Item 56: Allo, Allo! (Rachel)

Two words: CELL PHONE.

I haven't had a phone in more than four years.  If I can live without it for that long, I suppose it means I can live without it period.

Buh-buh super fancy phone! I'll miss you? Um, okay, I made that part up!

If only you had GPS and Words with Friends.........

Item 55: Smelly Awful Socks! (Rachel)

I hate this style of socks.

Hate them.

With a passion.

They give me blisters when I run.  They don't fit well.  They are grungy and awful and garbage.

Sayonara ugly socks.  You served your purpose (sort of...) and now it is time to take up space in a land fill.

Good thing you are cotton because according to the internetz it's only going to take you 1-5 months to biodegrade.

Happy biodegrading!

xoxo,
Rachel

Item 54: A Foot Massager (Rachel)

Sooooooooooo, I don't even know when or where I bought this.  I don't know how it came into my life.  But it was hanging on the wall in my garage! I've never used it.  I just hung it up and totally forgot it was there.  Seems like that has happened with a lot of things - just showing up unannounced in my life and hanging around taking up space.  So many things...

Good thing I started this blog.

Bye foot massager! Hope you find a good home where you get used regularly!

xoxo,
Rachel

Item 53: Math Text Books From Who Knows Where! (Rachel)

Ok, so I do teach these things.  But I don't know where either of these books came from! They were in my dusty awful attic though and let me just say, ADIOS! You take up space that I don't have to give! I am not sure how you came to be in my life, but I do know that I reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllly don't need you.  Find your way into someone's life that needs you.

xoxo,
Rachel

Item 52: A Hand-me-Down Tank (Rachel)

Call me a snob or a freak but I have never been a fan of hand me down clothes - don't ask why, I just don't know.  I never wear them!  This tank was given to me by a friend years ago and it has spent the last few years up in my dusty attic.  Time for it to find a new home with someone who appreciates it I think!  I am very grateful that my friends love to share and I am disappointed in myself for not passing it on long before this!  

Tank top, not dog.  

Items 47-51: Attic Treasures Galore! (Rachel)

Today I ventured up to the 'attic' of my tiny little bungalow and braved the nails and shingle splinters to come up with some treasures to give away.  There's a lot up there, mostly papers and junk that honestly should be pitched but that will have to wait until spring break!  It's amazing how space gets filled up so quickly with crap you don't really even want or need.  It can be overwhelming to go through it all but honestly, at this point in my life, what else do I have to do? So here are items 47-51:

Cushions I bought from the thrift store 6 years ago, tags are still on them.  Dog not included....

A very well worn bathing suit.

A mini skirt I've never worn.

A scale that isn't so accurate.

Luggage that has seen better days.

This project has been amazing - it has given me perspective on what is important in life, it has made me dig up and dust off things I had forgotten I owned.  And it has made me really look at what I need and don't need.  I can already tell that it's going to get really hard to give things away toward the end of the year.  It's hard now - particularly when it's a sentimental item!  I can't imagine what it is going to be like when I'm out of useless stuff to give away!  Good thing I have an attic full of crap.........

Item 46: Old, Cheap Frames

Back again with a post on quality. 

As part of my living room redo, I decided that it was finally time to get some of my pictures printed.  When I'm not teaching, I'm a photographer.  And while I've had a lot of my pictures printed by other people, I've never actually printed anything that I've shot.  So I bit the bullet and did it.  All I can say is WOW! 

In order to make room for these pictures though I had to get rid of my crappy dollar store frames.  They sucked.  A lot.  Half of them were taped together just to keep from falling apart!  They did their job in my first living room.  But, it's time for quality.  

Dollar store falling apart frames!

Thankfully, we have Ikea.  Oh boy do we have Ikea.  And Target too.  So I upgraded.  New frames.  Real frames.  None of this plastic made to look like wood!  And glass - real glass!  And my images look amazing!  AMAZING! I absolutely love them!

Ikea and Target finds!

 So I'm saying goodbye to the cheap crap that was on my walls - for a better looking, higher quality fancy schmancy gallery of my images!

