Decluttering: End of the Closet Purge Project

These represented my final project completed, and one (heirloom) dresser emptied!

A little backstory.  I guess I've talked about my closet purge project for awhile now.  The need for it started back when I was a friendless high school freshman.  My mom would give me $5 for lunch.  It was a fair amount of money to get a balanced, nutritious meal.  However, I would take $4 of that and save it up.  I would spend $1 of that on a cup o' noodles and a can of Hawaiian Punch.  It's amazing I made it out of high school as relatively healthy as I did.  Yikes.

I spent that remaining $4 on something cute at the thrift store.  I'd save it up and go on a Friday, sometimes.  The thrift store was my happy place, where all the clothes were my friends.  I later made friends who either understood my thrifting obsession or even "got it" and showed me tips and tricks!

This all translated into an overloaded closet, bedroom, and eventually boxes in the garage (when I lived at home).  My canopy bed served as an extra closet rack.  My poor closet with the 40 year-old wooden rod crashed down in the middle of the night.  I bought an extra (cute) wardrobe at Ikea to house more clothing.  It was a disease that could not be stopped.

All these clothes bought me joy.  Some weren't even my style, but were what I wanted to "be" like.  Some I bought because they were funny, others because they were cool or rare or vintage.  Most I never wore more than once.  If you think of how much money I spent over the span of twenty years (1996-2016), I could have taken some cool trips!

My poor mom!  How did she put up with this.  Only a mother could!

In 2010, when I started to move out, my mom jumped for joy at the thought of finally getting back a good portion of her garage!  I had to figure out what to do with all the crap clothes.  Storage for awhile.  Going through some for awhile.  Keeping some at my parents' for awhile (until they retired up north and said they weren't going to move my crap) (fair enough).

2011-2013 was going through all this stuff in earnest.  And the more I went through, the more I realized how little I actually wore and enjoyed. 

2014-2015 was my purge in earnest, and the discovery of "capsule wardrobes," less consumerism, and the like.

The last year or so has been my purge project in addition to our goal of downsizing.  We are hoping to move into a smaller house.  We currently have a large tract home (renting) and want to move into a smaller home that is more efficient, with less material possessions.  So, with that earnest goal in mind, the past year has been spent preparing for life in a house that was built before people had disposable fashion.  They made their own clothes and repaired items, and had quality, not quantity.

In addition to this goal and the "capsule wardrobe" movement, Kondo wrote her awesome book about Tidying Up.  I scanned it and loved what I saw.  It made perfect sense.  I'm loving the whole waste not want not, downsizing, mentality.  It frees you up for more important things.

I also found it helped to find someone who needed help moving, but had way too much stuff...  That will inspire you to get rid of your own stuff so you don't have to move it when the time comes.  In addition, what really helped for me was taking pictures of "cute" things I was getting rid of but didn't really jive with my style.  Then you have the picture.  Release the item!

Once I got rid of this, then some more bags, then that, and then another bag....  I figured why stop there?  And I made it my goal to get rid of a dresser.  That was a fun project that culminated with the two drawers you see, above.  I used to have a drawer each for:  stockings/tights, undies/bras, socks, slips, workout gear, woolens...  I combined those so they took up half the space, and this meant that finally I could get rid of my tall dresser.

The dresser is something my grandpa made by hand.  He was a hobbyist carpenter, back from a time when people had lots of talents, and he had many gifts.  I didn't get rid of it.  My mom is "holding" the dresser until either of us can find room for it.  It currently resides in her garage and my dad will probably use it for storage of some sort. 

It feels great being that much lighter, having that much less stuff.  And surprisingly, or not very, getting dressed in the morning is super easy.  I only have stuff I use!

Useful Knowledge: How to Season Cast Iron

Work in progress

 

I have posted a few things that I made in my beloved large and deep cast iron pan.  I realized that I've now owned it for a little over a year!  And in that time, it has improved, probably more than any fine wine would.  

The cast iron pan was a rusty and forgotten old piece of metal in a cardboard box from the days when my family friend went camping--we are talking 70's, I'm thinking.  The pan hadn't seen bacon or the sun in probably around 30 years.

