THE END

As promised, here is the video that I put together to celebrate the whole challenge.

So how did I go? Well I wore almost everything! At the end of it all the only items I didn't get to wear were one pair of shorts, oh and the jackets! But I am giving myself a break over those as it is Summer after all. Maybe we'll need a winter version???

This challenge has been a truckload of fun. I feel very modern, I now have a blog and have made a video plus I have been given conversation, I've found acquaintances and friendships have been deepened and I have been inspired creatively. Plus I've worn (almost all) of my wardrobe.

Thank you for your support and enthusiasm, it has made a difference knowing someone has been reading my blog.

And as for what's next? Watch this space... I'm sure I'll think of something...

Day 54 - It's not you... it's me

Remember the material? It's from Day 35. I felt silky and sari-y all day, and I didn't fall over my skirt once (or that anyone noticed).

The most lovely day, spent with 'A&D' the parents of my godson who kept us entertained all day. The photographer and I get to play act being parents with godson... all love no responsibility. I retreat inside where drinks abide while the photographer gets squirted with the water pistol Xmas present. Bliss!

I hope your Xmas was blissful... today is the last day of my challenge and I feel like we are breaking up.

It's not you it's me.

Tomorrow watch for summary, insightful commentary and video clip... because tonight there is still some wine in the glass and the remainants of 'Sex and the City' to be consumed.... see you then.

Day 53 - So this is Christmas

Here I am looking festive... its a very D.I.N.K-y (not to be confused with DKNY) Xmas... that stands for Double Income No Kids. We have our Bay Tree in a pot decorated with Warehouse Xmas lights, the five Xmas cards we received strung up on the chimney and all the presents you see are ones we have to give to other people! Except for one for the photographer and one for me.

The photographer is insisting we stay awake until midnight so we can open the presents the moment it turns Christmas Day. Those of you who know me well will laugh at the thought that staying awake until midnight would ever be a struggle for me... oh but how I've changed!

As I wrote about in yesterday's blog we gave away the Santa's Sack this morning . I arrived at the prize winners house at 7am, only to be greeted by Nige, one of the hosts of the breakfast show, to tell me that the Mother of the house had gone into labour and was at the hospital giving birth!!!!! It was a very special morning to say the least!

I have a song that seems to run on loop around this time of year... and no it is not Snoopy's Xmas, no matter how many times that is inflicted on our ears. It is John Lennon's song... "so this is Christmas and what have you done?"

"Um... worn my entire wardrobe and written about it in a most self-indulgent way inflicting it on anyone who would listen slash had the misfortune to be my friend on Facebook?"

Doesn't quite have the same 'Iambic Pentameter' does it? Next year's spark of madness challenge must be something more community minded I feel!

Happy Christmas - a big smooch to you all!

Day 52 - Bat Girl

da-na-da-na-da-na-da-na-bat girl!

Well this batty girl is ready for a holiday! One more day!

I cleaned my desk today and did my filing and went on a bit of an organisational blitz. It will continue tomorrow as I get all planned and indulge my anal retentiveness! I am salivating at the thought!

Only TWO more outfits left... unbelievable. I am putting the final touches to the video and hope to post that on Boxing Day along with some reflections on the experience.

Today we had a farewell morning tea for Nige, one half of the More FM Marlborough Breakfast Show. http://www.facebook.com/#!/JamieandNige, and tomorrow is his last show. I am helping out... it is the show where we giveaway the Santas Sack... over $5000 worth of prizes to one lucky family! I go along with them to the winner's home and help out each year, taking photos or whatever. I used to have to do it as part of my role at the radio station but I have continued to do it just to help out. It gets me in the Xmas spirit because otherwise I am a bit of a grinch.

Mum has always said to me that she started enjoying Xmas again as an adult once she had children and I think I started to understand that this year. My wee godson, who the photographer and I love so much, is re-introducing us to Christmas and yay! we get to spend it with him! (The parents have split the country so we have been invited to spend it with good friends D&A beginning with an Xmas brunch at their parents house!)

