Project Simplify - Week 5 Results

This week marks the end of Simple Mom's Project Simplify, though not the end of clearing clutter out of my life...both literally and figuratively.  In the coming weeks - and likely months - I will be featuring my own personal hot spots around my home as I tackle them.  But of course, being on a mission to live my life intentionally goes much deeper than having an organized and clean home.  It is a logical place to start, though, so without further ado here is this week's hot spot...my linen and master bath closets.

Before pictures:

Wow...this is actually my hallway linen closet.  As you might be able to guess, this was so full that I would literally shove things wherever I saw a space and hope that the door would shut.  Admittedly not the best organizational plan.

The closet in our master bathroom - it could also be known as the place that towels go to die, apparently.

During pictures:

I don't know what Miss Intrepid enjoyed most about this clean up - playing with the games that we took down from the closet or helping with the label maker.

I thrifted this vintage Memory game from the late 1960s in an op shop while living for a short time in Wales.    The pictures on the cards are just beautiful!

After pictures:

This is what is heading out of my house...woo hoo!  Those are a lot of games.  And a lot of sheets.  And towels.  I realize that most of the towels have been cut out of this photo, but take my word on this one.

I now know that games fall under the category of aspirational clutter for me.  I enjoy playing games as a family and - as is clear from this pile (which doesn't even include what we've kept) - I have good intentions for us to play them often.  I don't know that we've held a family game night more than once or twice since 2011 dawned.  We had more games lurking in our closet than we will ever play and, truthfully, many of these games we've never played.  Some we received as gifts, some belonged to Running Man or I when we were children, and many were thrifted.  For example, I bought the Chinese game of Go at a yard sale nearly a decade ago thinking that Running Man and I could learn to play it together.  True, we've been known to play cards when we're out to dinner (yeah, we're cool like that), but the two of us don't otherwise spend quality time playing board games.  In fact, this is one of those games that we've never played.  So why do we still have it?  Reminiscent of my guitar, I have been holding onto this idea of me/us that doesn't actually match reality...a reality that I'm happy with.

This is the hallway linen closet now.  I got rid of things that I didn't know I had and things I certainly didn't need.  Now I not only have much less stuff to contend with, but I can see it all and it is easily accessible.  Check out all of that empty shelf space!

And speaking of empty shelf space, I now have an abundance of it in the bathroom closet as well.

Another good, satisfying step in decluttering.  There is still a long road ahead and I look forward to sharing the journey.  I'm linking up to Simple Mom's results post and am heading over there now to check out the hot spots that others chose and the progress that they've made for inspiration.  Happy Friday, friends!


"I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home...I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby."  ~Nancie J. Carmody

Thrift Share Giveaway and Project Simplify Hot Spot #5

I had intended to share this post yesterday to match up the timing with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday and the announcement of hot spot #5 over at Simple Mom for Project Simplify, but under the auspices of better late than never, here it is today.

For this week's thrift share giveaway I'm going to offer up something a little bit different than the vintage goodies that I have posted for the past several weeks.  Looking for a new home this week are seasons one and two of Lost on DVD.  I was absolutely mad about this show when it first came out and I watched each episode of the first two seasons without fail.  I started out strong watching the third season as well, but then I was so very ill during my pregnancy with Miss Intrepid that I didn't keep up with the rest.  I decided that I would just rent the DVDs and watch them after the third season wrapped up to get ready for seasons four, five, and six.  And then real life happened.  I had a baby that needed much more of everything from me than my first two.  I was adjusting to having three young children under the age of five at home with me.  We moved to Wales temporarily.  Needless to say, keeping up with just about anything - let alone a television show - fell to the wayside.

About a year ago I was very excited to find these DVD sets at my local Goodwill.  I bought them with the thought that I could get Running Man to watch them with me (I think he saw an episode here and there, but for the most part it would have been new to him) and then we could rent the subsequent seasons.  That was a year ago.  We have watched none of them.  I am not going to make the time for them anytime soon.  At this point I'm ready to let these DVDs go to someone who might actually watch them because it is falling into the category of aspirational clutter at my house.  So - if you are interested in winning these DVDs, simply leave a comment on this post between now and midnight EST on Saturday (since I'm a day late it only seems fair to give folks some extra time to comment).

