Weekender

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but good news! I went thrifting this past weekend and I was able to cross one thing off of my list – a cashmere sweater. I scored a black cashmere cardigan at Bargain Hunters on Albermarle Rd for $6.00. Here’s a picture of me wearing it:

black cash

I bought those pants from #thredup about a year ago. They’re not super stylish, but good for work. I wore heels with them.

So here is the problem I’ve encountered lately: I’m addicted to thrifting sites! I can’t stop buying stuff from #poshmark. Seriously, when I “like” something and get a better offer on it, I can’t help but buy it! It’s kinda ridiculous. I’m going to delete the apps from my phone and just look for designer items at thrift & consignment stores. Since this year-of-magical-thrifting is mostly about saving money, I think it might be a good idea to forgo the thrifting sites unless I specifically need something.

I think there is a pretty decent estate sale going on in Lake Wylie on Saturday. I’m planning on checking it out. I’ve seen the listings and there is quite a selection of clothes and shoes. And the brands aren’t bad…

Today I’m wearing my go-to black trousers from Lululemon (I swore I’d never buy anything from that store). I love them. I might even bring them to Vienna with me, but I don’t think they’re stylish enough. Ha! I’m wearing a Harry Potter-ish shirt (there are lightning bolts on the front of it) that I scored at TJ Maxx (it’s Betsy Johnson) and a red pair of Keds that I found at Nordstrom Rack. Even when I’m not thrifting, I’m a bargain hunter.

hp shirt

I think I need to mess with filters so that the colors are better emphasized.

Thrifting w/Friends

My sister called me last night just as I was brushing my teeth before I went to bed. It wasn’t all that late — just 10 and she was hanging out with a girlfriend watching the snow come down. I love my sis – she’s my very best friend and I love most of her friends so it was nice to see them hanging out and having fun in the snow. I miss that. I miss having friends who come over to my house on the reg just to hang out, drink wine, and play cards or binge watch #goodfuckingtv. I also miss the snow. 🙂

I’ve always had great friends. I met my best friends in college and we’re all still friends today. When I lived in NYC, I was lucky to find an apartment next to best man I’ve ever met. He still lives in NYC and he’s still my bff. In South Dakota I met wonderful people, but I’ve lost touch with some of them and I’d like to reconnect, but it’s so easy to be lazy about reconnecting. Sending a text or an FB message is a lazy way to reconnect. I’ve got to be more proactive. I know for sure that my friend Coral from Yankton bought a new house last year and she has a great boyfriend, but I haven’t talked to her about any of that stuff. And I also know my friends, Cathy & Les built a new house too, but I haven’t talked to them since they moved in. This is all to say that I’m lonely here in Charlotte. I’ve got friends, but no BEST friends. I’ve got workout buddies, but not wine buddies (there is a very specific difference). And it’s probably my fault. I’m not an introvert. I like to go out for dinner and drinks. I like the movies and breweries. Even so, I find myself doing a lot of solitary activities like running and walking my dog. Thrifting can also be a pretty lonely adventure, although I know there are other people out there who like to do it. I have a moonlight gig – I ref field hockey & lacrosse, but let me tell you — NO ONE wants to be friends with the ref. 🙂

It would be so much easier to meet people if I had kids, but I don’t so I miss out on all the meet-ups with kids and parents. I’ve done some volunteering in my neighborhood and there are nice people that live around me, but I often feel like the odd man out: I’m single; I have no children. I’m not complaining about how my life turned out (not right now anyway), but I have to put more effort into finding my peeps when I’m in a new place.