I did some research online about how to clean it.  I would recommend against using a bunch of chemicals like oven cleaner and the like.  After all, this is something you're going to eat off at some point, right?

What did I use?  Salt.  Just plain old table salt is fine.  Cheaper the better, as you will need a lot of it, probably.  Just lightly wet the pan and then pour a lot of salt onto it.  Take a damp paper towel to it and scrub scrub scrub away.  When everything starts to dissolve and/or turn brown, rinse it out, and get a new paper towel and a new bit of salt.  Repeat the process until the rust is gone and pan looks relatively smooth.

Once the pan is smooth, rinse and then wipe off any water.  Now, the pan is very prone to rust/oxidization.  So, you want it to be away from water.  Put it on the stove to dry it out quick.  Then...  Put a dollop of vegetable oil (or other neutral, high-heat oil) on it and wipe all over with a paper towel so that there is a small layer (still on the stove).  Some people prefer the pan upside down in the oven, but I didn't notice much difference.  Heat for several minutes and cool down.  Repeat the heat and cool whenever you feel like it.  This is the start of your seasoning.

Then, cook in it!  Cook a lot!  Cook often!  But, it needs to slowly build up that many-layered seasoning if you want this pan to be something you treasure and use all the time.  Obviously the best thing to do in it is fry bacon.  That goes without say.  Saute things.  Don't do acid-based items like tomatoes, at least until it is well-seasoned.  Heck, I even did some scones in it (line the pan with melted butter first), and it turned out great.

After each time you cook, wait for it to cool so you can handle it, and gently rinse and wipe and then reheat with another layer of oil.  After several times of the cook-wipe-season process, you will see that this is probably the best item in your entire kitchen. 

Oh, and if you have a stubborn bit of burnt food on it, just apply a little salt to that portion and re-season just as you did at the beginning.

Before you know it, you'll use this for cooking just about everything.

Welcome to Googletown

I read this great article in the New York Times today.  It's about the constant back and forth debate over how the Bay Area is gentrified with all its industry, including the tech boom.  But the article focuses mostly on the town of Mountain View, which has always been a lovely bedroom community since the government put Moffett Field on it, and then NASA arrived a few decades later.  My dad used to work there.

Then, industry arrived, including tech and pharma.  Years ago, I worked near Shoreline Ampitheatre.  It was glorious because you could overhear concerts and I had a great spot to view the annual fireworks.  It was also hilarious because our building was the only one on our street not owned by Google, and this meant watching "Googlites" not know how to cross the street, wear pajamas to work, and have "meetings" on a bicycle contraption where 8 people pedal at once while facing each other.  That situation changed in short order, and a year after arriving, we were booted out and Google took over our building.  In the ensuing seven years, housing prices in the area have skyrocketed, to say the least.  The same goes for most of the rest of the Bay Area.  And, we see the same in Facebook's town (Menlo Park), and Apple's town (Cupertino). 

Is this a good thing?  The comments in the article from people in places like Nebraska and Pennsylvania say "gee, you IDIOT.  I WISH I had your town's problem!  Bring the industry to us."  Well, be careful what you wish for.  I don't think that such industries as tech would go elsewhere.  There is TOO MUCH money to be had in the Bay Area, and money attracts more money.  Nevermind the gorgeous weather.  Oh, and the many, many world class universities, such as Cal and Stanford at the top of the heap.  Tech is not going to be picking up and moving elsewhere anytime soon.  It may all bust at some point (as booms are wont to do), but I don't think Zuckerberg is thinking "gee, I'm tired of California.  I should move to Pennsylvania..."

Is this a good thing?  Well, why are WE here to begin with?  And isn't change good?  Well, I am here because I was born here.  My parents were, too.  In fact, both sides of my family have been in California for nearly 100 years.  So, I guess you could say I feel comfortable here.  Also, the job opportunities are excellent.  Look at a job site and put your search in the Bay Area.  Then move the search to Phoenix, Portland, Denver, etc.  Sure, people live there, and live there happily.  But the amount of industry in the Bay cannot be beat (even, I would argue, in the New York Metro).

