Each year on my birthday, I post an annual birthday photo… and today I’m celebrating 47.
This year I happen to be at a work conference on my birthday, so I got a little fancy and brought my tripod with me so I could take my photo in my hotel room.
I feel like my 40’s are flying by and it feels quite odd that I’m closer to 50 than I am to 40. Which also makes me think that turning 50 will absolutely require some sort of amazing trip, perhaps Italy or Greece?
I feel change coming this year. It’s a bit too early to say, but I’m working hard at ‘living my best life’ and I see that continuing for 47. My goal is to maintain a work-life balance between job accomplishments and life accomplishments. I plan to make time for my creative side and am looking forward to building a stained glass studio in my basement soon. I want to spend my energy on people and activities that ‘fill my cup’ and focus less on the unbalanced relationships in my life. And travel. Of course. Traveling with Travis and Jack absolutely fills my cup and I hope to have the opportunity to explore more places this year.
If you feel like doing a little clicking, here are my previous birthday posts: 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, and 36.
Over the past few months, I’ve been taking a much closer look at my closet – what I wear regularly, what I LIKE to wear regularly, and what can move on to a new home. While most of my decisions are based on what items are (or are not) working for me, I do have to acknowledge that some of the choices came down to cash.
We are still dealing with an avalanche of hospital/surgery bills from Jack’s broken arm, so that gave me a little monetary kick-in-the-behind to decide whether I liked the item more… or the money I could potentially earn.
Let’s take a look at a few items I’ve let go recently:
Rough + Tumble Bags: Vintage Hoop Hobo and Cross Body Wallet
No, I didn’t sell any of my vintage Coach bags (yet); however, I did thin the herd a little when it comes to my Rough & Tumble purses. While I love, love, loved my larger green bag… it was one of the most expensive ones that I owned. Also, I have two other similar sized R+T bags that I tend to reach for more often – switching between them throughout the year. So, this one went to a new home.
As for the smaller green crossbody bag, I tend to reach for my little black Coach Watson when I need something small and hands-free. Since they both served basically the same purpose, I decided that the R+T version could go.
Total earned: $665
Two NotPERFECT Linen Skirts: Striped Marseille and Toast OIA
I love my linen skirts, but to be honest I love some of them more than others. I’ve had this striped version since last year and have worn it a few times, but when I compared it to other skirts in my closet… it just was never my ‘first pick’. As for the toast OIA version, I found that the color was similar enough to another skirt that I own that it ‘met the same need’.
Would I have let them both go if we didn’t have a bunch of bills? Maybe not. However, for both of these skirts I enjoyed the potential cash more than I really needed them in my closet.
Total earned: $170
Poshmark Purge
In addition to my ‘name brand’ items, I also put a bunch of stuff in my Poshmark closet on super sale and accepted low-ball offers just to get some stuff out of the house. Since June, I’ve sold: an Anthropologie dress, Sam Edelman sandals, a J.Jill skirt, Boden cardigan, Athleta skirt, 2 Eileen Fisher dresses, 2 James Perse t-shirts, Athleta leggings, Kate Spade skirt, Eileen Fisher tank top and a Flax linen skirt.
Total earned: $280 before fees.
So that is 17 items that have left my house over the past few months. And honestly, I don’t miss ANY of them. They were no longer sparking joy. They were no longer needed. And now someone else has the opportunity to enjoy something new to them. Also, that is over $1,000 that went towards hospital bills. So, I’m calling that a win-win!
If you’ve been thinking about trying Poshmark for your own closet purge, you can use my special invite code to open an account: POCKETFULOFJOUL Then, if you see something you want to buy, you will get $10 off your first purchase. If you want to check out my Poshmark closet, you can find it here: https://poshmark.com/closet/pocketfulofjoul. Feel free to make an offer on something if you love it!
Note: This is a referral code. If you choose to use it, you will receive $10 upon joining Poshmark and I will receive $10 after your first order is delivered at no cost to you.
A couple months ago, I started a new series based on some feedback on my PocketfulofJoules Instagram account. A very sweet Instagram friend sent me a DM saying how much they enjoy seeing different ways to style the same items over and over again as inspiration for their own looks. (Psst…you can find a bunch of these saved under the “OOTD Breakdown” highlight on Instagram). So, I thought it would be fun to start highlighting some remixes here on the blog.
For today’s highlight, I’m going to focus on remixing a simple solid colored t-shirt.
You can pretty much buy these LITERALLY everywhere – including high-end brands, low-end brands and the thrift stores. I prefer a v-neck cut and my current favorites are the Madewell Whisper Cotton V-Neck Tee or the Universal Thread Short Sleeve V-Neck T-Shirt. For both of them, I like to wear a size XL so that it is a little roomier in the bust and I don’t have to worry about any shrinkage when I wash and dry them a million times.
Source: Madewell.com (left) and Target.com (right)
And believe me, I do wash and dry them a million times. Solid t-shirts are an absolute MUST HAVE staple in my closet.
I have them in a variety of colors, but black is the most important when mixing and matching with my wardrobe, so I own multiples. I also have: dark green, plum, pink and a few shades of blue and gray. I wear them all year long in my casual life – with jeans, joggers, leggings and denim shorts. However, for this post we will be focusing on how they make a great layer for building an office casual outfit.
Here are just a few ways I’ve styled my black t-shirts for work:
Here are a few ways I’ve styled my other solid colored t-shirts:
I hope you like this new series and please let me know if you have a particular item you want me to highlight for you!
