Closet Swap-Over Time! A Fluevog Tally, My Copper Collection, and L's Closet Too!

Hello, my friends! This is a special mid-vacay post for you - I did my fall/winter closet swap-over on Thursday, and my jewelry on Friday, along with L's closet change-over. To change things up a bit, I counted all of my Fluevog shoes and boots (I was curious how many pairs I have), and a few of you indicated you'd love to see my full copper jewelry collection, so there are pictures of that too. 

This is a big post, so bevvy-up accordingly. You have been warned.

First up: My closet. I change over my clothes every six months, at the end of September and the end of March, give or take a day. I last did it here in early April, and I'm just going to copy over what I wrote then for those of you who haven't seen my closet before. 

I'm not an especially tidy person, but I do prefer things The Way I Like Them, so I'm not averse to order. There is a place for everything in my closet, and I make an effort to return things to their homes when I'm done wearing them/have washed them. But I don't try too hard to fold perfectly or hang just so. Sometimes the best you can do is just shove it in there!

Before!

This is what you would see peeking into my closet. It is a walk-in, but it's not giant; it's the size of a small bathroom, about a 7-foot-per-side space. I had it custom built around 16 years ago when I first lost weight (I dropped from a size 16-18 to a size 6) as I had to replace my entire wardrobe (except socks), and I hated how it used to look. It only had a rail on either side with a single long shelf above those, and a shallow set of shelves at the end. Totally insufficient for my needs, and it was always a disaster, since I could barely reach the shelving.

After!

You can see me in the mirror at the end of the closet in both pictures - I started with a sweater on, and shed down to my Wonder Woman t-shirt by the end. This process took me about 5 or 6 hours. It's a lot of work, and I'm always stiff and sore the next day (ack, my hamstrings!) from all the bending over. 

I have a method for doing my swap-over, but I changed it up slightly this time and it threw me off - I missed pulling out a chunk of my autumn things, and had to do some drastic culling and removing clothes from fall/winter wear. This was what I had left in my first section - but I ended up having to put some of these away for the season as I ran out of hangers (I always run out of hangers). 

The first thing I did was start on the left side, pulling out blouses, long skirts and trousers that would be packed up for the next six months. I'm often asked why I do the swap-over - it's so that I can have more clothes! My closet is only so big, and not everything in it works all year round. Some clothes are easily definable as hot weather only - light fabrics and colours, blouses that don't layer well, that sort of thing. 

The things getting packed up are folded into piles and set aside. 

I don't do a great job of folding - I have a steamer, so I'll get the wrinkles out in the spring when I bring these all out again. 

I did the four shelves above my blouse/long skirt/pant section next. I dust the shelves and my archive items as I go. These goodies and shoes are from the very top shelf, which is at the ceiling. 

Four fascinators and my tiara, plus five pairs of shoes that I don't wear anymore, but want to keep. From left: my leopard Steve Maddens (Flashback here), a pair of black vintage 1940s shoes, a pair of vintage 1950s shoes, early '00s Aldo satin dragon shoes, and my first pair of Fluevogs (Flashback here). 

A better look at the two pairs of vintage shoes. These are by Matrix, and I bought them when I was first dating L, back in 1995-6. I probably paid around $20-30 for them then - I worked in retail and did not have much money. 

They are supremely uncomfortable. I'm not really sure why I keep them, except that they fit. Habit?

I found a couple of vintage ads; this one was tagged from 1949.

At the bottom of that image, it notes that these shoes retailed for $17.95-$19.95 - that would be over $200 in today's dollars. 

This ad is from March 1945 (the date is in the upper right corner) and it's for men's shoes, but it gives a bit more info on the company. 

Matrix Shoes by Heywood, from "The House of Heywood" aka the Heywood Boot and Shoe Company in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA - a company that closed its factory in 1953 (likely due to production for most garments and shoes moving overseas). Digging around, the factory building was still standing in 2013, but was decrepit by then; link here, with a pic of the factory from 1879. They started in 1864, and at their peak manufactured over 1,000 pairs of shoes a day (more pics of the factory here). All links because I love, of course. 

I bought these beauties around the same time in the late 90s - I used to haunt an awesome vintage shop for cool things, and found both pairs of shoes there. Again, I wouldn't have been able to afford anything over $30 back then, and I do remember that my boss Evelyn (of Christmas House, the year-round Christmas store I worked in from 1986-1997) knew this brand as "the" fancy brand. 