So it follows that if you want a shack in Palo Alto, you'd better be prepared to pay at least a million smackers, and at that price, and in this market, have a huge down payment (or all cash).  Because of the housing boom (a whole other post I could devote to this), people cannot afford to live in certain places, and they are being priced out.  So they move to a place like Fremont, and price out Fremontonians (one of whom I am), and Fremontonians move to Union City or Hayward and price out the original residents of those cities.  It's life, it's capitalism, it's economics, and it happens.

The bigger question is, is this a good thing?  Why are we still here?  It must be.  But every day it takes me nearly an hour to travel a few miles, since I have one of the worst commutes in the country going from the East Bay to the Silicon Valley.  One of the commenters complained that he is having trouble surviving on 70K.  Many commenters from back east snapped at him for that one.  What they don't understand is since housing is many times the price of what it is back east, salaries have to be as well.  Teachers who earn 50-60K per year cannot afford to even rent apartments in some areas.  These are professional people with post-graduate degrees.  And this, my friends, disgusts me.  I "get" that it's capitalism and it's the "price we pay" for living in the Bay.  But it wasn't always so, and it won't always be that way.

In the mean time, in the land of plenty, we scrimp and save so that maybe in a few years we can afford to compete with cash offers for a 900 SF shack.  Life could be worse, and I'll just go to the beach in February to lick my wounds.  Dem's da breaks.

And when the next crash happens (I've been through several real estate booms and crashes in my lifetime), and all the interlopers move back to their respective hometowns, I'll be there to buy their house with the money I saved.

Joan's Way of Life

Joan being dressed by the legendary Golden Age costumer, Adrian.

 

Recently I had the pleasure of reading Joan Crawford's book, My Way of Life.  It's another of those obscure, out of print books that I believe is a treasure.  I first heard about it, and got it via Link+, several years ago.  However, I ran out of time to finish it, and forgot about it for a few years.  I decided to try for it again, seeing as a purchased copy goes for about $100.  It's not really a memoir per se, although there are some tidbits (none very juicy) about her Hollywood life, very little about her childhood and pre-Hollywood times, and a few more anecdotes about her various husbands and "friends," her life married to the CEO of Pepsi, and her family life.  Of course, when you read about her times with her daughters, it is hard not to envision Mommy Dearest.  For more juicy stuff, click here.

 

Her style tips are very intriguing.

 The tips in the book read like a "Happy Homemaker" guidebook, albeit one written by a slightly deranged and very rich lady who came of age during the Silent Film era of Hollywood.  All of us can have double-decker closets (i.e., two stories tall), right?  You know, for our out-of-season items.

The pencil marginalia was already on the book.  NO WIRE HANGERS!!!

Some of the book made me a bit sad, as she definitely seemed like someone who had an undiagnosed case of OCD.  I'm not sure how good it is for your shoes to be rubber-banded together and put in plastic bags.  You really have to feel for her "help."


Diet tips are somewhat sensible, surprisingly.

 For an interesting party, invite a variety of guests.  You know, maybe a CEO of a large corporation, a poet, an artist, etc...  Oh yeah, just the usual bunch.  And if you want to be a good hostess, get help (as in, hire a maid) so you can enjoy your own party.  If you aren't too well off, just one will do, but two maids and a butler is better.

I'm sure she was a lovely woman.

 This book is really a good read if you like movie history, actresses of the Golden Age, or retro homemaker guides.  Some of Joan's advice is actually pretty sensible, while other bits are just a little on the loopy side.  Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I do get a feeling of her loneliness, sadness, and struggles in life, even though she works hard to gloss over everything and make everything sound picture perfect.  I'd like to think that if I met her, she would be a woman who just needed a friend and was a bit misunderstood for the route she took in life.

At the Ridge

California poppies appearing on rocks!

Last weekend, we wanted to do as much as we could to take advantage of the gorgeous weather, even if it was completely weird for the season, and even if it means these gorgeous green hills will turn a sad brown in a couple months, and even if it means we will be rationing water again this summer, more than likely.

