The Anticipated Spreadsheet

Recovering from a cold and spent a whole day and a half in my PJs so it was nice to take a long bath and get dressed this afternoon. And since I missed a day of outfit post I am going to include my spreadsheet info at the end of this post as a bonus!

The inspiration for this outfit came from the following:

This has been in my list for such a long time. I think the photo is from September or October. First off I realized non of my old slacks fit anymore. Even these were cynched tight with a belt so they would stay put. I realized though after putting them on that they have a pretty large flared legs and might be perfect for the upcoming trend.  I added the shrug when it got cold.

Her outfit is in brown tones and mine has that deep burgandy/maroon hue going. My pants have a touch of purple so I added the burgandy shrug and the scarf is deep reds which all goes pretty  nicely.

Adding browns with the purse, belt and boots completed the look.

I bought this cream henley a while back from Target for the purpose of layering. Amazingly this is the first time I am wearing it. I like that it had brown buttons and patch pockets in front which is nice detail for a layering top. 

Wanted to get these taken before my mom brought the kids so my hair is still wet from the shower.

Cream henley - Target

Shrug - Alloy's

Pants & Scarf - Forever 21

Boots - Steve Madden

Watch - Michael Kors

Ring - from Turkey

Sunglasses - Chanel

Today's Activities: So recovering from the cold. Yesterday I woke up feeling absolutely horrible. Took all my energy to get the kids ready and packed and thankfully my mom was not working and came and picked them up by 10 AM! I spent the day rotating between my bed and couch with occasional trips to kitchen and bathroom. I never imagined I could nap so much but probably needed it. My mom and Step dad said they can keep the kids overnight so I can get more rest. Funny when we went on that vegas trip I missed the kids but was fine with being away. Being home and not having them was unbearable. I kept going to their rooms. Pathetic I know. They came home for naptime today and I couldn't wait till they woke up. We went to the gym class which my daughter was making up from missing her actual class on Saturday due to her b-day party. My son was so good standing by my side and not interfering at all till my friend came to take him to the next door play area. We came home and I cooked spagetthi and meatballs and veggies and we had a nice dinner together and baths. So, may be I can now start cooking dinner at dinner time. They have been more tolerant about that so I am excited to use nap time as 'my time'.

My outfit SPREADSHEET...

I have been getting a lot of questions and comments about the 'list' or the 'spreadsheet' I keep my outfit ideas on. I am not super technical savy so not sure how to attach a document but if you send me your email and would like a copy of the file I can send it to you.

So this list was born out of necessity. I first started writing down my outfit ideas so I wouldn't forget. But the hand written notes were too hard to look back on. I am pretty excel fanatic so a spreadsheet was an ideal

way to go for me. This way I can sort by different categories whenever I want.

Other than listing the pieces that go in an outfit I also added the following categories:

Season - this category allows me to differentiate warmer outfits from the ones with jackets or tights etc... when the weather is cold I only look at the 'winter' section for example.

Type - this category allows me identify each outfit as 'dressy' or 'everyday' or 'both'. When I used to work I used labels such as 'work', 'weekend' or 'casual'. So you can pick whatever works for you.

I also use the following two categories simply to help me sort out:

Worn - Any new outfit has 'no' in this column. When I wear an outfit I type 'yes' so when I sort these are moved to the bottom and can be removed from the list.

Photo - this column is strictly for blog purposes. I type a 'P' in this column if I have an inspiration photo to go with the outfit. I type '*' and insert a comment if the photo is digital.

So here are the primary column headers:

Bottom - before I write a description of the bottom piece I first write what it is, skirt, pants, shorts, jeans, dress, etc... this way when I sort by the 'bottom' column all the pants are in one area. This allows me to pick outfits more easily. For example if I am going to a the park I only look at 'jeans' or 'pants' section.

Top1, Top2 - I simply describe the tops in these fields. Top1 could be the base layer, and top2 the 2nd layer etc...

Top 3 - This could be the 3d top layer or I use this field for specifying tights or scarves or hats.

Dressy Shoes - If the shoe has heels they go in this field

Casual Shoes - flat or comfy shoes go here.

I also have fields for 'jewelry', 'belt', 'handbag'... Most of the time I do not fill the 'handbag' field as I use the same diaper bag.

I also keep separate spreadsheets for different seasons. For example for Fall/Winter I have one spreadsheet and 'spring/summer' another. That way the lists are not too long.

I sort in the following order:

Worn

Type

Season

Bottom

I handwrite/mark outfits I am wearing throughout the week(s) and update the spreadsheet on the computer and re-print may be every other week. I also add new outfits as I get inspired from other blogs or magazines or by trying on different things in my closet (very rarely do I have time for this one).

You don't have to create something so elaborate of course but this works for me. :)

So, let me know and I can email you the shell sheet.