These are by Red Carpet - inside they say "A Red Carpet invitation to a new way of life" - my shoes are also labelled as having a AAAAA width of heel (i.e. a very skinny heel). 

Understandably, it was impossible to find much about them (a search for "red carpet" gives oodles of pictures of modern celebrities, sigh), but I did find this pair of shoes on Etsy (link here) that still have the original box! 

Those are made identically to mine, with the soles coming up the sides of the shoes, and a metal "toe tap" on the pointy toes. 

Mine are brutally uncomfortable, so I don't wear them anymore, but I did a few times back when I first got them. I featured them in a "Shoe Shine" link-up here in 2014, and wore them once on the blog, here in July 2011: 

I still have that vintage dress and matching jacket - they're in the archives section of my coat closet - and that's my Grandma J's vintage copper set that I'll be showing in a bit. 

With the jacket behind me, and little baby Vizzini, who is only 4 months old there. 

He's so tiny! I'm wearing my Grandma's J's full set of copper jewelry there, which we'll look at in a bit. I wore this outfit to a Mid-Century Modern Urbanite at the Art Gallery with Elaine.

Back to the closet! This is the top shelf above my "long-hang" where my dresses live. I didn't touch it - the boxes are full of archived things, and the items on display tend to be more costume-y, like my top hat, real fur muff, and my studded Versace vintage D'Orsay pumps (Flashback here). 

Below that, what I wanted to keep out for fall/winter. I have a "goal dress" hiding at the end - it's a gorgeous strapless leopard gown that I really want to wear, but it's too tight in the chestal region. One day...

The piles on the floor are growing. 

I think I was up to about 15 piles by the time I did the entire closet. 

My hangers get thrown into a jumble. 

I use a mix of thin velvet hangers (for slippery dresses/blouses), wooden hangers (a gift from Mom when I first had the closet built, plus a few more that I've bought over the years), and an assortment of pant-hangers. Some of my pant-hangers are from my work-days at Fairweather in 1999-2000 and some were a gift from Mom; I also have some vintage ones. 

I pulled out my three velvet hat boxes and piled them up on a chair - I swap my belts over too. 

The shoe box and bag beside them is full of fall/winter belts and obis. 

Starting on the shoe/right side of the closet, I also set all my spring/summer shoes aside. I can't have all of my shoes out - I think I have over 100 pairs by now. 

I pack away sandals, lighter colours and shoes that generally go better with my warm season palette. 

I line up the "keepers" (the shoes that stay out) down the hall. 

That's a lot of shoes! These - plus the shoes/boots that had been stored away - all fit back into my closet! I love how much shoe storage I have. 

Looking from the other end of the hall. 

Lots of fun colours, and a variation of heel heights. 

With the removal of the shoes on the right side, I moved on to my jackets/blazers and short skirts. 

I had to skim more of these out as I unpacked my fall/winter - again, I ran out of hangers! You can see that I've turned my hangers all "backwards" so that I can see what I haven't worn yet. As I wear each item, it gets put back with the hanger going the "right" way - this way, I ensure that I actually WEAR almost everything in my closet. I endorse the Hanger Method! 

I also pulled out all the stashed fall/winter clothes that I'd shoved behind the short skirts over the past 6 months. I hung these up and put them in the appropriate sections in the closet.

These are mostly items I've tried out during the spring/summer (I see my Halston shirt and Anna Sui skirt, for example), but have determined will be better for fall/winter outfits, along with some new items that I haven't worn yet. Exciting! 

Now that I've pulled all the stuff out to be stored, it's time to dig out my fall/winter clothes. I store a lot of them underneath the blazer section, including a big tub. Most of them are stuffed into shoe bags and shopping totes, tied up tight to keep the moths and Vizzini out. 

Sometimes that works. 

More under the very bottom of the shoe shelves. 

My aqua tutu and one pre-weight loss pair of jeans live on the right. 

On the other side of the closet are even more bags. 

These are under the blouses/long skirts/pants, but I also have a ton of bags under the dresses. My fall/winter clothes are bulkier than the spring summer, so the bags are piled 2-3 high. Vizzini likes to dig under here and sleep and/or chew on my skirts and dresses. 

Four big bags and the tub from under the blazers. 