Warning: seriously addictive viewing enclosed

Congratulations to Kylie over at Lucy Violent Vintage for winning last week's giveaway - the vintage mushroom and ladybug latch hook pillow kit will be on its way to her soon!

On the Project Simplify front, Tsh announced the final hot spot yesterday.  Drum roll please...the final hot spot is whatever we want.  I have so many areas of my home that I'd like to tackle (and Tsh offered some great suggestions), so I had to think a bit about what I most wanted to take on this week.  After some consideration I have settled on my linen closets.  I have one in the hallway that is overflowing with linens and board games and my master bathroom closet also seems to be bursting at the seams.  I feel confident that I can completely get through these closets in a week (unlike some of the other hot spots like kid toys and clothes) and I look forward to sharing my results here on Friday.

In the meantime, I'm linking up to Thrift Share Monday.  Here's to wishing you all a wonderful day!


"Dear Diary, still on this bloody island.  Today I swallowed a bug.  Love, Claire"  ~Charlie upon seeing Claire writing in her diary (season one of Lost)

Project Simplify - Week 3 Results (part 2)

As I mentioned in the results post for hot spot #3 - kids' clothing and toys - I was only able to make it through a small part of what I hope to eventually tackle.  I spent some time working on this over the weekend and wanted to share the results of that effort with you.  The biggest thing that we managed to accomplish was cleaning out our voluminous cache of dress up clothes and accessories.  Most of our dress up items were purchased second hand - thrifting items that were not necessarily intended for children's dress up have yielded some interesting and high quality pieces.

Here are the before pictures:

The dress up trunk and hat stand were both purchased at Goodwill.  Good luck actually finding something in there, kiddos.

Miss Intrepid's dress up basket

Princess Wonder's dress up basket

The kids really got into selecting what we were going to keep and what we were going to give away.  I laid everything out in groups of like items - outfits, hats, shoes, gloves, wings, accessories, etc. - and had each child take turns picking their favorite items to keep from individual piles.  After a couple of rounds from each grouping, we put the other items in the donate pile and the kids all seemed happy with what we were keeping and what we were giving away.

And now - my favorite part - the after photos.

Princess Wonder and Miss Intrepid's dress up baskets ready to go back into their rooms - the bulkier/more oddly shaped items stick out of the top, but things are not overflowing.

The communal dress up trunk in a corner of our dining room - we can actually close it now!

This is what is being donated to Miss Intrepid's preschool/being given to a family member.

It was great to clear out some of our dress up stash to have more room and less mess, but the best part was making things more accessible for my little ones to actually use.

Wizard E2B

The Butterfly Princess

And introducing...well...a little bit of everything from Miss Intrepid's dress up stash

"This world is but a canvas to our imaginations."  ~Henry David Thoreau

Thrift Share Giveaway and Project Simplify Hot Spot #4

It is that time of week to join Apron Thrift Girl for Thrift Share Monday and, as I have for the past couple of weeks, I will be hosting a giveaway for a previously thrifted find.  Congratulations to Lisanne, as the only commenter on last week's post she is the sole winner of both lots of the vintage paper travel games!  And without further ado, here is the thrifted item looking for a new home this week - an unopened vintage mushroom and ladybug latch pillow kit from Bucilla.  If you are interested in winning this bit of crafty vintage goodness please leave a comment on this post by midnight EST on Friday, April 1st and I will draw a winner over the weekend.

Don't you just love that 1970's flair?

Simple Mom announced hot spot #4 for Project Simplify today - the kitchen.  I've focused periodic efforts over the last couple of months on the kitchen, so there isn't as much work to be done here as there has been in the past.  That being said, there is still plenty of work to be done and I look forward to tackling some of the cabinets and drawers that I've been studiously ignoring.  As Running Man accurately observed, I have a fair amount of aspirational clutter lurking in my kitchen that needs to find a new home where it will be actually used.

