enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

  • my next attempt at a capsule wardrobe.

    winter capsule wardrobe

    SO. I loved this capsule closet plan. I am excited to continue it into the next season.

    These past two and a half months I found that it was way too easy to just stick with the pieces. Frighteningly easy. I ended up buying two new things and adding them in – warm boots from Target and a navy puffy vest for morning walks. Both have gotten a lot of use and both I will be adding to my winter wardrobe. I also ended up getting a sweater out of storage when it started to get "chilly" and I needed extra layers.

    But other than that – success. No random splurges. No "shopping just to look." No "but it's on sale!" No super cluttered closet with stuff I don't love. No, "oh this shirt is cute, maybe I should get it in two colors!" Overall, it was pretty great.

    I am very excited to try it again for the next three months – January through March.

    Towards the end of the first week of December (so earlier than I had planned) I started looking through my pinterest boards and thinking about what I wanted January through March to look like. SPOILER ALERT – really neutral and cozy. I went through my current closet and chose what would stay. Then I went though my bins of clothes and picked out some stuff I've had for years that I wanted to bring back in (this felt like Christmas morning). Last, I made a list of things that I wanted to add. The list looked like this:

    • black denim (I went with my stand-by jean, the jcrew toothpick)
    • white sweatshirt (I found one similar to this on super sale)
    • long sleeve plaid in blue or black (I asked for this for Christmas)
    • black and white striped shirt (loved the extra detailing on this one)
    • a white silk shirt (this came to me c/o Popbasic)

    After wearing limited stuff for a few months, shopping for new stuff was more of a challenge. I found that there was a huge difference between "yeah, this is fine." and "yes, this really works." The fine stuff doesn't cut it anymore (which I realize is how it should have been all along). I tried on a lot of pieces and returned a lot of online purchases before I felt good about my decisions. The items starred in the links below are new and I did my best to find a similar source for older items.

    I do not think you need to buy anything to make a capsule closet work. Totally the opposite actually. My goal is to round-out my wardrobe this first year so that's why I had a few versatile items on my shopping list.

    Topswinteredit

    TOPS & DRESSES : 3191 handmade tunic top, oversize cardigan (similar & similar), heart blouse, white silk blouse*, white sweatshirt* (similar), cream loose fitting tee (similar), white v-neck, gray cardigan (similar), topshop tee, madewell v neck,  "Ellery" patterned top, black and white stripe top*, statement tee (similar), black polka dot top, black longsleeve (similar), Awesome Time baseball tee (purchased here last spring but appears to no longer be available), puffy vest*, navy sweatshirt*, striped top (similar), navy plaid*, light chambray (similar).

    Mostly, this next season I am excited to slightly change up the color palette. Less red. More winter white and tan. No shorts (I might regret that). A ton more tops (layers are my favorite and I found myself wanting more top than bottom options last season).

    I got a question the other day if I find myself missing color in my wardrobe and the answer is no. Not at all. This neutral style is what I am drawn to. I think this actually was a big part of why I had so much stuff in my closet and not a lot got worn. I would buy the colorful tops thinking "yes!" but when it came time to actually put them on and leave the house, I always thought "no!" and reached for the gray tee. (Or worse, I'd leave the house in the teal top and then get to the restaurant and think, "Damn. I wish I'd worn that gray top.")

    I do love color! My goodness, I love color. But in my wardrobe I have learned that just a few colorful dresses for fancy occasions (exhibit a, old from anthro & exhibit b, from nordstrom) are enough. In my everyday life, the neutrals are what I feel my best in (and are so easy to mix and match because everything goes together.)

