Ringing In 2013

With this being the last week of 2012 I have taken the time to reflect on this past year.

I spent much of 2012 learning alot about my family, friends and acquaintances, co-workers and more importantly my self. I now understand where the key players in my life stand and what I can and can not expect from them. 

And in turn I have learned, and am still learning, how to define what they should and shouldn't expect from me. I hope to take those lessons into 2013 so that I can continue to live a life that provides the things I need to feel supported and happy.

Like many I make a New Year Resolution List. It isn't written in stone but I do use it as a guide to move toward larger life goals I continually set. The list is a living list. I schedule monthly appointments throughout the year to check in, check off, move around and edit. Those check-ins generate weekly to-do lists that I tried to edit on a daily basis.

Did I accomplish everything on the list?
No, but I am pleasantly surprised to see many things manifested and more importantly many things that I thought I needed to experience, own or do eliminated themselves as the year evolved leaving the core definition of my interests and needs. In the end I did what I needed to do and now I am lucky eough to have 2013 to look forward to. I am, as always, grateful.

So what is it that you want to do in 2013?
What did you do in 2012 that you are proud of and want to continue into the new year?
Have you made your 2013 Gratitude Jar yet?
How will you be ringing in the possibilities of the New Year?

 

Still Organizing...

Now that the shoe storage is sorted I have moved onto considering storage for all my purses and had a field day considering the various options available via organize.com 

Below is the Hangbag Holder ($9). It holds and hangs 5 bags in a closet.

This boxed organizer ($30) can hold up to 10 purses and  can sit on a shelf or be stacked on the floor.

Unfortunately neither solution worked for my mammoth handbag collection and I ended up returning to IKEA and purchasing the Antonius cart system for $33.99.  http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S29862951

The pull out baskets organize while offering easy view and access to the purses. The system can be personalized. I bought fewer baskets so the larger bags are stored with ease.

A Needle, Thread and Other Odds & Ends

I always carry a bag of "just in case" and that includes a small travel sewing kit, see attached. I have gone through a number of them and found that this hard plastic shelled case version keeps everything I need for emergency repairs in a neat and organized fashion.

When a friend of mine admired it I did a bit of research and found that it is manufactured and distributed by Austin House, a supplier of travel sized goods and items. You can find retail stores that carry them via their website

http://www.austinhouse.com/products.cfm?category=Personal%20Care%20and%20Comfort%20Essentials 

Or you can make your way to Jack's World on 33rd Street and have your choice of various colors for just 99cents!

Preparing For the New Year

Every September I, like many adults, miss the preparations and purchasing the promise of a new school year brings. Those with children can live vicariously though them by buying fresh notebooks, pencils, pens and other goodies that promise organization and possibility. In reply to this programed September response I begin my search for the perfect "I will keep you organized" daily planner for the new year approaching.

January 2010 will find me using Moleskine's Color a Month Daily Planner.

This colorful 12 notebook set breaks down each month into an individual 3 1/2 x 5 1/2" 64 page planner. Each planner containers basic information pages, time zones, year calendar, travel information as well as a lined pages for each day that allows for simple to do lists and appointment keeping. All 12 notebooks are  housed in a hard cover case that protects and perserves them.

I purchased mine at full price (darn it!!), $40, but amazon is offering it at $26.40

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8862931379

Cuppings

I have tons of bits and bobs that I use for making jewelry, sewing, mixed media art and anything else that crosses my creative mind. Storing it all is a bitch. More often than not it all gets packed away and once its hidden from my thoughts and eyes it is left unused. A few months ago I went to IKEA and purchased a number of plastic storage cups and the chrome colored bars that they are meant to hang from. The cups come in really cool translucent colors, hang 4 per small sized bar, 6 per large, and each set costs about $6.00 (small bar). I ran 10 sets up the side wall near my work table - see below. Each cup holds a bit of this and a little of that and now the only excuse I have for not working with these items is my lazy hands!

After putting up the system I ran across other options while at Home Depot. The trays below come in a number of cup sizes and each set comes with its own brace that allows them to be attached to the wall and staggered much in the same manner that the cups are.

Or they and a number of pegs, varying sizes, also available from the Home Depot, can be attached to a Peg Board to create an amazing accessible wall of work and play goodies

Basket Case

I love the idea of a root cellar but being an apartment dweller in Brooklyn, New York there isn't much of a chance of me having one. Even if I had a cellar it would probably be a 1 bedroom apartment rental by now. So instead of a cellar I am considering using separate baskets to store the apples, potatoes, onions and other root vegetables that I frequently cook with.

Once again while in Home Depot's plant and garden section I was inspired by planting items that could have another life as fruit and veggie storage.

These hanging baskets come in a variety of designs and woods and range from $8 -12. They are all plastic lined and pre-chained. A number of them can be hung from the ceiling in a staggered formation using the weight appropriate hooks and chains.

