…we would like to use this post to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

It’s been a busy time for all so take the festive holiday to chillax with your loved ones, eat too much chocolate and slob out in front of the crimbo telly!

The Topshop Sale is now on: visit www.topshop.com

If you’ve had enough of that then don’t forget the SALES! Most of them start on Boxing day although some sales are already on now. If you can’t face the VERY cold and icy weather then you can always shop via the internet as most stores now sell online.

This is the time to bag those bargains but be sensible

No doubt you’ll be the first to hear about our sale purchases that we probably will have kicked/elbowed/fought for in the next few weeks. You can also let us know of any good sales or bargains you’ve bagged via our comments section below….or tweet us!

That’s what all the cool kids do now a days. You can ‘follow’ and ‘tweet’ us @wardrobemag (twitter.com/wardrobemag)

Thanks for reading, commenting and tweeting. Please do continue! We really do appreciate it.

Lots of love,

The Wardrobe Ladies: Bhavna, Chloe, Sunny and Steph

xxxx

What can I say? I enjoy some strange things, or so it may seem to others.
Nobody could understand why I wanted go to India on a spiritual boot camp.
“Why do you want to sleep on floors? What’s so great about having to wash with a bucket in a toilet stall? And what’s this collapsible bucket for?” Those are the questions that some of my family and friends asked me when I announced my intentions to spend two months traveling by bus throughout India on a spiritual journey with my teacher, Amma, in January 2008.
“Is there no other way to go to Heaven?” a dear friend joked.
But I have to say that a lot of people are equally baffled by and tease me about my enjoyment of all things domestic—laundry and ironing being chief amongst them.

Yesterday, after collecting Andrew’s younger brother who’d spent the weekend with his sister – they went to see the Nutcracker together – I felt the need to go to Andrew’s dorm. Initially NYU had asked us to clear his room by the Thanksgiving weekend, and I had said “fine, whatever.”
But then we, my family, thought, we can’t! It’s hard enough to get through Thanksgiving twenty-two days after Andrew’s death, without having to undertake the task, emotional more than physical, of clearing his room. NYU agreed to give us until after Christmas. And so his belongings are still there.
I had been there once, a few days after Andrew had died. I had not wanted to take anything then. But this time I got it into my head that I wanted his laundry hamper to come home.
“I must wash his things; it’s been a long time since I last did his laundry,” I kept thinking.

“He’ll come home on the 23rd, two days before Christmas and deposit a month’s worth of washing at my feet.”
“I thought that since I was coming home…” he’ll say with a smile. I’ve heard that before, and after only the pretense of a grumble I will get on with it.

Then I remember, I always remember. I look at his unwashed things, I take a pair of socks out of the hamper; they are all rolled up, because I suppose he didn’t take them off, he rolled them off his feet. I hold them to my nose, and I smile remembering that he didn’t like the “I’m-about-to-walk- off” smell of French cheeses. But his socks, even though they have been worn, smell worn not “smelly.”

I’m in a quandary now, I feel an urge to wash his clothes, iron what needs to be ironed, neatly fold what needs to be folded, arrange it all tidily in his closet and drawers, ready for him to just reach for what he needs.

But then, shit, shit, shit, I always remember. He will not need any of his clothes, again.

Well then, I’ll hold on to them as they are. I’ll hold on to the smell of Andrew they still carry for as long as I can.

There is a lot more that I want to talk about, but we, we have time.

Yesterday was my birthday.  I had been dreading turning 25 since I turned 24; for some reason being unemployed and chasing a dream nobody but your boyfriend seems to think you’ll ever achieve feels so much more pathetic at 25 than 24.  So I was pleasantly surprised to wake up feeling ok, if a little shaky, and spend a wonderful day with Guy.

We went ice skating at the Natural History Museum (pics in following post), then came home for a bit of a warm-up and a snack, then we had dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant in SOHO and saw Where the Wild Things Are, which was beyond fabulous.

