Closet-Part One

The shelf in our closet became the place to store the items that had no home immediately upon moving in. 

Upon taking everything out, it became clear that there was a place to put most of the items now that the rest of the house is pretty well organized. 

We had a variety of items: lovely gifts, fancy shoes, clothes to be mended, sentimental flowers, and so on. Murph is helping. 

The many empty plastic bags and Pizza Hut Parmesan packets win first place for Least Likely to Belong in a Well-Organized Closet. I think the Parmesan is left over from when construction crews were renovating. We also found Taco Bell hot sauce awhile back. 

I ended up with distinct piles. Things that belong in another room entirely. This includes the date night jar the Victorvillagers put together for our shower, Socktopus, a blank notebook, wedding cards, and Candice's lovely needlepoint pillow. 

I wrangled hiking items into a shoe box, but am unsure of whether I should keep any of it. We have a hat with a flashlight in the bill, a CamelPak that belongs to a backpack that's since been stolen, and a heart rate monitor whose watch partner is missing. 

Emergency beach bag that will go in my trunk. 

Clothes that need to be mended. I will put these in the car to take to a tailor. 

Synthetic rose from a father/daughter dance in 1985. I have no desire to get rid of this, but also don't know where to store it. 

Now we have a well-organized (let's be honest: empty) closet shelf. Surely this space can be used for something?

Where do you store your sentimental items and how many times did you see Murph sneak into a shot?

Getting Our Fit On

Murphy and I have been fairly active over the past couple of weeks. Winter Break makes it very difficult to use the standard excuses. "I'm tired" or "I can't find the time" don't really cut it when you have two weeks off.

The boys and I did a little under five miles at Mission Trails on New Years Day. 

Murph and I took a water and snack break at the halfway point. It was a gorgeous San Diego day. I'd go so far as to say it was a bit on the hot side, but I don't want any death glares from the East Coast, so I'll just say it was lovely. But, seriously, look at that view!

We also went for a quick walk around Lindo Lake (and a stop by the post office!) yesterday. 

It's not easy to get a selfie with a puppy. Not going for duck face in the second pic, btw. I was doing the ol' kissy noise please pay attention to me dog. 

Another beautiful day and another great walk with my best buddy. 

In addition to walks and hikes, I've been using a few fitness apps, which I'll review once I've spent enough time with them. 

How are your goals for the new year progressing? What's one accomplishment over the past few days that you're proud of?

2 Days Before New Years Resolutions

Original post was from another blog I was trying out, so please forgive the timing confusion. Obviously, it is not two days before the new year, but I'm copying all of my posts from there to my main blog, which I'd abandoned for far too long.

New Year's Resolutions tend to get dropped, right? So, my plan is to start a health & fitness plan two days before everyone else.

Inspired by Gracie's Lean '14, I've decided to use my new juicer (thanks, Santa!) at least every morning to get a nutrient-packed start to the day and to complete the New York Times 7-minute workout daily.

I don't have any concrete goals in mind, which may turn out to be a problem. I do know that I'd like my skin to clear up and I'd like to have more energy. It would also be super great if my pants fit a bit better.

Today was day one and I had a juice for breakfast and a juice with lunch. I won't be able to have juice in the middle of the day once I go back to work, but I'll take advantage of having the rest of this week off. I recently watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, which has fueled my juicing fire. I got both recipes for today's juices from the official website for the movie, one of which was delicious and one of which I had to gag down. I despise the flavor of ginger and the recipe called for it, so I tried, but ew. From now on, I'll put a mixture of fruits and veggies together that sound good and hope for the best. I will no longer put in ingredients that I know I don't like.

I also completed the NYT 7-minute workout after dinner using this app. I love the app because it allows me to listen to my own workout mix while using the app. The app also alerts you with audio when it's time for a transition. If you're unfamiliar with the NYT 7M workout, it's a series of twelve body weight exercises that you do for 30 seconds each, followed by a ten second rest. The number of cycles is up to you. I'm only completing one cycle right now as I am absolutely physically inactive, but I'm confident I'll be completing multiple cycles by month end.

What I need now is a buddy for accountability and I'm set!

