2 years???

Seriously, snap your fingers and two years can pass like that (evidence: this blog!)...

Two years ago I was a working mom that was itching for something more. And without getting all crazy nostalgic, the decisions I made in 2008 were among the HARDEST of my life and two years later I realize some of the most LONG LASTING decisions of my life. Some days I am still haunted by them, dreaming of "what if"... but I am blessed by the other "what ifs" I was able to discover.

To everyone that asked questions in honor of this blogs birthday: THANK YOU! And now the moment you have all been waiting for... me blabbering on for 20 minutes (I tried to keep it short, I promise!). You can hear me dish on my favorite fashion "stuff", embarrasing "mom" stuff and my take on sweat pants!

Q & A from Jill Gott-Gleason on Vimeo.

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So happy birthday good life for less. This blog and it's readers mean more to me than probably a little silly website should. But I love being inspired by you all and hopefully inspiring a bit of you along the way. I have big plans for this blog and my direction in life - so it's fun to look back and realized that for all the twists and turns, it's TOTALLY worth it!

~~~
ps. here is the link to the LobotoME packing planner... but this could be used to plan weekly outfits as well if you get creative!

if you want to know who rocks.

she does.

good life for less is the best blog of the week!

XOXO - you internets. you're so sweet!

do you twitter?

I'm hoping on the bandwagon I guess. Excited to jump in and test the waters with something new!

Find me on Twitter!

hugs and kisses to the internet...

I know I gush from time to time about how great the people of blog-land are, but seriously. Y'all are great. And I am a northerner/mid-westerner, I don't even say "y'all"! The lovely Miss Aimee from the lovely blog Mostly Mod nominated my blog to Share the LUV... and now I get to nominate 10 more!

It is hard to put into words what the blogging community means to me - it sounds silly that I am talking about perfect strangers. But thank you to the following blogs that inspire me SO much:

Just a Girl, Luphia Loves, Made By Girl, Style Observer, Make Under My Life, Sweet & Low, The Sassy Kathy, Black*Eiffel, blah, blah, blahg, and Abbey Goes Design Scouting.

To share the LUV, follow these instructions!
1. Put the logo on your blog or post. (You can highlight the photo and text of this post and copy/paste wherever you need to)
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received the award.

a year a week and a day.

It's a blog-iversary!!! That's right... apparently I blew right by the exact date! But today is one year + one week + one day.

Here is my first post... a nice simple entrance, don't you think? And for the most part it still sums up my intentions here. To live a full life, to shop (oh, yes, to shop!), and to be the person of my dreams.

So thank you. Thank you for joining me everyday. Thank you for reading. Thank you for helping me be the person of my dreams.

on being content (again...)

It's on my list. I've mentioned it before. But this year a huge goal of mine is to be content. I've got more to say on it, and I suspect I will all year long.

Yesterday I had a "mirror" moment with my four year old son. You know those times your children become a mirror, reflect you, and it's not pretty (sometimes it is, but this one was more eye-opening)? If you have kids, you likely know what I mean. If you don't. Bless you and your oblivion. It's a very challenging part of parenthood for me. For me though, the silver lining is that I am recognizing these moments, coming to terms with them, learning from them and moving on. So the "mirror" moments, while maybe unkind at the moment, turn into life lessons. And for that I can be thankful.

~~~

I was playing a board game with my son yesterday and while we were playing I noticed some typical four year old behavior. But in a new light. Every time it was his turn and he had a success, he would be SO excited (as would I for him)... we would whoop it up and have some fun and then move on. Then when it was my turn and I would have some success he just couldn't take it. He would cry and pout and be a general four-year-old about it. This started spiraling. Before I knew it, he couldn't even play the game anymore. Couldn't concentrate enough on his own turn because he would be so upset about a match I had previously made (the game was Memory). Prior to the spiral, he was playing a great game... we were neck and neck. But when he started comparing, he lost his footing.

Decor8 has an amazing series she just started this past week on living a creative life. (If you haven't checked it out - you must! And read the comments too - such great stuff!) A lot of the comments mirrored my own thoughts. And a lot of them were to this effect: "But the creative pool is so flooded... where do I fit in?" "I'm not as good as other artists, I'm afraid that I'll seem a fraud."

While I am making room in my life for contentment - there can be no room for comparison.

Don't forget to visit The Inspired Room for more on how people are making their lives more beautiful. Inside and out!

more on closets...

I just loved reading your comments on my recent post about closets. And I have some updates for you on my own!

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Many of you mentioned that your closets are a mess or that you would be embarrassed to have any one look in there... and I suspect there are more of you that feel the same! I have MANY times held this exact sentiment. But let me tell you a little secret, likely if you don't like your closet, you have trouble finding something to wear as well. Am I close? And on top of that, once you find it you may not like it? Closer? I know, because I used to be in the same situation!

