‘J Sisters’ blog their way to New York

Their shared maiden name is Troup, but it’s their first names
that count. Together, they’re known as the J sisters.
Juli Fox, Jessica Bode and Justine Cook are a threesome of
thrifters living in Healdsburg and Windsor. Their blog, “The J
Project,” recently earned them a trip to New York and a guest spot
on the Nate Berkus Show—and has loyal local readers wondering
whether there’s a book in the works.
The J Project began on December 29, 2009, when Juli started
thinking about a year-long new year’s resolution project. She
posted a simple question to her Facebook page: what should her
year-long project be?
“We decided that we would buy nothing new for a year, with a few
exceptions, like underwear, that would be unsafe to buy used,” Juli
said.
“And then we decided to add something fun, and Justine decided
she wanted to do it too, so we named it the J project. We each
bought a cookbook and we exchanged them on January 1st over
breakfast at Omelet Express. That’s when it began.”
So for 2010, the J sisters’ no-new-buying promise was coupled
with a vow to cook every recipe in the chosen cookbook. Some of the
recipes, the sisters agreed, have been better than others.
Over the course of the year, the women posted about successful
dinners as well as tips and tricks for recycling and reusing old
things. Their blog gained in popularity, and last week, they flew
to New York City to be taped for the Nate Berkus Show.
Nate Berkus was most interested in their one week, ten items of
clothing challenge, where the sisters each picked ten items from
their closets and made them stretch for an entire week. But the
sisters’ favorite blog-inspired event was a big clothing swap with
friends, held in March.
“The clothing swap was probably the highlight,” Juli said. “We
did an Evite to all of our friends and we also posted it on the
blog, Everyone had to stock up their clothes that they wanted to
donate, and our houses were the donation spots. At my house, we set
up a store. Aaction Rents actually donated the clothing racks,
because it was sort of a charitable cause, and we weren’t
collecting any money. We had tables of jeans, an accessory section,
and people tried on clothes and got to take them for free.”
“Everyone was asking when were we going to have the next one,”
Jessica said.
Of course, a surprise vacation in New York City and the
opportunity to be on television was another highlight of the
blogging experience. The sisters were able to take a few friends
with them to New York, as well as one particular family member.
“We got to take our mom,” Justine said.
“She was very, very proud of us,” Jessica added.
“And she got to sit in the front row,” Juli said.
“And she got her hair and makeup done!” Juli and Jessica
exclaimed simultaneously.
While the J sisters and their mother enjoyed the glitz and
glamour of television, they also aren’t afraid to roll up their
sleeves and dig in to a pile of used clothing. When it comes to
thrifting, the sisters had some tips to share with fellow north
county residents.
“We think it’s really important not to shop in season, that’s a
big tip, because right now everybody’s going to the thrift store
and buying sweaters, and raincoats, and boots,” Jessica said. “And
we’re going in there and looking for summer dresses. In the summer,
that’s when we’re shopping for boots and sweaters.”
The sisters also encouraged locals to give themselves some time
to find that special something.
“Take advantage of your local thrift stores, Craigslist,
Freecycle, and eBay. You just have to be patient. The thing about
this whole project is you have to be patient. If you want
something, you will find it, but you just don’t know when or from
where,” Juli said.
The sisters are still thrifting, blogging, and finding
innovative ways to repurpose what they already own. Now, their
enterprise is expanding. They recently opened an Etsy store,
selling handcrafted items at etsy.com/shop/thejproject.
They’re even toying with the idea of writing a book, mostly because
so many friends have suggested it.
But, no matter where their newfound renown will lead them,
they’ll always have that tight sisterly bond—which includes the
ability to finish one another’s sentences.
“Everybody asks, ‘What are you going to do next year?’’” Jessica
said.
Justine started, “We’re going to do…”
Jessica interjected: “Healthy lifestyle, isn’t that what we
said? We decided that month-long projects are more our speed. Maybe
a month of no watching TV, a month of no eating out, a month of
eating vegan or vegetarian.”
“Not vegan,” Justine noted.
“Just healthy life,” Juli said.
“Thirty days of exercising, which is what we should do every
day,” Jess said.
“Thirty days is about how long it takes you to get into a
routine,” Justine added, approvingly.
The three sisters will be soliciting suggestions for their 2011
project on their blog, thejproject2010.blogspot.com.
They welcome local residents to join them in their series of 30 day
challenges, starting in January 2011.