And then we came home, and I checked my email, noted a few missing salutations, and cried until about 2am.

Now, before you go thinking I attach too much importance to my birthday, a bit of background info:

1. While I hadn’t gotten anything from either sibling to say happy birthday, I had received numerous emails from multiple family members about my sister’s life and work and problems.  Which are, of course, a big deal.  But can a girl get ONE DAY A YEAR where her sister’s not miles more important than she is?

2. It’s not really about the birthday at all.  It’s about feeling like an afterthought (or worse, not a thought at all) in my family’s collective mind.  As evidenced by the last post, I think about my family all the time.  Since I was a little kid, I’ve known that you don’t choose the family you’re born into, and I’ve been grateful to have landed in one that’s so financially stable and… loving in their own way.  I guess I just wish they expressed any sort of reciprocation.

Don’t get me wrong.  I know my family loves me.  I just wish they cared about me a little more.  I’m fully expecting (if I get any response to this) to be guilted into oblivion for making people feel bad by writing this– that’s what happened last time I tried to have an honest conversation with anyone in my family about how they make me feel.  But this is not an attack. It’s an attempt to put down into words a sort of summary of feelings.  An explanation of all the times that seemingly small, unimportant slights have sent me off into a tearful rage or a depressive sulk.  And an expression of one small desire: I wish they cared that they make me feel this way, rather than brushing it off or ignoring it.

To be honest, this is about me.  That’s not to say that other people aren’t at fault, but rather that they’ll never change (as my dad has so firmly told me, in so many words).  Therefore I’m the only one who can do anything about it.  I guess I just wish I didn’t care so much.  Because when the choice comes up, as it periodically does, between living with the knowledge that I’ll always feel like I don’t matter as much and cutting off contact or distancing myself, I don’t even begin to entertain the latter option.

Whether that’s a sign of weakness or a sign of love is anyone’s guess.

I just wanted to announce that I, too, will be packing up my balls and taking an indefinite leave from golfing so I can spend more time with Tiger’s family.

We’ve mentioned before that us Wardrobe ladies are guest bloggers on Dorothy Perkins new style website called ‘Style Society’.

The site has guest blog entries from bloggers all over the world talking about the one thing we have in common: fashion!

The topic for the site (and bloggers) is “Going out, Staying Out” so we each were asked to write in a little something on that topic.

If you click on our names below you can read our individual guest posts.  Tell us what you think. Don’t forget to have a butchers on the rest of the site, some amazing blog posts and competitions!

Sunny’s guest post

Bhav’s guest post

Chloe’s guest post

Thank you to everyone at Dorothy Perkins for featuring us!

Sunny

By Bitter Sweet

Love.

Rain rain go away, come again some other day. Little (Jeany) wants to play. Rain rain rain rain go away.

Too bad the rain won’t stop just because I ask it to. You can sport rainboots instead of cursing the rain for getting you all soggy and wet!

Don’t forget to get 1/2 or 1 size bigger than your usual size so you can wear them with thick socks!

A few of my favorite styles for less:

Target Brand Birdie Rain Boots

Target Brand Plain Rain Boots

Nomad Yellow Rain Boots

Chooka Chocolate Rain Boots

Gabriel Rocha Graffiti Rain Boots

Dirty Laundry Double Dutch

Chooka Voodoo Graphic Rain Boots

Original Penguin's Pink Rain Boots

These examples should be plenty to get you all started, right?

If you want to spend a little more money there are tons of brand names you can go for like Coach, Burberry, Marc Jacobs, etc etc.

You can keep up with Cute Rain Boots for the latest and the cutest.

Good luck and stay dry!

I’m going to do something stupid.

Yesterday I traveled home from an amazing trip to Scotland.  From wake up and go to get home and bed, I think the total time was 23 hours, and I only slept on the ferry since I had a wiggly kid sitting next to me.  Then, of course, the jet lag meant I woke up several times and didn’t sleep past 5am.

