Ten new things in our closets

My clearance dress

This week's Monday Listicles topic is "10 things in my closet." After a weekend of shopping and fun, I seem to have bought more than my usual share of items...only adding to the quantity of stuff we have in our house. Instead of revealing the skeletons in my closet, I'm going to share the items I added over the weekend.I think I will set myself a goal this week of getting rid of 20 things for bringing in (more than) 10 things this week!! See how I do.

1. On Friday I went to my favorite resale shop and found some great bargains--I bought three things on the clearance rack--a pair of soft, fitting black pants, a Chico's top, and this Vera Wang dress, which will be saved for the summer but only cost me $7!

At the Grand Lodge

Nobebook and rulers

2. Also on Friday, my dear friend Shelia came over for the weekend from Boise. We drove to the Hotel Grand Lodge on Friday afternoon and had a lovely time hanging out and catching up. Shelia gave me a wonderful book lovers' notebook and two fun rulers.

One of my new CDs

3. That evening after dinner (crab cake burgers), we heard a singer-songwriter perform in the Grand Lodge's "Garage." Her name is Laurel Brauns, and I love her music! She lives in Bend but performs in the Portland area every few months. I bought two of her CDs. I know it doesn't actually go in my closet, but oh well.

4. On Saturday we drove back into Portland and met our friend April in Multnomah Village for shopping and lunch. We hit one of my favorite stores, Topanien, where I took advantage of more clearance sales:

African candles

New earrings

Tea with friends at Medley

With my new prayer shawl

5. This morning a friend gave me a gorgeous prayer shawl that his mom and her knitting group had made for me. It's made of the same yarn I used for a scarf I made for my mom, which grew out of control!! (So clearly they chose the right color!) I love it! I will use it for my next surgery in June...and anytime I want to remember how much I am loved!

Old vs. new

6. I took my notoriously picky six-year-old shopping this afternoon. We desperately needed to buy him some shoes. He is very picky about clothes, shoes, and food! Every weekend day (and most weekday evenings) he wears his Indiana Jones costume; we draw the line on letting him wear it to school. He has one pair of brown pants he wants to wear every single day, and the last time Mike took him shoe shopping, he gave up! I knew I couldn't give up because his old shoes are literally falling apart...but it took me 45 minutes to get him to agree to a pair. It helped that he saw his best buddy in the store, who happened to be wearing a pair of Vans.

New shoes for Kieran

7. I also got a pair of shoes for his big brother, who is MUCH easier to buy for. He wasn't even with us, and fortunately I scored on this pair...his first pair of Nikes.

Boots, scarf, and hat

8-10. I also bought some clearance stuff for me: a pair of fun Wellington boots, a scarf, and another buttoned hat.  I now own three hats...they are growing on me. I think it helps to have longer hair.

11. Okay, I know I went to 11 items but this counting system is completely shot anyway as you'll notice. Clearly, I also did not follow the "closet" rule! Another thing I splurged on today was a new area rug for our living room. The last one was looking old, threadbare, and stained...it's what happens when you have three boys. I have been wanting a new rug for awhile, but I had to convince Mike. He keeps saying we should wait until all the boys leave home (which is still 12+ years away, since we have a 6-year-old!!). He said that about our old, awful furniture as well, which was cream and blue striped. If he had won that argument, it would have turned completely brown and ratty by the time they left home.

This one I even chose WITHOUT him. It was on sale as well, so I figured it was a risk I would take and we could always take it back. Fortunately, he likes it!

New rug--it's not quite as big as our old one,
 but looks so much nicer!
It is actually redder (and less mauve) in reality

Listicles is brought to us by Stasha atwww.northwestmommy.com. Check out her blog and read about what's in other people's closets!