Yeah, I was just slapped in the face by reality when someone alerted me that there is only ONE more “shopping weekend” until Christmas. What? Seriously, I still feel like I’m getting over my food coma from Thanksgiving, but I digress.

So yes, it is normal for people to feel a little strapped for cash this time of year with all the gift giving and what not. But I still jones for new clothes for myself. A new pair of boots, a new dress, you know just something that pops and is new. But if you are anything like me, you find it extremely difficult to shop for yourself when you know you have a million other things to buy for other people in your life. For example, I went out today to buy a pair of gloves for myself, but instead found this amazing dress (on the sale rack, discounted like a thousand times) and that was the only way I justified buying it. But I still was having an anxiety attack over buying it because of all the other nonsense I have to take care of before Christmas.

So when I got home I decided to look at my closet. Like legit stand in front of it and look at it. Eye to … eye. I’m not kidding you, the steel bar holding all of my clothes is bending in the middle from all of the stuff hanging off of it. And I thought to myself, how could I possibly be bored with all of these options! I’m crazed, I’m jaded, I need to reevaluate …  IMMEDIATELY.

Sure I’m ridiculously bored wearing my black blazer with my black skinny jeans and a white tank top, or that black dress with my cheetah print cardigan (I swear it looks less J.Crew than it sounds). So instead of the normal, crazed morning rush of me figuring out what I should wear by violently ripping things off the hanger, throwing them on, not liking it and then throwing it on the floor … I took some inventory of the items I had to work with.

I pulled stuff out of my closet, still on the hanger, placed it on my bed and played a little game called “mismatch the clothes.” I know you are probably thinking, “don’t you mean match the clothes … and you call yourself a copy editor,” but no … MISMATCH the clothes. One of my fashion weaknesses would be the ability to mix patterns. I love when people do it, but I look like a mismatched fool whenever I try to rock it. I just kept calmly moving my black and white striped jacket with my patterned dress, or my polka-dotted shirt underneath my brown and black striped blazer … until I found something that worked. And oddly enough … it did.

Of course, I found a lot of stuff that matched and looked fab, but without playing this really refreshing game, I would have never thought to pair the pieces together. I not only walked away with a bunch of new and edgier outfits, but I also found inspiration in pieces that I had 100 percent thought I had lost faith in and was so prepared to donate them to Good Will.

We all deserve to bond with our closets a bit more. They need love too. I bet most people just look at them as places that store their clothes, just a steel bar and a door. But if you look at a closet that way and slide a new piece of clothing onto the steel pole, it is destined to get sucked into the abyss of all the other good pieces you own … the vision of “outfits” will therefore become blurry, limiting what you wear and what you piece together. If you love, nurture and become one with your closet … you know, talk to it and stuff … this won’t happen. A simple, “Hi closet, how are you and my clothes doing on this lovely morning,” wouldn’t kill you, now would it? (No I’m not on crack or a crazy lady, I swear).

So I recommend everyone play this game and spend some quality time with the good ol’ closet … it deserves it. For Christ’s sake, the steel bar in my closet might collapse at any moment, I’m shocked it hasn’t already, the poor guy needed some TLC. I’m just glad I didn’t feel the need to buy more pieces when I already had so many fantastic outfits that just needed time to be thought up. It is so easy to just keep buying one thing here and there continuously that end up getting lost in the clothing shuffle.

So there it is, I saved myself some cash that I can therefore spend on obnoxious amounts of presents for all of my loved ones, I’m no longer bored with my clothing options and instead will get more wear out of the pieces I already delicately picked for my wardrobe.

It is therapeutic, it is cost-effective and it is actually fun. Enjoy talking to your closets.