Now I’m at work and it’s about 1:30am UK time, I’m getting silly.  Weeeeeeee!  And my brain has left the building. Working out the above mentioned 23 hours took waaay too long.  I should go home after work, put everything away, eat dinner and go to bed early.

But I’m going to do something stupid.

Band of Skulls is playing tonight and I want to go, so I’m gonna!  I think I’ll nap when I get home, further throwing off my sleep patterns, then head out to see the band.

Enjoy!  Tiredly.

“Kick ‘em when they’re up, kick ‘em when they’re down.  Kick ‘em when they’re up, kick ‘em when they’re down. Kick ‘em when they’re up, kick ‘em all around…” -Lyrics from Don Henley’s tune Dirty Laundry.

Living in our apartment on 9th avenue over Bob’s Hardware, we didn’t own a washer or dryer. (There was actually one in our kitchen but it wasn’t hooked up) LOL…We used it as a hamper.

There was a joint across the street where we used to carry bags and bags of dirty clothes over to and from the spot.  I can recall helping my mom over with the bags and at times not helping her when she asked. I hated it when you weren’t there to take out your clothes from the dryer and someone was waiting to use it would take it upon themselves to empty your clean clothes!  Hopefully this picture brings back those memories.

I can also remember Paulie Barrucco holding it down there late night/early morning; depending on your lifestyle.  We would also hang out in there as teenagers in the winter time to stay out of the cold.  The good old laundromat-who can forget it!

-Steve

Hoops135@hotmail.com

An article in the Globe and Mail yesterday (23 November) by Lisan Jutras articulated some of my recent thoughts on privacy on the internet. I’m not talking about name, birthdate, address and credit card info, but simply about evidence of having a life of one’s own outside of work, and many people’s assumption that we must obliterate all traces of it on the internet. I had one former Facebook friend who would berate me for every cheeky, ironic joke or reference to R-rated activities, claiming that “people” would think bad things and that “someone” might find the comments and… I don’t know, publish it on the front page of the Globe? Not give me a job? It’s an insidious thought: that we should live our lives and censor our personal communications on the presumption of a tyrannical “They”-construct and reify the myth of a domineering public morality.

I don’t advocate going to the other extreme and being tactless with what one posts online, but I’m not going to worry about what They might think of what I do.

Read the article at Go on, let it all hang out online (retrieved 24 November 2009):

[T]he uncomfortable truth is that we have made technology so pervasive that we can’t get away with hiding parts of ourselves from it – and its millions of users – any more. And as we become more and more exposed, we have a choice: We can try to button up and sell the world on squeaky-clean online versions of ourselves, or we can start to let it all hang out.

I’m in favour of keeping it real… Frankly, I am saddened by the en-masse blandification that many so-called experts encourage. The fishbowl effect of Twitter or Facebook, where everything we do is potentially seen by hundreds of other people, is similar to that of the Panopticon – a craftily designed jail where prisoners never know if they are being watched or not, so they start acting as if they are being watched, even when they are not.

That’s right.

My jaw too dropped at the sheer thought of new shoes never mind winning a years worth of them!

To celebrate the launch of Style Society (which we Wardrobe Ladies are guest bloggers for incase you hadn’t heard), high street fave Dorothy Perkins have a FAB comp for us all to enter.

All you have to do to enter the comp is submit your details here and pray that you are the chosen one!

I’ve already got a few shoes and boots on my wishlist including these (pictured) YSL-esque black caged heels for £38.00…perfect for all those Christmas/New Year parties.

If you want to win a years worth of shoes then make sure you enter the competition before the closing date of December 22 2009!

Sunny

Las Vegas Backstage Access has written many times on the illustrious Heidi Fleiss.

Now, the ex-Madam Heidi Fleiss is back in the news again, and pretty much for the same reason she always made news, selling sex. 

