Angie challenged us to edit our closets, and Runcarla suggested places to donate books if we wanted to extend the edit outside of the closet, so I've had editing on the brain or something.

I edited my craft supply hoard today. Supplies went into the donation bin, and I went through my recipes and weeded out more that I knew I wouldn't ever try out. I haven't felt brave enough to tackle the yarn yet, but it's coming. There will be a day of reckoning with Christmas decorations and gift-wrap supplies soon, too.

I've also been eyeing everything in my wardrobe with a more critical eye. Several garments and a couple pairs of shoes have gone into the donation pile in my backseat of my truck.

I also was offered and accepted a job in the produce department at the local grocery store. I couldn't turn it down: it's a permanent position, closer to home, more hours, and a whole dollar more per hour than the Old Navy seasonal job was offering. The new job involves a uniform: red polo-style company shirts, solid black pants, and solid black shoes. Boring, but it simplifies things for work clothes; and leaves me needing less clothing overall (but at least it can be whatever I want to wear for days off work).

I've noticed a few common themes among the clothes and shoes that I've kept, and this should hopefully help me make better buying decisions in the future.

* the predominant silhouette in my bottoms is skinny. Skinny jeans, slim trousers, moto style leggings. I did keep a few pairs of wide leg bottoms because they balance out my shoulders/arms/newbs, and because I do like a wide leg trouser for times when I'm not moving around a lot. I kept one maxi skirt, but if it doesn't get worn it goes away. I'm set for jeans for a long time, and I have ordered some slim black pants just for work so I shouldn't need pants for a while.

* i wound up with a fairly tight color palette when clothes quit flying out the closet door. Blacks, greys, lots of various shades of denim, tan/khaki, navy blue, and my dippin dots colors. There are a few burgundy bottoms in there, but when they're worn out they won't be replicated in my wardrobe. As for the dippin dots colors, I'm drawn to the blues and purples the most; as pinks wear out, they'll likely won't be replaced.

* I've gotten pickier about the length of tops in my old age. I'm less comfortable showing a skin belt (be it tummy or plumber's crack). Tall department shopping for me whenever possible from now on.

* I've also found a happy medium between the really fitted tops of my thinner days and the loose tops I wore after my weight gain. No more oversized tops. A bit loose, yes; gargantuan, no.

* footwear: all those flats I bought for a possible job in clothing retail? They're beautiful, but they can't be worn to the job I've accepted. Looks like I'm going to be sporting some super stylish shoes on my days off. Almost all of my boots stayed, because reasons The ones that didn't stay are the ones that felt like they were too tight for the funky toes and I refuse to deal with any more blisters on the insides of my toes.

Thank you, Angie, for getting the ball rolling with your challenge. And thank you to everyone who has shared their introspective posts about their edits. Hopefully, I can stick to better buying habits in the future thanks to all I learn from you guys