Dresser

Bedroom dumping ground number two is the dresser.

Exhibit A:

I'm not sure what to be more ashamed of: the giant spider web in the windowsill (you can see it. It's the cloudy covering on the glass change jar) or the unnecessary number of bras on display. 

Like the vanity, the dresser is a major spot in the bedroom for dropping things when we don't feel like putting them away. 

Like I said, bras galore. I left these here after organizing the dresser drawers a few weeks ago. We have uncomfortable VS bras that I never wear, a strapless that isn't utilized more than once a year, the stickies from the wedding, and sassy lingerie gifted from Rose at my bridal shower. I need a space for items like these that I wish to keep, but rarely need. I'm thinking the top shelf in the closet would make sense, but that's its own little disaster and will require another post. 

We also have items that simply don't belong. 

Most of these are the result of having a new home and having grand plans for projects that are changed or never completed. I don't know what most of these screws are for. I'll put them downstairs in the workshop (oh, lord, the workshop) and they'll likely be of some use in the future. 

I was able to match these hooks up to their screws and anchors. This was originally purchased to install in the closet for belts, but I think it would be better suited downstairs over the shoe organizer. I've been looking for something to hold Dylan's hats and this may work perfectly. 

After a quick wipe down with my handy dandy baby wipes, we have the finished product. 

The change jars stay. This is where Dylan empties his pockets at the end of the day, so it makes sense. 

The dresser clean up was a quick 15 minutes that makes a huge difference. It's one of those areas that I see every day that adds just a little more to my guilt bucket each time. The guilt is unnecessary and annoying and now it's gone. 

Of course this clean up makes me want to start another project. I wish the top of the dresser looked snazzier. This dresser has been around since my stepdad's childhood, so it's scratched and discolored and, frankly, a bit boring. Can a dresser top be Mod Podged? Off to Pinterest I go!

Vanity

The vanity is one of far too many dumping zones in the bedroom. Why take five seconds to put something where it belongs when there's a convenient little table right by the door?

Yikes. Pay no attention to the unmade bed in the reflection. 

The first step was to get rid of near empty bottles by adding their contents to the bottles purchased to replace them. 

Hey, look! More water glasses where they don't belong!

I don't need three different types of daytime lotion on the vanity when I only use one regularly. To be honest, I don't need three different types of daytime lotion period. 

The following are the only items that need to stay on the vanity as they're used daily or nearly daily. 

Now it's time to wipe away all of the hair and dust with my favorite cleaning tool. 

I keep the morning hair and face items on the left. 

And the nighttime items stay on the right. 

The finished product is so much easier to navigate. Continue to ignore the unmade bed. 

This organization sparked a couple of future projects: find a better container than a plastic bowl for bobby pins and figure out what to do with the curling iron and hair dryer that currently live on the floor. 

What about you? Where is your favorite dumping ground at home? What's one thing you could do to keep it clear?

Carbage

Pro tip:

Take the trash out of your car each time you're at the gas station. That way you don't end up with moldy apples and fruit flies in your vehicle. 

This was the situation in my car yesterday. 

It's embarrassing.  And gross. 

This won't happen again. 

How do you keep your car tidy?

Purse Purge

Sunday is now officially the day to figure out what exactly I'm carrying around with me each day.

Before:

Yikes. 

I dumped everything out on the dining room table to more easily sort the contents into piles. 

A pile for items to toss or recycle, mostly including gum wrappers and expired coupons/insurance cards, and old grocery lists. 

A pile for items that have an elsewhere to be, including keys to the office at a job I haven't had for six months. 

A file pile. 

A pile of things I need to take action on. I found a check to deposit, sanitizer and Advil to refill, a business card for an acupuncturist I'd like to see, a dirty spoon (ick), and stamps for Rachael Ray dishware at Albertson's that I'm pretty sure I don't need, but am still debating. 

Behold! There is also a pile of things that actually belong in my purse!

They just need to be prettied up a bit and compartmentalized. 

Like so. 

The ol' purse may not look much better to the naked eye, but it's a wonderful feeling not to be carrying the excess physical and mental weight around. 

What's the most unnecessary item in your purse right now?