It's been a while since I updated this but that doesn't mean I started to buy clothes. I'm 112 days strong of not purchasing any clothes! Here's a brief recap of the past 40 days (at least the things that are most pertinent to my project):

- I turned 25. Mary got me some clothes for my birthday, many of which were recycled clothes! Jenn also gave me a recycled skirt and a paramore t-shirt. My friends threw me a surprise ice cream themed party. It ruled.

- My mom and her friends had a garage sale to raise money for a catholic organization. She asked me to go through things I didn't want. I managed to let go of a lot of things, even a lot of clothes. It was very refreshing.

- Addison and I watched "No Impact Man". I HIGHLY recommend watching it. It's about this family that lives in NYC that tries to reduce their ecological foot print for 1 year by doing everything they possibly can to not waste or create anymore negative impact on the environment. Many of the things were pretty outrageous like not purchasing toilet paper, but I definitely think I walked away with how to change my lifestyle easily in order reduce my ecological footprint.  Which leads me to..

- Addison and I made our first compost bin. Hopefully we will one day be able to create a sustainable garden.

- Many sports happenings have been currently surrounding me. Flyers (sorry guys), world cup, baseball. And for that, it's tempting to purchase sports paraphernalia and t shirts. But I've been able to hold back.

- I went to a local church's carnival 3 of the nights it was being held and spent a good amount of money on carnival games and food.  I really do enjoy spending my money on doing and experiencing things over buying materials things. Plus the money I spent was supporting the church anyway!

- Mary and I got massages at the mall (again another experiential thing) but walked around while we were there. It's been really rare since I started this project that I've stepped foot in a mall.  It wasn't all that difficult to look at clothes and not feel the need to purchase them. In fact, I saw this really retro looking dress at Old Navy that was super rad but I remained true to not buying anything.  I didn't feel any remorse. Hooray!

- Addison and I went to the movies and saw Toy Story 3. It was nothing less than what I expected it to be...amazing.

I'm almost at my 4 month mark. Happy Father's Day!

I have been receiving generous donations from people once they've been finding out that I gave up buying clothes.  Then I started to realize that I might end up with more than what I started off with when I began this project. One of the main goals of this project was to move towards a more simplistic life.  Though I have definitely been limiting my consumption, I still feel like I'm living in excess. So I decided to go through everything I had and see what I didn't need. I was able to "clean out my closet" and put together a garbage bag full of clothes I didn't need or didn't wear and donate it.  And from now on, for every "new" item of clothing I receive from people, I will try to donate one item of clothing I already own so that I can keep the amount that I own consistent.

RIVERTON TREASURE DAY.

Today = 2 months of me not purchasing any new clothes.

Today was Palmyra Day.  The towns miniature version of a street fair. Sami and I walked around and passed for teenagers who don't drive yet (seriously, one of the vendors asked if we were about to get our licenses). I suppose it didn't help that we were outwardly fiends for silly bandz and removeable tattoos.  For lunch we met up with Sara and ate at Manny's. Sami convinced Manny to give me a Manny's t-shirt for free in honor of Palmyra Day and to promote Palmyra establishments.  She's such a shmoozer.

We then went to Sara's house and she generously offered me some of her clothes she was trying to get rid of. I graciously went through all of it and selected a few items.  Thanks Sara!!!!

My mom and I just came back from a 5 day trip to San Francisco. I had a conference for work (I'm super spoiled) and my mom came along to keep my company.  We had a little bit of down time during the conference, so naturally my mom and I walked around Union Square.  The area was saturated with an eclectic mix of clothing stores.  Foolishly, I suggested we enter a few of them just to "look" at things.  I surprised myself with how well I managed to not want to purchas anything.  However, my mom generously offered to buy me something for my birthday (which was a month away).  So reluctantly (or not), I found one dress I believed to be versatile, both for work and for casual wear.  I made sure that whatever it was my mom was buying me for my birthday was something I could really get a lot of use out of since I haven't had anything new in almost 2 months.

Time to bust out my summer clothes. Man, is it hot outside. Hopefully I still fit into last year's summer clothes...cause I'm stickin with what I got and not buying any new summer clothes!

Wooo 1 month!

Addison's mom told me she would teach me how to sew my own sundress.

Last night a group of us went to the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center for Kramer's 25th birthday. I suppose he wanted to go all out and make it a classy affair. I believe we succeeded.  Addison and I got ready at Kati's apartment.  In the midst of attempting to make ourselves look glamorous, Kati mentioned (or perhaps I asked her...) that she had clothes she didn't need anymore and was thinking of donating.  Since she was aware of my clothes project, she generously gave me the clothes she didn't want anymore. Because I haven't bought anything for the past month, and will not for the next 11 months, receiving used clothes (especially from the Kati's lavish closet) was overly exciting. I think that when I'm done with this project that I might only just buy used clothes. It's much better for the environment too!