I'll be working on both this week's hot spot while continuing to plug away on last week's (kid clothes, books, toys, etc.) and I look forward to sharing my results throughout the week.  I am linking up to Thrift Share Monday - come on over and join us!


"If you can organize your kitchen, you can organize your life."  ~Louis Parrish

Project Simplify - Week 3 Results

For the past three weeks I have been participating in Simple Mom's Project Simplify, a five week challenge that has us focusing each week and a different hot spot around our home.  This week's hot spot was our children's clothes and toys.  I had every intention of posting my results (so far) of decluttering the kid's belongings last evening, but my body had a different idea and when I lay down for "a few minutes" to let medicine kick in for a big headache I fell asleep for the night instead.  I'm feeling great today and ready to share my results.

While our days are typically pretty full, this week has been busier than usual with several days filled with things like volunteering for the science fair and serving as a chaperone on Princess Wonder's field trip to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (where, not surprisingly, she and the other girls in our group joyfully discovered a fairy house at the base of a large tulip poplar and a smattering of fairy dust on a rock along our path).  As a result, I have not yet gotten to all of the hot spots of children's clothing, toys, and books around my house.  "Not yet" being the operative words here.  With three little ones who I am trying to get involved in cleaning/purging their belongings, I have to be a bit more creative - and intentional - about the time that I carve out for the decluttering process.

So, without further ado, here are the before shots of Enthusiastic Explorer Boy's (E2B) closet and wardrobe drawers.

E2B's closet before cleaning it out.  Did I mention that he loves to build with Legos?  All of the bricks you see pictured here were purchased at yard sales.

The green bin and cardboard box that you see at the top of the closet are filled with off season clothes and clothes for the next year or two that were obtained second hand.  Although you can't see them, there are also two small boxes where I keep shoes (everyday casual, dress, and soccer cleats) that have also been purchased second hand for future wear.  Rather than pay full price for new shoes, I have been able to find high quality shoes for pennies on the dollar that still have years of wear left in them.  The most that I have spent for a pair of shoes at the thrift is the $14.98 I paid for a pair of Dr. Martens boots.  The boots appear never to have been worn and retail for $70 - they will be perfect for hiking in this summer.  While E2B and I were working on his closet yesterday, I pulled out a pair of Keen sandals for him to wear this spring and summer.  I paid $0.98 for them a year or two ago at the thrift as opposed to the $45 I would have had to pay new today.

I seem to have gotten off topic in my enthusiasm for extolling the benefits of thrifting.  Back to decluttering...

As a starting point, I asked E2B to look through his closet and drawers and take out any clothes that either no longer fit, that he didn't particularly care for, or that - even if they fit or he liked them - he didn't really wear.  He came out of his room with absolutely nothing.  I'm sure that a big part of this was due to the fact that he would rather be outside playing with his friends than inside cleaning with me.  Nevertheless, we stuck to it and were able to make good progress.

E2B's pajama drawer.  He is expected to put away his own clothes after they are washed and, as you can see, the concept of putting things away neatly is something we are still working on.  This drawer was very full even without the three pairs of pajamas that were in the laundry.

E2B's shorts drawer.  Other than to put in a couple of pairs of shorts picked up at a consignment sale recently, this drawer hasn't gotten much use for the past five months.

And here are the after pictures:

The top part of E2B's closet.  The bottom portion of the closet still needs to be picked up a bit,  but overall he has his Legos well organized.  After two hours of trying on and organizing his clothes I thought it best to let the kid get outside and play.  Picking up will happen over the weekend, though!