This time however, her source of income is the airing of an HBO special about, Heidi Fleiss’ Stud Farm, her latest sex for money venture in Las Vegas – where anything is legal- well, er…almost.                                                       

Now, fresh off her inpatient drug treatment program stint on VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab 2″ with Dr. Drew Pinsky, in September Fleiss was sentenced to three years probation on felony drug charges stemming from her February ‘08 arrest in Pahrump, a rural town 45 minutes outside of Las Vegas.

She needs to stay out of trouble, and away from drugs, through 2012.   She promised she would.

The former Hollywood Madam, 43, plans to leave her home in Pahrump and her many birds in January to be on the show, which is in its last season. It was announced in August that Britain’s Channel 4 would pull the plug on the series due to low viewer ratings. 

District Judge John Davis in Pahrump cleared her earliery in the week to travel to London early January for a paid appearance on the reality television show. 

This will be her second appearance on a reality television show, unless you count all of the times her real life has landed her on televison.

Fleiss told the Review-Journal that she was to be paid $10,000 per episode, money she needs as her most recent endeavor, a dog grooming shop in Las Vegas, is apparently all washed up. 

She continues to draw a paycheck from a laundromat she owns in Pahrump called Dirty Laundry. 

Fleiss originally achieved notoriety through her part in an illegal prositution ring in Hollywood, claiming she made in excess of $10 millon a year which involved high profile celebrities, drugs, and all the other assorted benefits of life down under. 

As for her latest venture, there is not much news as to how many episodes HBO will run, or the business end of the deal either.

If you’re going to be in Birmingham between 21st November and 28th February, then it would be worth checking out Brilliantly Birmingham.

Brilliantly Birmingham is an annual jewellery festival celebrating the best contemporary jewellery designs, from local, national and international designers. The festival was launched ten years ago, so this year’s festival is even more special. And of course, Birmingham is well known for its jewellery, with its Jewellery Quarter producing work for hundreds of years now.

There will be two selling exhibitions at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Flux is the annual selling show but as it’s the festivals birthday, there’ll also be a Tenth Anniversary Retrospective featuring the work of designers who have headlined Brilliantly Birmingham in the past.

Sally Collins Reknitted Necklace, £450

Vaishali Morjararia Ring, £250

There’s also going to be a pop-up shop opening in the Pavillions shopping centre in Birmingham City, so if you’re around and looking for some Christmas presents then you can pop in and meet some local designers, buy some jewellery and even commission a special bespoke piece for one of your loves ones or yourself of course! The pop-up shop is opening on December 5th and will be around till Christmas Eve. Great for some last minute shopping!

Jessica Ayre, The Escape necklace, £42

Dagmar Korecki Blossom necklace, £130

For more information, visit the Brilliantly Birmingham website here.

Bhavna

Last night saw the premiere of the latest film in the Twilight saga, New Moon. The hotly anticipated film opens here this Friday, and stars Kristen Stewart and the lovely Robert Pattinson as loved up Bella and Edward. Although not all the Wardrobe girls agree with me about Pattinson!

Kristen Stewart wore a beautiful Oscar de la Renta gown, a huge contrast to what she wore to the Teen Choice Awards.

Kristen Stewart with Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob

Oscar de la Renta.. I'm jealous

Dakota Fanning, a newcomer to the cast, wore a lacy strapless Valentino gown.

Dakota and Kristen. Dakota's growing up!

Meanwhile, Ashley Greene stood out in a red Prabal Gurung dress. Maybe she chose red cos it’s the colour of blood and she plays a vampire.. or maybe not.

Ashley Greene, who plays Alice Cullen in the Twilight saga

It was definitely the girls who stole the show, but let’s not forget the boys! They scrub up well too!

SWOON

So whose dress do you prefer? Kristen, Dakota or Ashley? Taylor or Robert? Ahh so many difficult choices to make! Let us know by leaving us a comment.

