My Fall Capsule Wardrobe 2017 + Closet Tour

My fall capsule wardrobe for 2017 has started. 🍂  
The pieces I selected for this season are more then ever about having comfortable fit and being casual in style.  As I’m starting the fall capsule, I’m also celebrating my two year anniversary of dressing with the rules of Project 333.  I can't believe two years have passed already.  I still remember how much I hesitated to make my first capsule.  It seemed such an impossible task.  I'm glad it wasn't and I'm grateful for all I'm learning from my ongoing experiment.

Now I like each capsule a little bit more and I quite enjoy creating new seasonal ones.

For me, one of the best ways to know what I'm working with is making it visual.  I've tried listing out what's in my capsule.  This probably bored my readers as much as it bored me and no one but myself could picture the contents of the capsule by reading my 'laundry' list.  

Next, I've tried making collages that showed the individual pieces of clothing.  These collages were useful for me because they showed a simplified and orderly picture of my belongings.   It helped me see how well everything worked together and it spurned me to be a bit more creative in the way I put outfits together.

This time, I decided to give the video format a try and I'm hoping film will aid me to show the contents of my capsule and wardrobe to others.  I hope it will work out alright and you enjoy having a closer look inside my closet!

Besides showing the pieces of my fall capsule and the setup in my closet, I also talk about my storage for off season pieces and where I keep "extras" like swim-, active-, sleep- and underwear.  

Another thing I wanted to show is a bag filled with donations that I just pulled from my closet.  Believe it or not, after two years of capsule dressing and years of pursuing minimalism, I find that I’m still minimizing my possessions.  Each season I’m surprised that I have a shopping bag worth of donations that no longer have a place in my life.  At this very moment, my donation bag is full and I can’t imagine parting with any more items.  But this might change after three months living and growing as a person and then going through all my things again in order to set up my winter capsule.  We will see...

Here's my selection for fall:

J A C K E T S   (2)

1 - jean jacket

2 - olive green parker

S H O R T   T O P S   (4)

3 - white/blue striped shirt

4 - grey lace shirt

5 - blue/white striped shirt

6 - cream lace shirt

L O N G   T O P S   (9)

7 - black mockneck shirt

8 - olive v-neck sweater

9 - navy blue v-neck sweater

10 - open navy cardigan

11 - dark blue cardigan

12 - chambray button down

13 - white button down

14 - white/blue striped peplum button down

15 - buffalo check peplum flannel

D R E S S E S   (4)

16 - dark denim dress

17 - black/white flare dress

18 - navy blue pleated dress

19 - navy blue button up dress

B O T T O M S   (4)

20 - white jeans

21 - light blue jeans

22 - blue crop jeans

23 - white shorts

S H O E S   (5)

24 - black hiking sandals

25 - white tennis shoes

26 - brown loafers

27 - black lace up chunky heel boots NICORA

28 - black chunky heel sandals

A C C E S S O R I E S   (3)

29 - everyday jewelry

30 - sunglasses

31 - blue striped scarf

32 - ???

33 - ???

That's that.  What's your experience with your donation pile?  I’d love to hear your thoughts if you care to share.  For more information on the concept of capsule dressing, I recommend visiting Courtney Carver's website (linked here). 

Curious about my previous capsules?  You can find them here:

My Summer Capsule Wardrobe 2017
My Spring Capsule Wardrobe 2017

My Winter Capsule Wardrobe 2017

Fall 2016 Capsule Wardrobe - One Year of Capsule Dressing!

In-Depth Summer Travel Packing List

Summer 2016 Capsule Wardrobe

Spring 2016 Capsule Wardrobe

Winter 2016 Capsule Wardrobe

Outfits of October; Project 333

Fall 2015 Capsule Wardrobe - I'm In!

Enjoy and have a fantastic day!

   ♡ Nina

TALKING TRASH: Zero Waste and Minimalism

The beautiful thing about minimalism is less consumption often means less waste.
This minimalist truism works well for objects and clothes. It starts with buying things intentionally and when it's time to pare down your belongings there are a few different avenues to dispose of your stuff:
-donating them
-selling them
-recycling them
-and of course trashing them. ☹️
In stark contract, the packaging of goods is designed for the garbage. The cycle of consumption and the trash that comes with packaging is a big environmental problem and often not considered in minimalism.
I didn't consider it either.

↟ Here I'm carrying my food scraps to a compost location at a friend's house (sadly our apartment building doesn't compost yet). For those of you who want to keep track, I've been flirting the idea of zero waste for several month before pursuing it in earnest since January 2017.

