Le Tote

I've got a secret. 

I wear clothes that aren't mine.

Clothes I can't afford to buy.

I give them back without washing them.

Then I do it all over again.

You can too!

I'm talking about Le Tote. A friend introduced me to it, and I'm so glad she did. I'm currently wearing a top that retails for $99. I can't think of any piece of clothing I've ever paid $99 for, except my wedding dress. It was hard to get a photo of my favorite feature of this top, the zippered shoulders and the duck tailed back. From the front it just looks like a regular old flannel. That feather bracelet? Also Le Tote.

After you make an account, you browse their clothes, bags, and accessories online and add the ones you like to your "closet". Le Tote then styles a tote for you and sends it to you in a box like this. Shipping is free (both ways) and fast. They are based out of San Francisco. There is a prepaid shipping bag in the box, and after you wear the clothes you simply drop them in the bag and back into the mail. Do this as often as you want to get the most for your money.

They will then style your next tote and send it out. You rate the items they send you on your style and the fit. It's like Netflix for clothes. Variety without the price tag. 

My biggest closet problem is that I have no variety. Seriously, I own 8 of the same black tank tops. This way I get to try things that I'd probably never think to buy. You can also tell them what not to send you. I opted out of earrings, but have kept everything else open.

If you fall in love with something and want to keep it, you just don't return that item in the bag and Le Tote will charge you the price listed. The best part is that they do the laundering. We are entering into sweater season, which means hand wash sweaters. Insert horrid face emoji here.

If you know an event is coming up, simply add a nice dress and fun accessories into your closet. You review your tote and can replace items they pick for you before you finalize your tote. Weddings, holiday parties, special events? Done and done! 

It costs $49 a month if you add the insurance (which I did). That way if you stain something, it is covered. There are no commitments or contracts, you can cancel it anytime. This was key to me signing up, I don't dig contracts. If you decide you want to try it (even just for a month!) you can use my referral link to get $25 off the first month. 

Embracing the Ordinary

A normal Thursday.

Remnants of yesterday's mascara.

Changing pajama pants for yoga pants, in hopes that I'll actually DO yoga before I find time for a shower.

Waking up to a house with no half-n-half. The horror.

A restless night because of last night's all night thunderstorm keeping me awake.

Sleep deprived spelling lesson.

Botany. Today's lesson is on pollination. Call me crazy, but I think the children of beekeepers have this lesson down.

French, year 2, but 5th and 6th grade version.

History, reading through The Egypt Game after spending weeks studying Egypt.

Math, supposedly their self-contained computer lesson, but where one child insists that you sit next to her in case she needs help. She solves the problems in her head faster than you do, showing her math wizardry that she likes to hide, so you can sit next to her.

Three loads of clean laundry on the bench at the end of your bed, but hey, at least they've made the journey from the dryer to inside the house, no small feat.

An as yet unmade bed, which I hate, because I like crawling into an organized bed at night. Maybe by not making it I'm just keeping my options open for crawling back in it.

Chickens needing fed, in the rain. 

A garden to check. See what other growth my dearly beloved gopher has eaten or dug up.

A bathroom sink perpetually covered in toothpaste.

A checkbook in need of balancing.

On and on it goes.

And that's OK.

I'm feeling this new wave come over me.

I don't have to get it all done, and newsflash, even if I do, I will get to do it all again tomorrow. Life exists in a long string of ordinary days. Some are better than others, like the ones that involve chocolate, adventure, or marveling at something new and amazing. Most are this, a sequence of ordinary events that don't seem like much to us in the moment, but add them all up and they equal the sum of our lives. There is nothing new here, no wow factor. Just a personal light bulb and resolve. I plan on joyfully embracing the ordinary moments, fun and not so fun (laundry, never ending dishes, I'm looking at you).

For some people that I am very close to, their lives do not have as much joy as they once held. It breaks my heart in ways I never knew possible. I've watched as they were awarded this lesson before me though, and I took notice. They have learned to embrace the ordinary. The small, good things that come to them on ordinary days, are really not small to them at all. String them together, and they get a measure of joy most of us take for granted.

I'm becoming more mindful of moving through my ordinary days with eyes and heart wide open, not to Pollyanna over the hard stuff, but to grow from it. 

To dig deep.

To offer much.

To make myself low.

I want to celebrate with you on the extraordinary days, and climb into the pit with you on the bad days. I want to listen to understand, not to solve.

I want to love.

And I want to love in the ordinary ways on ordinary days, even when the ocean is no where in sight.