It has rained every day this week in Durham and I’m over it. But I figured the rain + casual Friday at the office is a good chance to wear my favorite ankle boots and an army vest that hasn’t gotten much love lately. When I put this outfit on, I realized that it is extremely similar to one I wore four+ years ago, so I decided that this was a recreation/update of that outfit.

As I write this, I’m sitting in my kitchen listening to the loud, monotonous whir of several industrial-strength fans and dehumidifiers. For four days, the fans have been pointed at bare floors that have been stripped of laminate and carpet in an attempt to dry them completely before any mold or other water damage can occur. They’ve been running day and night since Saturday and I’m starting to get used to the sound, like giant white noise machines lulling you to sleep.

fans in the dining room

Hey, look at me, back with some pictures of the clothes I put on my body!

So, how many of you, like me, have new year’s resolutions to clean up your space and are KonMari-ing? If you have Netflix, you’ve probably seen the show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo or you’ve at least heard of it. I bought the book a few years ago so I was already familiar with the KonMari method of tidying when the show came out. If you’re not familiar with KonMari, you organize by room instead of my stuff. Then, you take EVERYTHING out of your closet, drawers, etc. and hold each item to determine whether it “sparks joy.” If it does, you keep it, and if it doesn’t, you get rid of it.

The idea of taking every single piece of clothing out of my closet at once is still too daunting, but as I’ve mentioned a few times on the blog, I’ve been taking pieces out a little at a time to ensure my style reflects who I am now, and to help me achieve my goal of living a somewhat minimalist lifestyle. Freshly inspired by Marie Kondo and her show, I’ve taken even MORE pieces out of my closet in the past few weeks and I’m still feeling great about the pieces that remain, as evidenced by the return of my office-bathroom mirror selfies!

Anyway, on to the outfits!

I received some good health news recently!

Since the heart attack in May 2017, I’ve been seeing a cardiologist every six months to make sure I’m healing well and that I’m not having any complications. So far, everything has been fine. At my most recent check up, I mentioned to him that sometimes when I stand up, I feel slightly lightheaded with a throbbing in my ears that lasts few seconds. This was a fairly common occurrence when I was on a concoction of medication right after the heart attack, which included a beta blocker to keep my blood pressure and heart rate low, but having been off of those meds for about 6 months now, I wasn’t sure what was happening.