 I hope your Xmas season is going well so far too...time for a beer!

Day 51 - A Detour

 Well, the wheels fell off this morning. The outfit I had planned for the day just wasn't working for me when I put it on. So I wore this dress instead. I know, I know... I've worn it before, so I took a little bit of a detour this morning forgoing a dress I haven't worn for one I have, but I had a better day because of it! 

It's always the way though isn't it! Its when the finish line is in sight that the cramp kicks in.

I pulled myself together for this evening though. BBQ at friends. One shoulder black clubbing top from back in the Auckland days (hasn't see a disco ball for quite some time!) paired with a kimono jacket the photographer brought from Japan very recently. There is a closeup of the exquisite pattern on the back too. I plan to wear it belted with leggings and bright red lips... but that will be another story!

Day 50 - Magic in the Moon

It's tropical, monsoony, magical weather. Rain, big juicy drops fell all day until mid afternoon then the wind blew the mistiness away. I still equate this kind of weather, you know rain and misty damp, with cold so it constantly surprised me today that this weather was warm. I remember arriving in Japan, in the middle of Summer, just the same. At the time I felt like I was living in a bowl of ramen soup - cloudy, hot and slurpy.

It must be good for our skin, this moistness. Not so much for the hair! Frizz-o-rama!

Lunar eclipse tonight. The photographer says it doesn't look so clear, but I think it looks spectacular. And its lovely and windy and warm. I love it when it is like this!

Outfit is ramshackle. The dress looks fantastic usually, today it looks more like a lab coat! Not my best work. The tee shirt is another one of the photographer's designs. Most of you probably know about them already, but if you don't here is a link - hope it works...

 http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Roku-Tee-shirts/26642521349?v=info

Oh, and they are available for purchase too.

Day 49 - The Home Stretch!

Holey-moley!

I have 2 hoodies, 3 dresses, 5 tops, 1 cardigan/ vests, 5 jackets, 1 pairs of shorts and 1 pair of shoes left to wear and 5 days left to wear them in . Looking through my sad collection of tops - 3 of the 5 consist of tee shirts and one of those has paint on it!

When am I next going to wear a tee-shirt with paint on it? That's right, the next time I paint!

But that aint gonna happen this side of Christmas.

To be frank with you, I didn't know it had paint on it when I counted it. Oh! How I rue (that's right rue) my insufficient wardrobe organisational system!!

So if it's okay with you I am swapping it out for a item I missed - and that is the skirt I am wearing today! I sewed it but wasn't happy with it so it has sat forever on my "to fix" pile. And yesterday I did just that, "fixed it" by chopping it shorter and sewing a thin blue line down the centre front seam and along the hemline. I co-ordinated today with my sky blue pendant and matching earrings.

It is now the shortest 'on purpose' skirt I own by quite some inches!

When I say 'on purpose'  it is only that I am thinking of the many altercations with scissors I've had when chopping skirts shorter. In particular I thinking about me as a teeneager.

We were all about buying petticoat slips/ grandma style skirts from the op-shop and wearing them, sometimes over jeans, sometimes with Doc Marten style boots. Very Courtney Love. I do remember on numerous occasions that after a Saturday morning of hardcore op-shop shopping we would head back home to style the petticoats up. What this actually meant was chopping them off at a length we thought would be right only to discover when we put them on that they barely covered anything! More belts, than skirts!

If only girls today had the same discretion!

Day 48 - Sunday Rain

Well boy has it rained. I imagine the earth is feeling like that first glass of water after a big night out! Just soaking it up. Everything looks clean, and the garden has grown inches! It is still humid humid as! In Japanese it's called "mushi atsui"... which I think sounds just like the weather! Mushi - mushy heat.