All images courtesy of MTV

Bhavna

Another one to you Rob! Yep, we write quite a lot about you lately. But well, that’s not a big surprise though… We payed a lot of attention to you (Who didn’t?) and to say it in Ellen Degeneres’ words: “Who’s taking care of you man?”

In this video you admit that you can’t drive properly. You don’t even know how to use “those wipey things” (windshield wiper btw, just in case someone asks you again). Then I read this in the new Vanity Fair interview:

“I’m trying not to drown,” he says in his hotel room at the San Diego Hard Rock Hotel, which is littered today with beer bottles, old scrambled eggs, a half-eaten Twix bar, and a dirty pair of jeans on the living-room floor. And he notices his unmade bed. “Oh, God. Sorry about that.”

And Harpers Bazaar mentioned all the boxes with your dirty laundry they saw in your room.

So this is the kind of place you’re living in most of the time? And I bet that -except on the rare occasions when you go out for dinner with the crew- instead of having a real cooked meal you go for a Hot Pocket. And it seems most of the time you need someone reminding you to wash your hair every now and then… How sad. You sitting all alone in your chaotic hotel room having a Hot Pocket and a Heineken for dinner…heart-wrenching.

Those days are finally over...

And as if that wasn’t enough it seems that you aren’t even capable to button up your shirts correctly. Not even if you’re going to an award show. I found several pictures proving that fact. So it’s pretty obvious that you’re in desperate need of someone who takes care of you! So this is were we come in. The two of us, Zelda and Soul, will greatly sacrifice ourselves in order to help you. We could drive you everywhere. We got an almost clean credit, only one accident each and it wasn’t even our fault, kind of, that’s pretty good! We could make dinner for you. Real meals, not only microwave you Hot Pockets but something better. Like homemade Hot Pockets mushroom ravioli. We would make your bed for you. Naturally, as we would sleep in it together with you every night. We would help you buttoning up your shirts correctly and getting dressed up.

We will make sure you look like THAT more often

We would even help you getting undressed. For various reasons. Like because you spent the whole night in a pub and now are too drunk to do it yourself. Or simply because it’s not very comfortable to sleep in your bed with your jeans still on. Or because there’s no reason at all except the fact that you’re just so damn hot… Only condition: We would have to life in your suite with you, of course. Otherwise this just wouldn’t work cause we need to be really close to you to take care of you properly. But that’s just logical, so it should be no big deal. When we could start you ask? Well, uhm… immediately! Yep, we’re that dedicated. Cause honestly, you need us! Simply call me and I’ll be on my way even before you hang up. Awesome, isn’t it? Yeah, I thought so too. You’re welcome.

a

Your future caretaker
Saveyoursoul

a

Any other ideas what we could do for Rob while we take care of him? Leave a comment or send us an e-mail!

a

PS: Watch out for our great New Moon premiere red carpet recap tomorrow! Sorry, but we really need the time so we can pay attention to all the important details. What did all the stars wear? Another see-through outfit from KStew? Any shirtless wolfpack members? Did Cathy Hardwicke get past the security guys onto the red carpet? And did she make out with Solomon Trimble afterwards in her best cougar-fashion? We’ll pull it all off… tomorrow. Promise!

Don’t know who Solomon Trimble is? Check it out here at LTT. Sometimes a picture and its amazing caption (thanks to UC and Moon) show you everything you need to know. Can’t beat that one, so I just posted the link.

a

(images: google; video: YouTube)

Jimmy Choo for H&M

The wait is nearly over…

One of the most anticipated designer collaborations hits the high street tomorrow morning (Saturday 14th November)- and it’s already causing quite a stir!

Fashionistas have been waiting for the ‘Jimmy Choo for H&M’ colloboration since June but from tomorrow they can finally get their hands on a  pair of Jimmy Choo ’s for a more affordable price (than the main collection).

Tamara Mellon, founder and president of Jimmy Choo, said: “The Jimmy Choo collection for H&M is full of fun, one-off items with an accessible and glamorous identity made with stylish materials, emphasised with colour and embellishment.

