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?