Feb 22
Sally Bjornsen

Ok girls, and one guy.  We do have one guy now, though we are yet to hear from him on the blog.  Anyway, back to my point.  Last week I posted the poll over there to your right.  It’s sort of a trite, yes/no kind of a poll.  I was in a hurry and was getting tired of the old department store versus boutique poll and thought it was time for some poll freshen-ing up.  And the: Is it easy?or Is it hard? poll was the best I could do that day.   When I published the question I was feeling proud and sassy, as if I could go a lifetime without buying anything new.   Well today is another story.  To say “who’s idea was this anyway,” would be saying it lightly.  It’s more like who’s!@#$%^&*()_ing idea was this anyway?   You see we have had record breaking sunshine in Seattle and temperatures hovering around 58 degrees.  It’s like Mother’s Day in February which is giving me some insight into my very limited warm weather wardrobe.  What pray tell will I wear when the real mother’s day gets here?   At least in the winter you can layer a great coat over a bad outfit. Not so in warm weather.  Can you say painter’s smock?  Perhaps I’ll pick up the paintbrush again. 

So back to the poll.  Last week this diet business was easy….this week?  Un frickin’ bearable.  I want something bright, snappy and new.  The good news is…tomorrow I will likely feel differently.  Hang in there girls, and our one guy! 

Sincerly, your fearless leader

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Jan 25
Elizabeth, Baltimore City

I love, love, love clothing swap’s! Fortunately for me, my friends who own the bar in my neighborhood biannually agree to open up for the ladies to conduct a “squaw swap” and what a great one we had this past Sunday. While the turnout wasn’t large, the group of ladies (about 10) had enough clothes, shoes, accesories, and housewares to really make it fun. We swapped stories of our favorite items while enjoying a glass of wine or a Guiness and poked through each other’s cast-offs.  We made goofy costumes, we were amused at another ladies delight over our silly hand-me-downs and we had a blast. Guilt-free shopping is always fun. I am in between sizes so I swapped out for a few new items in both smaller and larger sizes so I’ll be sure to have space to move up and down over the next few months. I got clothes that fit perfect, some that I can refashion or alter and some that I plan to simply cut apart for the fabric and figure it out later. My favorite find was a brown cashmere knit poncho, like an all-business snuggie; I love it. I also found a beautiful Banana Republic blazer, sweaters galore and an awesome cowgirl shirt.  It was fun, it was refreshing and I can’t wait to do it again!  If you live in the Baltimore City area and are intersted in future clothing swaps, you can follow my personal blog or twitter feed for updates, or sign up for the Parkside’s newsletter where they’ll send you emails of their upcoming events, including clothing swaps. The more ladies we get, the more choices we’ll have so bring your used clothes and get ready to have have a liberating, guilt-free, swapping party!

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Nov 23

You have most likely heard by now that I caved.  Here’s my mea culpa.

I have always been a fan of designer duds.  Given my Calvinist background and my reluctance to spend the equivalent of my mortgage on an outfit, I have abstained from the couture department at Neimans and Saks and opted instead for the knock offs found a few floors down. 

My Style? I like a good Chanel outfit complete with pearls or a Tiffany something-or-other.  Much to my sister Sally’s annoyance, I have admired Sarah Palin’s wardrobe out loud (post shopping splurge of course) and continue to look to Nancy Reagan, circa 1985, as a seminal fashion icon.  So when I was invited to “shop until I dropped” at the swanky, upscale, hoity-toity, designer brand employee store at prices exceeding 50% off of the manufacturer’s cost, what was I to do?  It was a dream come true.  Upon getting the invitation I was a bit nervous, dieting and all.  I told myself that I could shop for others, after all Christmas was coming.  Plus I wanted to see how deep the discounts really were. 

Naturally, after a few minutes of browsing the racks of amazing apparel, I found myself in the oversized dressing room (people who spend a lot of money need a lot of room).  Anyway, I was standing in my Natori bra and underwear smack dab in front of the mirror when I had the life changing conversation with myself. “Are you going to let a sociological experiment that your sister cooked up ruin your once in a lifetime couture moment?”  The answer came to me loud and clear. “Hell no! You go girl!”  And that’s how it happened.  Can you blame me?  (Sally refers to this as the apple moment).

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love a little thought provoking deprivation (I do a complete cleanse now and again), I think it builds character and brings me closer to my ancestors who struggled through the Civil War and the Great Depression.  But this time deprivation got in the way of an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. 

If it helps, I was reluctant to write about falling off the wagon because I didn’t want to spark a revolution.  Don’t you girls get any grand ideas.  And if I may, I would like to impart some inspirational advice…do as I say and not as I do. 

Do I feel better, happier, and sexier now that I have an armful of very high quality expensive couture apparel hanging in my closet?  I’ll tell you what, I feel smart because I bought an entire wardrobe for a fraction of my mortgage (if I had paid full retail it would have been double my mortgage and a car payment).  But money and intelligence aside I know I will have all these items for a lifetime. In fact I don’t think I’ll need to buy another anything for the rest of my life—or until the swanky swanks invite me back.

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Nov 16
Sally Bjornsen

179640975_0bf5c09562O.K. I don’t wear dresses much; it is largely due to three major issues.  1) It is often rainy where I live and the thought of a soiled dress makes me feel all washed up. 2)  I can’t sprint on demand in a dress (you never know when that will be necessary). 3) I have cankles. 

So, when I closed the poll for the most expensive piece of apparel ever purchased and the “dress” won I was somewhat surprised.   And it didn’t win by a small margin, in fact I would say it won by a landslide.  Out of 89 responses, 44 said the most expensive piece of apparel they had ever purchased was a dress.  In a close second was the sweater at 21.   I was one of the people who said sweater. 

So what gives girls?  My guess is that those expensive dresses are gathering dust at the back of some closets?  Could I be wrong?  Please someone write in defense of the dress!

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Sep 28

Ladies,
I returned from a work trip in California a week ago and a box of clothes were waiting for me. You may remember the post Sally wrote about donating some of her cast-offs to poor, ole’ whiny me. True to her word, she sent me some fabulous items that she was no longer excited about: one Anthropologie sweater (perfect for cuddling up in), one black wrap sweater (totally me), a retro 80’s purple warm-up jacket (watch out fellow gym sluts) and a grey ruffly tank. TOTAL SCORE!

Over the weekend, I wore two of the four items and received glowing compliments from both the husband and several girlfriends. Granted, I was strutting my stuff like a was wearing new clothes, so maybe my friends were simply noticing my superior fashionista attitude rather than my cool threads, but either way– the addition of “new to me” clothes in my closet did wonders for my spirit.

I should add as a side note that while I was visiting the traditionally windy, foggy Bay Area, it was uncharacteristically HOT. It actually reached 100 degrees in downtown San Francisco- unheard of! I’d left fiery Texas with a suitcase full of Fall tweed and ended up wearing the only cool(ish) clothes I’d brought along: One white t-shirt and a pair of khakis. Talk about clothing deprived!

So… thank you Sally for welcoming me back to Texas in style.

I’d like to return the favor to anyone else on the the diet who needs a quick infusion of fashion. Anyone? I can have a box of clothes ready by the end of the week that no longer work for me, but might work for you.

Let me know. (And no, I won’t send you the white tee and khakis:)
IR

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