For a long time, I was mindful to practise minimalism in my life, but I was still producing heaps of garbage.
Truly, there’s nothing minimal about an overflowing garbage bin.
This is why I started asking “where does all this trash come from?”
Well, it mostly came from the grocery store and from online orders. While some of it was food scraps, a lot of the trash was plastic packaging. Food scraps can be composted, but packaging was around everything and I didn’t know how to cut back on it. What’s worse, I carried this unwanted packaging into my home with every purchase I made.
Was I just a garbage producing machine?
I love living simply and enjoying nature, and my wastefulness was in stalk contrast to my values. I was appalled and frustrated, and I knew I needed to take action.
Now, the heaps of garbage in my bin was not the result of a minimal lifestyle opting for convenience. I never chose packaged goods so I could save time and invest that time elsewhere. Honestly, I’ve just never given much thought to the garbage streaming in and out of my home. And I also hadn’t considered the life cycle of things much.
I thought being minimal and frugal was already making a difference.
But this is what I know now: My minimalism didn't address the extraneous amounts of packaging waste. Packaging is designed for short term, often single use and it is meant to be thrown into the garbage. At best packaging is recycled, but often it streams right into a landfill. By design, packaging isn’t precious like an old t-shirt or an unloved object. Someone could still find use for those items, but no one really has a practical use for old packaging.

Until recently, it never occurred to me to think about my trash.
Why there was so much of it.
Where it went and what happened to it after it was collected from my house.
And that I could find ways to reduce the packaging waste that came around the produce from the grocery store.
I didn’t know I could say no to the paper bags at the bakery.
I didn’t know I had a choice in how fresh produce, bulk food and deli counter purchases were packaged.
I didn’t know I could bring my own glass containers or cloth produce bags and say no to the obligatory plastic baggies.
I was afraid grocery shopping would turn into a huge hassle.

But in fact, most stores in Salt Lake City are happy to support zero waste shopping. And it is refreshing to leave a store with just produce and no added garbage.
Also, in case you’re wondering, adopting this new lifestyle didn’t turn me into a crazy bag lady with lots of zero waste knickknacks. On the contrary, I noticed that zero waste reduced the number of bags my husband carried home from the store, it streamlined not just my trash, but it also simplified the belongings in my kitchen and bathroom.
Which minimalist wouldn’t like that?
In many ways, minimalism and zero waste compliment each other. For example, one of the most important ways to keep clutter and trash away is to control what enters through the front door. This is always a good way to start minimalism or zero waste.
I started my zero waste journey by
-looking at and examining our trash
-and then I set out to shop without buying any packaging
-and I also decided to disengage from using disposables and plastics in general.
Saying no and refusing "trash" made a significant difference every day. But I also realized that zero waste is a slow journey that gets easier and builds momentum over time.
In the beginning phase, zero waste isn't easy because many old purchases in the home are far from zero waste and will eventually be phased out and become trash. This kind of trash is almost unavoidable and it's especially annoying when you're so on top of your zero waste game with new purchases. As an added pressure, society assumes zero wasters like me can fit an entire year's worth of household trash into a single mason jar. To be honest, this might be the case if on day zero of going zero waste I filled a dumpster and rid my home of all the half full plastic packaged items so I could start with a clean slate. That's not the route I wanted to go.
Maybe one day my trash will fit the size of a mason jar, but I still wouldn't keep my trash in a jar, like a prize or a measure. That's not for me. I'm much more concerned with the big picture.
Luckily my husband is on board with the zero waste initiative. This is important in our household because he does 90% of the grocery shopping. Therefore, we both had to keep the same goals in mind to effectively keep garbage from entering our home. Overall, it’s been a simple transition and easy to maintain. An added bonus about zero waste is the money saved from buying ‘naked goods’, the frequent and novel conversation with cashiers and the responsible sorting and minimization of our garbage. As the name implies, zero waste means creating no landfill trash. At best it also means sending nothing to recycling. Of course this is the ideal that zero wasters work towards. I’m not at zero in my efforts to reduce waste, but since being more mindful and starting to compost our overall household garbage decreased by 90%.
I’m good with this progress for now. After all zero waste is not about being perfect.
It’s about being aware of one's impact on the planet.
It’s about being aware of where items go after you have used them.
And it’s about being aware of where your items came from before making the purchase.
It's not as the name implies creating zero trash because very few people can attain this goal.
On that note, it’s important to know that the zero waste lifestyle is not an all or nothing approach. An all or nothing way of thinking often has little practicality. It allows us to do nothing, be afraid to start, or quit since not being able to do it perfectly is a really good excuse.
With minimalism or zero waste I’m not looking for perfection but I would love to take steps towards making a difference. I look at zero waste as a lifestyle I can pursue daily with simple persistence. To me, it’s not just a fad. It’s daily intentionality that afford me to have a lighter footprint on this earth.
#GoingGreen2017 #SLCzerowaste #plasticfree

♡ Nina

My Summer Capsule Wardrobe 2017

This month I'm excited to start my 8th capsule wardrobe and celebrate warmer weather.  
As usual, I have 33 pieces for the next three months because I'm still following Project 333.  This past year I've noticed a trend away from capsule dressing, but I'm still happy with the concept and to this day I'm still learning from it.

