CAPSULE WARDROBE

I have always been a minimalist, but in the summer of 2014 I began to see things all over the internet about minimizing your wardrobe.  I saw everything from "The 40 Hanger Closet", to "Project 333", "The 5 Piece French Wardrobe" and many others all with the same idea of downsizing.  I was hooked.  Little did I know, but my friend Jamie had come across the same thing!  So, we quickly set up a frozen yoghurt date at Orange Leaf and started planing out our wardrobes!

Jamie brought some print outs from UnFancy so that we could get our thoughts together.  We went over things we own and wear, what we own and don't wear and a little bit of special occasion clothes and travel.  After coming up with a plan, it was time to go shopping and build our Fall Capsules.  I copied UnFancy and chose 37 items...here is my post about it!

Once I got into this capsule wardrobe idea, I went a little crazy on Pinterest and ended up running into Jennifer L Scott, author of Lessons from Madame Chic, and watched her TEDx Talk on the 10 Item Wardrobe.

I was instantly in love with her work and decided that I was going to go with her for all things related to my new obsession with the capsule wardrobe idea.  I started following her on social media, keeping up with her blog and read her books (she has a few).  I got started with her first book, Lessons from Madame Chic, and highly recommend it.  I think that what I enjoyed most about Jennifer is that she spent time in Paris and learned about fashion and lifestyle from that culture!

So, as I prepare my own 2016 Fall Capsule, I am checking out other wardrobes, including Jennifer's.

Do you do a capsule wardrobe?  Do you follow someone who does?  Please share in the comments below...I am always looking for a new minimalist to follow and love!

PS...check out these old posts to see how my Capsule Wardrobe began and has evolved!

2014 Fall/Winter Capsule Wardrobe (my FIRST capsule wardrobe!!!)
2015 Spring/Summer Capsule Wardrobe
2015 Fall/Winter Capsule Wardrobe
2016 Spring/Summer Capsule Wardrobe
2016 Fall/Winter Capsule Wardrobe (focused on The Six Items Challenge)

MILE HIGH CITY

One thing I love about my job is that Ironman and I get to travel pretty often and hang out with some of our favorite people and call it "work"!  Just last week, we flew over to Denver for our team's UNconvention.  But like the adventurer's that we are, Ironman and I had to do some exploring first!  So, we flew in a few days before the event, put on our comfy shoes and played tourists...

Ironman's cousin Philip lives in Denver and was able to not only hang out with us Wednesday night, but got us all Row 2 seats at the Colorado Rockies game!

Some VERY excited fans sat in front of us.  The three college students were following The Giants around the country and ended up catching a ball!

Thursday morning, Ironman and I decided to go out and walk to the Denver City Park.  While walking there, we were debating on whether we wanted to go to the museum or zoo, but by the time we got to the park and were dripping in sweat, we decided to visit the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (mainly for the air conditioning...just kidding, kinda).

The museum was really amazing and we saw some animals that we had no idea were so large...nature is so freaky sometimes!  And we loved how there was a health section.  We each got a little card and created a profile and then walked around to the little stations to complete tasks.  There was one station that took a photo of our current faces and then showed us what we would look like at 72 naturally, as a smoker or if we are obese.  Let's just say,  we will both be religiously applying our Frankincense and drinking our Ningxia Red for the next 40 years!  

We also got to play scientists and check out our own skin cells.

At the top of the museum, we found this view...

And on the walk back we realized that just getting to the museum was almost 4 miles.  Yep.  So, by the time we got back to the hotel, we had walked over 8 miles.  This didn't even include the time we spent walking around the museum and then the walk to the restaurant to meet friends for dinner.  Needless to say, my feet were sore and PanAway was my BFF for the next few days.  

On the way to the hotel, though, we found this little face on the side of a cement wall.  It's so strange...just sitting there in front of some random house.  Is this some type of modern art that has some hidden meaning that I don't get?