“I wanted to create pieces that would reach a cool and young customer with a fashionable and independent sense of spirit in this one-off collaboration.”

If you want to get your hands on the Jimmy Choo for H&M collection then we’d suggest you queue early as it’s set to be a frenzy!

Stores will be issuing wristbands to the first 160 people in the queue to control the crowds, with shoppers allocated 10-minute slots to view and buy the new collection.

Excited much?

Sunny

Oh yeah. Here we go. Now I’m into the vodka tonic with lime. Pull up your stockings girls, here we go. Now we’re looking at a pretty good blog. It sure does help when there’s a woman behind the keyboard that’s a little lit up on a four-finger drink with an arena to air her dirty laundry.

I don’t usually spend this much time on the computer talking personal, but this has really intrigued me. I’m wondering how long I can go on before I run out of secrets to tell. I have a feeling it’s going to be a while. I came across this post on Notes From a Bartender that seemed right up the Jade Scene alley, and was especially interested in the comments section. Just a ton of people praying for a table to flop down their skeleton and have the whole world see. Fucking hypocrites.

For the record, I’m not a good Christian. It’s not that I’m not “good”, although, we’ll let you be the judge of that. It’s just that I don’t believe in organized religion. (Let the haters eventually reign down on this one!) I was once told by a born again bible thumper in a cafe that I was a much better candidate than a Mormon to “find Jesus” because I was more open-minded. He bought my coffee for me without me knowing. Fuck yeah. Free coffee. Then again, now I’m just a little more tweaked and I still don’t believe in God. Thanks dude. I’m too far gone for this church thing. Cancer can’t cure this logic.

I’ve told a lot of people I was baptized in my life. I’m not. It falls under that whole “lie to sound like I have experience” bullshit I seem to pull often. I tell people that would never find out one way or another, unless they threw holy water on my face and it started to melt my forehead (I kid). When I was growing up, I eventually got to an age where my parents started putting up with me at weddings and funerals. We’d go to church to appease my grandparents on occasion and I’d always be told to go up and get blessed by the Priest while everyone else was taking Communion. Possibly the first time I felt horribly, awkwardly out of place in the adult world. I wanted a fucking cracker. I wanted to feel like I was closer to Jesus, and I felt like it might be easier to believe in him if that Priest threw me in the holy dunk tank. Sounded like fun.

So yeah, I begged my parents and so did my sibling. We lost our MINDS trying to get baptized. My dad used to read the Bible and I’d ask him about the stories. I started reading the New Testament and didn’t understand a word of it. Fuck it was boring. Should have started with the oldies. I have a million cousins because of this whole go forth and procreate bullshit and I was at one of their weddings when myself and my sibling went up to get blessed, as per usual. I walked up, hand over my heart (that’s the sign that I’m a lesser person, apparently) and he did his thang. After the ceremony, the priest took us two to a different room in the church and my parents didn’t know where we went…

…this is where you think it got all sick, but that didn’t happen.

He took us to a room and fucking REAMED us out for not being baptized. All, “There’s still time for the Lord’s light to enter your heart” and “It’s never too late” bullshit that people yell from soapboxes in city centers. We started crying our eyes out. As if it wasn’t enough to have to spend Christmas Eve singing carols and passing a candle around the room and explaining while we’re “blessed” without more than a pipecleaner angel for a gift…now I had to put up with THIS SHIT?!

We came out of the room hyperventilating. My parents thought the same thing you did, I’m sure.

Two years later, my dad’s priest from his youth was kicked out of the church we always go to for touching the alter boys. My dad now hates the Catholic Church, but will never say it. We don’t have to go to church anymore, and my parents don’t make us go up for communion at weddings. Sweet.