    Bottomsdressesshoes

    BOTTOMS, DRESSES & SHOES : jcrew toothpick jeans lighter wash, jcrew toothpick jeans, madewell slim boyjean,  jcrew toothpick black denim*, double dare maxi skirt (size up for best fit), skinny pocket pants (similar), xhileration black and gold skirt (from Target but I couldn't find an online source), black maxi dress, black and white striped dress (similar), rainbow sandals, tan ballet flats (similar color), minnetonka moccasins, canvas slip-ons, warm boots, madewell boots (similar)

    It's 36 pieces again this time (19 roll-overs, 8 pulled from storage, 7 purchases/gift items and 2 colder weather requirements). That gold and black skirt is sort of the wildcard, but I figured between NYE, my birthday and trip to Vegas it will get worn. I am already starting to rotate things in (and the shorts have been packed away). It feels good to change things up and I can already see that I have a "better" style (for me) evolving after just a few months. I was sad to say good-bye to my favorite item from autumn, the denim vest, but it's coming back in April, for sure.

    I said this last time, but it's worth repeating : my daily life is very casual. If I had an out of the house job that required fancier clothing, I would most likely to do smaller capsules of 30 pieces (weekday) and 15 pieces (weekend). But there are so many ways to do this and no "right" way.

    The goal for me is to be mindful about what I am buying and wearing. I am NOT a big fan of getting dressed but I'm a huge fan of looking somewhat pulled together. This is helping me bridge those two things.

    Anyone else attempting this again? Or for the first time? Sort of addicting, no?

    many links are affiliate.

  • december MAKE29 : behind the scenes.

    2015 goal tracking daily calendar

    I am so excited to share more about the eleventh month of MAKE29 with you today.

    It's shocking that we're already at month 11 of 12. But as this edition will tell you…big things happen one day at a time. And it's been 299 days since this MAKE29 launched.

    When I set out on this project I (purposely) didn't think things through all the way. I didn't think about the fact that 12/22 is three days before Christmas and NOT a huge online shopping day. I didn't think about much, actually. (Including what a hassle unique coupon codes would be.)

    So this past fall when it came time to get a plan in order, I was stumped. What do people need in late December? What do people want in late December? A nap for sure. But how will I ship it? 😉

    2015 goal tracking daily calendar

    And then I remembered the calendar I used in 2010 to track my workouts. It was a simple calendar with 365 boxes. Each day that you completed the activity you checked the box. It was HUGELY motivating. Not because I was able to see every day checked off, but because I was able to see the whole picture. This is what I had to say about it (in this post) after the year was over:

    "I kept that paper chart (and it's spelling error) with me through three moves (remember, we spent two months in Sacramento before coming down to San Diego) and diligently maintained it. At the end of a week, I might have been bummed that I only got to the gym once, but by the end of 2010, I felt like I had really accomplished something. I could see how many days I had made an effort overall. Even better, I was inspired to do more in 2011."

    I really believe that progress is better than perfection because progress is something we can strive for. Progress is motivating. Perfection is paralyzing. This calendar's goal is to encourage you to pick ONE THING for the year. Something you can attempt to do everyday. And then this calendar will help you track it and hopefully remind you that there is a much larger picture to see here.

    2015 goal tracking daily calendar

    My personal daily goal is to have dinner at the dining table as a family every night in 2015. It's SO MUCH EASIER to just feed Ellerie at the counter while we're prepping "adult" dinner and then for Paul and I to eat in front of the TV after she's gone to sleep. (It's fun too.) But I would rather we carve out that together time. I want to establish the habit now before Ellerie remembers anything different. I'll be hanging this calendar in our kitchen and checking off every day we make it work.

    100things

    For fun, I wrote out a list of 100 ideas of things you could do daily. It was shockingly hard to come up with this list but they are all such simple things. (#35 is a nod to Ross, obviously. #pastepants)

    So that's concept. Let's talk production.

    2015 goal tracking daily calendar

    My original plan was to print 2900 of these. Seriously. I wanted a ton because I wanted a ton of people to be able to try out this idea. And then I thought about the logistics. 2900 envelopes. 2900 mailing labels. 2900 packages being shipped out (and obviously, these would only be issues if I actually sold 2900 prints which was a gigantic issue in itself).

    So I scaled back to an edition of 290 and decided to have them letterpress printed. And I also decided to offer a digital download of the same file in .PDF form for people who just wanted use the calendar but didn't want the letterpress and/or were international and didn't want to wait for shipping.

    The letterpress prints are limited to 290 but the digital download is totally open.