As you can imagine, we were hangry after all that exploring.  So, Henry's Tavern and their amazing, enormous, fresh pretzels were right up our alley.  I mean look at the size of that thing!  And guess what I dipped it in...warm nutella.  Be jealous.  Now, go to Denver and get you one. 

Ok, so this is where we "got down to business".  We kicked off our event by working, as a team, to pack close to 300 bags for victims of human trafficking with The Sweet Spot!  Just like a buffet, we shuffled through the line and filled each bag with essentials such as toiletries, a hairbrush, bandaids, a set of clothing and a bottle of Lavender.  The idea is to provide each victim with a bag of things that they need so that they can focus on what matters!  I love this non-profit...please take some time to check it out!

Dinner at Grimaldi's Pizzeria with a few people from our team!

Once The Sweet Spot Packing Party was over, we spent Friday afternoon identifying our passions and skills and hearing from Miki Agrawal (author of DO COOL SHIT) on building confidence!!!  You know all the adds that you are seeing for THINX (period panties & underwear) and Tushy (bidet)?  Yep, she is the genius who came up with those!

Friday night was the kick off party with The Bumbys!!!  I had never heard of them before this event. Basically, they dress up so that you can't see their faces, you walk up to their table, they stare at you and then type out their "Fair and Honest Appraisal of Your Appearance"...not intimidating at all, right?  So, looking at our appraisal's below, can you guess which one is mine and which one is Ironman's?  Hint: Ironman said that he blames his appraisal on sheer exhaustion.  And if you are reading this and have had Ayahuasca, please send me an email now because I am so confused.

On Saturday, we spent the day learning about photography, social media, emotional intelligence and then we enjoyed hearing from Jessica Turner, author of The Fringe Hours!  She has a great message on making time to do what you love each day.  With a full time job, a family and a successful blog, she still makes time for herself.  So, as you can imagine, I was thrilled when I saw that she was leading a break out session on blogging!  As she spoke, I took notes like a mad woman and hope that what I learned will help me improve here on Simply Us.

And can I say that our team leaders know how to throw a party?!  Friday night was fun with The Bumbys, but if you like to dance, you will be sad that you missed out on Saturday night...we had The Fitness Marshall come and lead us in exercise!  

If you don't know who he is, you should head over to his website and check out his videos.  Some people learn his dances and use the videos for their daily workouts!  If you want to see a video of me crushing it, head over to my Instagram and scroll down until you find my short clip that Ironman took (it's right beside me raiding this candy shop in the photo below)...haha!

Sunday was our last day of UNconvention and we basically spent it dreaming, scheming and setting BHAG (big hairy audacious goals).  You know that mine was basically just travel travel travel.  But seriously, I would LOVE if we could travel the entire world for one year straight and just knock every item off of our Bucket List.  Plus, that means that I'd have to create a new one and I'm ok with that!  haha!  Our final speaker was Jon Acuff, author of DO OVER.  If you don't read any other book, at least read this one.  Seriously.  Click that link and order it right now.  You can thank me later.  Jon is one of the funniest, most real speakers I've ever heard and he is just as good of a writer.  Don't miss out.

Basically, UNconvention was amazing and we had certainly worked up at appetite.  We walked over to Menya Noodle Bar for a feast.  Big cities just have so many options for EVERYTHING...I try not to get jealous.  Even though we ate a lot, I did happen to leave a little tiny bit of room for dessert.  All week, I had been listening to others talk about Voodoo Doughnut and knew that I couldn't (in good conscience) fly back to SC without trying them out.

Colorado State Capital Building

It turned out to be a much longer walk than we thought and it took us through some sketchier areas, so once it got dark we decided to Uber back to the hotel.  It was my very first Uber...congratulations to me!

I have to say, I started off loving the big city feel and downtown area of Denver.  But, many of the areas that we visited felt dirty and not so safe.  So, by the time we flew out, I was craving wide open spaces and quiet.  I think that's why Ironman and I love going on road trips.  We always seek out the roads less traveled and visit places like the Grand Canyon or the Redwoods or Salt Lake City or other area that have beautiful views and fresh air.  So, although I had a great time, I hope that next time I visit Denver, I hope we take more time to get outside of the city!