 

My favorite local place to hike is Pleasanton Ridge.  Long live the East Bay!  I like Don Edwards/Coyote Hills too, but for a strenuous (for me at least) hike, I like P-town.  You can keep your Mission Peak nonsense, with its weird curfews and angry rich neighborhood residents (look, rich folk--sorry you didn't buy in a gated community.  But for now, even though City of Fremont would love to kowtow to your needs and make the park accessible to only you...  For now, the park is EAST BAY, YO!  I OWN IT, along with my fellow residents, because we pay taxes, FOOL!).  Sorry.  I could go on in my rant against rich people limiting access to public lands!

 



This is one of the trails off the main fire road--that is darn steep, but beautiful.

Pleasanton Ridge is typical East Bay hills, with cows everywhere, and oaks, too.  After the rains in December, we were treated to many, many NEWTS trying to cross the road (and I almost stepped on several--wait, I wonder how many I didn't realize I stepped on??).  When it was very dry in November and we went for a night hike, I kept on feeling like I was being watched, turning around, and seeing little frogs everywhere!  Owls, hawks, ground squirrels, and more can be seen.  Don't you love wildlife?

This is a tiny tiny flower, but pretty, no?  That grass is thin grass; flower is about half an inch wide.

Our walk on this particularly sunny day was refreshing with a spring breeze, and easier than usual because of my new, now-broken-in hiking boots.  However, going up the "shortcut" offshoot from the main fire road was steep, and for part of it I sort of wished I had brought my walking stick.  We went past the "saddle" or main gate, and did the long loop since we had time.  Five miles total.  Since there are a few offshoots from the main trail, even on a crowded day some peace and quiet can be found.

And, all that hiking means I can have a beer afterward!  Woohoo!

Another tiny wildflower.  Isn't Mother Nature awesome?

Lifestyle Inflation: Darnright American, or Downright Idiotic?

I never did get how he could dive through what must amount to solid metal.

"You've traded stability and security for stuff and status."

Pretty no-nonsense advice from a blog article I found here. 

It's the modern American way to live beyond your means, to carry as much debt as you think you can (the estimate is never right), and to have the newest and best items you can "afford" (put on charge).  How else will people know you're a success?  I'm not sure, but I think matching furniture will help.

I feel that this way of life is phasing out as more people realize that going into debt to get flashy stuff is not the business.

Maybe people thought there was something secure in having stuff?  I don't know.  But most people who are up to their eyeballs in debt can tell you that they don't exactly feel secure.

This bit of similar wisdom can be found in one of my favorite SNL skits.  Just don't buy stuff.  Don't buy stuff you have to go into debt for.  Don't buy stuff you can't afford!

I ran into this when I planned my wedding.  I did not want to go into debt for one day's party.  Cash was king, and we were saving for a house down payment (still saving...).  To us, a house was more important than being princess for a day.  Now, if you have zillions of dollars and won't go into debt if you have a fancy wedding, have at it.  It's not really my thing, but if you have the money, who am I to stop you?  It's a free country.

Going into debt for it, though, or for a couch, or for anything...  No bueno.

Our wedding turned out pretty neat, actually.  We paid for the little ceremony at the county registrar in San Jose, which got us ten minutes in the chapel that had COLUMNS (yes!).  The officiant wore a purple robe with shorts and tennies on underneath.  It was awesome.  We then went to a nice lunch (along with our parents and siblings, who also attended the ceremony) at our favorite restaurant, The Vine.  A few weeks later, we had a house party with cupcakes and food from our other favorite local restaurants, and invited around 40 people.  People get really weird about weddings, and we did have to explain many times that we were keeping it small.  I am not so sure any Bridezilla has to explain why she needs to have seat covers that match the aisle runner.

It's just the way our culture works.  Big white weddings are expected of us.  They're TRADITION.  Even though big weddings, and going into debt for them, is only a recent development in the scheme of things.  In fact, look at vintage wedding pictures to see that the wedding dress wasn't even really a "thing" like it is now.  But, a whole industry has built up around weddings, just like with anything, and they will gladly facilitate you parting with your money, even if you have to put it on credit.