Today I paired a #LOFT sweatshirt with a denim skirt, black tights, and a pair of flat, red booties. It’s a comfortable outfit that doesn’t look sloppy. My sister hates these boots. She thinks they’re faintly geriatric, but they’re comfortable. My toes can settle the way they’re meant to settle all day, which is so enjoyable after trying to break in new-to-me shoes.

sweats

Thrifting…

So I did some thrifting this weekend, but I didn’t buy anything. I didn’t find anything that I couldn’t live without, which is really the only reason for me to buy any clothes or shoes this year. I did, however, buy a pair of #RachelComey boots from #Poshmark late last week. They’re second hand and I got a good deal on them so I feel pretty good about the purchase. I’ll feel even better about the money I spent when I post pictures of the 7 or 8 pair of shoes I want to sell online. It’s on my to-do list for this week. 🙂

I love going to thrift stores. I love yard sales. I’ve just recently gotten into consignment stores, which offer the same possibilities as thrift stores & yard sales without the musty smell and .25 cent books (both of which I LOVE). I grew up in a house filled with antiques. I vacuumed & dusted around those antiques every weekend until I left for college! Many a night during my formative years, I sat with my mom and my grandmother as they looked up information about a vase or a book in a heavy, ocean blue antique resource. My mom still sells old books, but she doesn’t use that that blue tome anymore — she just googles it.

My grandmother ran an antique store in a small town in upstate New York for much of her older years. Our barn was filled with antiques and old furniture. Some of it is still there, although my cousin Flo lives in the house now, with her family. I went to auctions and antique stores and estate sales before I could walk. With my sisters and cousins, I sold planters at a table outside my grandmother’s store. This is all to say that thrifting is in my blood. I love the hunt for the perfect quirky t-shirt. I once found a bright red t-shirt with sheep across the chest of it. Below the sheep it read, Sheep Shirt Sheep Shirt Sheep Shirt. God I loved that top. I’m almost certain one of my sisters or cousins stole it from me. 🙂 Another perfect find was a Duran Duran baseball concert t-shirt. I wore that thing until the sleeves fell off. I love that feeling of getting something for almost nothing; something that fills a whole not only in my closet but in a tiny place in my soul. This year I’m on a quest to find those perfect things I don’t need, but will somehow make my life better.

These are the places I checked out this weekend: Savvy Seconds Consignment (decent collection of designer clothes, but too spendy for my taste), Clothes Mentor @ the Arboretum (great sale going on; they have labels that say Designer on the items that they consider designer), and Great Things Consigned @ the Arboretum (very cool little store; a little pricey). Needless to say, I’ll visit all three of these places again.

Today is a dreary day: rainy and grey so instead of wearing my new boots, I opted for some well worn, well loved, and well treated green booties I’ve had since my NYC days. They’re Naturalizer and they’ve held up very well although the bottom of one heal just fell off during a meeting. 7 FOMK jeans and an old Gap sweater, but I like how it all works together. There isn’t a whole lot of color — just blue and green. Today I added a necklace, which I don’t normally do. My mom gave it to me after I moved from South Dakota to North Carolina. It was made on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in SD.

green booties

Sample Sizes

I’m not a sample size. It irks me so much when I’m going through second hand offerings on a website and see mostly size 00, 2, and 4 in designer clothes. I get it, but it still irks me. So as someone who straddles the 8/10 divide, I understand that I need to be active in order to find used clothing that I like, in my size.

I love yoga and my New Years resolution (*insert eye-roll emoji*) is to go to a yoga class at least twice a week. I’ve been able to do that for the last 3 out of 5 weeks. I travelled twice in January and that always screws up my work-out flow. Charlotte is a hotbed for yoga enthusiasts, but unfortunately, most of the studios charge quite a but more than I’m willing to pay for a monthly membership. NCYogaBar, https://www.ncyogabar.com/, a pop up yoga studio, is an alternative to expensive yoga in the #clt. I pay $100 for 20 classes (which works out to be $5 a class woo hoo) and usually go to the Hop Shop yoga session on Sundays at 11:00 with Emily Berger (@emilyofalltrades). I’d like to go to another one of these classes during the week, but many are quite a ways away from where I live and most of the classes start at 6:30 or later. I haven’t yet found a second NCYogaBar class that I like as much as the one at Hop Shop. I’ve got to keep looking.

Groupon has a lot of yoga savings, especially in January, and I was able to purchase a 10-class pass to Okra Yoga, https://www.okracharlotte.com/yoga/, in Plaza Midwood for just $45. I LOVE this studio. The classes are challenging and I never feel middle-aged, which is getting harder and harder to avoid these days. The instructors are funky and fabulous and the poses often push me to my limit. I’ve considered buying another 10-class pass to Okra, but it’ll be $120, which also pushes me to my limit. 🙂 We’ll see. I’ve got a 20-class pass (a wicked steal from @Groupon again) to Arrichion Yoga, https://arrichion.com/, that I’ll start after my Okra pass is done. I’ll keep you posted about it.