It's already 2pm and I am still catching up on laundry and sitting on my couch in my pjs...my favorite type of day after a big trip!

So, tell me...do you like big city or open spaces?  And what do you like to do the day you get home from a big trip?

THE VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD TAG!!!

Thank you so much to Amanda at The Next Seven for awarding me with The Versatile Blogger Award Tag!  I love Amanda's blog and feel like we have so much in common.  You should take a minute to check out her blog and start following her for more inspiration on living the Bucket List life!

I'll share 7 facts about me and then tag a few bloggers I love to encourage them to do the same!

SEVEN FACTS ABOUT ME:

1.  I'm a nomad.  Haha, not really, but sometimes I have felt like one!  Although I just turned 31, I have already traveled to 28 countries (I think...I tried to count them up) and moved 37 times (again, I think...I could be missing some)!!!

2.  I rode a camel.  While living a few years in Ethiopia, my family took a vacation to Kenya.  We stayed in a beautiful hotel right by the ocean, drank milk out of fresh coconuts each day, tried to avoid the aggressive monkeys, sailed in a glass bottom boat and rode camels on the beach.  I wish that I could say that I loved it, but I was terrified.  My mom and sister, Mary Ashley, rode one camel together.  Then, my other sister, Maggie, and I rode another camel.  As the enormous animal was standing up, I wasn't prepared for the strange way it moved so I almost fell off, scraped my leg and was sure I was going to fall to my death the entire ride.

Me and my friend Monica in Israel

3.  I swam in the Dead Sea.  In 2005, I went on a study tour in the Holy Land.  We spent 3 weeks touring Israel and the surrounding areas, while reading the parts of the Bible that went along with that part of the country.  It was life changing.  One of the days, we stopped and swam in the Dead Sea.  It was the strangest thing ever to not be able to get yourself under the water.  I just bobbed on the top like a float!  Also, when we got out our skin was like baby soft because the salt was a natural exfoliator!  I want to go back one day with Ironman to experience it all over again with him!

4.  I traveled on Death Road.  After living in Ethiopia, my family moved to Bolivia.  One year, for our high school camp, I chose to go hike the Inca Trail from La Paz to the Yungas.  After the 4 day hike that started at the highest snowy peaks and ended in the lowest muggiest jungle, the only way out was by bus on Death Road.  It was absolutely terrifying and I remember sitting scrunched down in my seat, shaking with nerves and praying that we made it out alive.

Me at the start of the 4 day hike down into the jungle

5.  Army Ants invaded our home.  Also while living in Ethiopia.  One night, we were sitting on the couch watching a movie together as a family.  My sister, Maggie, was behind the couch and all of a sudden screamed and lifted up her fingers to reveal the army ants that had latched on.  We looked around and noticed that our entire floor was moving.  Jumping up, we grabbed some things and moved out for a few days until the ants had moved through and left our house!  I will always remember how fun I thought it was...we stayed at Priska Prunch's house and got to eat America cereal with milk.  It was such a treat!

6.  I ran from the cops.  True story.  Read about it HERE!

Ironman and I on the day we moved to the ship, the Logos Hope

7.  I deleted my original blog.  Saddest day ever.  I don't think that I will ever get over it because I am now a spazz about being careful what buttons I click, etc, when working on my blog.  I started my original blog in 2008 and called it Sailing with the Stewarts because we were volunteers on a ship!  However, I accidentally deleted it in 2012 and could not convince Blogger that it was really me and I wasn't trying to pull some scam and steal someone's blog.  So, lesson learned and I seriously hope that never happens again.  I would probably just give up blogging for good ha!  That's why I tell people I've been blogging for 8 years, but on this blog you can only find posts back to 4 years ago.  Sad huh?

