Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Pack-Rat In Me

I came across two articles today that I thought were fun & informative.  Obviously, I had to share.  =)   

(source) & (source)

10 Grown-Up Things Every Woman Needs In Her Home

1.  Frames for your posters turn tacky memorabilia into art.
2.  All of the necessary props for a sophisticated dinner party.
3.  A living plant to show off your responsible & nurturing side.
4.  A comfortable, beautiful, and matching sheet set.
5.  A tool kit.
6.  A decent sound system to help set the mood.
7.  All of the ingredients and utensils needed to make your favorite cocktail.    
8. Some art that you love, even if it's inexpensive.
9.  Curtains to help pull the room together.
10.  Mirrors and lighting that make you look and feel fabulous.  


10 Things Every Woman Needs To Throw Away

1.  Memorabilia and physical reminders of past relationships.
2.  Makeup that is any older than 6-months, because it can spread germs. (Ew!)
3.  Painful shoes.
4.  Clothes that are too small for you - if and when you reach your goal weight, you'll want to go shopping anyway!
5.  Old greeting cards from ex-friends or people who aren't all that important to you anymore.
6.  Dorm room dishes have got to go.
7.  Junk mail, magazines, and fliers that just pile up on the counter.
8.  Old bra's and panties that are stained/worn/stretched.
9.  Old cell phones, iPods, etc.  Why keep them?  
10.  Books you'll never read again, especially your old text books.  


If you check out the articles themselves, you'll get a good laugh out of the explanations provided for each item.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of these points, and have added some new items to my to-do list!  :)  


Things To Do / Buy:

- Frame stuff.  Mr. R and I are so bad about this!  We own several things that we keep saying we're going to get framed, yet we haven't done it yet.  We have some certificates we'd like to frame, some different pieces of art....  Maybe apartment-living will force us to get our ducks in a row, or throw the ducks out.  Poor little ducks.  

- Buy a live plant.  It's crazy that this was on the list, because I was thinking the other day about how I would like to buy a plant for our apartment.  We currently live in the woods, and I know all four of us will miss nature.  Having a plant would help counteract the concrete-jungle effect.  :)  I just hope our two little critters don't mistake the house-plant for a house-tree and pee on it.

- Get some pretty curtains.  I have fabric.  I have a sewing machine.  I need to buy some clear thread or something, and make us some dag-um curtains.  :)  

- Throw out old memorabilia.  Not just ex-boyfriend stuff, but tons of old "junk" that the pack-rat inside me won't let go.  Yeesh.  I have BOXES in the attic of ex-boyfriend stuff from high school, that I've kept just because I thought it would be funny if I can read the dumb little love notes in my 40's or something.  Seriously?  I hope I have better things to do when I'm 40.  I need to just throw it out, even though reading all that stuff would be pretty entertaining, I'm sure.   This includes old book bags, college books, piggy banks, etc.  

- Throw out old make-up.  Why do I struggle with this so much?  I just can't seem to grasp the fact that if I haven't used up all of my  bright purple or lime green eye-shadow by now, I'm probably not going to...EVER.  When I'm going through old make-up and old-jewelry, I literally wonder what I'll do or where if I'm ever invited to an 80's theme party.  I'll have to buy all new make-up and accessories!  I'm out of control.  I've got to get rid of some of these tacky things and stop holding onto them "just in case" the Backstreet Boys invite me to a secret, slightly retro concert.  Get real, Mrs. Robinson.  

- Get rid of clothes that are too small and stop carrying them around.  Can I do this?  I don't even know.  Getting rid of them means I'm never going to lose weight, right?  I spent SO MUCH MONEY on clothes, and have the bad credit rating to prove it, so why should I throw out the only concrete reminder of that?  Oh....right....because it was a dark time in my life that I don't need concrete reminders of, perhaps.  Duh.  But, no, seriously?  I love my pretty clothes, even if they don't fit.  I should totally get rid of them, right?  But I can't.  But I should... 

- Throw out old technology devices.  I horde old laptops that I can't remember the passwords to, and cracked-out cell phones because I want to keep the pictures.  

- Give away old books.  I'm an English-nerd, guilty as charged.  I still have the Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen mystery books that are seriously packed up & ready to go to Charlotte right now.  I should probably get rid of them because I will never, ever read them again.  

What is wrong with me?!  Haha!  

What do you need to throw away?   

sig-1-1

7 comments:

Meg @ Mr.C and Me said...

"Seriously?! I hope I have better things to do when I'm 40."

amen! ...haha i'm practically peeing my pants over here. lovelovelove it!

p.s. there are tons of places to recycle* your old computers and phones. just sayin'

p.s.s. cannot wait to see what plant you get. fyi there are tons of adorable planty-things at IKEA :)

thanks for posting this list. i'll keep it in mind as a pack. as i also save tiny scraps of paper and super old undies....

Anonymous said...

"just in case" the Backstreet Boys invite me to a secret, slightly retro concert. LOL

I needed to read this post. We've donated a few large garbage bags of stuff in the past 6 months, but it still feels like we haven't made a dent. purging your house is the best feeling ever!

THECAROLINACOUNTRYGIRL said...

Thank you for sharing this! The one I love the most is #6 to throw away! We still use my husbands old dorm dishes and I HATE it! The hubs won't budge either! I've tried!

Amber K said...

i cannot make myself throw away old cards! every time i go to do it i feel awful like i don't value the person who sent it to me. and most of the time it just says something like happy birthday love so and so. i thin i have a problem, haha.

♥ ♥ Just a Girl in Love w/ a Soldier ♥ ♥ said...

This was a really good post, I like both the list. Hey we have two plants and they were both given to me months and months ago and are still alive. You can do it, if I can!!!!

Lauren said...

You mean BSB hasn't invited you for a special night out yet?? I'll be sure to get you on the guest list next time;-)

I like this this. It reminds me that I'm not the only cuckoo one out there who hangs on to random things. I'm just waiting for the day we have children and I hang on to every piece of artwork/crap. My house will become a landmine!

RadiantKristen said...

Sometimes, when you get rid of the things that have been part of the problem (like compulsive shopping!), it frees you from the guilt a little bit and helps you move on. Maybe you and some of the women in your area (or even in NC!) can set up a clothing drive for underprivileged teens? That way, you feel like those clothes are going to a better place!