Regardless, my mom still threatens me for not adhering to Christianity. Shit, if they were so bullheaded about it, they should have just baptized me. I’d probably be some bible study nerd still living at home if they did…or Carrie Prejean, for Christ’s sake. Hell, this blog wouldn’t exist if I was baptized, that’s for sure. I’d be tucking all these little pieces of gold into a confessional.

Amen.

Daisy Lowe is the new face of Louis Vuitton

Daisy Lowe has been unveiled as the new face of Louis Vuitton.

The gorgeous 20-year-old will front the designers Spring/ Summer 2010 campaign alongside Lara Stone.

It’s been quite a year for Daisy, who has fronted the DKNY jeans campaign along with high profile shoots for Agent Provocateur, Pringle, Burberry and, erm…Peacocks!

Daisy’s agent said: “Daisy attended the Louis Vuitton show in Paris and wears their clothes, so she’s thrilled about being booked for this job. It’s a fantastic brand for her to be working for and she’s pleased to be flying the British flag for such a worldwide label.”

The model will be spending the weekend in Miami where she is due to shoot the label’s Beachwear line.

Chloe

Wardrobe favourites Dorothy Perkins have just launched a brand new blog.

Style Society is a brand new fashion and style blog for all fashionistas out there. Indulge your girly side with some great style tips and find out what goes on behind the scenes at Dorothy Perkins. There’ll also be exclusive competitions running on the Style Society blog and loads more, so make sure you keep checking it out.

Style Society is bringing together bloggers from both the UK and across the world for their current theme, which is Going Out, Staying In, to give you a taste of perfect nights from girls across the globe.

We at Wardrobe are very excited to announce that we have been asked to contribute to this site! *High fives everyone*

We love Dorothy Perkins so we were very flattered to be asked and of course we are four girls with different styles and different takes on a great night.

Right now you’ll able to take a trip down university memory lane with me, but over the coming weeks you can read about the other girl’s ideas of a great night out too. We’ll keep you posted!

And if you didn’t know already, there’s 25% off everything online at Dorothy Perkins this week. Just use the code DPVIPJ when you’re buying. Hurrah for us!

We hope you’ll enjoy reading Style Society. 

Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment.

Bhavna

Sometimes I really fucking hate the Internet. The way it enables people to have separate lives, conversations, flirtations. I hate google in particular. The way it enables those lives to become less separate. Knowing too much is right at my fingertips.

You think you know a person, and then you google them, and learn all sorts of things. Things that lend themselves to questions you cannot ask. Tell me more, you want to say, tell me more about her.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a locked drawer, mysterious box, or set of online search results…if you go looking, you’re bound to find.

chorizo & eggs, flour tortillas, salsa

leftover chili, beef stew, fresh whole grain rolls, green salad

chicken piccata, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli, glazed beets

—————-

It’s been over two weeks since I’ve done laundry.  This is important due to the following factors:

1. My bags coming down here weighed just under 70lbs.  That included shoes, camera, toiletries, my knife kit and The Joy of Cooking 1997 edition.

2. We get one quick shower a week.

I am left with baby-wipes and a rotating cast of three pairs of pants and four t-shirts.  Yesterday I ran out of clean socks.  But hold your pity… it’s not as bad as it sounds.  If you find yourself feeling really scummy in Antarctica all you need to do is go outside in your shirt sleeves for a few seconds and instantly the 5o-knot winds and sub-zero temperatures make you feel refreshed and glad to be wearing the clothes you have on regardless of their state of cleanliness.  The happy ending to this story?  Tomorrow I get to go into town for the Halloween party, laundry and a long hot shower.  That my sole form of transportation is a helicopter still feels surreal.  At 0845 myself and each of the visiting techs (who aren’t even granted the single shower and must return to the Big Base for the weekend) will pile on approximately 10lbs of protective weather gear and wait by the back door.  In my own private episode of M*A*S*H my eyes will scan the northeastern sky for incoming choppers! to rescue me from another day in these socks.

I was almost tempted to post a picture of a regular person, then one on the floor drunk— Get it? Before and AFTER Shots?  Hahahaha.