I decided to use the same technique that was so helpful to me in clearing out my own clothing and I had E2B try on everything in his closet and wardrobe.  He wanted to hold onto a number of shirts with sleeves that were definitely on the short side because he "really liked" them.  Rather than keep a closet full of long sleeve shirts that were too short, I told him that he could choose one to keep until this summer but that it was time for the others to be moved on to someone else who could wear them.  Allowing him to keep a favorite shirt, despite the fact that it didn't fit particularly well, along with pulling out other shirts from his bins at the top of the closet that were new to him was enough to make him feel at peace with getting rid of the others.

One thing that I insisted we whittle down because they were sitting on the top shelf of his closet were E2B's sports trophies - he had six of them sitting in there and I told him that we need to limit the number that he keeps to five.  He had a hard time picking the one trophy to get rid of and there were tears involved - because logic doesn't always hold that much sway with adults when it comes to our stuff let alone a seven year old - that made me waver.  On the one hand, I don't want to keep everything that comes into the house nor do I want to cultivate a strong sense of attachment to "stuff" amongst my children.  On the other hand, he is a kid and he is proud of his trophies.  

In his book The 100 Thing Challenge, Dave Bruno ultimately decided that he would not force his children to purge their belongings while he was on a journey to tackle his own consumer behavior.  This is what Dave had to say about reaching this decision after asking his daughters to part with some of their dolls and what came to my mind as I discussed getting rid of a trophy with E2B.  "The truth is that there is no direct correlation between a young girl's loving care for her doll and a grown man's greed for ever more objects of status.  When a child is forced to give away a cherished toy, it is more likely to damage her heart than build up her character.  That is not the same for adults who can learn a good deal about virtue when they restrict their covetousness."  In the end I proposed to E2B that we take one trophy out of his room and if he is still missing it in a week or two he can have it back.  If, on the other hand, he forgets about or decides that he no longer minds not owning the trophy then we will find a new home for it (Running Man actually can use them in his office where they routinely hold a variety of fun events in which winners are given repurposed trophies).

I'm curious to know what techniques others use to help their children purge clothes, toys, and objects like sports trophies.  Any suggestions?

E2B's pajama drawer after giving two pairs of superhero (complete with cape) pajamas to Princess Wonder - one of which she proudly wore last night - and at least six other pairs to a neighbor.  Really, how did we end up with so many pairs?  I think that they must multiply in the dark solitude of that drawer.

E2B's shorts drawer post-purge.  I now know that I don't need to buy any more shorts for this summer - he's set!

E2B's pants drawer after the purge (I didn't take a before photo) - even with an additional pair or two of pants in the laundry it is clear to me that I need to keep my eyes open for some more jeans.

In the end, we were able to pass along a bag of clothes that no longer fit E2B.  Even so, I think that he still has more clothes - especially shirts - in his room than he realistically needs or will wear.  We decided to turn all of the hangers around so that they are hanging backwards and will only turn them around the correct way once something has been worn.  After a few weeks we'll be able to see what is actually being worn and we'll hopefully be able to whittle down what remains even further.

There are two lessons that I took away from working our way through my son's clothes this week and I know that they'll only be reinforced as I tackle the girls' rooms.  The first is that my children have more clothes than they need.  Because I buy the kids their clothes about a year ahead of time through second hand sources, I am able to build up their wardrobes for a particular season before they need them.  The downside to this - the way that I do it, anyway - is that I don't know what I have already purchased and I end up with more of a particular time of item than is necessary.  So the change that I am going to make is that I will begin keeping an inventory of the children's clothing.  That I way I can make a more informed buying decision about a piece of clothing when I come across it in a thrift store, at a consignment sale, or at a yard sale.

The second lesson I learned is that I need to go back and take another look mid-season at the clothes out in the children's closets/wardrobes and those that have been packed away for future wear.  E2B has grown enough since this fall that certain clothes that fit five or six months ago are now too small and other clothes that were packed away because they were too big are now just right.

I'm linking up to Simple Mom's hot spot #3 results post a day late - I look forward to seeing the progress that other folks have made as well.  Come join us!