This is my favourite part - rediscovering my clothes! It gets me so excited for creating new outfits! 

This past spring, I was really holding onto clothes, and had to bag up a bunch and store them under our bed. 

Six more bags...

Plus the three flat totes that live under there as well. 

As I empty the big bin and the three flat bins, I pack my spring/summer things into them. 

I was all finished, when I realized, "Oh, crap, I forgot to dig out the bags from the left side of the closet!" And you can see that there aren't many hangers left. 

Yikes, that's 12 more bags of stuff to put away! Many of these were shoes/boots (phew), but I still quickly ran out of hangers, and had to go through the remaining hanging clothes and select out more to pack away.

This is when I started really being ruthless, and letting go of things that either don't fit (ugh, thank you, menopause and pandemic comfort eating for making my waist/hips thicker) or don't fit my current style aesthetic, or just don't ring my bell anymore. 

These are all now in the giveaway pile, where I can retrieve them if I miss them (regret-me-nots!), or happily give away to my friends/work colleagues at some point. I remind myself that I didn't pay much for any of these, and that it's okay to let go of things, and to find them new homes. 

My scarf boxes also get a clean-out and swap-over. 

The top box is my giant thin scarves; the bottom one holds my smaller scarves. I pack a few of the springier ones away, and welcomed back some of my "darker" ones, like my vintage Balmain and my skull scarf. 

I also re-org my tights/hosiery. The bottom of my wooden lingerie chest holds my printed and fleece-lined tights (hopefully won't be needing those for a few months). 

The bottom two shopping bags contain my black, brown and grey tights (I need brighter light to see which is which), and my bright solids and neutral nylons. I also have some purchased/thrifted pairs that haven't been worn yet. Yay for tights weather! 

When I finished, I had all of these bags left over. 

That's my toe. 

And here we are - After! This is the right side. 

It's so nice and tidy! 

And this is the left side. 

It's full and ready for outfit artistry!

Looking down at my belt/obi storage. As you can see, I have a shoebox for obis and other "soft" belts, then three round velvet hat boxes for wide belts (the biggest box), thinner leather belts (medium) and chain belts (small). 

There is not much room to move in there! I find my closet very cosy and love to hang out in it, putting together outfits and musing on events, memories and good times. 

Before I get to the usual show of shoes, I thought you might be curious to know how many actual pairs of Fluevogs I own. 

Fluevog Tally: 

Shoes: 28

Boots/booties: 19

That's 47 pairs, nearly 50% of my wardrobe, with an estimated purchase value of between $99-400 per pair - let's go with $250, that's a good average. That's an investment of...$11,750 spent on Fluevogs. I could probably get close to that on the re-sale market - some of my pairs are very rare and worth more than $500. Not that I'm selling them or getting rid them anytime soon! 

Oh, I forgot my Floralized Fluevogs! Make that 48 pairs and an even $12 grand.

The very top shelf has my party shoes, and highest heels. Below that, heels that are wearable for work or parties, then a full side-to-side shelf of boots and booties (all Fluevogs!). 

In the middle section is a taller shelf for more boots. 

As we go down, the heels get lower. 

Until we reach the floor, where I store some of my "I can walk in the rain for hours" shoes. As I do a lot of walking, my proportion of walking shoes and flats has gone up over the years.

I have few regrets in life, but destroying my feet with ill-fitting, poor quality shoes when I was in my teens/twenties is a big one. I have recurring plantar fasciitis, a bunion (which has gone down during the pandemic, hooray!) and tissue degeneration in the front of my feet, not to mention encroaching arthritis. That's the downside of aging - of course, the upside is that I'm growing into the Big Badass Boss I was always meant to be! 

More boots and walking shoes on the opposite side. 

I used to have a much more crowded closet, full of boots, but I've moved many of my walking shoes out of it over the past two years. 

This year, I decided to reserve my one-off seasonal items (like my Hallowe'en dress, and assorted Christmas-only things) in a bag rather than having them taking up room/hangers. 

I even have a few extra pant hangers! How exciting! (Sheila, this does not mean you need to buy more skirts and/or pants).

Here are my sweater shelves - this is on the left. My tiaras/vintage shoes are on a shelf above this. 