Overall, the classy night out was heaps of fun. I also can firmly say that going to the orchestra and sitting in the 2nd row (only due to the fact that we were students being placed in unoccupied seats) was definitely one of the top 10 best things I've ever experienced in my life. They played Mozart symphonies and we were so close you could see the facial expressions of all the musicians. The 25 year old violin soloist was so phenomenal, I even got emotional watching and hearing him play.  It was experiences like going to the orchestra that made me so grateful that God gave me the ability to hear and see, which is something I take for granted daily.

Tonight, in the midst of writing a paper for class I clumsly knocked my laptop over and well...

First Day of Spring!

First day in a long time of absolute gorgeous weather. Of course, Sarah and I decided to take advantage of such a beautiful day.  We both had a few errands to run and instead of driving, we decided to ride bikes to every place we had to go.  Sarah wanted to get sunglasses so we biked to Ross.  I'll admit, I definitely look through their clothes and saw a few sundresses that were super cheap. But, I refrained myself from reaching a point where I would feel new clothes withdraw and managed to walk away unscathed (how dramatic..). Currently, I've been trying to remove myself from the temptation to buy new clothes (or not even place myself in any such situation). Hopefully as this project further progresses, I'll have developed the ability to window shop and not feel a thing.

Happy 2 weeks! I went to upstate NY for an awards ceremony this weekend. I told some people there about this project and even the people I deemed to be already living a simplistic life thought that going without new clothes for 1 year is going to be challenging.  I remain optimistic...but perhaps it's because it's only been 2 weeks (which I know for sure I have gone that long without buying clothes without even realizing it).

Jenn came to visit me after work today. She's not buying any new clothes for 1 year either and her outfit was still super hip. She dressed in layers and it was unique with how she put her outfit together. It gave me more ideas to figure out how to make new outfits with the clothes I already have.

I tried to see if she wanted to trade clothes with me sometime. Since we both won't have new clothes for a year, I thought it would be advantageous to switch some of our outfits with each other when we start to get tired with what we have. I hope she'll want to because I always admire what she wears.

It's been one week since I started this project!

Though I'm striving to live a simplistic life, I still think it's important to support small businesses or even help "fuel the economy" during these economic times. Granted, not splurging on clothes has definitely helped in my savings department, (and it's always good to save) I've been racking my brain to come up with ways to help the economy and still stay true to living a simple life. Suggestions?

I had to purchase a new agenda beacuse the one I had was in the purse that was stolen. After a long search with minimal patience, I had to go for my last resort...Walmart. Man oh man do I really dislike Walmart (I thought I hated Walmart, but apparently not enough to step foot in there..which I shamefully did).  I won't go  too deeply into the reasons for why I think the Walmart Corporation is unethical, but instead I will provide a picture I slyly snapped while during my 1.5 minute visit into their store.

The 4th day. Living the 4th (haha).  It's definitely been a breeze so far, but of course it's only the beginning. The weekends are usually the most opportune time to go to the mall and buy unnecessary things, especially when you're bored.  Luckily, I booked my weekend solid.  The challenge will come when summer and fall clothes come out. No buying new bathing suits is included.

Tonight was Curran's grand opening.  It was the first day since this project started that I had to pick out a non-work outfit to wear.  I really made more of an effort to dig out the stuff I never wear and give them another shot.  So I pulled this little number together:

As I was getting dressed this morning, I realized there was a tiny hole in my long sleeve shirt.  I'm going to have to learn how to sew in order to fix my clothes instead of buying new clothes.

I told the people I work with about this project of mine.  My boss had the great idea of borrowing and lending clothes, that way I'll be able to change up my waredrobe and still not buy any new clothes. I'll have to find some volunteers first.

The month of February was quite an awful one, especially the end of it. I was in a car accident (not my fault, but still insanely annoying). Then my boyfriend's car got broken into and my purse was stolen from it. That is the extremely short version.

Just when I was about to give up on all hope, I received a lovely letter from a great friend (by the way, hand writing letters and sending them snail mail is magnificent in the midst of technology). In the end of the letter, she had told me how she and her friend had decided to make pledge to refrain from buying any and all new clothes for a whole year. I instantly fell in love with the idea. I suppose I've recently been craving more simplicity in my life, especially when it came to the material things.

After spending 7 months of my life in the Philippines, and living/working with/serving the poor, I was sure that when I came back I would no doubt live simply (especially after seeing the people I was surrounded by were so impoverished) perhaps to live in solidarity with the poor people I had befriended. I was certain I would constantly be grateful for what I had, desire less, and remember how little they had but yet how free and happy they were.

Unfortunately, being back in the United States for more than 2 years eventually diminshed all thoughts. I reverted back to the spending habits I once had prior to my Filipino immersion. I would constantly try to justify buying clothes by telling myself how cheap things were and how satisfied I felt because I would get a good deal. The justifications became a gateway drug into spending more, and frequently at that. I know I'm making myself out to sound that I'm a shopaholic, but truth be told, I probably spend no more than the average person.

This no new clothes pledge gave me something tangible to accomplish, thus inherently helping me work towards my goal of living a simpler life, and hopefully allowing me to remember my experience in the Philippines and the things I learned from my time there that I ended up forgetting.

I love shopping and keeping up with the latest indie trends. This certainly is going to be a great challenge. But I'm sticking to what I got for 1 year. Wish me luck!