the cold weather has definitely arrived!  brrrr!  you too?  i've been wearing this cold weather simple wardrobe for a few weeks now.  here's what it contains, so far:

long-sleeved tops:
-4 striped tees
-white tee
-indigo tee
-olive button-down
-checked button-down
-2 blue tunic blouses
-red top

pants:
-2 jeans
-black jeans
-leggings

sweaters:
-3 grey cardigans

dresses:
-cream
-indigo

shoes:
-3 caramel boots
-tennies

coats:
-blanket coat
-longer puffer

scarves:
-red plaid
-leah goren girls (so cute!- mine was half off like this one)

my thoughts so far:
-10 is probably a good number for tops- enough.  variety.  laundry friendly.
-i could probably use another sweater or just switch one out, at least.  looking for a pullover
-too many boots.  would love to find the perfect pair…thought i did last year…maybe just need to part with my old ones :)

so that's it!  i always feel a bit more happy with my choices after posting here.  that feels nice.  :)  

i'd love to hear what you are thinking and doing with your cold weather wardrobes!  i just like this kind of stuff.  :)  (obviously)

love, 
jane

i love jeans.  i love jeans that are soft and fit like a glove.  i hate stiff, bulky jeans.  i love jeans with history and holes, patches and signs of love.  i love jeans that have been my companion on adventures…that have been to oceans and mountains with me.  i hate jeans that cut into my middle.  i hate jeans that show a little crack when i squat down.  i love jeans that have sat by campfires with me and survived the sparks.  i love jeans that feel like old friends.  i hate jeans when they are wrong.  i love jeans when they are right.

i love that jeans can be chameleons.  they rise to the occasion.  they can work in a field, kneel in the dirt, grip the sides of a horse.  they can shmooze at a party or boost confidence on metropolitan streets.  when they are right, we don't have to think about them at all.  they are dependable and loyal.  this autumn my jeans gave me a surprise.  they revealed that they couldn't go on.  sniff.  (i love holes and patches, but in the crotch, well.)

my jeans hunt was almost as convoluted as the sweater struggle.  i did find a few new gems.  my favorite company for new jeans is industry standard and i look forward to having a pair at some point.  i thought long and hard about this purchase, and i feel that the first attempt should be to use what already exists.  i felt like jeans could be an especially good place for this to work for me.  when i saw the mile long rack of jeans in my size at the thrift store, i knew this was the truth.  

i had looked at and tried on some jeans at my favorite store and, i won't lie, i bought them.  i found the perfect fit and style.  i repeatedly tried them on at home and each time i would think, these feel like my jeans!  ok, we know how hard that is to find!  but…i was just feeling like they weren't quite right for me.  i felt like i could do better for my values.  (i'm just telling my story here, and in no way making any judgment for you.)  :)

i decided i needed to find a way to love thrifted jeans just as much as the new ones i'd found.  loving the pieces i add to my simple wardrobe is the only way to make it work (for me).  i had looked at my pinterest for inspiration, in the beginning, to know what style jeans i would be looking for.  i decided to change what i was looking for, but still wanted to be inspired.  the two women who inspire me the most right now... and whose style i love the most right now are hannah henderson and serena mitnik-miller.  they own general store in la and sanfrancisco.  we'd visited their stores this summer.  i knew both women loved vintage denim.  i spent some time looking for images of them and pinning them in order to compose a collection of images to be inspired by.

when i went thrifting that second time, i was feeling like a treasure hunter, an individual who could make my own style for myself.  i felt empowered and positive.  i had SO much choice and mined out two pairs of soft, high waisted, minimally stretchy, worn levis.  one pair, i left sort of boot-cut and frayed.  the other, i took in below the knees to a more straight cuffed leg.  i love how my muses seem to let their jeans be what they are…and don't seem at all fazed by trend…yet they are immensely stylish.  something to aspire to.

anyway…i love these jeans, my jeans.   :)