"Expensive clothes are a waste of money."  ~Meryl Streep

Thrift Share Giveaway and Project Simplify Hot Spot #3

I'm excited to start off the week by planning how I will attack hot spot #3 in the Project Simplify challenge.  This week, along with other Simple Mom readers, I will be focusing on organizing and cleaning out the kids' belongings...toys, clothes, the whole nine yards.  Here's the tricky part, I will be doing it with their assistance as much as possible.

And lucky me was the big winner this past week over at Simple Mom.  Everyone who links up to Tsh's Project Simplify results post with before and after pictures for that week's hot spot is automatically entered in a fabulous giveaway.  I've won a combo pack of organizational tools from Jennifer at I Heart Organizing and I look forward to sharing more details with you soon.

Congratulations to The Joyful Thrifter at Joyful Treasure Hunting and Gina over at Lime Kiln for winning last week's Thrift Share Pyrex giveaway!  They will be receiving the Shenandoah casserole dish and divided snowflake dish respectively.  My little ones were quite enthusiastic about being able to draw the winners from the ice bucket in our hotel and I know that they'll be thrilled to help with round two.

In keeping with my theme of loving to thrift, but also trying to purge things from around the house, I will be hosting another Thrift Share giveaway this week.  Without further delay, here are the thrifted goodies awaiting a new home...vintage paper games "for travel & leisure" made in 1974 by the Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company (more commonly known as 3M).  All but one of the games appear to be unopened, and the one game that is open appears to have been unused.  Each game is for two players and promises to be:

• Quick & easy to play.
• Stimulating for teens through adults.
• Fun & challenging.

And check out those graphics - aren't they a hoot?  These would make funky discussion pieces on your coffee table, great raw material for altered art, or fun to actually play.

Hex, Naval Battle, and Tic Tac Toe

Thorns, Snare, and Plasm

Check out the combined household income levels on this business reply card (not to be returned after January 1, 1975).

If you would like to be entered into the drawing for these vintage paper games, please leave a comment on this post by Friday night at midnight EDT.  I will draw and notify two winners - one for each lot - on Saturday.  I'm linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday - stop on by to see what thrifted treasures have been found this past week.


"Whatever we possess becomes of double value when we have the opportunity of sharing it with others."  ~Jean-Nicolas Bouilly

Project Simplify - Week 2 Results

Today marks the end of the second week of Simple Mom's Project Simplify - this week's hot spot has been paper clutter.  I was excited to learn about this week's focus because I am highly challenged by paper clutter.  Between mail (mostly unsolicited "junk"), school papers, and the lovingly - and voluminously - created artwork of three young children, I seem to be surrounded by paper.  Tsh suggested tackling books while dealing with paper clutter, but books in this house will require a week of their own so I'm planning to make it my own personal hot spot after the five weeks of Project Simplify are over.

Overall I would only give myself a 4 or 5 on a scale of 10 for my work on paper clutter this week.  Part of it is that I didn't have - or create - enough time this week to attack all of the paper piles in the house.  Another part of it is that I physically can't get to some of it - in particular the stash of nostalgic paper clutter that I have set aside to potentially scrapbook (more on this when I get to #8 on my 2011 goals list, getting my craft room in order).  Because I have issues with paper in many areas of the house, I decided to focus primarily on the most visual, and certainly a significant, problem area...the office.  Or more specifically, my half of the office desk.  Okay, perhaps my paper has the tendency to take over more than half the desk.

Here is the before picture of my desk at the beginning of the week.  As you can see, I don't do a good job of sticking to a "file, don't pile" regimen.

Before: my less-than-organized desktop.

But wait, there's more!  Check out some of the paper clutter hot spots in my kitchen - the refrigerator and the door leading out to the garage.

Before: from homework storage to reminder notices to the children's artwork, a lot of paper ends up on our refrigerator.

Before: the garage door is sporting unusually low clutter volume in this "before" picture, but it is certainly cluttered enough.

Here's a peek at my work space after moving all of my paper clutter into a single big box to start with.  I liked the idea of holding a movie marathon with films that don't require great concentration - they provided the right amount of distraction when I needed it - while sorting through my paper horde.

