Wednesday Wonder: Closet Notes from the Bay

 

Hello dear Friends!

I know in my prior post I talked about another blogging friend talking about her desire to know where some of us gals find clothes we like at this season of life.

I thought I would share some of my favorites and I hope you will share with me some of yours too! I think as we age we don't worry about trends the way we might have when we were younger. But I don't think it means that we still don't love clothing...I just think we know ourselves better now. I think now I look for things that flatter, but are comfortable. Also quality dependable clothing that will last. But I think the top thing I look for is that it feels like ME. :) 

When Matt and I are out shopping... or I am with a gf or my Mom - I find it interesting that sometimes if I find something and hold it up they will say, 'oh that looks like you' So I must have found my style in this season. I think I'm drawn to color more than I was when I was young. Yet, I still love blacks and earth tones too. I like clothing that helps my short stature. I have shrunk to about 5'2" now. So I often shop where I can find petites. I also don't have much torso either and I'm busty. 🙈 So for things like pajama sets - I may need a smaller size for my bottoms but need bigger for the tops. So that's often my challenge. 

Some of my favorite places to go shopping are Maurices and JCPenney (my Mom loves JCPenney so we go there often and I have luck there because they have petites). I have found some jeans and things at American Eagle and Madewell as well. Online I love Coldwater Creek for nicer pieces. They are pricier but made well and last forever! So many of my dresses and skirts are from there. I also sometimes have luck on Amazon (not as consistent) And I shop used items through Thred Up - as I've shared about that company before. Sometimes I have luck through some catalogs I still get - like Chadwicks and LLBean. And I have recently enjoyed some of Pioneer Woman's clothing I have mostly found on QVC.

Oh, and I often have luck finding athletic wear at Dicks or Kohls (for working out, pickleball, golf etc).  

I pulled a few things from my closet and took a few photos with some of the outfits I've worn more recently to share with you:

I thought I'd share these 2 together because of the jeans - I found them at Coldwater Creek. I love that site/catalog for their dressier things I often wear for church and hospice work. But they have cute casual things too and almost everything is in petite as well. The top I'm wearing in the top photo was from Chadwicks. I think the coat was from Maurices years ago. And the t-shirt in the bottom pic is from Maurices. They have so many fun t-shirts. And the handbag is Vera Bradley (one of my faves) - the accessories help make the outfit too sometimes, right? 😉

 I also love yoga pants and leggings and I have the best luck finding those at Maurices, Chadwicks, JCPenney, and Coldwater Creek. And I love having a cute phone case for the seasons. And as you know I enjoy playing with nail polish colors too. Lol Again, all about the accessories! 

Pioneer Woman recently came out with a new line for Fall and it was on QVC and I got this cute Autumn jacket (love the stitching detail and that she always has floral things), and this pretty sweater that is so soft! 

This sweater was from PW's line a few years ago and I matched it with a cute orange vest I found at Coldwater Creek.

This dress is from Coldwater Creek (love the Fall leaves) and the blouse is from Coldwater creek but I found it on Thred Up for 1/4 of the cost! 

These are pretty soft short sleeve sweaters (good for layering when it's not too cold yet). I pair them with a favorite brown skirt or my tan cargo pants, or black dress pants.

This pretty 🍁 sweater I got at Maurices a few years ago and I don't remember where the vest is from? But where I live in the northwoods vests are kind of a staple. There are so many times when it's chilly but we don't need the big parka yet. Lol So layering with a vest and good mittens or gloves is just right. 

I have a favorite jean jacket I often wear over everything - but I love other cute little jackets - like this lovely corduroy one. I love the big buttons too. I love to wear a skirt or dress but then add a more casual coat to make it a little less "serious" of an outfit. Add some tall boots and it's a perfect Fall outfit in my opinion! The dress is from Coldwater Creek (as usual 😂) 

I don't think we age out of enjoying clothes - we just get better at knowing what we like. 💗

I'd love to know what are some of your favorites and where you have the most luck?? 

Also, please pray for me - the bathroom renovation is completely underway!! It's been going well so far (thank goodness) and they may even finish in a week and 1/2 or so! Yay!! I will keep you posted. 

under our tile was old pink tile (the original part of the house was built in 1939)

I always love and treasure your time here Friends. 

Blessings always. 

xoxo

New Hallway Renovation

Late this past summer we completed 3/4 of a pretty large renovation on a part of our home.  We loved this house from the minute we stepped in it, and especially our back yard bay - or as we often call it:  our own private island.

The only thing we didn't really care for was a section of the layout of the home.  Our northwoods cottage is a little different in that 1/2 of our house was built in 1939 and the other 1/2 is all new renovations.  I LOVE the renovations the previous owners made with the living area, gorgeous marble fireplace, great new gourmet kitchen etc. But the previous owner added a room off of the bedroom and master bath to be kind of his man cave.  However, it's a rather large room and we renovated it and had made it our media room. The only problem was that the only way to access it was through our master bathroom.

Now, especially when our son got older and started having more friends come over to head down to the media room to want to play video games, the whole "walk-through our bedroom and bathroom" didn't sit well.  So we finally set about changing it! I wish I had before pics but I'll try to explain as I give you the tour.

As you walk into the side entrance of our house you can either head to your right and go down the hallway to the media room, or you can head left and walk into the main part of our house up to our kitchen.  All of this prior was just white garage with cement floors. We matched the new tile pretty well with our existing tile and I was thrilled with how that turned out!

 

 

If you head left into the house please feel free to stop and hang up your coat and take of your shoes in this foyer area.  The last 1/4 section left to be completed lies beyond here and we're going to make some drastic changes there so I will take before and after photos to show you! This completed area still needs a little more patching here and there and a 2nd coat of paint, but we completed what we could before Xmas visitors and the rest will be completed in the nearer future.

 

 

 

If you head to the right you come to the kiddos' corner.  I requested this specifically for the kiddos to keep their coats, backpack, shoes etc. We are loving it!! It's empty as they were at school when I took the photo. Just beyond is the hallway that leads down to the media room. Straight ahead is the new door to our attached garages.  That wall didn't exist prior - it was just all open garage. The one thing to change here is that we always had this 2nd fridge/freezer out in the garage and now we want to update to stainless steel to fill the area better and complete the look.  All of this cabinetry is the same/matches the new bathroom cabinetry you can see from this post.

 

 

 

 

And here is the new hallway down to the media room (this was obviously taken back at Christmas time). The closed door to the left still accesses the master bathroom, however this was the only entrance to the media room prior. This hallway didn't exist then. Where you see that rug is where the old toilet room portion of our bathroom used to be. WE moved the toilet back into the main part of the bathroom and then opened this hallway up. So now there are now 2 entrances to the downstairs and one of them does not include our bedroom and bathroom - yay!!

To the right is the gallery wall with our photos of our trip to Canada last summer that I showed you the other day.

 

And to the left is the new barrister bookcase we found that now houses some of my vintage pottery and of course still had holiday decorations. In the bottom photo can you spot me? Lol (hint: I didn't know I would be reflecting)

And that completes this tour of our new much more practical flowing hallway. We had to take down walls and put up others and lose a little of our garage, but it was so worth the work and wait for how much better we enjoy this whole space.

I'm sharing this with and linking to Kerryanne at Shabby Art Boutique for the shabbylicious Friday link party