Two tops down today - tee shirt is the photographers design. I spend several hours today making a video of my clothes... it will be posted as the grand finale - watch this space!

PS Look at how much my hair has grown in 6 weeks or so!

Day 47 - Oyster Catchers

Here I am demonstrating how you catch oysters... by sneaking up on them very quietly. Or maybe I've just had too much sun.

Just the teeshirt today is new. Another Japanese purchase. Much longer and looser than I would normally do in a teeshirt but it was a teaching tee shirt so it needed to be long enough that when I lifted up my arms I didn't show any skin. Big no no!

Underneath the bonsai type picture is this little poem.

"As for the pine that Japanese most is
                             a very famous known tree
    Various things are made of the pine
                    There will be a pine when it is planted in a place to vary and it
is protected against the dangerous thing in
                our life because it is very strong"

Hmmm - deep.                     

The photographer is keen to head out and about getting mussels and oysters etc so we piled in the car and headed just out of Havelock which itself is about 30 minutes out of Blenheim. We went to a place where he could get rock oysters. It was a beautiful stinking hot day. I decided to keep in the shade as I hadn't put any sunblock on and I spent a few hours just sitting watching the photographer navigate the Havelock estuary mud in jandals.

I never sit down and do nothing. Even when I do sit down to relax there is always TV on or a book in my hands or a list in my head to get through. Try it - it feels weird. Just sitting, doing nothing looking at a view. You'll go through first initial pleasure of "ah, isn't this nice' but then withdrawal will kick in.You'll feel you have to "do" something. Just ride it out because then the deeper tranquility of just being will arrive.

So we've had the oysters with lemon and salt for entree. I made a paella-y risotto for our main, chock-full with salmon, prawns, chicken and mussels accompanied by an okay bottle of Pinot Gris. Then I ate some wonderful dark chocolate with almonds (while ironically watching a TV programme about chocolate) for dessert. And fruit. Mandarins, apples and mango.

Mango - I am in love with mango. It's like eating perfume!

I'm in love with everything today aren't I?! Perhaps all this clean Marlborough Sounds air has gone to my head after all! Or the heat... so warm. Will have to sleep with the fan on tonight I think!

Day 46 - Dance In The Dark

Walked home with my shoes in my handbag. Headphones plugged into my MP3 player, dancing with my shadows... over to you Gaga...

"Baby loves to dance in the dark
Cos when he's looking she falls apart
Baby loves to dance, loves to dance in the dark"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om9ZJo6uCp0

I think I'm in love.....

Day 45 - Funny Ole' Day

Funny Ole' Day... hot but rainy, cloudy and warm. Some real successes, a wee bit of struggle. It was very much a "four seasons in one day" kinda vibe on a whole lot of levels.

But I really like what I wore. Jaunty shorts, staggeringly high heels, the top and jacket combo I discovered on day one of this journey. And my neck scarf. Pale Apricot with a picture of a pheasant on it's edges. Odd. Made In Italy. 100% Polyester. Looks better than my description of it.

Late night Xmas shopping in town tonight but had a presentation til late so didn't venture down the streets. Looked busy though. I have done most of Xmas shopping! That said we are making a lot of our pressies this year and we still haven't finished them so shouldn't feel as virtuous as I just about did in the previous sentence.. How about you?

Day 44 - Baby Bulge

"So are you over-indulging, or are you pregnant?" yours truly gets asked today.

Deflate.

Well actually inflate. And that's the problem...

I'm not eating any worse than I usually do, or drinking anymore than I usually do... it's Summer and I usually start dropping the winter pounds - but this year it aint happening. I do feel bigger and had been wondering if  rumours would start circulating about whether I was preganant or not. Perhaps on the cover of the Marlborough Express - Bridget's Baby Bulge? or Bun In The Oven or Just Pies?

I have already been for a walk/ run today and I am determined to take the positive out of this and use the dent in pride as motivation to do something about it.

