Here in Seattle, it’s raining harder than normal. We’re used to it raining every day, but this amount of water falling so quickly from the sky is unusual. Meanwhile it’s still warm enough I have all my windows and doors open right now to let in fresh air. My heater doesn’t need to be turned on at all, not even at night. My dogs can play outside because the sun generally comes out to warm the yard in the afternoon.
It’s windy and rainy, and I feel like I want to light a fire, but it would make the house too hot. It’s dark enough that I do enjoy lighting candles after dinner. So strange, this entrance into autumn.
QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:
- Look ahead at your week (take a deep breath if the week seems daunting!). See if there are any appointments you need to keep; build in time for yourself, time for your family, time for socializing, and time to snuggle your pets.
- How are your houseplants doing? Need to water, fertilize, or adjust them for more light?
- Can you declutter your mail table (if needed) when you get home from work tonight? Actually process the mail, not just move it around?
- Throwing a dinner party, moon festival celebration or autumn equinox gathering this week? Have you invited people, made your menu, bought your groceries?
TODAY’S PROJECT: Mini Closet Sorting
Tonight when I get back from dinner with friends, I plan to sort just one part of my closet: the skirts.
Every year in the fall I tend to do a massive all-day-Sunday closet reorganization. This year, I’m not so sure I want to spend an entire autumn Sunday doing that. I think I’d rather sort my clothes during a couple evenings here and a couple evenings there – preferably when there’s something I want to watch on TV anyways. That way I’m not wasting time watching TV, but I’m also doing a useful project, not make-work.
I must have had my skirts crammed in there really tight, because it doesn’t look like I removed very much from that closet! (Note the cat bed in there, my attempt to get him to sleep in his cat bed instead of napping in the laundry bin or under long dresses where I can’t see him when I look for him).
I just counted my skirts, and have to force myself to deal with the wasteful reality: I own 43 skirts. Forty-three. Wow! I had no idea. Just last week I was on a shopping trip with my friend, whining to her “I need skirts! I wish I could have found one today!” Apparently, folks, I do NOT need any skirts.
Now, I am a dress and skirt-wearing girl. I rarely ever wear pants, so I have just four pairs: three black velvet and one brown velvet. Think how much worse my closet would be if I was a pants wearer too – would I also own nearly 45 pairs of pants if that were the case? Yikes.
Also, just taking a look at the pile of skirts dumped on my bed, I can see I have a black skirt buying problem. I obviously love wearing black, but as I went through to do a brief count today, I saw multiples of the same style of black skirts. I found two polkadot skirts, three long velvet skirts, two short velvet skirts, two summery white skirts (when just one would have sufficed, given that I only wore it twice this season), and three black skirts made of the same yucky clingy rayon.
Already I saw four skirts I can immediately give away since I don’t wear them, and one that I must throw away because the elastic is limp and the skirt was extremely inexpensive – not worth fixing it up just to give it to charity. I prefer to only give pristine, immediately useable clothes to charity.
Sorting tonight, I will force myself to try on every skirt I want to keep. If it doesn’t fit, I will be very firm with myself and put it in the donation bin. I’ve been the same weight (though I should drop a few pounds) for 3 years now, so if a skirt is too small, I’m probably not likely to lose enough weight over the next year to wear it. If it’s too big, I’m probably (and hopefully) not going to gain enough that it will fit. The hard part will be reminding myself, “You never wear this. When’s the last time you really wore this?” or “You can easily buy another one in the future if you give this away and regret it.”
I’ll post an update tonight when I’m done, hopefully with a much smaller count of the skirts I’m actually keeping.
UPDATE:
I threw away four skirts for having broken elastic, being stained or having rips. I donated 19 skirts, and kept 20. Total skirts processed: 43. I will go out of my way to wear and enjoy some of the skirts I have left that I’d forgotten about, starting with my lunch date tomorrow morning!
LOVELY BLOGS: Made by Girl
A lovely picture-heavy blog by a girl who is interested in interior design, travel, art, food and fashion. She finds really interesting things to blog about, I think you will enjoy your time spent here.
http://madebygirl.blogspot.com/
LOVELY LINKS FOR TODAY:
Cooking With Figs (Epicurious)
Fall Dinner Party Menus (Martha Stewart)
How to Make an Autumn Wreath (Helium)
Morning Timesavers (Martha Stewart)
Oktoberfest Beers: An Ever-Changing Lot (Chicago Tribune)
Salads: Holding Onto Summer (Chicago Tribune)
This Autumn Wreath is Not Like the Others (Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss)
