also love this red top, super comfy and fitted. I have never liked wearing those flowy kind of tshirt material tops that hang and move around. Makes me feel fat and frumpy.

Hope you all had a super weekend and an excellent start to your week.

Pink Schoolgirl

Well. My man laughed and laughed when he saw me in this outfit.  I asked "why the hell are you laughing?" and he just said " You NEVER wear stuff like this. It looks good. It's just so different".
I wouldn't have thought it was THAT different but oh well.  Then I went to work and 6 people immediately said I LOVE your dress, or some version of that.  In addition I got 3 specific compliments on the color.  I must admit I DO love the color and I actually avoided pink all through my younger days as I didn't want people to think I was too girly. Go figure!!

Am off to San Francisco for the weekend. Can't wait.  I LOVE that city so much.  Have a super weekend and see you all next week.

Coral Blazer

Time to break out more color.  I can't believe I haven't posted for this long either. I've been taking photos, just haven't taken time to post them. Sorry about that- I have been checking in and lurking on all your blogs though :)

I actually don't mind the cut and fit of this blazer, the collar is better than they usually are and I think I'll keep this one since I have such a hard time finding blazers that fit me properly. Am going to try with a skirt next time though as I don't like how I look in these pants.

Was just down in the US for another awesome trail race. I had to climb 6,000 ft elevation gain. OUCHY that was a good workout for the legs thats for sure.  It was a great time, beautiful day and excellent people.  The next race is a 100km alpine race so gotta get more training in.  Yes I do.

Except my pant legs are getting tighter cuz my leg muscles are getting bigger :(

For the love of animal print

Another animal top I love.  And these are amongst the few pairs of pants that I love. Finally I found some long enough for me. They are made by a Dutch designer so thats probably why.

I remember the days I went out and took my photos around town.  Now I just do it with my grey wall. Funny how moving influenced when and where I take my photos. Our back yard is not so private from the neighbours now and I don't feel like answering questions about why I take a photo of myself everyday.  Who knows, maybe they already know about my blog anyway... That would be funny.