    2015 goal tracking daily calendar

    To up the incentive for actually purchasing the physical product, I'm including a fun 3×3 sticker that has the same message AND I am including the downloadable file. (So you'll get a letterpress print & sticker in the mail and a digital print in your email inbox.)

    The .PDF can be printed as many times as you wish (though please not re-sold or shared digitally on a blog or website). Maybe you have a friend who could use a jumpstart? Or a habit your kids want to try? Or something different you'd like to do daily at work? There you go. You've got a back-up copy.

    2015 goal tracking daily calendar

    The last part of this behind the scenes, is that my original 290 letterpress prints, in classic Elise fashion, had a typo. I left an "R" out of "progress" which would only be more appropriate if it had been left out of "perfect." I spent so much time making sure those dates and numbers were correct that I didn't pay enough attention to the text. #awful

    The saving grace here is that I hadn't gone with the 2900 and didn't have to get 2900 reprints (there would have been many tears instead of face-palming if my mistake had been that costly). The new version is typo-free and ready for you to mess up with your sharpies, markers, pencils and ball-point pens.

    WHEW. That's so many words about one simple product. I tend to get VERY WORDY at the end of the year. For a professional goal-setter, the year's end is the finish line and that makes me giddy. On January 1 we get to take a deep breath and start all over again. I hope you'll consider bringing a new habit to the starting line with you.

    2015 goal tracking daily calendar

    Letterpress calendars will be available for $8 and the downloadable file will be $4 here on 12/22 at 10am PST.

    Progress > Perfection.

  • A NEW LOOK FOR THE OLD BLOG

    Newbloglook

    So I said I was going to get a blog design together in the next few weeks. And then I said early next week. And then I said by Thursday for sure. And then last night I was like "Welp, I can toss and turn in bed and think about HTML, or I can just sit at my computer and HTML it out."

    This is how it is when I get ready for a new blog layout. It's like a hot mess of not being able to sleep, sweaty palms and tension headaches. But then it's done and life is good again.

    So welcome to the new ENJOY IT.

    It's basically the same!

    But cleaner!

    Just in time for her 9th birthday next week!

    I don't know about you, but whenever a blog I like announces a new design, my first thought (as a blogger) is "Oh no." because it always makes me feel like (as a blogger) I need to get my ducks in row and re-do my blog too. And then my second thought (as a blog reader) is "Oh no." because I always worry that (as I reader) I have to update my RSS feeds and re-figure out where the main content will appear.

    I am pretty sure this makes me lazy. I am also pretty sure this makes me human.

    Change is scary. So scary that I avoided it for 2.5 years. That's right. TWO AND A HALF YEARS ago I talked with Elsie and Emma about co-piloting a blog design course with them. I lamented about how small my blog photos were and we all agreed that I should totally increase my main content column size. Do you want to know why I didn't do this? Because I had 6.5 years of posts with photos that were resized for a 500 pixel wide column.

    Guess what I have today? NINE YEARS of posts with photos that are resized for a 500 pixel wide column.

    DAMN. I should have done it then. I totally should have done it then. But I didn't. Every few months I would think about it and every few months I would say, "Nahhhh." Until finally I was over that crap and it was seriously time for an upgrade.

    So what's new?

    Well, the banner, for starters. It's cleaner but still looks like me. I moved the navigation up a bit. I tightened up my about page. I adjusted my FAQ page a bit. I created an affiliate link heavy "Where did you get that?" page to answer the most frequent question I get asked.

    I also went cross-eyed reorangizing my archives. (I apologize for the pages that popped up in your RSS feeds. That was a total mistake.) You can see on the right sidebar that there is a link to both archives by date and archives by category. Clicking on the category link takes you to a page with almost all the topics I blog about. Clicking on those photos takes you to a unique archive page for that section.

    Screen shot 2014-12-16 at 8.21.50 PM

    For example, I now have a Yarn Projects page as well as a Sewing Projects page. I also divided up stuff like goal setting, small business and blogging, hopefully making it easier for you to find what you need. I also threw in an Indoor Plants and Gardening Archive because that seemed like the right thing to do.

