When the organizing-bug comes a callin'

When the organizing bug hits, there is nothing I can do about it, I have to organize right then and there. And it hit hard at 9pm on Sunday night. If you know me, you know I am usually in bed by 9, asleep by 10. But for some reason, my closet, more specifically the dress section of my closet, was calling my name for some sorting. Anyone else feel this way?

           

            While I do appreciate things having a specific place, I am not someone that needs everything in order 100% of the time. While that is true, when I do feel like something need organized I need to do it right then or else it will haunt me. The past couple weeks I have especially felt this itch and the pantry, corner cupboards, and Tupperware drawer have all been rearranged. Perhaps it is the winter- staying inside most of the day- that makes me want to organize.

           

            As far as my closet goes, I admit, I have a lot of dresses. A sundress is my summer staple and over the years I have accumulated quite a few. Many from years past still fit- but that doesn’t necessarily mean I should hang on to them. For instance, last night I can to terms with the fact that I have probably aged out of shopping at Abercrombie and Forever 21, and let most of these items go.

            I organized my dresses based on color, and as soon as I was done almost two hours later, I realized I should have done it more based on function. Oh well! A task for another day. I still want to organize the rest of the closet, so I will incorporate that in with everything else. The one positive, was that I used to keep all my purses in a large basket. You couldn’t really see what was in there and I often forgot about things. Instead, I put the purse straps on hangers and hung them. So far, I like that method a lot. What is your system?

            What will I do with the stuff I got rid of? Well I thought about saving it for a garage sale, but our community only holds garage sales once a year- in October. I don’t really want to hold onto it for months, especially since adult clothes don’t really sell that well at garage sales. So the not-as- nice items I will donate, but the nicer stuff I am going to try to consign. I will let you know how that goes.

I've got the whole world, on my wall...

Not quite how the song goes, but it is the truth. I had a blank space on my living room wall where I have been wanting to hang a large map . It was a rare occurrence, but my boyfriend must have actually listened and lo and behold he got me one for Christmas! It was a National Geographic World Map and it was the perfect size- 46" x 31". Being the wise man that he is he also got me a gift card to Michael's to get it framed. We have been out of town and running around so today was my first chance to get there. There were no standard frames any bigger than 24" x 36" so I was out-of-luck. I inquired about the custom framing because it was 55% off (yeah right!). The price for custom framing, with acrylic instead of glass ranged from $270-370! I thought that was crazy, especially since the map cost less than $25. So I got creative.

Since the map was already laminated, it really didn't need a frame at all, so I picked up some Scotch 3m Velcro pieces and got to work. I simply applied to all four corners, held up the map where I wanted it and then applied the other side and stuff them to the wall. I am not sure how it will affect the paint when I take it off. Hopefully this is no time soon, so I decided not to worry about it. Here is the final product- I love it!!

Be Kind

Sticking with the title of my blog, today I am asking everyone to embrace kindness. Our country has been deeply saddened by the shooting in Newtown. If you are like me, you are feeling powerless. There is a feeling that you want to help, or honor the lives lost, but aren't really sure how or what to do to deal with the sadness this tradgey left in your heart. Well, Ann Curry came up with an idea: 20, or 26 random acts of kindness. (One for each child, or each person, who died in the shooting). You can search #20acts or #26 acts on Twitter to see what some people have done.

Some things were as simple as taking a neighbor's garbage pails out for them, or paying the bill for a person behind you in a fast food line. So I am starting today with my 20 acts. I am going to spread mine out, it may take 2 months, maybe longer, maybe I will never stop. I will document them on the blog as I do them. Some, I may not document all, because I may do some for people that may not what their story disclosed.  If I can get one other person to do this I will feel as though I did a little more good in the world. So join me in showing that in light of all this bad, the world does still have a little good left and please share as you do them...