So, there's my 7 interesting facts about myself!  Here are my nominees for The Versatile Blogger Award Tag:

Emily at Just Because
Katelyn at KatyFaith Photography 
Mary Ashley at Seriously
Kat at Lemon Rain Drops
Ann at The Idaho Mom
Liz at Team Beans
Lindsay Teague Moreno

Can't wait to see what y'all write and who you tag on your own blogs!!!

GIVE ME ALL THINGS PURPLE

You know when you are in college and you are always meeting new friends?  I remember one specific time when I met someone new.  We were introducing ourselves and trying to see if we had mutual friends, blah blah blah.   Only a few minutes into our conversation and she said, "Oh yea, you're the girl on campus that wears all that purple all the time."  I was so stunned that I think I just did the deer in headlights look at her and watched as my life flashed before my eyes.


I thought about her words and how I usually walked around campus wearing:

a.  my favorite pair of purple Crocs that Ironman had given me
b.  my favorite purple LLBean backpack that my mom had given me
c.  my favorite purple Northface coat that my mimi had given me
d.  all of the above AT THE SAME TIME (and without shame...I mean, go big or go home, right???)

My favorite purple flowers from my yard this year!

Me in one of my favorite purple dresses!  Ironman took this photo of me when we
visited the Kalmia Gardens in Hartsville, SC in 2006.

I spotted my future car in town this past Spring.  Jk.  Kinda.  Maybe.
But seriously...I'll take it.

Me in my favorite purple Northface jacket...this photo is from 2007
on the Francis Marion University Campus!  Aren't we cute little students???

It probably took 0.0937485th of a second for me to realize "I have built a reputation...I am THAT crazy purple lady".

Me in my purple bedroom in 2006...side note, I was headed to a New Years dress up party
and did NOT dress like that on a normal basis...haha!

While growing up, I always had a purple bedroom.  In my 20s, I got a purple tattoo.  Just a few weeks back, I chose a grey color for our newly renovated bathroom, but it accidentally turned out purple instead and I love it! Purple clothes, accessories, items in my home...can I get a purple car?  And can I get a purple chair, just for me that's sort of like my own personal at-home throne?  No, I'm not exaggerating.  I can't get enough of purple.  I just see the color and instantly feel happy.

Don't let that smile fool you...I was freaking out inside.

So, for my birthday last month, I decided that the obvious answer was to dye my hair purple.  I have actually been thinking about it for about a year and "shopping" on Pinterest for my favorite look.  No matter how bad I had wanted to do this, I was still pretty terrified.  Luckily I had a good friend who was patient with me and helped me get a new look that I love!

But this right here is the smile of one happy girl...no freaking out necessary!

What about you...do you have something that you absolutely love that you can't get enough of?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Oh, by the way...my friend Emily over at Just Because just featured me today in her snapshots post!  Last week she came over and took some photos of me and I answered a few of her questions!  You should head over to her blog and check it out...plus, she took way cool photos of my new purple hair :)

COMING 'ROUND THE MOUNTAIN

So, I LOVE when someone in our family has a birthday or some type of party or family reunion or really anything where we "have" to pack up, get out of town and head their way.  It always gives me a great excuse to travel...yay!!!  This past weekend, Ironman and I headed up to Knoxville to celebrate our niece's 1st birthday.  Since Knoxville is such a neat city, we decided to get there a bit early on Friday and give ourselves some time to explore!  Every time we drive up there and hit the twists and turns and tunnels of the mountains, I feel like we are going to another land...like the way through the mountains are my own version of the Narnia closet!

First stop, Market Square.  This is basically like an outdoor mall.  There are some cute shops, lots of places to eat, plenty of outdoor seating and even a stage with live music!  Right next to the square is a little art park with benches and tables to rest in the shade.

Just around the corner is the Mast General Store...one of our favorites!  I love looking at all the fuzzy sweaters, comfortable shoes and Burt's Bees products.  This time I skipped the old fashioned candy and was pretty proud of myself.