Down the line, will you be grateful that you put that $20,000 (or more) toward the one party that one weekend, even as you continue to rent and be further from your dream of homeownership?  The same goes for anything else you put on credit.

Obviously sometimes in life, we need to put stuff on credit, or finance things.  Just make sure it's not something that's going to decrease dramatically in value.  Don't be that guy, foreclosing on his house, and bragging that he spent $10,000 on that antique couch.  Having a bunch of expensive stuff doesn't guarantee you won't go bankrupt...  Sometimes it just expedites the process.

Besides, don't we all want to figure out if you can really dive into a bunch of coins?  I'm thinking not, but it would be fun to have the opportunity to find out.

When Life Gives You Lemons... Celebrate!

That counter with the rotting grout, amirite?  Gotta love rentals.

About three weeks ago, my friend gave me a bag of lemons.  Why?  Well, she is super into a site called Freecycle, which is awesome in that it reduces waste and keeps things out of landfills by connecting people who need things with people who need to get rid of things.  I personally found the e-mail notification format annoying, so after unsuccessfully trying it in hopes of finding a china cabinet, and being dismayed by people actually trying to pawn off junk (deflated beach ball that won't reinflate?  WHY?), I unsubscribed.

Anyway, my friend has found a lot of neat things there, which takes determination and time to go pick up everything.  She has found everything from sod to a new couch!  To another new couch!  And someone was giving away a ton of lemons, so I got some!  Some things are just junk that take up space and you really need to be careful with what you allow in the door.  Lemons NEVER fit into that category.  They are always a good thing!

I received a tote bag full to the brim of lemons--probably 5 pounds?  I'm not good at estimating weight.  Now the task was to juice all those lemons.  But first, since I was busy, and most of the busy-ness was the result of guests, I offered lemons to some of those guests.  And some friends who I met up with.  Oh come on, who am I kidding?  Everyone likes lemons!

Now that the first phase of the project was done (that would be, reducing the amount of lemons I have to juice), I ignored the bag for a couple weeks because I was just lazy.  Finally yesterday, I was just bored and antsy enough to juice them.  This requires setting up a little station, I find.

1. cutting board
2. knife (any old knife--paring, or pictured above is one of my favorite steak knives)
3. measuring cup (or any bowl type object to collect the juice that has a spout)
4. strainer (so much easier to collect the seeds first)
5. juicer (this could be an old-fashioned bowl-style one, a reamer, or, your hands!)
6. empty ice cube tray (what the juice goes into) (you can put yer juice in there!)

It's so easy.  Just rinse all the lemons.  Then cut all the lemons in half.  Then juice.  Then pour into ice cube trays and freeze.  Once frozen, take out of ice cube trays and put into a gallon size Ziploc bag.  If all goes well, you will have a "squeeze" of lemon, or more, for recipes and tea year round.  Sometimes that's all a recipe needs to give it a little "oomph."

You can also zest the lemons, but the one time I did this, my husband said it didn't add anything to any dish, and it was a major PITA to do.  So, moving on.

If you live in California, doing this is so unbelievably easy.  Almost every yard has some sort of lemon tree.  I believe the ones above, with their lovely egg yolk-colored rinds, are Meyer lemons, my favorite variety.  They are a bit less tart than regular lemons, and are supposedly a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange.  They are super popular in California, but very hard to find in stores.  Happily, they are so easy to grow.  Maybe someone you know (a neighbor?) has a tree that is more of a burden and they don't use the fruit before it falls to the ground and rots.  Keep your eyes peeled and you too can have a boatload of lemons each year, that will last you many months.

I am growing a Meyer lemon tree which has just given fruit, and it is barely, slowly but surely, turning golden.  I hope to share updates on that and the rest of my garden soon.

For more information on the fun things to do with Meyer lemons, click here.  And have a great weekend!

Decluttering the Spare Room

Wow, isn't that a lovely picture?  Don't you love clutter?  I know I do.

Said no one, ever!

Except maybe hoarders.