Anyway…

Ok. Just so you know, I’m not the miracle worker. I did not wash ALL of those clothes. I separated them into piles. Cleanish, and filthy or questionable and they are all in my guest room, I am going to finish the  laundry today. I’ve lost a bit of weight so I need to go through and sort them into give away and keep piles because there is no earthly reason for me to have so many damn clothes.

It’s so weird to actually see it in the harsh light of day, how dirty the room was. I mean I have been avoiding it (and making it worse) since I’ve been depressed, and my husband is so busy it really falls to me, cooking, cleaning, laundry- etc. I thought that when we bought this house WOW 2600 square feet, we are going to be SOOOOOOOOOOOO organized! There is a place for everything. Which is true, there are PLACES for everything, however there is also SO much space to throw crap around, and three bathrooms to clean– THREE! It feels so wonderful and peaceful in there now, it’s amazing. I also posted a picture of the gorgeous view from our bedroom window, with the trees and the greenbelt in the background.

Honestly, I went shopping yesterday for new bedding, because there is nothing worse than cleaning your room and it STILL being ugly. Flylady always says that the key to making your bed every morning is getting bedding you really love, here is a great article and blogtalk radio link to making your bed every day from flylady. My goal is going to be to at LEAST make my bed every day, now that there are no more “it will still look ugly” excuses.

I picked out deep purple sheets from Target last Christmas, and have been trying to find a comforter to match them for JUST AS LONG. Finally, we just gave up and slept with our white down comforter w/ no duvet and the purple sheets which I now loathe because they match nothing. It drove me crazy. So I left the house yesterday with full intention of getting new bedding. I visited Target and Ross and everything was either too expensive, too ugly, too scratchy or too cheap looking. Then I went to Walmart and found this soft, gorgeous set that matches everything I already have ON SALE for $59! Yes! I am so pleased with it, I even bought the wreath, and two throw pillows, all for under $100. If you go on the website you can also order, but you won’t get the sale price unless you’re in the store I guess.

My husband was in utter SHOCK when he got home. I had to wipe his jaw off the floor. He was all smiles the rest of the night. I have to say it was not easy and it took awhile. And it is by no means perfect, since I still have alot of stuff that I just stashed away to deal with later. But here’s the thing: it feels peaceful, and I’m trying for progress not perfection. I will take pictures of the piles and get rid of them one by one, because posting it up here online makes it REAL.

Next up: I am going to post pictures of the guest room- AKA ground zero of laundry. I thought it may be dumb to do this, but I gotta tell you, there is NOTHING more motivating than knowing you’ve gotta post pictures of your crap because you promised. P.S. Thanks so much for the encouraging emails I’ve been getting. Please know that you are not alone. If you want to send me before pictures of your own impossible project, let me know and I can hold you accountable, like you are holding me!

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are expanding their fashion line

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are extending their fashion empire with a new childrenswear collection, it has been revealed.

The sisters have joined forces with one of America’s leading retailers – J.C. Penney Co. Inc – to create the Olsenboye label, aimed at girls aged between 0 – 15.

Liz Sweeney, executive vice president and general merchandise manager of womenswear at Penneys has described the collection as ‘fun, fashion driven, trendy and wholesome’. It features denim wear, tops, bottoms, dresses, skirts, shorts, handbags, accessories and shoes, and will go on sale in February 2010.

Ashley Olsen told WWD: “Mary-Kate and I watch current trends and see our partnership with J.C.Penney as an opportunity to add something unique to the marketplace, especially in the current retail climate,” adding that she believes the collection, “complements and strengthens our business portfolio, delivering trend-based fashion at affordable prices.”

We can’t wait to see the new collection, if the Elizabeth and James line is anything to go by the kids of America are in for a treat!

Chloe

Image courtesy of Getty.

Facebook is no place to air your dirty laundry. It should be washed thoroughly and air-dried on Twitter.