    I also cleaned the individual projects buttons off the sidebar. Now you can use the right sidebar to find a link to past projects and current projects (plus short descriptions of each).

    I am highlighting some shop items on the sidebar since let's get real, this blog exists to promote the shop. I am also highlighting some popular posts (based on Pinterest) on the sidebar. I'm curious to see how these posts do.

    Otherwise though, it's the same. Elise blogging about ALL THE THINGS. Heavy emphasis on timercam photos and spoiler alerts. A little more professional. A little more appropriate for my nearly 30 year old self. A little, "Hey! It's 2015 now and no longer 2007! Let's get fancy, but not confusing!"

    I hope you'll continue to check in. And no need to update your RSS feeds.

    EDIT : thanks for the "profile photo" thoughts. I have one on the way from my friend Cortnee and I'll see how that fits in on the top right. With the photo heavy banner I wasn't sure if it was necessary and it may not be but we'll see. I really appreciate your kind words and helpful suggestions. 🙂

    Let me know if you catch any bugs or issues! I am on Mama duty today so it's unlikely I'll make updates, but Thursday I should be able to clean things up.

  • ABOUT ELISE

    Elisecripeheadshot

    My name is Elise. I live in San Diego, California with my husband Paul and our two young daughters, Ellerie and Piper.

    When I started this blog in December 2005, I was a single girl in the middle of her junior year of college at USC. I was a business major and surrounded by a gaggle of great girlfriends. Today, my business major has come in handy and my girlfriends still surround me. Only now it’s through email and sadly, we don’t still live in a big sorority house.

    After I graduated college I followed my heart to the east coast and moved in with my then boyfriend, Paul. It was the best decision I ever made. We lived together for a year and a half and then, in our kitchen, while wearing pjs and making dinner, Paul asked me to marry him.

    We were married in April 2010. I would not change one thing about our wedding day. You can read all about how I DIYed it up here.

    Amidst the falling in love, deciding to make a lasting commitment bits and cross-country military moves (Paul is a doctor in the US Navy) I kept blogging. And kept crafting. Soon my blog and my shop became a business that allowed me to forsake all other day jobs (and there were a lot before I found the right fit) and just do this (you can read my 15 part small business story here).

    In June 2013, Paul and I welcomed Ellerie to our family and my heart burst and my life flipped upside down (in the hardest and the very best ways.) I currently split my time between being a full-time mama (to two special girls! Piper joined our family in November 2015) and a full-time business owner and I am grateful for the chance to do both. My biggest business project right now is called GET TO WORK BOOK, a day planner + goal setting journal and tools that help you get to work.

    I wrote a book about goal-setting called Big Dreams, Daily Joys that was published in October 2019. You can pick it up everywhere books are sold. And be sure to check out the journal as well.

    Before I had the chance to write a book, I wrote a lot right here. I am no longer posting daily (you can read more about this decision here) but I do hope you browse the archives. 9.75 years of blogging = many, many posts.

    If you want to keep up with my more frequent posting, please subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Instagram @elisejoy.

    With so much love, elise

    p.s. got a question? check here.

  • december book report.

    IMG_5132

    It's been awhile since my last book report. Just three books in seven weeks. Not my best record and spoiler alert, this is not my best round-up. But here's what's been helping me fall asleep…

    Yes, Please by Amy Poehler / it's no secret I'm a big Amy fan. I was excited to get a chance to hear more from her and this book did not disappoint. I read a lot of it while holding back tears. Is that odd? Probably. It's not a sad book. But so much…the labor and postpartum stuff, the honest thoughts about saying sorry and making a big mistake, the stuff about her parents, the stuff about working and being a mom, the difference between creativity and career, the differences between men and women. I don't know. IT HIT ME HARD. I didn't race through this. I couldn't. I sort of savored sections over the period of a month. It was like my funny, older, wiser sister was giving me honest, heartfelt advice. I think I'll refer back to this and I rarely say that about memoir. Let's get real. I'll probably give this book it's own post in a few weeks.

