Woohoo! The Lilybugs Children’s Consignment Sale was a great success! I’m looking forward to picking up my cheque on Wednesday. I made a net profit of $128.80… enough to cover what I spent on Amanda’s summer wardrobe, birthday presents, and advertising (i.e., my [ real neat ] business cards and checklists for the goody bags that were handed out to shoppers)!

My little 2-bedroom apartment is breathing a sigh of relief now that I have eliminated several bins of outgrown clothing and toys. Now, I should be able to find adequate storage space for the belongings that Amanda and I actually use (i.e., camping equipment, art supplies, bicycles).

So, if you haven’t done so already, set aside an hour or two to sort and purge your excess clothing as the seasons change and the weather gets warmer.

THE RULES:

• Grab your calendar now, and schedule an appointment with your wardrobe within the next 2 weeks.
• Invite a trusted friend to join you in weeding out your ‘old’ clothes. She’ll help you remain objective.
• Hold a private fashion show, and
  • TOSS any clothing items that have holes (or if, like me, you’ll never realistically repair or pay someone to repair these items).
  • KEEP only items that actually FLATTER your body type. Get picky and brutal. Rid yourself of all ‘skinny’ clothes; at the moment, they are simply taunting you every time you see them, reminding you that you’re fat, you’re lazy, and you’re not good enough. Nothing is ever worth all that negative self-talk. Besides, when you finally do lose the weight, you can reward yourself with a new wardrobe!
  • DONATE anything that is still in decent shape but that doesn’t make the cut (or you never really wear). I hate to burst your bubble, but honestly… if you haven’t worn an item in the last year, you’re never going to end up wearing it. Schedule an appointment on your calendar to take these items to friends or local charities.
• Put away whatever items you keep (in an organized manner, of course). Need ideas? Sort by color, by length, by clothing type, or even by complete outfits.
• Take inventory of the clothing that you kept.
• Make a shopping list of items that you need to replace in order to fill out your wardrobe for the upcoming season.
• Block off some time on your calendar for a shopping date; and, when the time comes, shop with confidence and a discerning eye.

So, what about you? How do you sort and purge your wardrobe? Please share your tips in the comments below.

Well, this blog post has been a long time coming… (I have truly extraordinary procrastination skills when faced with less-than-pleasant-to-dos.)

After my long, unplanned, and very much unwanted hiatus, I am grateful to be blogging again. Over the past few months, I have learned more than I had ever wanted to about pride and humility…

Having been a stay-at-home mom for the past 4 years, and with an impending divorce looming overhead (after a 7-year marriage and a total of 15 years together), I now find myself living in an apartment, seeking government assistance, job hunting in the worst economic downturn in decades, and assuring my daughter that she is still loved.

My hope is that, as I share my organizing challenges and everyday struggles, both you and I will learn to create lasting, positive changes in our lives, our families, and our homes.

Thanks for joining me on this journey!

Courtesy of The Organizing Team @ Organize.com:

This Mother’s Day, The Organizing Team at Organize.com wants to recognize the most organized woman you know.

Tell us about your mom, aunt, sister, co-worker, neighbor, or any other mother you know who is a champion over clutter. We want to hear all about her perfectly planned systems, strict routines, quirky habits and how she looks at organization with a positive and confident attitude.

We want to pamper one lucky lady this Mother’s Day so she can continue her quest for organization.

While her home and office are perfectly color coordinated with matching boxes and bins, she also finds time to rule the boardroom, pick up the dry cleaning, drop the kids off at practice, plan the next dinner party, read a good book, laugh with friends and still find time for herself because she aligns her goals and priorities to make organization a lifestyle.

The selected winner will receive a Mother’s Day Gift Basket filled with great Organize.com products valued at $350.

The deadline for submission is April 24th, 2009.

So what are you waiting for? Email us now and shine the spotlight on the most organized mom in your life.

Happy Organizing!

Before I start a writing project, I generally do as much research as I can about the topic at hand, which I’m sure most of you do as well. So, today’s task was to gather some ideas of what to include in my brief autobiography for this month’s GCC MOPS newsletter.

A search on Google.com for “autobiography outline” led me to an interesting website: OurStory.com. It’s a collaborative online environment where you can collect and share all kinds of media: letters, photos, videos, audio recordings, and more.

OurStory is an online service where family and friends collaboratively create, share, and preserve their family history, life stories, anecdotes, photos, and videos in an organized visual photo-history timeline.

OurStory combines the best of blogging, photo sharing, digital storytelling, and family history with rich features such as an interactive visual timeline, privacy controls, collaborative email requests, guided templates, and a library of over 2,000 prompting interview questions.

OurStory helps family and friends share and preserve their stories from life’s shoebox in a lasting format online, backed up to a home computer, and/or made into heirloom-quality books, CDs, and DVDs.

OurStory is a full-featured free service on the web. It is also available as a premium subscription for $39.95 (USD) per year, which adds features such as multiple profiles and timelines, unlimited privacy circles, style embellishment, and discounts on books and CD/DVDs.

What a great way to organize your memorabilia… an organizer’s dream! Learn more online.

The end result of my personal Monday Mission project is a thing of beauty, isn’t it? Oh, how I love having a clean kitchen counter!

* sigh *

Well, as promised, I shall stand tall and brave (just like my clients) and reveal to you one of the best-kept secrets and hidden truths of a real-life professional organizer’s lived-in home…

[ insert an overly dramatic drumroll here, please… ]

Yes. It’s true. This was the fate of my kitchen counter nearly one month after Amanda and I returned home from our two-week summer vacation!

Normally, like many of my clients, I’d hide my head in shame if anyone outside my immediate family were to see my kitchen looking this way. In fact, I was incredibly grateful that the weather remained pleasant enough that the MOPS playgroup could meet at the elementary school playground rather than my home (which was our designated rain-out location)!

Now mind you, if our group did end up meeting at my house before I completed this week’s Monday Mission organizing project, everything that you see on the kitchen counter would’ve simply been gathered in one fell swoop, hauled into the office, and dropped onto the floor in the middle of the room.

I’d close the door to the disaster, of course, so that anyone—who, heaven forbid, might need to use the restroom—could make their way down to the guest bathroom at the end of the hallway, completely oblivious to my messy little secret!

… suffice it to say that everyday living can even get in the way of a professional’s best intentions! You’re not alone!

Whew! This post has turned into far more than I had originally anticipated, so stay tuned… Next week, I shall continue to reveal how I successfully managed to clear off my kitchen counter (and keep it that way)! Until next time…