Learning to take full ownership of your belongings by taking pride in what I own, mending and taking care of my items when they get tatty.  My clothes and my belongings aren't perfect but I enjoy using what I have, altering and accessorizing things and making them my own.

Learning to be more selective by finding and living my values.
Learning simplicity and intentionality.
...and maybe someday it will help me discover my style as well.  

To me things have progressed past the stage of convenience and cutting out negative self-talk.  At this point I see capsule dressing as a slow journey to discover my personal style.  When I started capsule dressing I could not say what was important to me and what made me feel good.  Now I'm quite happy with the clothes I own, but I also feel inspired by slow and neutral fashion.  I certainly reconsidered my buying habits and I look to buy from more sustainable brands.  However my capsule doesn't feature very many slow fashion items because I want to keep wearing many of my old clothes season after season.  In addition, I also like to buy second hand first before investing in something new.  But I have noticed a shift.  When you look at the clothes in my capsule or capsules, you will see a lot of older, well loved items with stronger busier pattern and newer items I thrifted or bought from brands with sustainable practices that are in a softer and simpler color and silhouette.

Here's my selection for this summer:
(As usual, I will mark all new or new to me items with a * and I will show the brand name of ethically made items.)

S H O R T   S L E E V E   T O P S   (7)
1 - navy blue graphic blouse 
2 - blue/white striped T-shirt with embellishments 
3 - black crop blouse with pink/white flowers
4 - white/blue striped boxy T-shirt 
5 - white polo shirt* (new to me/thrifted item)
6 - white camisole
7 - cream lace T-shirt

L O N G   S L E E V E   T O P S   (5)
8 - black turtleneck sweater 
9 - navy blue swing cardigan 
10 - chambray button down 
11 - white/blue striped peplum button down
12 - white long sleeve button down

D R E S S E S   (5)
13 - black maxi dress 
14 - black/white sleeveless flare dress
15 - red, white and blue stripe dress
16 - navy blue pleated dress* (a gift from my husband)
17 - black lace dress

O U T E R W E A R   (1)
18 - blue denim jacket

B O T T O M S   (5)
19 - indigo jeans PATAGONIA 
20 - light blue jeans 
21 - white jeans
22 - navy blue or navy blue with white polka-dots reversible midi skirt
23 - tan shorts*

S H O E S   (4)
24 - black lace up heeled boots NICORA SHOES 
25 - black hiking sandals
26 - white tennis shoes
27 - black chunky heel sandals

A C C E S S O R I E S   (5)
28 - sunhat*
29 - canvas shopping tote
30 - black wallet VELO CITY BAGS
31 - black adjustable belt
32 - sunglasses 
33 - everyday jewelry: wedding ring/band, watch, pandora bracelet and 1 pair of stud earrings


What's in your capsule this season?  I’d love to hear about your choices for summer if you care to share.  For more information on the concept of capsule dressing, I recommend visiting Courtney Carver's website (linked here). 

I hope you enjoyed seeing the items in my latest capsule!  
Until next time.
   ♡ Nina

Butternut Squash Curry

This delicious butternut curry has been a favourite at work potluck lunches all winter, so I had to share the way I like to make it before the rainy days of spring are over.  It's a simple, but fragrant, spicy creation that warms you up on gloomy days and gives your body good energy.  🌶








I usually eat a bowl or two of this curry like a chili without the rice and I noticed that my stomach and my body feels light, satiated and good.  What more could you want from your lunch?  I hope you get the chance to make this recipe and share it with your friends. 😋

This recipe makes four servings with some leftovers.


I N G R E D I E N T S

1 small to medium sized Butternut Squash;  cut into 1/2 inch dice 

3 Tbsp. Oil

2 tsp. Ground Cumin

2 tsp. Ground Coriander

1 tsp. Hot Pepper Flakes

1 tsp. Curry Powder

1 tsp. Ancho Chili Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. ground Pepper

2 Green Bell Peppers, de-seeded and cut into chunks

2 inch nub of Ginger; grated or finely minced

1 Green Jalapeño Pepper; de-seeded and minced

1 bunch of fresh Cilantro; stems finely minced and leaves roughly chopped

2 tsp. Curry Powder

1 large can of crushed Tomatoes

2 small cans of Black Beans

1 small can of Kidney Beans

3 Kaffir Lime Leaves or 1 stalk of Lemon Grass (optional)

1 can of Coconut Milk

1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

1 bunch of fresh Spinach; chopped

Salt;  to season

2 cups of rice (optional)