On the highest shelf are my bulky solid sweaters, and a stack of "fancy pants." The middle shelf has turtlenecks, thin cardigans, thick/long cardigans, and fancy tops. My "roadkill" faux fur top takes up a lot of room! On the lowest shelf are my fancy layers (bustiers, vests, shrugs and shorts), with sleeveless sweaters and thin/patterned sweaters beside them, with my short-sleeved solid sweaters on the far right. 

Below those shelves, here are my fall/winter blouses and shirts, my long skirts and hanging trousers. 

I sort by colour, and I often change up the direction of my sorts, so that my eye isn't always seeing the same garments beside each other. I did (from right to left) white/brown/red > rainbow > black on all hanging garments this year. 

My dresses. I have a lot of party dresses and gowns, and made the decision not to unpack them all - I won't have as many parties to go to between now and March as I did in the "before times", but I still kept out the gowns/fancy clothes I thought I might wear, like my awesome 80s sequin dress that I've only modeled and not actually worn. 

My new/unworn dresses are hung on the far left, so that I'm encouraged to wear them as soon as possible (I do this in each section). I also kept a lot of bright colours (orange, yellow, pink) out to help cheer me in the gloomy times. 

Moving over to the right side of the closet, we have my short skirts. I didn't take picture of the shelf above that, but it's got a few big vintage hats and my two tallest pairs of Fluevog party boots (pic here from last March's closet tour). 

As I wear a lot of dark, coloured and patterned tights at this time of year, fall/winter is my mini-skirt season. Heck, YES, I wear minis! Screw that garbage about "no minis after 30" - the legs are the last to go, baby (just ask Tina Turner), and I'm going to show off my gams! 

Below my skirts are all my fall/winter jackets. 

I am excited to wear these again! My mind is awhirl with possibilities. 

The "After" again. 

I took the blue velvet footstool from my art corner on the deck, and put it just inside where it doesn't block any shoes I might want. I am too short to reach many of the shelves easily, it's sturdy and easy to move around, and it looks cute in there. I have banged my leg on it about fifty billion times already, though. 

I vacuum and clean as I go, which drives this little monster into hiding under the duvet on our bed. 

"Are you done yet, Woman? There are skirts I've missed chewing on."

He came out and got in the way as soon as the vacuum was gone - he REALLY wants to hide under the clothes. 

I dusted the top of my lingerie chest. My original Hazel Harris painting called "I Think I've Found the Perfect Pink Shoes" takes pride over my display - she's a close friend's mum (link to her site here - lots of pics). My vintage perfumes (the most recent is from c. 2001) are there with my vintage lipsticks (one from my teenage years, one from my Mom's 60s stash).

My sunglasses collection, plus a vintage dish with my hair ornaments, toe-tubes and ear-cuffs. Scissors for threads and tag-removal, and my vintage cat hair/lint remover brush. The little upright brown box is a model of the lingerie chest (it's how L surprised me with it one Christmas). The top surface is also where I put my new-to-me accessories, like my crystal stick-pin here.

Next to the lingerie chest, I didn't do much on this bookshelf. I should have removed everything and dusted it, but I was almost five hours in. I gave my purse and bag collection a critical eye, packing away a couple of small bags into that striped shoebox, and letting go of one bag. As I was putting my shoes away, I couldn't figure out where one pair had gotten to - I'd but them into the shoebox. 

The two lower shelves are my hardcore walking shoes and boots. when I need full comfort, I go here. 

L's shoe shelf is in the same room. His and hers hats, and L's favourite Fluevogs. 

My fashion books live here too. 

Behind the door is a shallow bookshelf where I keep my hats. 

I moved my straw summer hats to the far right, and moved up my wooly and faux fur hats and ear-warmers to where I can reach them easily. 

I even did a mask swap-over, pulling out my seasonal masks, and putting away the more bright summery ones. 

I have more dark shades, but I always have my sequins out. Last spring I mused, "Will we still be doing masks come September? Probably." I am sad to be right. Next spring? *shrug* I have no idea. Probably.

I did our hall coat-rack re-org - I pulled L's gloves (in the plastic bag) up to the top, and packed his light summer caps under them. 

I added my wooly gloves to my glove bag, and unpacked my fur and faux fur scarves. 

L gets the left side, and I get the right. 

L's caps, scarves and bag on the left; my pashminas and soft hats and horrid brolly on the right. I'm standing in the kitchen. 