"you are what you do, not what you say you'll do."  carl jung

love, 
jane  

happy wandering!  

love, 
jane + jo + julia

in preparation for our first freeze over the weekend, we cleaned up our garden.  that means picking all the greenies and bringing them in to ripen in front of the big window in our kitchen.  these fiesta peppers are caught in the various shades of ripeness that make them look like perfect fiesta inspiration.  had to record it! love, 
jane + jo + julia

this is a great quick, lunch or easy dinner.  it sounds like an odd combination, but is so delicious!  and my apologies…i think we have established that i am not a gifted recipe namer.  :)

sweet goat bagels

sprouted wheat bagel, toasted
goat cheese, mixed with a bit of milk to achieve spreadable consistency
honey
fresh basil leaves, torn
pecans, broken

enjoy!
love, 
jane + jo + julia

there's still time to craft for we are kenya.  check out craft hope for more details! 

love, 
jane

when we were first married and expecting jo, we went to whole foods to buy prenatal vitamins and belly oil (at the suggestion of a friend), nothing more.  after our next move, we would sometimes get lunch at whole foods and eat outside under an umbrella in the seaside air.  we got lunch again when we happened onto a whole foods in london- that was a surprise!  when we moved here i didn't think much about going, except aspirationally…because, i too thought it was too expensive.  

we've heard a few people say that whole foods = "whole wallet" lately.  that's not our experience, so jo suggested i write a bit about that here.  we hoped it might help someone find that they could make the choice to shop there, if they'd like.  :)  we often associate the idea of a health food store or co-op with higher prices, in addition to high quality, local and organic food.  i do not intend to advocate solely for shopping at whole foods (it's just what we have) but any "health food store" or co-op that might be in your area.  a small, locally owned business would probably be my preference, if i had the choice.

almost exactly a year after moving here, and after already reading and thinking much about our food and the environment…i heard about bea johnson, via this.  i devoured her blog and became incredibly interested in the idea of a zero-waste lifestyle.  i knew a lot would have to change, but i was ready to try.  one thing that couldn't change was my budget.  buying bulk is one of the main means to cutting kitchen waste... enter whole foods, the only place with bulk bins around here.  it seemed pretty pointless to drive to whole foods, passing three grocery stores on the way, just for bulk.  i decided to try shopping there exclusively.

with careful menu planning and sticking to the outside aisles including fruit, veggies, bulk bins, dairy and bakery…i feed our family of four on my previous budget (including one meal out).  this includes toilet paper and toiletries.  bea has written online and in her spectacular book (i can't recommend this book enough!) about how she shops.  i do things a bit differently, since i don't have access to a farmer's market year round.  this year after visiting our favorite farmers all spring, our garden kicked in and fed us somewhat.  now we will depend mostly on the farmers who work with whole foods, many of them fairly local.  

i think the main trick to making a health food type store work on a budget is sticking to the outer aisles.  this is where the healthiest foods are found anyway.  i do boil my own beans, make my own cookies and pizza crusts, bake muffins and breads.  we eat better now than we ever have and i am so happy to be feeding my family fresh, organic, responsibly grown food.

we don't need to be reminded that our food can contain some crazy stuff doing unknown things to our bodies.  i found this little pamphlet next to the pears this week at whole foods.  (you can view it here in a different format along with a short video.)  it shows how they measure responsible growing…
- soil health
- air, energy and climate
- waste reduction
- farmworker welfare
- water conservation and protection
- ecosystem and biodiversity
- pest management
i am proud to support a store who sees value in upholding standards that include these measurements.  i know there are many health food stores and co-ops out there who value these things as well.  we visited some on our road trip this summer.  it is a pleasure to support the work they (and more importantly) these farmers are doing.  i don't believe in everything that such a big business as whole foods supports, this i acknowledge, but i do believe they are doing good things and providing some good food for me and my family…even on my budget.

do your best!  

love, 
jane