Project 333: 10 days in and two items down

I did not expect to post another Project 333 update so soon after beginning my spring extravaganza. And yet, here we are.

I've found that, the longer I participate in Project 333, the less patience I have for ill-fitting or shoddy clothing. When you're down to the bare bones (I guess 33 is bare bones, it still seems like a lot, really), every single thing needs to work. And when things don't work, I get cranky.

Skilly wanted to be in the photo, too.

On Tuesday, I wore an outfit that SHOULD have made me feel like a rock star. Instead, I kind of felt like a bag lady. (Is that PC*?) First problem: My sandals. They're cute and not even a year old yet, but they're too loose for my narrow feet, and the stitching is already coming undone in places. They are also not particularly comfortable. I actually had them in the donation pile for a while, and then took them back when the weather suddenly turned awesome.

My bad.

The second problem was my pretty mint sweater. It's a little over a year old, well made, and Abby claims it's a great color on me. And in theory, I love it. But I bought it a size too big (I wasn't as conscious of size pre-333) and, even though I have washed it on hot and dried it on hotter, it didn't shrink at all. Not very flattering. I guess there's a reason this was one of my "on notice" items.

At the end of the work day, I came home, kicked off my sandals, took off my sweater, and added both to the ever-growing rummage sale piles. Instead of sadness, I feel relief. Being able to just accept when something isn't working for you and moving on? That's kind of an amazing gift. Too bad I can't always embrace it on the first try...

Anyway, that brought me down to 32 items--I counted all my shoes as a single unit, that's why the total isn't 31--and while my first instinct is always to immediately Shop and Replace!, I decided to just bring another sweater out of retirement (grey cardi) and see how that goes. It might turn out I really do want another pretty bright sweater. It might turn out that my retired grey sweater goes back into retirement for good this time. It might turn out that what I really want is a t-shirt. Life is mysterious that way.

This is too much to say about a pair of shoes and a sweater, but I am endlessly fascinated by the lessons I learn from my minimal closet every day. Ah, well. You gotta do something to pass the time.

* For my international friends, PC means "politically correct." We're kind of uptight about that sort of thing here in 'Merica for some reason.