More paper than I know what to do with?  Check!
A method of sorting to help pare down my paper clutter?  Check!
Remote control to keep those movies rolling?  Check!

One thing that I was glad to cross off of my perpetual to do list this week, and something that I had written on my add-to-2011-goals list just days before Tsh suggested it in her post, was getting registered on the DMA's do not mail list for catalogs, magazines, and other solicitations.  I also registered to stop getting pre-approved credit solicitations here.  Although this would have been a great place to start some time ago, my method of dealing with junk mail was to call each sender individually and ask to be removed from their distribution list.  As with many of my good intentions around the house, I have the tendency to set this mail aside to deal with it later only to find myself with a box full of junk mail awaiting my attention.  I feel very hopeful that joining the do not mail list/opting out of prescreened credit offers will eventually mean that there are fewer solicitations to deal with in this way.

Without further ado, here are my "after" pictures.

Wait!  Is that a desktop I see?

So nice to be able to open the fridge without the fear of cascading papers.

I got rid of the papers behind papers that tended to build up on this door.

One thing that I have always done with certain reference papers (group rosters, gym schedules, etc.) is to tape them to the inside of a cabinet in my kitchen.  If I ever need to access the information I can do so with a quick peek behind a closed door.  I realized that I still had this type of reference material on my refrigerator, so I decided to build upon a good thing and I moved some of the class schedules for my children from the refrigerator to the cabinet door.  My goal is to reserve real estate on my fridge for homework, progress trackers (i.e. piano practice sheets), and reminders for upcoming activities.

I find it helpful to be able to access phone numbers and other information that I commonly refer to quickly without needing to pull something out of a file or look it up on the computer.  As a bonus, I don't have to fight piles on the refrigerator to find them any more.

Although there is still much work to be done to conquer and maintain control over paper clutter in my home, this week helped me get off to a great start and I'm linking up to the hot spot #2 results post over at Simple Mom.  What helps you stay on top of the flow of paper into and out of your house?

**As a reminder, the Pyrex giveaway ends today, so please be sure to leave a comment by midnight tonight on Monday's post if you'd like to be entered to win.  I'll be randomly drawing the names of, and contacting, two winners on Saturday.


"The opposite of simplicity, as I understand it, is not complexity but clutter."  ~Scott Russell Sanders

2011 Goals Update #1

Last week I shared a list of goals for 2011 and, as I said then, I fully expected it to change in some way and it has.  Knowing myself as I do, it is a safe bet to guess that it will change yet again.  This is part of the beauty of lists...I can perform a proverbial brain dump and then when I remember something else - or come up with something entirely new - I can just add it on.  So the first order of business is to update my original list of 25 to become a list of 30.

1. Knit something for each of my children to wear.
2. Plant a vegetable garden this spring/summer.
3. Plant a butterfly garden.
4. Complete my Virginia Master Naturalist certification.
5. Run a 10K in under one hour.
6. Grow seedlings for a portion of the vegetable garden.
7. Scrapbook regularly – paper or electronic (once a month?).
8. Put my craft room into working order.
9. Purge, purge, purge!
10. Write letters via snail mail to my friends and loved ones (once a week?).
11. Teach the big kids to knit.
12. Learn how to sew using my sewing machine.
13. Spend time delving into family history and combining documentation from my family and my husband’s family.
14. Partner with the local elementary school to share environmental education opportunities with the students.
15. Incorporate more handmade gifts into our family and holiday celebrations.
16. Plan ahead and sign the kids up for summer camps that allow them to explore their passions and new things.
17. Create a family mission statement.
18. Volunteer as a family.
19. Explore museums and historical sites around town.
20. Shop at local farmers’ markets regularly throughout the spring and summer.
21. Start nature journaling.
22. Go geocaching and create a local cache.
23. Have our backyard certified as a NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat.
24. Go to the theater with the kids.
25. Train for and participate in my first triathlon.
26. Explore traditional methods of food preservation and learn to can.
27. Make pasta from scratch.
28. Get registered on the Direct Mail "do not mail" list.
29. Actively manage retirement accounts and investments.
30. Update will and estate plan.