I also run & swim & ride my bike — sometimes consistently, sometimes not. Another resolution is to run 3-4 times a week. I’m headed out now for my 4 mile lunch break (my second run this week) and I think I’ll do intervals. I keep track of my runs with #runkeeper and I’ve got an interval app on my phone that works for me. It’s 65 degrees and sunny out so even if I feel terrible, it’ll be worth it.

Before I go, I want to give a shout-out to Linda’s Stuff, http://www.ebaystores.com/Lindas-Stuff, which is where I got my #RachelComey loafers I wore yesterday. They gave me blisters so they’re at home with socks stuffed into the toes. I still love them.

Since it’s so warm today, I’m wearing some JCrew navy khakis that I purchased from @thredup when I needed new work pants. They’re not vintage for sure, but the style does take me back. My shoes are #dansko clogs and I got the cardigan at a discount store across the street from UNC Charlotte.

Monday, Monday

One of the reasons I started this blog is to improve my style, but to do that, I need to understand what my current style is and I want to put it out there for those of you who might have a similar aesthetic. I’m a very jeans & comfy shirt kind of girl. I LOVE designer jeans and hope to add some to my collection by finding them used on sites like #ebay, #poshmark, and #thredup. Mother jeans are my current obsession.

I like skinny jeans, and flared leg jeans, boyfriend jeans and capris (pronounced CAP-rees for my girl James). I like black jeans, grey jeans, and dark blue jeans. The last pair I bought were Everlane mid-rise skinnies, https://tinyurl.com/yc5un8kv, and I really, really like them.

What to wear with my jeans is always a struggle for me. I’m busty and feel uncomfortable when I wear anything fitted on top so I usually go for baggier shirts. Tops I’d like to add to my closet include good quality t-shirts in white, grey, and black, a long(ish) blazer, and a cashmere turtleneck, although I won’t be able to wear it much since I live it the south.

Anyway, I’m looking for capsule wardrobe items of good quality that will match my aesthetic. And I’m not going to buy any new clothes or shoes or accessories. Anything I buy in those categories this year will be used, rehomed, thrifted, etc. Charlotte, NC has a few consignment stores that I have to start shopping at and there are a ton of Goodwill stores and estate sales in the area. I think this experiment will be fun!

Today I’m wearing a JCrew top in bright yellow (my favorite color), Lululemon black pants (for only $49), and a new-to-me pair of Rachel Comey loafers that I’m super psyched about.

40something

This blog is not exclusively about style and/or fashion; the next post will be about something else, I promise!

One last thing…

Since I’m writing about my style evolution, I thought I’d post a pic of my outfit each day. This way I can actually track the evolution… here goes. Frye boots, Current/Elliot jeans, and an Old Navy top. What I’m missing is some statement jewelry. And a good hairstyle. 🙂

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

I’ve talked about writing for a long time and I think 2019 is the time to start actually writing, so here goes. 40Something is a blog about being 40 something, single(ish), and child free in Charlotte, NC. I’m absolutely not an influencer, but I’d like to influence myself to get more out of life and find some joy in the little (and big) things. So that’s my plan. 🙂

Another part of my plan is to work on my style. I’m not exactly stylish, but I have my own style and it’s missing something. And here is where the “year of magical thrifting comes in.” I’m going to improve my style without buying new things. I’m all about shopping sites like #thredup and #poshmark and #etsy and I will use these and other sites to beef up my #style while saving some cash. Additionally, I just bought a house and am in the process of adding my style to it. Thrifting & estate sales are how I’m going to do that.

Here are my rules: No new clothes or shoes (see below for exceptions), no new home goods, no new accessories for one year starting today, February 1st, 2019. I’m really bad at finishing ANYTHING so this is a terrific challenge for me.

Exceptions: underwear, 1 pair running sneakers, face cream, make-up, & toiletries (but I have to completely finish what I have first).