J.Crew Clearance Store

So, let's talk about the J.Crew clearance store.  For those of you who don't know, there is a J.Crew clearance store in Arden, NC (about 20 mins from Hendersonville).  The clearance store sells official J.Crew merchandise at ridiculous prices.  I'm not sure of the story on all the merchandise- I do know that some of them are returns, some are last season's items, damages, etc.  Items like these are similarly sold at TJ Maxx and Rugged Warehouse with a black mark through the label.  But, do not let that scare you away.  Let me show you what I scored yesterday.

After 30 minutes in the store, I walked away with a Super 120's black blazer, a pair of grey Cafe Capris, a pair of grey wide leg chinos, a navy blue and grey plaid shirt (for the husband), and a turquoise bubble necklace- for a WHOPPING $133.  The blazer and the necklace alone would have cost me over $300 retail.  I'm telling you, this place is amazing!  They had so many more amazing items- pea coats and trench coats, cashmere sweaters, and so many shoes.  The walls were lined with leather boots galore.  Most of the clothes were sample sizes (0-6), but they had several things that had more size variation.  Also, twice a year, they have insane Warehouse Sales with boxes of J.Crew items all below $30.

It's hard to believe not many more people know about this place.  Next time any of you are in Asheville, hit me up and I will take you to the most magical place on earth.

Simplify

Lately, I've really been feeling the urge to simplify.  I want to purge the things in my life that I don't need.  This includes all aspects of my life- what I eat, my closet, our home, and how I spend my time.  After Christmas, I felt like there was so much clutter in my life.  We live in a small house with very limited storage, so there always seems to be too much stuff and not enough room.  R has a "we might need it in the future" mentality, which has rubbed off on me a bit.  I would love to go through every item in our home and only keep the things we need or love.

I also want to clean out my closet.  I am making an effort to dress in a more mature and sophisticated way.  No more jeans and fitted tees!  That will start with a good closet de-clutter.  My drawers are stuffed to the brim with clothes, but I feel like I rotate the same basic pieces every few weeks.  That means I need to git rid of a lot of clothes.  My search for a new wardrobe was inspired by this photo found on Pinterest (I can't find the original source):

When I stumbled across this picture, I was amazed that so many great outfits could be created using just a few simple basics.  So begins my search to build a minimalist wardrobe.  To start with, I bought a super cute pair of leopard print ballet flats.  I need some flats in my life.

There are many areas in my life that need a good cleansing.  I'm hoping 2013 will be there year that I have less and appreciate it more.