Although I hadn't put any of this down on a formal list until I prepared last week's post, these are things that have been rattling around in my mind for some time and I have already taken steps in 2011 to meet some of these goals.  For the purpose of this blog, though, I will resist the temptation to check things off immediately (perhaps my fellow list makers out there can commiserate with the urge to add something to a list that has already been completed just to be able to check it off).  Instead, I will share progress as I make it and give a full report out at the end of the year.

So what progress have I made since last week?


Goal #4 - Prior to last week's goal post I had already met the basic and advanced training requirements for my Virginia Master Naturalist certification.  I had also completed about half of my volunteer requirement (40 hours annually).  I have started preparing a project proposal that, if approved by my chapter, will allow me to receive volunteer hours for my time spent working on goal #14.


Goal #14 - Earlier in the week I met with one of the fifth grade science teachers at my children's elementary school who is very enthusiastic about providing environmental learning opportunities for his students.  He has been awarded two grants this school year to purchase equipment in order to provide students with a meaningful watershed experience.  Later this month I will be supporting his efforts by wading out into the Chickahominy River with students to test water quality.  Hopefully this will just be a starting point and other opportunities will develop.


Goal #9 - The purge is on!  Between cleaning out my master closet and wardrobe as part of Simple Mom's Project Simplify and passing along part of my vintage Pyrex collection through a giveaway on this blog, I have made solid progress on decluttering during the past week.


Goal #16 - On Monday evening I attended a session offered by the county regarding summer enrichment opportunities.  This gave me some additional ideas for camps and other programs that the kids might enjoy this summer.  Next up...actually registering before things fill up.


Goal #19 - To help celebrate my birthday a little bit early, my Mom drove into town and took me out sans kids.  We visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts where we ate lunch at Amuse and visited the Pablo Picasso exhibit.  It was an incredible day and I was so very lucky to spend it in the company of my mother.

Mom and I after a great day at the VMFA.

All in all, good progress so far, though I've got a big task ahead of me between now and Friday to unleash my vengeance on hot spot #2.

Pyrex Giveaway - Thrift Share Monday and Project Simplify Hot Spot #2

You will rarely find me at the mall and my trips to big box retail stores are increasingly minimal - I try to go only when I have an immediate need for something specific like printer paper or new socks.  I do shop at Costco and am too easily swayed by impulse buys there - I'm working on being more mindful about how and where I spend my money.  I like to support local businesses and buy handmade.  I also love to shop second hand.  Whether it be at yard sales, thrift stores, or consignment sales, I am much more likely to be found shopping here than at a traditional retail store.  Thrifting is recycling at its finest, saves money, rescues items from the landfill, and is great fun.  Most of my children's clothes - and a fair number of mine - come from second hand sources.  If there is something cool and unusual in my house, it is probably thrifted.  Thrifting allows me to purchase high quality items for my family that I wouldn't normally be willing to spend money on.  And did I mention the fun factor?  The thrill of the hunt, the excitement of finding something particularly special/rare/unusual, and the satisfaction of finding something that I need for a fraction of the retail price.  Of course, what makes second hand shopping exciting can also make it challenging from a clutter perspective - it is too easy to justify the purchase of an item because it is high quality and inexpensive (beautiful vintage serving bowls and platters are a particular weakness of mine).