Exercise. Eating regularly (that's the photographer's suggestion). Cutting down on alcohol (that's mine). Not eating after dinner (more wisdom from the photographer). Less cheese and salad dressings (that's mine).

All of which I want to do. And need to do. And now I have the "fire" to do it.

Thank goodness she did ask! My only regret is I wish I'd asked her how far along she thought I was!

Day 43 - Mandarin-y Mango Mama

I sewed this dress and wasn't very confident in how I looked in it but a challenge being a challenge I wore it today. I wore something else in the morning but came home for a costume change at lunchtime.

I don't know about you but I have just been zonked the last few days. Monday and today I have NOT been myself. Everyone has commented on it. I have barely been able to keep my eyes open.

I came right later on today. I drank a Berocca the colour of my dress (and have been pee-ing the same colour since too!) and felt slightly better. Now it is just my feet which a sore from standing at a function for the last 4 hours. I soaked them in the bath and have washed my face as well and am starting to feel slightly more human.

Hump day tomorrow... and have no idea what to wear!

Day 42 - Six weeks down, two to go.

So I've made my list and I am checking it twice. 

I am onto the dregs of my wardrobe - I have 2 hoodies, 5 dresses, 10 tops, 2 cardigan/ vests, 6 jackets, 2 pairs of shorts and 1 pair of shoes left to wear and 12 days to wear them in. Of those 12 days I only have calling for 13 outfits so I'm going to need to find more excuses to change my clothes!

Fortunately it is the festive season so I'm hoping it won't be that hard!

I have sorted my wardrobe again, worn and not worn are now kept apart so I can make sure to not double up too much. (Though come to think of it... it is day 42 and I haven't really worn too much twice).

I am top-heavy (in wardrobe not in stature) so my tops will be a challenge to get through especially as so much of my tops are teeshirts and not really work appropriate.

Wish me luck!

Day 41 - An Argentinian BBQ

I didn't spend most of the day like this. I spent it in shorts and a station tee-shirt handing out lollies at the Xmas Parade. It was a good year this year - how much of that is relative to the fact it was my first Santa Parade without a hangonver I am loathe to admit- but I only got called a bitch once, most of the kids and parents said thanks for the lollies they received from me and I didn't get too many "hey hey my kids over here they didn't get a lolly".

Well love, they must have had a lolly or two before my time...

We were invited to a friends house tonight. Normally I am not a fan of going out on a Sunday night but boy am I glad we did go out.

Argentian BBQ meat rulz. Yes rulz with a Z!

Lemon and salt - meat don't need much more! Except maybe charcoal.

The photographer tells me (in his ongoing argument about changing the BBQ) that charcoal emits a different kind of heat. The UV (or something) that charcoal emits means that the meat gets cooked quickly on the outside but cooks tenderly and mouth wateringly melty on the inside. Whatever - UV or not UV - it was bloody brilliant!

Also on the upside of going out on a Sunday I got to wore a shirt and cardy I had been worried about finding the occasion to wear. I was the only Kiwi at this BBQ, the rest were Japanese bar the man of the house - the Argentinian. ,

I tell you what - I felt positively voluptuous around these girls. Like J'Lo or something. The girls who have been on JET who read this blog may relate but I felt so big tonight. Tall and curvy like Sophie Dahl. I have always been small here in NZ, but in Japan I felt large and to be honest - it did my head in.

One of the most profound impressions of my experience in Japan was the experience of being part of a minority and the feeling of - what can I call it? - exposure - that came with it.

I entirely recommend this experience. Someone once said something that sums it up really. "Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes".

And hope like hell he ain't got athletes foot!

Day 40 - Babysitting!

Babysat the godson this evening. Another round of competitive babysitting where the photographer and I fight over who is most effective at putting the godson to bed etc. The photographer usually has the most success...

