I managed to get rid of the following:

- An old black computer chair from my brother that NO ONE WILL SIT IN.

- Tons of hangers (I called ahead.. they told me as long as it wasn’t wire, to bring ‘em in)

- Lots of books (my entire library in fact. I’m going to switch to e-books)

- Decorative knick knacks (metal tins wrested from BF’s grip, random wood sculptures)

- 2 clothing racks (the actual racks, no clothing on them)

- Couple of pieces of clothing I can’t even dream of fitting into (my shoulders are too wide)

- A filing cabinet

- Lots of little decorative bathroom glass things that you put cotton balls and other things in

- A couple of random purses, jewelery and shoes (Didn’t have the heart to even try to sell them)

Now the room looks more open, less cluttered and clean.

I also told my parents about my new rule.

FB: If anything makes its way back into the room when I visit, it stands a chance of being donated.

Just so you know.

Nothing is safe in there. If you leave it in that room, it goes.

I also took back the following stuff to sort:

A big box of photos — I am going to scan them into the computer and only keep the photos I want to look at in an album (very old photos).

Stuff we are going to mail to his family (*groan*)

CDs/DVDs that we are probably going to give to his family too

BF’s Back!

Thanks for all of your concerns re: BF’s back (his actual back/spine) through emails and tweets, alike.

First, he IS pain free!

And second, he’s tried all the options — chiropractor, acupuncture, pills, massages, therapy, etc etc.

Chiropractors seem to do a good job, but then the pain comes back inevitably. It never disappears for more than a day or so with them.

It’s a problem he will have to live with for the rest of his life, and is a physical deformity in his spine, not a mental or nerve issue that can be solved otherwise.

He says there are only 3 things he has to do to keep his back pain free forever:

1. He cannot sit on very soft surfaces.

That includes couches, leather or otherwise, or anything that isn’t a firm, or thick piece of foam that will support and keep his spine aligned as he is sitting. Bean bags and poufs are also out of the question.

2. He must practice yoga.

It helps strengthen the back muscles and it’s the only exercise (other than biking) that seems to really help him gain instant relief.

3. He cannot get fat.

If he tips towards even 10 – 15 pounds of extra weight, he has to cut back HARD, because weight really puts a lot of pressure on his back.

So.. that’s it.

It aggravates me when I try and clean out things from my home and especially from my old room at my parents’, because all that JUNK inevitably makes its way back into my room and it looks like a freaking mess again.

It’s because my parents won’t let me sell or throw away hangers (lots of them), and want to keep everything I want to get rid of.

But the kicker is that they keep telling me to clean the hallway with my junk and to THROW THAT STUFF OUT SO THEY CAN STOP LOOKING AT IT!

But then they go and put it all back because they can’t bear to let one hanger leave the home.

Now, I’m trying to shift the clutter away from the home, and am going to donate most of my books (all except my special books like manga)…. just to get that clutter out of the home.

But then BF saw me trying to remove things from the home, and kept spying things HE wanted to keep, or he could keep for his family…

So now we’re going to pack 3 huge boxes of stuff and ship it to his family because apparently they want everything.

If it leaves my room, it gets stopped by my parents (hangers fall in this bucket) and if not my parents, BF will stop the cleaning to squirrel it into a suitcase to ship to his family.

This is kind of like shifting clutter.

Arg…

Just the other day I said to him: “Does your sister want an apple corer?”

He said: “She wants everything. Pack everything. Pack it all”

Me: “Even a random metal tin?”

Him: “Everything. She loves metal tins.”

Okay, that title is a bit misleading because it’s not like I have ONE necklace, or ONE pair of earrings and one fabulous bracelet that would complete any outfit no matter what I wear.

I actually have QUITE a bit left in terms of jewellery but can you imagine that I had about 3 times more than what I am currently left with now?

3 times more!!!

This is a huge move towards being more of a minimalist for me, and actually buying and keeping pieces I can’t live without…

Update: December 10th 2008

Went on a bit of an Etsy Binge…

The zoisite and amethyst necklace on the left is quite heavy, but it feels amazing and looks great on by martina designs. I also bought a vintage brass leaf kind of necklace with a pearl hanging off the side by fionamink, who does some cute vintage stuff.

