Day 88: True Religion Jeans

I got these jeans for a serious bargain when I was working at Penthouse...in 2005. Like every pair of pants I own, they needed about six inches hemmed off the bottom. I was too lazy to get it done. Then I found a pair of Paper Denim jeans that didn't need to be hemmed, and wore them until they fell apart. Then I got pregnant, and then I got pregnant again. Then I looked in my closet last week and thought, "Holy crap, the tags are still on these jeans?" I'm living in a pair of Rock and Republics right now (jeans are my weakness...I love them) so it was easy to part with these, especially since I'm building an eBay fund to buy new camera goodies. It's really motivating me to slash-and-burn.

DESTINATION: Cali, by way of eBay. Goodbye jeans! I was really psyched about buying you. Sorry it didn't work out. Hope your new owner is really psyched too.

Day 87: Yet Another Candle

Same story: Love candles. Hate fire. Need fewer unused candles cluttering up the place.

DESTINATION: Goodwill.

Day 86: Busted Ugly Lights

These super sweet fluorescent lights were mounted under our kitchen cabinets when we moved in. They've been replaced with dimming halogen lights. Not sure why I didn't huck them earlier. I thought I would hang them over my work bench, but I'll buy what I want for that spot when the time comes.


DESTINATION: Trash.

* Hi, it's Kara. George made me chop his head off in this picture!

Day 85: Mitre Box

I got this at the landfill where I used to work. In college.

Number of years stored: 14.
Number of uses: 0
Reason: Power mitre saws rule.


DESTINATION: Trash. I looked it up on eBay, and a mitre box in its original packaging sold for a whopping five bucks. Really?

Day 84: Pile of Wires

I've played with a ton of stereo stuff over the years, and this pile was just a small portion of the random junk I've been holding onto. It includes things like a face case for the stereo in a Ford Escort that we sold three years ago; several coaxial connection cables; every RCA splitter combination available; several lengths and styles of RCA cables; plain wire; automotive antenna parts; and a few power cords. Plenty more where that came from -- maybe I'll dump more later in the year.

What's funny is, if I needed to buy all of that stuff tomorrow, it would cost me over $100. But the truth is, I don't need any of it -- so this pile is worth about $0.00.


DESTINATION: Trash.

Day 83: Box of Junk

I started cleaning up the basement in preparation for a remodel, and I pulled this stuff off of the top of the workbench. For example, there was a fence that never properly fit the table saw I sold on craigslist a few months ago, or an empty glasses case from two pairs ago. I also added some random ceiling fan parts that I was keeping for no good reason.


DESTINATION: Trash.

Day 82: Unforgettable You

I like nonfiction books about writing and business and travel and world domination and shoes. But I don't like to read feel-good self-help books. Eat Pray Love? No no no.

I actually read this for an interview with Daisy Fuentes, and have been holding onto it ever since, in case I needed a 330-page ego boost. But I'd rather pass it on to someone who does love feel-good self-help books.

DESTINATION: Goodwill.

Day 81: Candle Tray

I've mentioned this before: Obsession with candles, fear of fire.

This one actually got used more than average. We kept it in our old shower in Piscataway, and I didn't mind lighting it because the base was (non-flammable) glass and we used it in close proximity to an endless water supply. It's the perfect candle! But now that our bath has been taken over by one toddler and one cruising infant, it's not a candlelit sort of place anymore.

DESTINATION: Goodwill.

Days 79-80: Vases

You might be wondering what kind of plant would fit in such a tiny vase. The answer is bamboo, the only plant we ever successfully kept alive for any extended period of time. (We've overwatered, underwatered, overgrown, overpruned, and had one traumatic experience with a plumeria tree that got infested with tiny bugs.)

But eventually, we did something wrong with the bamboo too. If I remember right, we kept it in a closed room while painting. Green thumb tip of the day: Plants don't thrive on paint fumes. We haven't found a bamboo source (our original source was the Hightstown Shop-Rite, but we've moved twice since then) so the vases are no longer needed.

By the way, George and I had very different "visions" for the photo for this post. I suggested this:

George wanted to go with this:

Not sure who wins. Maybe everyone. Maybe no one.

DESTINATION: Goodwill.

Day 78: My First TV

Old Faithful. This 13" TV was my first TV that I bought somewhere around...1992? It had an internal alarm that I used for years to wake me up for school. It was tuned in to MTV so that I could be up to date on the latest in Alt Rock. In high school, I made a entertainment center to hold it and all of my components. (I had a BIG stereo, thanks to my parents who bought me a new component every Christmas until it was complete) The TV still works great, and it will live on. My sister is going to add it to her travel trailer when she visits. At this point, you can barely give away a tube TV, let alone one that has a whopping 13" viewable area! We're still HDTV holdouts. Is anyone else?


DESTINATION: Krissy's trailer. Goin' mobile!

Excuses, excuses.

I am SWAMPED with work this week. We've thrown things out, taken the photos...it's just a matter of loading the images off the memory card and writing a blog post with a bit more substance than "goodbye, subwoofer."

Standby! :)

Day 77: Candle Tray

One day, I was feeling domestic, so I went to Target to prettify our coffee table. I bought a candle tray, a few candles, some potpourri, and a table runner. I think it goes without saying that this was before we had kids.

I set up my beautiful decorations, and the potpourri instantly began attracting every available dust particle in the room. Occasionally, hubby would try to light the candles and I'd yell at him. Then we had kids, and the notion of keeping anything on the coffee table -- except for Matchbox cars and Goldfish cracker crumbs -- pretty much went out the door.

DESTINATION: Goodwill.

Day 76: Broken Letter Opener

My mom gave me this pretty butterfly letter opener for Christmas a few years ago, because I'm obsessed with butterflies. I never really used it, because God gave me the perfect letter opener, conveniently attached to my hand -- my index finger. But I kept the letter opener in my desk drawer, because I really liked the carved wooden butterfly. Despite never using it, I somehow managed to break it -- but I still held onto it, because I really really liked the carved wooden butterfly.

The other day I was sorting through my desk drawer and it occurred to me: "Hey, I'm keeping a makeshift spear in my desk with two toddlers wandering around. Perhaps this is not the best idea." So, off it goes. Luckily, if I ever need a butterfly fix, I have the pushpins, the paper clips, the papier mache, the notecards, and the tattoo. No butterfly shortage over here.

DESTINATION: Trash. Wouldn't want this thing falling into the wrong hands!

Trash Revisited: The Blue Canvas

You may or may not remember us giving this painted canvas to my sister back in February:

She just sent me a photo of the finished product. Here's how she "awesometized" it:

How cool is that? I expected her to paint over it, but she actually incorporated the original artwork -- damn she's good.

Day 75: Brush Guy

We almost felt bad throwing this guy away. He just looks so eager to brush our food with butter. But we're not the most serious chefs, and we've never brushed...well, anything with anything.

DESTINATION: Goodwill. Seriously -- he's practically brand new.