I'm not a hoarder.  But maybe I was at some point.  The above picture was about the worst our spare room looked.  This is when I first moved in with my now-husband, from my apartment.  I just had the movers (aka my friends) throw boxes in this room to get them out of the way.  But it may have stayed cluttered for more time than I care to admit.  Even if the clutter got shuffled around, there was still stuff that I didn't really need taking up space in a more or less unusable room.

The years went by (well just a couple years), and the spare room got organized, but was still full of clutter and not really usable.  It also became a catchall for other clutter in the house.  Every time we needed to clear spaces because of a party, all the junk got thrown in this room, and the door closed.  Every time someone gave me something I didn't want to deal with or find a place for yet, it got thrown in here.

While I did get pretty good at contortioning myself in an ungraceful version of some movie star playing a spy and getting through those laser maze thingies, I was tired of having this junk room.  Compound that with people who were comfortable enough to poke fun at it, leading me to silently ask them why they never invited me to THEIR house??  But I digress.

I did end up doing a version of the "clear it all out and evaluate" technique I mentioned yesterday.  I cleared it all out to the living room, except for the closet (which would wait for another day--I'm not insane, mind you).  It took me a sixteen hour day (I'm not joking), working non-stop and almost throwing out my back to go through all the junk. 

I do have some awesome things, and I did keep them.  But now they are actually easy to find and access.  I know where all my stuff is.  I did keep some mementos, too.  But, I suggest you define the word "memento"--or it can easily turn into JUNK.  Mementos shouldn't really take up more than a box. 

The main rule, the golden rule of decluttering is this series of questions (a quick google search yields neat articles like this):

- Do I use this?  (Additionally, if you haven't used it in a year, why is it in your home?)

- Does this bring me joy?

- Does this add beauty to my surroundings?

Once you answer these, you get a better idea with how much actual junk is sitting around just taking up space in your house.  It impedes energy flow, it impedes your movement in your house...  It's just no bueno.

This article also suggests to digitize nostalgia.  This was a HUGE boon for me.  Just take a pic on my smartphone of those awesome shoes I never wear but like to look at, or that coat that has an awesome lining, or that memento from that one awesome trip to wherever.  Maybe some things that bring you joy but are not useful and don't add beauty to your surroundings...  Maybe they would be best kept only in digital form.

The trend toward paring down is gaining steam.  Hopefully I'm not bombarding you with information and links, but here is another one.

Here is a nice write-up about a book you can peruse at Amazon or your local bookstore.  It has some good common sense.  You do want to have a super awesome and clean house that has a really chic Japanese vibe to it, right?

I'll give you a moment to cruise those links.  Done?  Found more links?  Awesome.  Getting inspired?  Where do you start?

I started with this one room.  Just with the boxes in the room, full of stuff I had no idea I owned.  In that sixteen hour day that I believe also made me catch a cold (seriously, this is hard work but worth it), I got TWO CARLOADS of bags of things to donate to my local thrift store (Thrift Town, woohoo!).  The house actually felt lighter.  In the end, that meant I could actually walk into the room and use it as a room. 

Another weekend day was spent whittling down the clutter that rested along the walls (LOTS of stationery) yielded several more bags.  Also, I filled up our empty recycling bin twice--so much stuff I had been hauling around!

Once the bags were out of the house, and the house itself (then car) felt lighter, I could focus on the next step (and the next step--it's addicting!).  I'm in the midst of a clothing declutter, which will be in another post.  Some advice says to start with clothing, but I had been doing that slowly all along.  Clearing out that spare room motivated me to really pare down my clothing.  As I said, I used to be a shopaholic.  Now I have, I just counted, eight purses total.  And one duffel bag for traveling.  I could have less if I wanted--three are in the current rotation.

Lastly, one final thought for you.  You could take it ALL to the thrift store, which is an awesome idea.  Maybe you have something worth a lot, but it's nice to just leave it there for someone to discover.  Or, you can go to eBay or the like and see if what you have is really worth a lot.  Then you have to decide if the effort to sell it is worth your time or not.  I have had luck with places like Crossroads to buy back some of my clothing, but sometimes they don't need what you have.  You decide what to do, but the end goal should be a lighter house, and not being owned by your things.