On Friday, I worked on this post (~3 hours at this point), while L went out birthday shopping. It's October - it's my birthday month! I had to take a picture of him as he's in full Rock & Roll Cowboy mode. 

Cowboy hat from Nashville, vintage 70s shirt from the Patch, English Laundry 15-year-old jacket from San Francisco, dark skinny jeans, thrifted belt buckle and Cooper Swordfish Fluevogs. My man is so spiffy! 

After lunch (yummy tacos that L brought home), he embarked on his own closet swap-over and I did my jewelry. 

Before - L's closet. 

He's a messy guy, and while I'm also a visual organizer, I am not at the same level. However, this is an area I generally stay out of. 

And there's my guy, unpacking his thicker patterned shirts from his collection and packing up his short-sleeved and lighter summery ones. 

As I plopped down my box and bag of stored fall/winter jewelry, I noticed a big lump on the bed. What could it be? 

Vizzini, is that you? 

"I was cold."

Are you sure it wasn't the vacuum cleaner, you chicken-cat? 

And here's L's "After."

Ah, everything's nice and tidy. For now! 

My jewelry is stored in the bedroom, on top of my dresser (which holds my socks, underwear, house clothes and workout wear). 

I like different types of storage depending on the jewelry. I'm very visually-driven, so I need to be able to see everything. Oops, my cuff caddy is missing here (I dusted before taking this picture - you're welcome). 

I started opening up all the stored stuff, then working through each storage type, starting with my brocade bag, which holds my giant necklaces and pearls. 

I separate out what's going into storage for six months. I do a jewelry swap-over for the same reason I do one for my closet: I want to be able to wear everything I've got, and when I have fewer things out I can see them and wear them more. Plus, not everything works for every season. 

I've unpacked all the stuff I want to bring out from storage. I have some vintage things that I don't pull out every year, and sometimes I feel I need to rest from pieces or collections. 

My enthusiasm eventually comes back and then I put them out again and enjoy them anew. 

My brocade bag, all full of bigass chunky necklaces. 

These are ones that can stand being dumped out on the bed and rummaged through. 

I did the external necklace storage on my big jewelry box next. 

Silvers, pewters and blacks on one side...

...and golds and colours on the other. 

I can store about 10-12 necklaces per side. That's plenty enough for a season. 

Especially considering I have a bunch of vintage ones too, which I store in my grandmother's velvet-lined wooden jewelry box. 

The earing tray is on the left, and fits on the top level where I keep necklaces (left) and brooches (left). The bottom drawer is bracelets and more brooches. 

I use a lead crystal candy dish to store my small earrings. 

These are the ones currently in rotation, divided into colour (bottom), tiny studs and my Star Trek magnetic pin (left) and ear-balls (right). 

Ah, here's my cuff caddy. It's a vintage glass/metal two-storey display for tea-cakes or pastries that my mother-in-law bought for me. It isn't the amber glass that I collect, but it was a very sweet gesture. 

It works beautifully for my cuffs. 

And I can easily spin it 180 degrees to see the back! 

The cuffs are semi sorted by type of metal/colour, with lighter bangles on the top tier. I love this for storage. It doesn't take up a lot of room, and I can see everything. 

I keep my pendants in this Fossil tin, with a silver coil, a fine silver chain, a fine gold chain and a thicker gold chain.

My spooky seasonal pendants are there! I tend to forget about these when the lid it on it - out of sight, out of mind! 

I use an amber glass goblet to hold my bigass earrings - also one that doesn't match the Indiana Glass Company collection I watch for. 

But it's nice to use these pieces instead of having them up in a cupboard collecting dust. Again, I love to dump these out and paw through them. 

Now, onto the big jewelry box where I store a lot of my favourite jewelry. Working from the top to the bottom, this is the top level which lifts up to reveal a mirror and a velvet tray. 

I keep my bigass-est rings in here, my three sets of gold hoops (two yellow gold and one white gold) and my big gold Biko earrings. 

Next drawer down is the ring drawer. 

My vintage and family rings on the left, my dig-around costume ones on the right - they are rings that can handle being rooted through.

Next drawer - brooches, bracelets and my Grandma J's jet necklace. 

Some of these are old (20+ years), some are modern, like the Myka set and the leather anatomical Smoking Lily pin. 

Next drawer is the earring storage. 

From top left clockwise: coloured crystal, balls and round shapes, bronze earrings, and loopy shapes. 

