Love yourself first

Seventeen days into 2013 and I’m pretty confident things will be much brighter and positive for me this year. As I look back at how far I have come in even one year, I’m amazed at how things have changed. I’m now surrounding myself with people who have a love for things that I like to do, I’m determined to get fit not only to ‘look’ better in my eyes but to be ‘BE’ better in a sense of healthiness~spiritually, mentally and physically. I’m also not settling into a relationship with the first man that gives me attention just because I want to be in a relationship.

I look around the circle of people in my life and there are relationships and wants that I someday would like to have and there are also things that I do not want to have. I am making a promise to myself to find true love, which to me is a healthy and loving relationship with someone who wants what I want and cares for me unconditionally. I will no longer feel like I have to adhere to society’s take on what a 33 year old woman’s life should be like.

As I browsed my favorite girl’s website today, Miss Mandy Hale ~thesinglewoman.net, she couldn’t have written a better post. We as women who haven’t found our Mr. Right yet, need to continue on our road called Life and know in our hearts, it will happen. For all we know, he could be ready and waiting for us. But until then, we shall love what we DO have in our lives instead of what we DON’T. Make 2013 count and make it a memorable one!

It’s better to be someone who’s single than someone who settled.~ The Single Woman

Happy traveling!

xo

Out with the old

We’ve all heard the saying, “Out with old. In with the new” and I never found it more fitting than I did this past weekend. Thanks to my love of Pinterest I saw this fantastic idea for a new way to organize my shoes in my closet. I figured this little project would help with just my shoes. Boy, was I wrong. This “little” project turned into a 12 hour project with 4 bags of clothes and shoes being donated along with 3 bags of trash. And let me tell you, if felt really good when I was finally done.

If you’ve been thinking about wanting to get organized and just don’t know where to begin, I’m here to help you. It takes patience and time, but in the end, I promise you, will feel clutter free and a sense of weight being lifted off of you.

Step one: The infamous bookshelf idea I found on Pinterest. I searched for these in stores when I would be out and about and found them reasonably priced at Christmas Tree Shop. I did find similar ones at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Step two: Set aside enough time. (I grabbed some of my favorite movies and Sex and the City seasons to play in the background). I spent 6 hours on Friday night beginning this great transformation and then another 6 hours on Saturday night.

Step three: Begin with going through your closet with items you haven’t worn or even touched within the past year. That’s usually the rule of thumb. There were also items that I haven’t been able to fit into the past couple of years. I would hold onto them hoping I’d get back into them, but truth be told, it was time to let them go to someone who can use them. So also grab items that are either way too big for you because you have lost weight (not sure why you didn’t get rid of those earlier!) or get rid of some that you know are not going to be your “skinny” jeans. I’m sure there are some items that are out of date as well. I know they say trends always make their way back around, but there are certain trends I’m sure we would all love not to relive through.

This is the beginning of my journey to cleaning.

I’ve decided to not only donate 4 bags of clothing and shoes to Big Sisters but I’m also going to go bring some great items to a consignment shop in town, Karma Couture.

Step four: Once you have gone through your clothes, you cannot forget to go through your shoes. If they are good enough to be donated, make sure to do that. If they aren’t, that’s when you can throw them away. I looked at is as, I’d rather have someone in need use the shoes then immediately just throw them out. I also at this time went through my handbags. If you can also sell your handbags on eBay, I would try that. I’ve done it and it’s worth it.

Step five: Once clothes and shoes have been gone through and I now had what I was going to keep, it was time to work on organizing my closet. I put the bookshelves into my closet and then added my shoes and my handbags. I love to keep my shoes in their boxes. This keeps them from getting ruined and dusty. I would rather have clear boxes, but that’s for another day. I also keep the dust bags that my handbags come in.

Step six: Go through the clothes that you have. Being a Virgo, I am very organized (usually~haha) and I love things in order. My clothes are organized by sleeveless tops, cardigans, long sleeve tops, then sweaters. On the bottom half of my closet I organized them by jeans, colored jeans/jeggings, dress pants, dresses, skirts, blazers, then sweatshirts (zip-up hoodies really).  I also like to organize my clothes by color and then texture. Crazy I know, but honestly once I started doing it, it just sort of felt natural to do it that way.

Hope they stay like this!

Step 7: I LOVE hats, so normally I would have kept them on the shelf with my pashminas and scarves but I literally had an ah-ha moment! Why didn’t I just get some small nails and hang them on my wall!? So I grabbed my hammer and some nails and within 3 minutes, had my hats hanging nicely on my wall.

And if you can notice in the picture (hint: bright pink hanger), my pashminas and scarves are no longer on my shelf, thanks to my pinning obsession, I saw another great idea. All you need is a hanger & shower rings and voila!!! Now all of your scarves and pashminas can be seen and not forgotten about.

Step eight: A long time ago, I believe 2 years to be exact because my sister was pregnant with my niece and let’s just say she is now pregnant with my nephew, I bought these boxes to help organize my drawers. Well, since I am still living with my bedroom set from when I was 12 years old, the boxes are too tall for my drawers therefore they have sat in their package for 2 years. Well, I had another ah-ha moment. Because my top drawer was always stuffed full, I never had enough room for my socks. They had to be in my desk drawer; weird I know but I’ve literally been doing this for 21 years. Now that I had all of this room on my shelves that used to house my scarves and leggings, why don’t I use these boxes to put my socks, leggings and belts! Seriously, why didn’t I think of this earlier!!!

Step nine: I love having a hamper in my closet for my clothes. I’ve also decided I’m going to get another one strictly for towels. For now I’m using my laundry basket. I’m very fortunate that my washer and dryer are literally 3 feet away from my bedroom door. I highly suggest having a hamper or some sort of laundry system close by. This way you stay on top of things.

and lastly………

Step ten: ENJOY!!!!!!!!!! When I was finished with my closet, I literally wanted to sleep in there. It felt so liberating and free to see my belongings and to know that I was beginning my year with items that I wanted and treasured.

Hope you decide to do the same too!! And please let me know if I encouraged you and helped you in any way.

Happy cleaning!

xo