A very relaxed day today. We cleaned the car inside and out and then I had a bath and cooked tea. Hopefully the sheep truck and its fragrance that spent most of the day today parked outside our house doesn't return... it was like sitting on the ferry, you know how you sometimes catch a whiff of the cattle trucks parked on the decks below, except I was in my lounge. Ugh.

Tomorrow sees me shed my Xmas grinchiness and hand out lollies at the Blenheim Xmas Parade.

Day 39 - Pace

TGIF! Jeans... a zipper broken - now fixed and a favourite top made for a casual friday... the evening not so.

Colleague who had the cheek to hand in their notice had a bbq round at their house tonight... after a good feed and a couple of drinks all i desire now is my bed and that wonderful feeling of slipping betweeen the sheets, make up off, face moisturised and eyes close to closing... that can only mean pace... or peace... of sleep and hopefully a clear head tomorrow!

Day 38 - And I look 24!

Aside from my wedding dress, and perhaps the purple doily dress, this is the most expensive item of clothing I own. I bought it in Japan with the photographer. We were back there for a Summer Holiday and shopping at a Department Store when this caught my eye. After some hum-ing and hah-ing I decided to try it on. Fatal mistake. (To be fair I thought it would be safe as not a lot of clothes fit me in Japan so I thought the decision would be made for me).

No.

It wasn't safe.

It fit.

And those shop assistants who all crowded round the changing room when I came out and cried 'Oh you look like a model" didn't help either.

Thing is - I felt like a model!!!!! Damn you Donna Karan and your well fitting dresses with convenient pockets that sealed the deal!!!

Here is what I wore to The Champange Club get together tonight. We had Johanneshof in the house... http://www.johanneshof.co.nz/... OMG - you need to get your tastebuds on their wine. And for those of you who only know their Gewurtztraminer - try something else... it is just as good. Their Pinot Gris, or the EMMI Bubbles... brilliance.

And it gets even better... apparently I look 24! Which coincidentally I think was my best ever year. That will be the age I am stuck on I think. Even when I am 50 I will look in the mirror and wonder why I don't look like 24, when I still feel that way. And in case you were wondering... here is a smorgasboard of Bridget at 24.

Day 37 - Bleu

The skirt is from Tango - same store as the red dress. I hardly every wear it, and it shows. I arrived at work today to be told by kind workmate that my skirt hem had come down. She taped it up with sticky tape for me and I was able to go on my way. This challenge means wearing some clothes I haven't for a long time - and discovering their unravelling hems and holes. My sewing repair pile is growing!

It has been a cold rainy day as the photographer predicted so I was able to wear a jacket! This blue one is another op-shop but and one day when I get round-to-it I am thinking of embellishing the neckline and shoulder with studs or sequins to try and punk it up, but don't know if that would improve it. Thoughts?

Thursday tomorrow - then it's Friday and then it's the WEEKEND!

Day 36 - White Shirt with Sparkles

Yes, you may recognise the sparkly singlet top underneath my white shirt... I have it in brown too and wore it to the movie The Social Network on Day 15 Jeckyll and Hyde. I felt a little bit like Gwyneth Paltrow when I bought these tops as I remember reading an article once where she said "if I find a top that I like I'll buy it in every colour!" What a load of goop! Speaking of goop... that's her website http://goop.com/. It is a load of self-indulgent GOOP but then I guess this is too!!!!

Here is the tally for this week;

Hoodies                 2 out of 4
Dresses / Tunics     19 out of 26
Tops                      24 out of 39
Shirts                      5 out of 8
Cardigans / Vests    5 out of 9
Jackets                   5 out of 12
Shorts                    2 out of 4
Skirts                     7 out of 10
Shoes                     14 out of 15 pairs
Jeans                      4 out of 4
Trousers                 4 out of 4
Leggings                 4 out of 4

I feel I am slowly slowly whittling them away... a couple of changes - I never added the top and dress I bought to the tally... one step forward one step back... and I discovered there is ONE pair of shoes I haven't worn so again a step backwards.

