Organizing Clutter - Part III

I thought today I would talk about organizing our thoughts, and I could think of no better place to begin than where I keep all my ideas for this blog. Yes, I keep them in this lovely Wonder Woman notebook. When I saw this it just made me smile. You have to understand that I grew up watching Wonder Woman. While my Mom had role models like Donna Reed and June Cleaver, I grew up with Charlie's Angels and Wonder Woman. I just thought a Wonder Woman notebook was the perfect place to keep my notes. She was smart, beautiful and strong. Perfectly capable of taking care of herself. The same could be said for Charlie's Angels, but Wonder Woman got to wear a really cool superhero outfit with cuff bracelets and go-go boots! I guess I've gotten off track here. Anyhoo, I'm an avid listmaker and this is where I keep all my topics listed as well as my list of potential Celebrities of the week.

As far as day to day notes, I have a tiny little moleskin notebook my cousin bought me at Barnes and Noble. This notebook is so small, thin and light that it is perfect to carry around in your purse. Some of the things I jot down in it are songs I hear on the radio that I want to download onto my IPOD. If I find a pair of pants in a store but they don't have my size, I will write down all the info off the tag and go to another store to try to find it. I also write down books I would like to read and other random things. It comes in handy when you need to write down someone's address or phone number. You know, you always need a piece of paper for something. Target sells similar little notebooks in a 3 pack for $1.99. You can get them with lined notepaper or graph paper.

At work, my two obsessions are my calendar and my post-it notes. How in the world did we ever live without post-its? I love the mini post-its. They are great to flag pages in books or magazines, and I've been known to use them as book markers when I'm in a pinch.

My desk calendar shows one week per page. I write my activities down on each day of the week so I know where I'm supposed to be and at what time. It's just nice to have a visual of what's going on, not only today, but the rest of the week. It keeps me from forgetting occasions or double-booking myself. And at the beginning of each year, I transfer over all my family and friends' birthdays so I don't miss them. For my personal use, my husband buys me a Mary Engelbreit calendar every Christmas. I just love her artwork. It is so cheerful and sweet.

Organizing Clutter - Part II

Part I was about organizing paper clutter, so I thought in Part II I would address how I manage and de-clutter my closet and beauty products. Has anyone out there ever seen Peter Walsh on Oprah? He's the guy that comes on her show and helps hoarders get their homes and lives back in order. He is amazing. Well, I bought his book "It's All Too Much" and it really changed the way I view my possessions and helped me with some great tips.

I'm constantly cleaning out my stuff, but it is not overwhelming because I do it in little ways on a daily basis. I keep a shoe box on the ledge at the stop of my stairs. In this box goes anything that I realize I don't want anymore. Right now that box contains mostly paperback books that I've finished reading and beauty products that were not quite right for me. If I put on a lotion or a foundation and the smell drives me crazy it goes in the box. If I put on a lipstick that is just not the right color for me, it goes in the box. When the box gets full, I put the lid on it and put it in the garage. When the next garage sale comes along, I pull all my boxes off the shelf and price the items. Of course there are items you will just want to toss in the trash, or maybe you want to give your boxed items to charity. The important thing is to get rid of the item right when you decide you don't want it anymore. Don't wait! If you keep this up, there will be no overwhelming task of going through all your things.

I also do this with my clothes. If I put on a skirt and it is too small, it goes in a guest bedroom closet. If I decide I don't like a particular shirt anymore, it goes right into the guest closet. Shoes too tight? Tired of your handbag? Put it in your "reject closet." Never put it back up in your closet!!! Once your "reject closet" is full, go through it and decide what you want to do with the items. I send many of my nicer, newer clothes to a local consignment shop because they can get more for it there than you will get by selling it at a garage sale. Of course they will keep a commission on what they sell, but it is still worth it. My items that are not so new are typically put in a garage sale. I also give many items to charity.

Be aware that consignment shops are very picky, and understandably so. They only want clothes that are in season and clothes that are still in style. Your items will need to be clean and pressed and on hangers. I would recommend calling ahead before you take items in because many of them accept consignments only on certain days of the week or at certain times of the day. Also find out what the commission will be. They usually take 40%-50%. Sometimes they will mail your checks to you, and sometimes you will be expected to pick them up.

Organizing Clutter - Part I

As mentioned before, I am somewhat of a pack rat. Especially when it comes to make-up and beauty products, but my problem also extends to clothes, magazines, papers, coupons, and books. Today I thought I would address one of the ways in which I deal with paper clutter - particularly magazines.