The left necklace is one I have been eying for about 6 months now. It’s a waterlily necklace by Sudlow. The last two on the right are by Ellen Ikemoto of streetnoodles. (Ellen, by the way, is one of my FAVOURITE jewelry designers, ever and I always, ALWAYS go back to her).

I absolutely adore these 3 necklaces and I am itching to buy more already!

I bought both of these necklaces in Chicago, in different stores.

This is a bracelet I liked from one of those Chicago stores.

I guess when I travel, my souvenirs are pieces of jewellery.

This is a necklace I got off Etsy. I love the zebra stripes and the bold red throughout.

Here are two other necklaces I bought from StudioRona on Etsy… I LOVE them. Her style is totally up my alley. I love assymetrical, pretty, delicate but bold pieces.

Her earrings are gorgeous too.

These are the coolest fabric buttons EVER by SplendorSplendor. And a reasonable price at $9 – $12 for each necklace.

Really beautiful because I love bold, vivid, bright jewelery. She gave me the first necklace in grey for free! I only bought the last two.

A couple of shopping tips that seem to work for me. I don’t really ascribe to other shopping tips given by people, because that doesn’t work for me.

1. Budget

Everyone says this, so I try to set a general budget in my head. But ladies, let’s be serious, sometimes that just doesn’t work. You say $100 in your head, and your shopaholic inside says: “But does that $100 include tax?” Hah! Some say to bring cash, but I’m a bit paranoid about carrying cash on my person.

2. Item Limit

When I’m in a store, and I see ..oh..10 items I really like, I force myself to choose to buy only 2-3 items. This works really well for me, because my brain kicks in and weeds out the items I’m not 100% positive on, and I only end up buying the items I truly want.

3. Figure out your Shopping Style

I still have to learn the fine balance of this. From buying over the years, I tend to accumulate a lot of classic pieces with my “Collector” shopping style; so much so that I own many of the exact same styles in varying shades. Now, I stop myself and say: “Do I really need another pinstripe suit? Won’t the other one suffice?” But don’t buy trendy items just for the sake of shaking up your wardrobe if those items won’t work for you! I’m talking about things like bubble skirts that don’t work on most figures with hips, or super skinny jeans that are a bit hard to pull off unless you’re super tall, and stick-thin. Or even things like a faux-leopard jacket made out of rabbit fur. *shudders* Stick to the classic basics, with a twist to make them special, and buy quality items when you can if you feel it’s worth it. Spending $50 on a basic white button-down tailored shirt is reasonable – spending $1000 on one because it happens to be a Jil Sander, is not!

4. Have a vision of your wardrobe at home

If I look back at my closet, and think: I need more patterns in my wardrobe, I look for more patterns in tops, dresses and skirts. Same goes with items of clothing too. If I look back and think: I have way too many pairs of pants, and a pitiful collection of dresses, I tend to gravitate towards looking at dresses, patterns and colours other than teal and black!

5. Make tradeoffs

When you start spending money, you begin getting into the mindset that you have all this money to spend freely. You buy a couple of tops, then you think about buying a couple of expensive Chai Lattes at Starbucks while you’re shopping…which spirals into dinners… This is a bad mindset to get into. What I normally do is say: If I don’t get anything at all today, then I’ll get a Chai Latte, but if I buy something, I won’t.

6. Put items on hold

I find that when I’m in the rush of being in a store with shiny, fresh, new things, I tend to want and ‘need’ a lot more than I do. You have to get yourself out of that mindset and say: “Can I put this on hold?” and see if there’s anything else in the mall you’d rather have and/or get out of that environment to break that feeling of desire for an item you may not love. I tend to find that I don’t want the items as much as I thought I did, and it sure saves you on having to return it later once you realize you don’t want it as much as you thought you did. One of my favourite blogs: Budgeting Babe has a great post about this very subject entitled: Shop. Return. Repeat..