Day 104: Bags

I hoard purses because I'm convinced there will someday be an occasion that calls for a specific type of purse, and I will be prepared, and I will feel vindicated! But the truth of the matter is, I use my diaper bag as a purse (it's cute, really) and by now, it's so well-stocked that switching purses would be about as easy as moving to another state.

I kept the messenger bag because it would be a totally useful tote on a vacation...if I didn't already have another messenger bag, a diaper tote, and two oversized handbags.

The beach tote would be perfect for short trips to the beach if a) I didn't already own two beach totes I like better, and b) I ever went to the beach without lugging two bottles of sunscreen, three towels, a baby tent, snacks, a giant water bottle, and a few magazines.

So, it's time to let them both go.

DESTINATION: Hand-me-downs.

Day 103: Sunglasses

I love sunglasses. When I forget my sunglasses, I'm useless. And I have A LOT of sunglasses. But I decided to pare down my collection just a little -- for example, the thin black "Monica-Gellar-in-1995" glasses can go.

DESTINATION: Hand-me-downs.

Day 102: WTF Leggings

Seriously. Name one occasion when it would be appropriate for me to wear these. I'm 31, and (unfortunately) (no matter how hard I wished after reading Harry Potter) not a wizard.

Oh, and the skull legwarmers are reluctantly going too. They're cute, but I haven't worn them in years and I KNOW they'll get some good use elsewhere!

DESTINATION: Hand-me-downs. Nieces, I dare you! Make it work!

Day 101: Headwear

You've probably noticed by now that my closet is like an endless abyss of unworn clothing and accessories. This isn't even the last of it. I had to break it down into category, mainly to make it semi-fair to myself since I'm dumping about 300 things at once. Don't want to hijack the blog, but dang, I want to give myself some credit :)

If you know me (which you probably do...who reads this?) you know that my hair is my achilles heel. It doesn't cooperate. Sections of it are straight, sections are curly. It frizzes in hard water and falls flat in soft water. It doesn't hold a curl -- even the curly sections suddenly rebel against the curling iron. After an hour, any "updo" looks more like a "lazy-day ponytail." I could go on and on. But suffice to say that none of these hair accessories achieved their maximum cuteness potential when worn by me. Very few accessories do. I'm basically down to one headband and one hibiscus clip.

Notice the jaunty headscarf -- who am I, J-Lo? In 2002?

DESTINATION: Hand-me-down bag.

Day 100: More Costume Jewelry

Unlike the previous post, this stuff wasn't completely busted. It's just not my style. It was at one time, but for whatever reason (fads, fashion, I'm too old to pull it off) it doesn't get any use anymore.

DESTINATION: Hand-me-down bag.

Day 99: Rotten Jewelry

Seriously, if someone tried to burglarize me, they'd be so bummed out by my jewelry box. For example, up until this weekend, it included these priceless treasures:

Notice the discoloration. That's quality right there!

DESTINATION: Trash.

Days 91-98: Clothing Purge!

I was reading Rolf Potts' post about traveling around the world with no luggage, and it got me thinking -- when I go on vacation, I tend to pack my absolute favorite pieces and leave all the filler at home. And since we do laundry (okay, George does laundry) a few times a week, do I really need more clothes than I'd pack for a two-week trip?

Well, yes and no. I definitely didn't pare my closet down to 14 items -- not by any stretch of the imagination. But I kept that theory in mind as I was cleaning out my closet and dresser, which helped me be a little merciless in my purging.

This was a weeklong project, one drawer or section of closet each day (I follow the Get Organized Wizard on Facebook, and one of her big things is breaking big cleaning projects into small bursts). But rather than bore you with eight different posts, I'm just compiling the project into one big post. I'm allowed -- that's in the rules.

Day 91, I went through my swimsuit drawer and got rid of a star-studded string bikini that I have no business wearing, and a velvet-lined suit from 2001 that has held up so well that I got bored of it before it wore out.