P R E P A R A T I O N 

1. The curry dish was usually enjoyed with the girls at work and therefore required pre-roasting the butternut squash and then cooking the curry in a large crockpot.  When you're looking to make this curry, start by preheating the oven to 375° F.  Peal the hard skin of the butternut with a vegetable peeler (or a sharp knife if you're skilled and brave) and then cut the butternut open.  Remove the seeds by hulling the butternut insides with a tablespoon and then cut the butternut into 1 inch dice. 
2. Next create the spice rub by combining the ground cumin, ground coriander, hot pepper flakes, curry powder, ancho chili powder, salt and ground pepper.  Add this mixture, the butternut squash pieces and the oil into a large mixing bowl and combine until the butternut is evenly coated with the spices.  Spread the butternut pieces onto a large baking tray and roast them for 40 minutes.
3. In the meantime, cut the jalapeño pepper, the bell peppers, chop the cilantro stems, grate the ginger and add them with 1/2 a cup of water to the crockpot on high.  After about 15 minutes, add two additional teaspoons of curry powder and 3 whole Kaffir lime leaves.  When the butternut squash is done roasting, stir the vegetable mixture in the crock pot and then add the crushed tomatoes, the beans, 1/2 cup of water and the butternut squash.  
4. Cover the pot and cook on high heat for 1 hour.  Select the low heat setting if you don't mind to cook it for 4 hours.  One thing to remember when using a slow cooker is not opening the lid any more than you have to.  You will have to extend the cooking time very time you open the lid.  If you are like me, you would want to look inside, give it a stir and a try, but trust me, this type of cooking works best if you leave it alone.  In this regard it's best to make this recipe hours before your get hungry.  Get it going and then go off and get busy doing something else while it bubbles away and fills your home with a sweet curry scent.
5. After the cooking time has passed, stir in the coconut milk, brown sugar, and spinach and cook for another 15 minutes.  Finally, adjust the seasoning with salt and fresh squeezed lemon juice until you are happy with the flavour.
6. Ladle into bowls or over a bed of rice and garnish with a generous amount of cilantro leaves.

       ♡ Nina

My Spring Capsule Wardrobe 2017

This is capsule number 7 for me!  I'm still happy with the concept and I'm also still learning from it.  I'm learning how little I need, I learning which colors, fabrics and styles I like and I'm learning to dress for comfort and as a form of self-expression.  Each spring I’m excited to grab some lighter pieces from my clothing box and wear them.  I’m so over wearing a million layers just to stay warm and I know this will stop soon, but we're not there yet.  Where I live the temperature in Spring can swing between 30 and 70 degrees and it is also the time of year when it rains the most, so it's difficult to know how to dress.  I might get excited by how sunny it is outside and when I step into the icy breeze without a jacket I instantly regret my choices.  Some days start in the mid 30s and by lunchtime the temperatures climbed into the 60s.  When I take a train to work I'm dressed for an arctic excursion and on my way home my scarf, hat and coat are no longer in service (usually stuffed into a cotton tote).  How is Spring where you live?

Here is my selection for Spring 2017:
(As usual, I will mark all new items with a * and I will show the brand name of ethical made vegan items.)

S H O R T   S L E E V E   T O P S   (2)
1 - white/blue striped t-shirt
2 - blush pink sleeveless blouse

L O N G   S L E E V E   T O P S   (11)
3 - white long sleeve button down
4 - white and blue peplum button down
5 - buffalo check flannel peplum
6 - black turtleneck sweater 
7 - olive green v-neck sweater
8 - navy blue sweater
9 - cream knit sweater
10 - grey cardigan
11 - navy blue swing cardigan

D R E S S E S   (2)
12 - blue patterned wrap dress
13 - black and white sleeveless flare dress* (new to me from a used clothing swap)

O U T E R W E A R   (3)
14 - fleece sweater* PATAGONIA
15 - black peacoat
16 - olive green parker

B O T T O M S   (3)
17 - light blue jeans
18 - indigo jeans PATAGONIA
19 - white jeans* (new to me from a used clothing swap)

S H O E S   (4)
20 - black lace up boots NICORA SHOES
21 - black lace up heeled boots* NICORA SHOES
22 - white tennis shoes
23 - black hiking sandals

A C C E S S O R I E S   (7)
24 - grey camera/work bag
25 - black wallet VELO CITY BAGS
26 - black adjustable belt
27 - sunglasses
28 - black beanie
29 - black scarf
30 - everyday jewelry: wedding ring/band, watch*, pandora bracelet and 1 pair of stud earrings*


What is in your capsule this season?  I’d love to hear about your choices for spring if you care to share.  For more information on the concept of capsule dressing, I recommend visiting Courtney Carver's website (linked here). 

Thanks for stopping by!
   ♡ Nina