One final, final point.  When my husband and I were looking for homes to buy in the past few years (the market is too crazy now to do much besides save more money), we felt that we couldn't have smaller than a 3 and 2 because we had so much stuff.  Talk about being owned by our stuff!  How much stuff do you really need, two people who sleep in the same room??  My husband was raised in a 2 and 1 cottage, with his parents and brother.  The fact that half the people need twice the space is ridiculous.  So, give me some more of those garbage bags to fill (and show me the listings for cottages).

The Struggle: Decluttering

We all have problems, at various levels, with controlling clutter that enters our house.  I think there are a few problems that make life as a middle-class American especially cluttered.  I want to talk about this here and there on this blog as I myself struggle to declutter our house and not be owned by our things.

The first problem is that shopping is a pastime in this country.  People shop on vacation for souvenirs, people shop for gifts for every occasion (whether the item is meaningful or needed, or not), people shop with their friends as a way to pass the time on a Saturday afternoon.  People shop because they're bored.  They shop because there is a sale they couldn't pass up (how could you afford not to?).  People put stuff on credit because they just had to have it.

I have one word for this:

NO!  STOP!

Okay, that's two words.

I speak from the standpoint of someone who used to be a shopaholic.  But what is a shopaholic?  I was able to quit cold turkey a few years ago, and I definitely did not develop the shakes or the sweats.  I did notice something growing exponentially:  my bank account!  Imagine that.  When you spend less money, you are able to save more money.

Over the past few years, I have decided to not be owned by my stuff.  At first, this meant just not buying new stuff.  Maybe this even meant allowing things like shoes and coats to show some wear before buying new ones.  However, I didn't get rid of the things I had already purchased.

As an aside, let me tell you that when I stopped being a shopaholic, I also went through some moves.  I moved out of my parents' house and into my friend's house to rent a room.  I moved out of there and into my other friend's condo that she was selling.  Then out of there (all the while some things being stuck in storage) and into my own one bedroom apartment (and out of the storage unit too).  And the best one:  out of my one bedroom and into a two bedroom just across the complex, as my brother moved in with me.  This involved walking my belongings across the parking lot, from one second-story unit to another.  Finally, I moved all my items in with my then-boyfriend-now-husband and his brother.  All the while, my long-suffering friends had to move pounds and pounds of JUNK.  Sorry guys.

Now, let me introduce you to my new addiction:  I am addicted to getting rid of stuff!  I decided I want to live a more clean life.  I guess in current terminology, I want to be more MINDFUL.  But I think that word has become so clichéd as to lose its meaning.  So, let's just say I want to not be wasteful in anything I do.  I will go into my individual processes in subsequent posts, and believe me, it's a process.  But I want to leave you with a good tip I just ran across today over on the blog Seventeenth & Irving:  to clean out your bedroom, take everything out of the room except your actual bed and sheets and blanket, two nightstands, and their respective lamps.  Then only put back the stuff you really need.  Read more at the link for more information.

I guess the moral of the story for now is, we actually need a lot less STUFF than we think we do.  Stay tuned for more posts as I continue on my decluttering journey.

Welcome to Our Blog!

Phew!  Hello there, and welcome to our new blog.  Click around, as we get on our feet, and we hope you enjoy yourself.  My name is Kati, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts on all sorts of topics.  Sometimes, I might even have guest bloggers, so we can get a new perspective on things.

We are going to focus on:

- Style - Style tips for the rest of us.  News and trends.  Shopping tips and how to apply them to living a less consumerism-driven life.

- Cooking - My housemates and I are not chefs, but we are cooks.  I hope to share some of our go-to meals, and new ideas too.  Let's eat yummy and healthy food--the two are not mutually exclusive.

- Home - Organization, decoration, gardening.  Including tips on how not to do things the tacky way, how to make the home a place you look forward to being at, and gardening ideas for my fellow lazy gardeners.

- Travel - Tips on traveling and camping, and enjoying the outdoors.

- Fitness - Tips on staying fit, even if you are busy, or if it takes a lot of motivation (it does for me).