We are now getting to the business end of the challenge and I need to think very carefully about what I am going to wear... under twenty days to go!

Today is much cooler and the photographer tells me cooler weather is here to stay with us for a little while so that means my JACKETS can be worn. We are eating Pak Choi from the garden tonight for tea. I'll stir fry it with Lentils, Spinach, Broccoli, Green Beans and Cauliflower! Washed down with beer... should be ready in time for the final of My Kitchen Rules!

Day 35 - Hay Fever

Well I have just arrived home from running around Blenheim collecting for the Annual Foodbank Appeal to find the poor photographer with tissue stuffed up his nose.

Hayfever season again!

This year he has promised to let me help as he suffers dreadfully. I want to take him for a skin prick allergy test so at least we know what we are working with. I think it may be grass allergy?  He is also allergic to cats the poor thing. I get Hayfever but not as severely... she says touching wood. I had a hit of it today too... any advice?

May be it was the skirt? It's floral pattern is enough to spark an allergic reaction, however you should commit the fabric to mind as you will be seeing it again!

Day 32, 33 and 34 - What a Weekend!

So, as you know, we all piled in the Nissan and headed down to Christchurch for my sister's Kung Fu Black Belt grading... Mum, Dad and The Photographer. We stayed at the YMCA - and sang the song enthusiastically as we pulled into the carpark after a long but stunning drive down the Kaikoura coast. Here is my outfit that I wore to work Friday... a velvet skirt I made (but want to redesign), the white singlet top that my bridesmaids wore (it has a lacy racer back) and the Ray-Monde jacket from Day 1.

We spent all Saturday watching my sister and 11 others be put through their paces until utterly rinsed - and I'm just talking about me here! Wow - what an incredible effort... several long months of hardcore work and she did us proud! Congratulations! How cool is it to have a sister who is a Black Belt!

This is the beaming family at the after-match (or should I say after-bash) function... I'm wearing my new Maxi Dress and mum's jacket as I was freezing!

The next day we went and visited good friends - the other B&K who I mentioned in a previous blog - to meet their first child... so nice to see them, and to steal a line from the photographer they seemed to be "the shape of happiness!"

Back home to a feed of scallops, a load of washing and a much needed sleep before the working week started again.

Day 31 - Super Nanny



I didn't realise I was dressed like Super Nanny today!! Until I saw the photo! Hahaha...

Friday tomorrow and off to Christchurch for the weekend for my sister's black belt kungfu grading... I'vw just had the sudden realistion that I don't know if I'll be able to blog while I am away. But rest assured I will keep the challenge going and take photos and post a Weekedn Edition on Sunday night - if not before...

Til then... sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!

Day 30 - Circle of Life

I haven't quite become one of those dreadful women... but almost. You know the ones. I call then the sneaker brigade. Women who walk to work, suited up, jacket and skirt, with white sneakers and socks carrying their lovely high heels in a bag which they will put on once they get to work, for their job seated at a desk.

I am a great believer in 'don't do the crime if you can't to the time', a philosophy usually applied in this way 'don't stay out all night if you can't then turn up to work on time'. It could also be applied as 'don't wear shoes you can't walk to work in...'

But just as it is getting harder to recover from big nights of crime, it is also getting harder to teeter to work in high shoes. So today I walked in jandals instead. Then I put the towering monstrositys pictured on when I arrived.

The tunic is a spectacular circular print - warning; avoid eye contact with said tunic if it is the day after a night of crime!

We had a wonderful dinner with good friends at home tonight, finished off the Farmers Market Salami and Cheese, a beautiful entree of garlic bread and grilled mussels. Then creamy pasta thanks to the photographer and I made a Lemon Almond Tart. Lovely evening with lovely friends!

And finally I would also like to say hello and welcome to other good friend's wee boy born last night... congrats to Mum and Dad - the other B&K! Can't wait to see you!