Things I've learned

Things I've learned from 30 for 30:

1. Putting effort into your appearance - actually "Dressing" for the day, every day, is HARD.
   
2. I need to lose weight. Taking a picture of yourself every day really tells you how you look.
3. I feel better about myself when I put some effort into my appearance.
4. I could use a few more basic pieces to add to my wardrobe, but it's not required to live.
5. Looking nice can be difficult/require effort, but usually it's worth it.
6. Dressing for the day is made more difficult when you are a mom of small children. Vomit, food, art supplies can randomly appear on your clothes and you have to evaluate if it's bad enough to bother to change. But if you put in a lot of effort to each outfit, then you just have to do it all over again when your child inevitably spits up half his lunch all over your lap/shoulder/hair.
   
7. If/when I do this again, I think I will choose my pieces with a better idea of what I'm going to want. And I'll go to the dry cleaner more often. I get free dry cleaning - I really should take advantage of that.
8. I need more jeans. One pair that fit just will not do.
   
9. I need to update my wardrobe. Some of what I have in my closet dates back up to 15 years.
   
10. I need to be more selective about what I own and what I buy and what I keep. I've got a lot of junk in my closet (still! and I just cleaned it out when I moved into the new room!) and I need to make sure what I have is actually useful pieces.
11. I like shoes. I like cute shoes and pretty shoes. I love the way they look and I sometimes even have shoe envy. But I hate uncomfortable shoes. This includes most - if not all - heels. And I cannot justify buying cute shoes that I won't be able to wear. (plus, my lifestyle doesn't open itself up to the need for such things)
12. Sometimes, it's a good idea to abandon my "Frumpy 30-Something Mom" style. (I stole this term from Maggie.) And sometimes, it's appropriate.

I may do this again. But I'll know better. I'll know to spread out my categories better and hopefully, I'll have a few better options in my closet next time.

Also: To celebrate the completion of 30 for 30 and the lift on the shopping ban, I went out and bought some new jeans. I needed them, since I went down another jeans size! Yeah me!