Next drawer down. 

Party earrings on the left; a chain bracelet and a lace cuff from Nashville on the right. 

And lastly, the bottom drawer, which is a jumble of cuffs and bracelets. 

It's nice and deep, good for digging in. 

My Copper Collection

A few of you said you'd love to see my full copper collection. 

There it is! Enjoy! 

Ha ha! Just kidding - that's how I transported it all from the bedroom to my "stuff" area. Here you go. 

You can click to embiggen, but I'll do close-ups of them as groupings. 

My treasure is this solid copper belt. This was owned by a woman who wore it only for square dancing. 

It's by Renoir, which is the main brand that I collect. I paid $40.00 for it at a vintage fair, which is a score, as these are quite rare. 

But this is the set that started my whole collection and my deep love for the warmth of copper jewelry. This belonged to my Grandma J, bought for her by my Grandpa J, who was a jerk but at least had good taste in costume jewelry. The set is well-worn - my Grandma wore it a lot, and I've worn it hundreds of times since she gave it to me personally in 1986. I used to go visit her on my way home from my university classes and she pulled this out and gave it to me one day. It's been my favourite set ever since. 

The cuff is marked Renoir, but the necklace and earrings are not. Many jewelry makers used paper hang-tags, so it's possible that they are Renoir, but they are probably by a contemporary maker. I've never found a mark on them, and have never seen a set like them at all the vintage fairs I've been to. They have a much less polished, more rough edge to them.  

These earrings and ring also belonged to Grandma - I remember her wearing the earrings, and they have her wear patterns on the back. They are marked Matisse, which is also by Renoir - they are the same company. 

The ring is not marked, but that's real turquoise. 

Over the years, I've seen a fair bit of vintage copper, but on the whole it is rather rare. Copper has never really had a resurgence in popularity since these pieces were made. Most of my collection is from the 1960s. 

This is a stunning Renoir set that I bought at one of the big vintage expos. It's marked and the white sections are enamel. Aside from my Grandma's, this is the only necklace and earring set I've found. 

I like buying sets when I can find them. The top one is Renoir and is one of the rare times where I found the pieces separately - I recall that I thrifted the bracelet for around $12.00 and found the earrings at a vintage fair. The bottom set is also Renoir, and I found it on consignment just over a week ago for $26.00 (although they were marked separately). 

The middle set is enamel on copper, and I bought it in Portland when we were on vacation. It's not marked. I paid around $45.00 US for it.

I found this unmarked giant stylized leaf pin for only a few dollars at Flavour Upstairs a few years ago. 

This is my only brooch and earring set. The leaf design is a classic Renoir, and they are both marked - the green is enamel. 

This chain and pendant was found in a consignment store years ago, and until I discovered that Vix has the same one from her grandmother (so, from the 1960s), I'd thought it was modern. It's marked, but I've never been able to fin out who the maker is. 

The rigid copper ball choker and matching hinged cuff are unmarked - they were so unusual, I had to have them! I am sure they are later 1960s, possibly 1970s. I think I paid $25.00 for the set at one of the vintage expos.

These copper rings and earrings are by local company Glee. 

They are contemporary, as I bought them new within the last month. 

A solo necklace by Matisse. 

I love this piece - it's so spiky! I believe this was a vintage fair find, for around $35.00.

Both of these cuffs are by Renoir and have enameling on them. 

I found both of them at vintage expos, and they were both between $25.00-40.00. I don't mind paying a bit more for unusual designs. 

These cuffs are likely from the 1990s or more recent. 

The one on the left belonged to Karen; the stylized feather on the right was thrifted. 

Oops, missed a couple! 

This is more turquoise than copper! I found this at a vintage fair for $10.00. 

And this thin articulated bracelet is a Renoir as well. 

I thrifted it for around $7.00. 

I'm still on the lookout for more pieces, but I'm VERY fussy about the designs - I leave more than I buy, that's for sure. I hope we'll have vintage fairs again soon! 

And...jewelry done and here is the "After."

All nice and tidy, ready for me to mess it up again. 

Do you have any favourites? Do you do a closet or jewelry swap-over? Have you done yours yet?

Well, my friends, I am now going to have a nap, which I richly deserve! I'm exhausted but also excited for my whole new wardrobe...and I will be back on Sunday with tales of adventure and my first outfits of the season!