Not all of us can have walk-in closets. I know how lucky I am that our Master Bedroom has one. But folks, I have lived on an eighth of what I have now and you can too! [Quick note, I am almost ashamed to admit it, but in between this house and our prior house we rented a rockin' urban loft style condo where my closet was actually double what I have now... sob. I am moving on though... moving on.] Organization is the key and guess what... for the most part, organization is free! I know bins and baskets and shoe holders can do a world of a difference. But I will show you my reorg of the closet - without buying anything (yet!).

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I mentioned earlier that I was purging! And purge I did... I found 26 individual items: shoes, jackets, shirts, jeans, sweaters that I no longer wore. I liked them. But I didn't wear them. I sold them on ebay and actually got a good chunk of change for them. [I wish to buy more clothes... but no... I'm liking the pared down look, plus I just found this buffet that after sleeping on, I am sure I am in love with]. So on to the photos... here are the before and below that the afters. You'll see that it is nothing spectacular, but it is organized and I didn't spend a dime (I actually made money!)





Here are some notes on the afters...
- Long things (jackets/sweaters/dresses) are hanging to the left.
- I moved all the tops/bottoms that were hanging on the top rack to the bottom so I could visually open the space to see my accessories easily (the accessory tree and purses). And so that the sweaters could come from off the floor to the top and are nicely folded. Right above the sweaters I need some art... I'll be on the hunt for that!
- All items (pants, jeans, tops, sweaters, scarves and shoes) are organized from left to right, lightest to darkest.
- I hung the purses with some extra shower curtain hooks I had laying around, you could also easily use "s" hooks from the hardware store. I like this because I can see what I have and they aren't getting wrinkly laying in a pile (as they were previously). Also it shows me that I have way too many dark colored handbags. If I would have known this before, my last handbag purchase would have been different!
- Scarves - I have a "thing" for scarves - can 'ya tell? Ha. I could actually find a couple more around this house to add too! But again, colored from left to right, and spread out so I can see them all. You may not want to devote this much space to scarves, but I wear one pretty much every day, so for me it was important. I just used a "tie rack" that was already there.
- Next to scarves are belts, and similar to the purses I realized I have a lot of belts that are similar to each other. So for shopping purposes for the future - now that I can see them better I will likely make a wiser purchase next time.
- Lastly, the shoes. All of the summer shoes are on the bottom shelf (don't need those now!) and on top the shoes are organized by heel/flat/boot. I had these in the closet already.

So there it is. I know this was wordy. But I hope you enjoyed it. Next is finding a wall color (I'm first going to see what we have downstairs as I know there are some unopened cans) after that... I'm going to ask your opinions! Another goal of mine is to spread out the jewelry and accessories a bit. They are kind of crowded in the corner. And lastly some artwork! (Maybe a new light too...)

I'm Hooked on...

CLOSETS!!!! It is on my list to work on my closet this year... we are lucky enough to have his and hers... his is a modest size closet on one side of the room and hers is a spacious walk in clear on the other side of the room. Yes, I know, I know. LUCKY! For a while we were sharing the walk-in, but it just started getting a little "tight" and I wanted some room to spread out and also to make it more of a dressing area... than just for clothing.

It's not hard to fall head over heels for these great ideas...

Showing and storing jewelry and accessories is going to be a big part of it. These gals do it well.

One after another, these don't disappoint!

No one can stop talking about how brilliant these closets are - they don't even look like closets!

Somehow I just know I would be a better person if this is what my closet looked like.

And lastly, I may have mentioned it before. I could just cry I love this one so much. Seriously. Love. Lust. Covet.

And to top it all off... some fabulous fashion inspired artwork to hang in there wouldn't hurt!

Real actual photos of my closet and some changes in there soon!

Stop by Hooked on Houses to see what everyone else is buzzing about!

check this out...

I've got a sick kid this morning, so it may be a little light on posts around here. But let me share in my absence this cool site... I don't know how I haven't found it yet!?!? Maybe I'm a little late... but then again, it can never be too late for wise words. This one was found here.

to be content...

Isn't this a hard one sometimes? It is one of my goals for 2009 and one that I grapple with by the minute sometimes. I came across this quote in my new issue of Martha Stewart's Body and Soul publication.

" To live each day as if it were your last, you would be trying to remedy all the mistakes you made, all the regrets, all the things unsaid. If you live each day as if it were your FIRST, you are freed from all obligations, all guilt, all regret."

(from Breathing Space: Twelve Lessons for the Modern Woman by Katrina Repka and Alan Finger)

At the start of this New Year... isn't it a great way to move on... in a series of firsts, a series of fresh starts.

take out the paper and the trash...

I am so obsessed with closets lately. Mine. Others. Clothes to fill it. And on and on.