Adios cheap crap!

Oh and happy Valentime's Day!  Yeah. Happy, happy.

Item 45: Makeup Brushes

So I never really understood the quality over quantity debate.  I always wanted quantity. Heck why buy one thing when you can get five things for the same price.

Now, I've had a change of heart.  Quality over quantity.

Today I am giving away theses less than fabulous cheap makeup brushes.  And some really old pore minimizer.  So every since I got schooled at Sephora, I have been using better brushes to apply my makeup.  It truly is one of those things in the world that quality does matter.  Sure there are times when cheap works just as well as the expensive brand, but I think after trying both, that quality takes the cake here.

To my makeup brushes - adieu! I hope you find a good home.  Since you've never been out of the drawer, I wish luck in the light of day!

Rachel

Items 41-44: World's Biggest Slacker!

Sigh. The living room room project is still ongoing - mostly the putting things back where they belong phase.  I have so much crap that i need to get rid of but today I found myself scrounging for things to give away.  I have so much stuff that I shouldn't struggle to get rid of it!  Of course I haven't even begun to tackle the garage yet! I'm sure I'll be able to get rid of a ton of stuff if I go up there!  But it's a whopping 25 degrees out and I don't think that I'll be going up there today, blog or no blog!

So today I am giving away odds and ends - lots of little things that I found lying around.

Nothing special, nothing fancy - just random crap that has been taking up space in my house and keeping out the things that I want in my life.  Who really needs stuff?  I mean really?  This crap has just been sucking in the negative energy and it's time to give it the boot.  I need love and happiness in my life - not crap, not mistrust, not negative.  Life is too short for these things.

So I am starting today - to purge what I don't need, to ask forgiveness from the ones that I love, to forgive myself and to continue to make room, positive happy space in my life.

And that is all for Sunday!

xoxo
Rachel

Items 33-40: More Schtuff

So I have been really busy trying to get my life back together - both physically (wow does my living room look different!) and emotionally (you never know when life is going to t-bone you unexpectedly).  I have been steadily giving things away, I just haven't gotten a chance to blog about it!

So here they are, part of that pile that I have been steadily giving away:

A disturbing yet good book I've already read...

A tacky vase from the dollar store....

Another book I doubt I'll ever read...  

A duplicate (water damaged) copy of a really great book...

An off-white, fly specked lamp shade...

The world's tackiest hallway lamp and it's equally tacky glass lamp shade....

The awesome pair of pants I ripped getting into my car last night (ugh I loved those comfy pants!)...

My disorganized bookshelves and awful dollar store black frames (although they have been replaced with the bookshelves and frames above - I LOVE MY IKEA HEMNES BOOKSHELVES)....

It certainly is getting more challenging to mindfully get rid of items in my house! I still have tons of crap I'm not using though so I should be able to get rid of a big chunk soon.  It truly amazes me how much stuff I've acquired in the 6 years that I have been in this house!  It's multiplied like gremlins!  And a lot of it is crap - stuff I've vowed to fix that is still broken, stuff I have never bothered to use, stuff that I will probably never use.  Getting rid of this baggage is liberating!  I just need to pace myself so that I can make it to the end of the year!!!!

Goodbye schtuff!

Item #: 33-40

Item: Schtuff

Gone to: Thrift store and garbage

Items 26-32: Oops! A bunch of stuff (Rachel)

So I got a little busy working on my living room! While it was beneficial for my purging project, it made it difficult to get any blogging done!  Time to catch up...

So what is in the giveaway pile today? 

A tripod bag, a sparkly garland, old magazines, an extra copy of Siddhartha, a brown pea coat and two items that aren't pictured: three white bookshelves and a big honking couch!

It's so nice to make space in my life.  I need to clean out.  I need to make room.  I need to breathe.  You can't welcome good in your life when you harbor the bad.  This is true in so many ways.  Trust is hard to come by when you can't let go of the things that are weighing you down.

Time to let the heavy burdens go and start again.  Sounds a little like a Florence and the Machine song! Shake it out.............

That's all for tonight! I'm too pooped to type more!