    The Magicians by Lev Grossman / this is the book that I got stuck on and why it took me so long to get a new report up. This book is Harry Potter except older, grungier, sadder and with more sex and alcohol. (Did I sell you on it?) It's not fair to say that ANY book about magicians is like Harry Potter but with my book experience it's hard to not draw the comparison. I wanted to enjoy this. It's the first of three in a series and I would love nothing more than getting sucked into another wonderful series but I really didn't like it. I hated every character. And not in the "reality tv, what will they do next?!" way but in the "I'm so bored" way. Bummer.

    Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan / this was much more of a beach read than I expected though It was a different take on "traditional" chick-lit. It was fun but there were SO MANY unanswered questions when it ended. There were about 25 main characters we got sort of a resolution on 2.5 of them. That was odd and a bit frustrating. I am sort of neutral on this though I will say it was addicting and hard to put down.

    Big Little Lies and Being Mortal are up next for me. What about you?

    ps. see all my book reports (and the comments sections are even better) here.

    Other posts you might enjoy: 

  • SMALL BUSINESS ARCHIVE

  • CURRENT PROJECTS

    MAKE&GIVE30BUTTON

    Starting on my 30th birthday, I will be completing and sharing 30 DIY projects on the blog. All of them will be given away, either to a friend, through a random giveaway, auction-ed off with the proceeds donated and whatever else I can come up. You can read more about this project here and follow along here.

     

    Projectfilm

    Towards the end of 2014 I started taking one roll of film photos of my daughter each month. I aim for just one or two photos a day. I shoot with a Canon EOS Rebel xs and this 50 mm lens. I have the photos developed locally and am sharing them on the blog about once a month. I am so impressed with film’s ability to just capture Ellerie so perfectly. It feels like magic.

     

    Projecteande

    I am documenting Ellerie’s second year by photographing some mama and baby favorites each month. When she turns two I will get a book of the images printed.

     

    Projectwardrobe

    I am attempting to limit my closet and pair down to a small collection of well-loved clothes. To do this, I am working from just a capsule wardrobe every three month (it changes with the seasons). I am sharing my wardrobe (usually between 32-38 pieces) and thoughts on this project here on the blog a few times a year. My goals with this project are to 1) eliminate clutter, 2) save time standing in front of a full closet with “nothing to wear,” 3) cut down on unnecessary spending and 4) better define my personal style.

     

    Projectnewhome

    We purchased our first house in February 2013 and I have been sharing the progress made as I slowly find or DIY the perfect stuff for the space.

     

    Projectbookreports

    I love to read and I have been sharing thoughts on books I’m reading since I started this blog in 2005. I have been trying to be a bit more consistent these days and I post near monthly book reports now. The comments sections are always killer and my readers are where I get all of my book recommendations.

  • PAST PROJECTS

    PROJECTELLERIE

    I became a mother at 3:46pm on June 20, 2013. For the first year of my daughter’s life I wrote her near weekly letters to help myself cope, adjust and enjoy this insane new job. I was humbled to my core and continue to be awestruck by my sweet girl.

     

    Projectmake29

    This is my year-long craft project that I started in February 2014. I have been releasing an edition of 29 or 290 on the 22nd of every month. You can read more about this here and shop the products here.

     

    Projectloaves

    In 2011, I set a goal to bake 40 different types of bread in one year. It ended up taking 15 months, but I did it and loved the experience. You can find all 40 loaves by clicking above.

     

    ProjectPIZZA

    After the 40 loaves, I set out to create 40 different pizzas. This project has stalled, but there are still some aweome topping ideas if you want to click above.

     

    PROJECT2014

    PROJECT2013

    PROJECT2012

    For three years, I documented our daily lives using a system called Project Life. The spreads I created are chronicled on the blog and you can see them by year by clicking the images above. You can learn more about how I used Project Life here and my Project Life process here.

     

    Projectmini

    For years I loved making minibooks. The image above takes to you all the posts featuring these different little books and this unique documention method.

  • BLOGGING TIPS ARCHIVE

  • GOAL SETTING & CREATIVITY ARCHIVE