Day 92, my sock drawer. In high school, my style could best be described as "poser-goth." (Assuming real goths don't listen to the Spice Girls. I'm right about that, right?) I was also waaaaay into the Courtney Love kinderwhore look. It took awhile to stop getting sucked in by striped stockings and argyle knee-highs, but I think I can safely ditch them now.

Day 93, shorts. I just have too many, and these are the least flattering.

Day 94, skirts. I wear skirts approximately...never. I pared my whole skirt collection down to three and got rid of the rest. Including a pinstriped pencil skirt I owned, as if my chosen career ever calls for that sort of thing.

Day 95, dresses. I love the paisley dress on top, but I bought it when I had baby weight to spare, and I'm no longer the zaftig mama I used to be. That's a good thing. But I'll miss this dress.

Day 96, pajamarama. I had two overflowing drawers of pajamas. Now I have two tidy drawers of pajamas. Still too many, but not outrageous. And the socks on top are comfy, but I fall down when I wear them.

Day 97, shirts. Some I wore too often and got bored with, some don't fit quite right, some were a bad idea in the first place, some I just don't like as much as other stuff I own.

Day 98, sweaters. Every winter I'm like, "I'm going to buy a sweater! I'll be warm, and I won't hate winter anymore!" But the detail I always forget is that I hate sweaters. Yes, I'm warm, but I'm so itchy that I want to rip the sweater and my skin off. It's time to accept that wool will never be in my repertoire.

...and that's it! That's how I spent my week. There may come a day when I regret not counting all 100-ish pieces of clothing individually towards our 365, but oh well. It's nice to have some room in my closet, and it makes getting dressed a little bit easier. I'll probably do a "round two" later in the year.

DESTINATION: My nieces. They give my clothes a second chance, and whenever I see them wearing one of my old pieces, I think, "See? I knew that shirt was cute! I knew there was a reason I bought it in the first place!"

Day 90: Maternity Clothes

I hope that getting rid of your maternity clothes isn't like forgetting to pack your umbrella :) I think I'm done with these. If you've never been pregnant, you can't fully comprehend the level of hatred you have for your maternity clothes after nine months. If you're like me (and pretty much everyone I know), you buy about 10 articles of jersey-knit crap for $10 apiece at Old Navy, then wear them on constant rotation for about 180 days straight. (Yes. I know that's not the full gestation. I'm not including those first few weeks where you can wear normal clothes because you're not a woolly mammoth yet.) Then, if you're me, you repeat the process six months later.

I offered these to my preggo friend Jamie who politely declined, informed me that she was planning a bonfire for her own maternity clothes this summer, and invited me to join. Tempting. But, throwing them in the goodwill bin is just as cathartic, and faster. And a few of these things are still cute (if you haven't worn them daily for the past two years).

DESTINATION: Goodwill.

Day 89: Diaper Genie Elite

Time to play catch-up! We've been throwing things out every day, cleaning like crazy, but I've been swamped with work all week and didn't have time to pull photos off my memory card and write up descriptions. But I have a few spare minutes now...or more like a few spare hours, considering my hubby apparently just discovered failblog.

Last week, we sold our diaper genie. What can I say about our diaper genie? It's a sealed trash can for poop. An elite trash can for poop. It was helpful when we were changing three diapers a night. But I don't really have many affectionate words for it. You done good, Diaper Genie! Now go live somewhere else.

DESTINATION: Someone on craigslist. We're $20 richer!

INSPIRATION: Itty Bitty Apartment

I've fallen behind on posting, although you should see the pile of stuff I cleared out from my closet and dresser this week! Wow. It makes me happy every time I open a drawer and can actually see what I own.

Unfortunately, work has been crazy, and so has life. So actually editing and uploading the photos will have to wait another day or three. But in the meantime, in the spirit of closet-cleaning, I wanted to share this story about a woman whose whole apartment is the size of a closet.


Photo: Faircompanies.com

How does she deal with the small space? Well, she doesn't have what she doesn't need. Oh, and she actually goes outside and enjoys the city she lives in. Novel concept! :)