I still can't get over this closet. How organized it is and how cute the clothes in it are!

It is on my "list" to renovate the closet(s) - his and hers - in the master suite this year.

So I started cleaning mine out tonight... the first step in the remodel I guess. And there was A LOT that had to go. If you are even vaguely interested you can check it all out at EBAY. Or not.

How is your closet looking these days? So cute you want to pinch it... like Making It Lovely's? Or on your to do list, like mine?


****** EDITED TO ADD: I have just listed two pink iPod's as well... both are in really great condition with original packaging. Now that I have an iphone I don't need an ipod (or two) anymore!!! *******

My trend predictions... 2009!

A little daring, I know, to join the ranks - both famous and infamous - to predict trends for the year. But if nothing else, these are the trends I'll be following in 2009!

1. Jeans: Ultra-Skinny and Boot Fit have begun to merge into a nice straight fit that is definitely a carry-over from the menswear inspired trend of 2008. They are perfect with flats, perfect tucked into tall or medium height boots and perfect with heels. I just purchased this rockin' pair of Sevens (LOVE!) from Gilt Groupe for only $99... woo hoo!


2. Brands That Give Back: This is popping up all over these days with streamlined retailers and I hope to see a lot more of it in 2009. TOMS does it best... that is why I can't wait to sport my TOMS in 2009! (I just got mine in the mail yesterday... I'll post more on them soon!)




3. Shoes: Brightly colored flats will be a fantastic transition piece from winter to spring to summer and the brighter the colors the better!



4. Color: Pantone, the color expert, has named the color of the year to be Mimosa Yellow... and boy does it pack a bunch. But it has great warm undertones that are perfect for accessorizing. Don't forget a post I did late last year on yellow for great ideas on how to incorporate this new trend in your wardrobe for 2009.



5. Tea: Starbucks just announced that they are integrating more teas into their line up and Teavana is popping up in malls of all places (just one sip and you'll see why they make a play on the word "nirvana")... I'm hopping on this trend, because I stopped drinking pop in 2008 and I need a tastier alternative to water all. day. long. Plus, it takes very little research to show how many health and wellness benefits tea has... so what will be brewing in your Starbucks cup in '09?


What trends are you following this year... or creating for yourself? Leave me a note to let me know!

2009

I am so excited that the page has turned to a new year. I have been reading so many amazing and inspirational goals and resolutions from bloggers all over the web. It got me to thinking... sure there are so many things that I want to accomplish in 2009 but if I don't write them down, will they even exist much less come to fruition? Plus, I am imagining how cool it will be to visit this post on December 31, 2009 to see how many of them really materialized and hopefully many of them will be chronicled right here on the pages of this blog. So without further ado... My random list of goals for 2009 in no particular order:

Blog more.
Worry less.
Paint my nails more.
Make my home consistently reflect myself and my desires.
Switch to the "hotel" system for towels. (more on this soon!)
Implement my inspiration board.
Renovate master bath.
Renovate master closet(s).
Renovate fireplace hearth.
Take a family vacation.
Set up a craft area.
Craft more.
Journal regularly.
Spend wisely.
Spend less.
Make being a one car family "work."
Take two romantic weekend trips, just me and hubby.
Laugh with my kids, a lot.
Kiss my kids and my husband, a lot.
Be content with my life as a stay-at-home-mom.
Be content in general.
Entertain more.

Create!

Last night I was feeling overwhelmed by miscellaneous "stuff" in my life, the insomnia I have been battling for a couple of weeks now and likely a touch of holiday let-down. When I get in these moods the only sure fire way to beat it is to sleep it off (which hasn't been possible, see above) or create something.

I have never decoupaged before... but for some reason it popped to mind! Here are some of my creative whims from last night...







Aren't these fun and funky? Next I want to try some different techniques, like starting with a stretched canvas, coloring the decoupage with food coloring or incorporating glitter.

Where do you blog from?

I just spruced up my desk/office/mud room with some new plants... the old ones were a little, ahem, crusty. Usually not a good characteristic of a plant. So I thought I would take a little picture to show you where I blog from. It's a little room off the living room, for us it serves as the office/mud room. Here's the office part...

The small stack on the right is my blog/inspiration/internet stuff pile. The stack on the left is my to do/to read/mail pile. In the New Year one of my dreams is to put a huge inspiration board behind the computer... like four feet by six feet (big!!) to post bits and pieces of inspiration I have laying around. I'll keep you updated on that!

Then there is this atrocious mess to the way left... life! And all the junk that comes with it! It really needs to be more organized than this... but this is it for now. More mail, bills, filing, knitting, books, cds, a big ol' shredder pile, etc.


So where do you blog from? Post some pics to your blog and leave a comment for me so I can check it out!