I used to keep stacks of fashion magazines. I had some from the 80s in the attic probably as late as 5 years ago! Well, those have since been thrown away, and I have a adopted a new system.

I subscribe to InStyle and Lucky Magazines and I often purchase People Style Watch. As I look through the magazines, if I see an item I would like to buy or check out in a store, I tear out the page. I also tear out pages for hairstyles or make-up "looks" that I like, decorating ideas, websites I would like to check out, etc. When I am finished desecrating my magazines, I pass them on to my cousin and she does the same for me.

Once I have accumulated my stack of papers, I file them in a pendaflex folder like the one pictured below which I purchased at Target for about $3.50. Each section is defined. This makes it easy to tote around in the car. If I drop by Ulta and I am itching to try some new hair products, I pull the papers out of that section and take them into the store with me. If I purchase the product, then the page is discarded.

Some of the sections in my folder are Hair Products, Hair Styles, Make-up, Skincare, and Clothes. Some other ideas are: Decorating Ideas, Entertaining, Websites, etc. A folder like this could also be used to collect travel articles for different places you would like to visit in the world, recipes, and more. Happy Organizing!

Super Shopping Secret #6

This week's Super Shopping Secret is http://www.thetopsecret.com/. The Top Secret offers designer sample sales daily. Just like the previously recommended shopping websites, if you subscribe, they will e-mail you daily with the current sales they are running. Each designer sale runs 1 to 3 days and they offer up to 75% off retail. Of course everything is available in limited quantities so it is important to act fast if you see something you like. Some of the sales coming up this week include Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole and Missoni. They just sold out of Jimmy Choo sunglasses on Saturday. They retailed for $330, but The Top Secret was offering them for $99. My last purchase was a few London Fog handbags that retailed for $149.95 each and I got them for $69 each on this site. The black one is my favorite!

Living Proof No Frizz Styling Spray

One thing people don't really know about me is that I have wild and crazy hair. Oh, I blow dry it, straighten it, spray it, and tame it, so people don't see the big, frizzy, wavy, poof ball that it really is. Every day is a fight. This is a new product that I found that really works quite well. I initially read about it in Lucky magazine. They talked about how it utilized this new technology to block humidity from penetrating your hair. Then I got an InStyle magazine with Jennifer Garner on the cover and they said the only styling product they used on her hair for the photo shoot was Living Proof. So I went to Sephora and bought a bottle. It costs $24 for 3.4 oz. They recommend that you spray your damp hair with it liberally, then blow dry. They have 3 different formulas for straightening depending on your hair type: fine, medium, thick & coarse, etc. They also have curling products and just now came out with shampoo and conditioner too.

Let me know if you give it a try!

NEUTROGENA TRIPLE MOISTURE CONDITIONER

Today I would like to recommend Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily Deep Conditioner. This conditioner was recommended by users on a website I was checking out one day. I decided to give it a try and I absolutely love it. It is very rich and moisturizing, but doesn't make your hair feel heavy. And the smell is divine! It smells like those sweet little smarties candies. The label says, "treats extra dry, over-processed and color treated hair." It has olive extract, meadowfoam seed extract and sweet almond extract in it. Sounds good to me!

Super Shopping Secret #5

Today's Super Shopping Secret is http://www.shopittome.com/. This website is awesome! I've been using it for a couple of years now. They shop all the online sales for you and send them to you via e-mail. Each day, I receive an e-mail from them. When I open it up, they have shopped every store and designer I love and sent me all the items on sale in my size that I might like. If you see something you like you click on it and it will take you to the website to purchase it. For example, my customized e-mails include items from Ralph Lauren, Nordstrom, Macy's, Bloomingdales, Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Victoria's Secret, J. Crew, Kate Spade, Bluefly, Overstock, and more. You simply go to the site and click "Get Started" on the home page. They will ask you what kind of items you are interested in such as women's clothing & accessories, men's, children's, etc. You check off everything that interests you. Then they will take you to a page that lists so many designers your head will spin. You choose the ones you like and check them all off. The next page will ask for your sizes. You may pick more than one size like a 10 & a 12, etc. They ask for your shoe size, lingerie sizes, etc. Then they will ask you how often you want them to send you sale information. I encourage you to give it a try. It's really a lot of fun and there are some great deals out there!

p.s. It is Clinique Bonus Time at Dillards. With a purchase of $21.50 they are offering a makeup bag with a keychain lipgloss, full size lipstick, blush stick, mascara, Even Better Skin Tone Corrector, and a travel size Mild Liquid Facial Soap.