One of my favorite blogs is Apron Thrift Girl - Selena has cultivated an amazing community of thrifters on her blog and I particularly enjoy heading over there on Monday for her Thrift Share posts.  As of the time that I am publishing this post, there is not a new Thrift Share post up for today, but you can go here to see last week's post and get a flavor of what her blog has to offer.  Update: I'm linking up to today's Thrift Share post.  I've not participated in Thrift Share Monday before and as I'm working on purging extraneous items from home I am more focused on getting rid of things than buying "new" things.  So I am going to approach Thrift Share Monday a little bit differently this week and offer a giveaway of previously thrifted items that now need a new home.  Like many thrifters who enjoy buying vintage items, I have a soft spot for Pyrex.  I have become much more selective about what vintage Pyrex I will buy, but I recently found that I had too much of it - I wasn't using all of it and my cabinet was practically overflowing.  Today I am offering up two pieces of Pyrex for two lucky winners.  Just leave a comment on this post between now and Saturday and I will draw two names randomly to win one of these two pieces.

Giveaway #1 - a small casserole dish (472-B) in the Shenandoah pattern

Giveaway #2 - an oval divided dish in the charcoal snowflake pattern

On the decluttering front, hot spot #2 for Project Simplify was announced this morning over at Simple Mom - paper clutter.  I feel both excited and overwhelmed by this week's challenge because I have more paper clutter around my house than I can imagine getting through over the course of the next five days.  But that's what is great, for me, about this project - it gives me a specific goal and a specific time frame within to work.  I look forward to sharing my results with you on Friday and hope that you'll consider, to borrow a great turn of phrase from Tsh's post, unleashing vengeance on your papers, too!

Project Simplify - Week 1 Results

We're at the end of the first week of Simple Mom's Project Simplify - week one's hot spot was our personal closet and wardrobe. I didn't take any before pictures of my wardrobe drawers, but here's the before photo of my closet in all of its cluttered glory.

As hard as it may be to believe - and I wouldn't just looking at this photo - I cleaned up this closet about a month ago. Even with the decluttering that took place then, I still managed to pull out three garbage bags full of clothes and other items to donate or give away during this past week. One of the most helpful ideas that I took away from Tsh's post was to try on every piece of clothing and, although it took more time, this was one step that made a huge difference and allowed me to really get rid of clothes that no longer - and perhaps never did - fit right or look great on me.

One item that I was surprised to find so many of was hangers - check out what was left over after cleaning up. Not all of these 150 or so hangers had clothes on them before these pictures were taken, but many did. While I kept a handful of extra hangers so that we've got them on hand if and when either my husband or I add new clothes to our wardrobes, most of these are on their way out the door.

Without further ado, here is my closet now. I still have a few random things sitting in a box that need to be put in their proper place, but overall I think that I can declare this week's decluttering a success.

I'm linking up to Tsh's Week 1 Results post. For some great inspiration, check out before and after pictures from the closets of oodles (that would be the official number, of course) of Simple Mom readers.

"Present Me is tired of holding onto Future Me's crap. Future Me will just have to deal with it." ~Stephanie in the comments of Unclutterer.com's 4/29/09 Uncluttered Aphorisms post

Project Simplify

After the initial energy I put into starting this blog, I've stalled and haven't been back to this space in half a year. During that time I have made some progress towards living more intentionally and creating/nurturing the life that I want for myself and my family, but not nearly so much as I would like. So I'm back on the blog bandwagon in hopes that by laying my efforts out here in the open, I can keep myself motivated and focused on what is important to me. I'll be sharing some of what I've been doing, books that I've been reading and inspired by, and what I'm going to do in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

Today is going to be a short post, though, because I'm joining Tsh over at Simple Mom for Project Simplify and I'm already busy working on hot spot #1 - my closet and wardrobe. The "before" picture has been taken and I now have every piece of clothing out of my closet to be touched, tried on, and sorted (keep, donate, or toss).

I have actually been working on decluttering and generally divesting myself of "stuff" around the house in earnest for several weeks now, but I thought that joining this challenge would help move things along by setting specific goals and time limits. It is hard to feel at peace and spend time doing the things that I love when I am surrounded by chaos, so I feel strongly that this is an important step towards living the intentional life for which I yearn. I look forward to sharing the results of cleaning out my closet and wardrobe on Friday (I'll even resist the urge to share a "before" picture that looks better than where I actually started!).

"Begin each day as if it were on purpose." ~Mary Anne Radmacher