After walking around a good bit, we ended up thirsty and wanted to sit down and have something cold to drink.  The Phoenix Pharmacy and Fountain looked unique, so we decided to go inside.  I think that we were expecting it to be like a little snack shop where you walk around and pick up things you want, like at a gas station.  But, as soon as we stepped inside, someone was right there (like seriously, one step in the door and BAM, there they were like 1 foot away) and asked if we wanted a seat and before we knew it we were sitting down and looking at each other like we were helpless and didn't know what just happened.  

After looking over the menu for like 20 minutes and the waitress coming over 3 times, we awkwardly got up and said sorry to the waitress as we ducked out.  Honestly, this would be a great place for a fancy date night or even a big afternoon snack when you are really hungry.  It's just not what we were expecting.  Everything was pretty pricey and seemed like enormous portions of sugar, so we ended up just going into Subway around the corner to got 2 bottles of water.  However, we look forward to coming back to The Phoenix Pharmacy and Fountain next time we come to Knoxville and when we have bigger appetites!

In these photos above and below, you can see Market Square.  The benches, tables and chairs, outdoor seating at restaurants, plenty of trees for shade, little shops and all.  You should really plan a trip to Knoxville and visit this area!

And be sure to check out all the downtown art just like me :)

After we got our fill of Downtown Knoxville, we headed over to Nick's brother's house to hang out and get ready for the little baby birthday party!  Reynolds couldn't wait for Uncle Nick to get to his house and even called to talk to him on the phone.  Apparently he decided that Uncle Nick is his best friend...it's so sweet!  Aren't they adorable?

Reynolds and Uncle Nick

 After a great weekend, it was time to head back home to South Carolina.  However, we decided to make a spontaneous stop with Nick's mom, his sister and our niece!  I do love last minute adventures.

Once we crossed over from Tennessee into North Carolina, we headed to Sky Top Orchard to pick some apples!

I've never been to an apple orchard before and was shocked at how many trees there were and how many apples were just laying there rotting on the ground.  Also, there were bees EVERYWHERE and I was stung within the first five minutes...ugh!  I haven't been stung in a long time and forgot how much it hurts.  Luckily, I had my essential oils with me and they helped big time with some of the pain, swelling and itchiness...always be prepared, right??!?!

Ironman was very particular about getting the best apples for us :)  We walked around the orchard and found the areas that not many people had visited.  Plus, he is taller than most, so he could reach apples where other people couldn't.  Honestly, I was a little freaked out to pick any apples after I was stung.  But, Ironman found a good one that I could reach and then documented me picking my very first apple...here I am below, making history.

It didn't take us long to get our basket filled about halfway...

Then we headed inside to get it bagged and stand in line to pay.  They had everything apple that you could imagine.  Apple fudge, apple caramel popcorn, caramel apples, apple donuts, apple cider, apple jams and jellies...

Isn't my side kick, aka munchkin, the cutest?!?!

Abigail with Aunt Emily

After all that work, we knew we needed some lunch and ended up down the street about 5 minutes at Flat Rock Village Bakery.  Remember I said in my August goals that I wasn't going to eat pizza for those 31 days?  Well, I broke my pizza fast with this delicious piece of pie.  I have no idea which one it was, though.  I saw someone eating it while we waited and it looked amazing so I asked what they ordered and they just said "the special".  So, here it is and it was special...haha.  I love pizza and I'm so glad to be done with my 31 days without it!  Never again.  Just kidding.  Well, maybe.  Not.

So, that was a fun weekend, right?!  Playing tourist, seeing family, baby birthday, great food, picking apples for the first time and breaking my pizza fast...

I have a TON of apples and would love to cook a pie or something to impress Ironman...do you have a great apple pie recipe (or something else delicious) that you could share with me???  Let me know what I should do with all these apples sitting on my kitchen island!

Oh and make sure you are following us on Instagram!  We are headed out on another adventure tomorrow and would love to bring you along.  Can you guess where we are going?