This wooden trough costs $19.99 and can house onions, pototoes and apples or act as a center piece on the kitchen table.

This twig basket is a less expense trough option. Like it's hanging basket counterparts it is plastic lined and can hold more than its fair share of goodies.

Charge!!!

I am trying to become laptop centered. I no longer own a television, a dvd player or a cd stereo system. My laptop allows me to listen or watch any and all of these options and being able to turn it all off by simply turning off one item is one of the easiest stress relievers ever (Don't even think about it - I back up every day!!). Of course there are things that still require batteries and charging but I recently came across Rechargeable Batteries that actually charge via a port in your laptop or comp. USB Cell offers all variety of batteries that can be used in those annoying items that still need them.

Visit their site http://www.usbcell.com/products while I continue to try and figure out how to connect my hand held milk frother to this baby....

Cleverly Seductive....

A few weeks ago I received a free promotional sample of Post-it's new Flag Pen. This medium point ball point pen comes in varity of colored inks and each one has 50 tag flags readily available for taking and making notes. I find myself so smitten that I am even considering purchasing another from Amazon.com -

http://www.amazon.com/Post-Flag-Pen-Flags-Refills/dp/B0000AQNWH/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1245458104&sr=8-3

Shopping Spot worth the Trip - Muji in New York

A few weeks ago while walking downtown via Broadway I found myself distracted, surprised and overwhelmed by all the new stores that have taken up residence. One of my new favorite stores in that area is the Japanese store Muji at 455 Broadway.

Started in 1980 the Muji brand and store, over 370 worldwide, has locations all over Europe, Asia, Japan and now New York (www.muji.us/muji.com). The 455 Broadway store carries the company's minimalist items encouraging a life style that screams natural, simple and adorned without adornment. Their house and home goods, clothing and office/desk items are wonderfully designed and well made pieces that are timeless, functional and most importantly economically priced.

I have returned to the store at least 3 times since to purchase, on sale, storage for my bathroom ($2-8.5), a ceramic hand food slicer ($5) and other kitchen items to give as gifts, bundles of 5 perfect bound lined and unlined notebooks ($2.50 per bundle), fine and medium point gell pens that write like a dream ($1) and an amazing carry all bag that was marked down 70%.

I love this store!

Packaging by Simone

Despite my love of packaging I often look for storage that helps create and maintain the illusion of organization and uniformity. A few months ago I came across these great lidded glass apothcary jars in Conway's, another sell out store that dot various areas in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens (separate post to follow shortly). At $2.99 each I was able to purchase the ones shown in this picture. They store cotton pads, Q-tips, French clay, bath salts and manicure tools. Lined up a single shelf in the bathroomm they set the tone for that room's decor.

This post isn't about where to find these exact jars, though if you do let me know since I am considering buying a few more. This post is about considering your storage and space and not being afraid to recycle that product packaging and create storage solutions that meet your needs, both asthetically and functionally.

An Organized Shoe In

There is an exact moment in time when you fall in love with “the shoe”. Each time you hold it or wear, if you wear, it, that memory comes flooding back and fills you with a sense of that moment. The moment you saw “the shoe” on someone else’s foot, found the courage to follow the wearer and asked “where did you get that shoe?” and then made every effort until you found and purchased a pair. It’s called stalking and years could have gone by before that shoe was yours. The time you suddenly, without explanation, found your face pressed against a shoe store window breathing heavy with lust for a pair of shoes that called your name and spent next months food budget to have them. Or when you walked around with not 1, but 3, pictures of the same shoe despite having committed to memory the color, line and stitching details of said shoe. Owning “the shoe” becomes a quest. A quest that occurs over and over again because, like a cheating spouse, your excuse is you couldn’t help your self. You got carried away by the feelings “the shoe” inspired you, not the shoe itself, and though you had to have that shoe, you still love each and every pair you own.

Owning “the shoe” hasn’t been one for me of late. I blame it on my efforts to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps a day. A beautiful pair of 3 inch heels, platform or not, aren’t going to help me achieve that goal. I have also made a conscious effort to cull through and wear each and every pair of shoes I own, even if it’s around the house while cleaning. It is a process, I must admit, that has been on-going for nearly 2 years.

When I first started to cull I spent weeks trying to figure out how to store my shoes so that I had both visual and phyiscal access to the collection. Originally each pair lovingly housed themselves in clear plastic shoe boxes from the Container Store. ( http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=154&PRODID=61479 )
I even went as far as attaching their photos to the outside of the box. This worked for a while but the shoe collection outgrew the system and I ended forgetting about the “off season” shoes stored in the closet. How embarrassing, and yes wasteful, is it to find that you have 4 pairs of natural leather wooden platform sandals that are so close in style that no one, but a shoe lover, could tell the difference? I could have created an on line inventory of the my shoes, keeping photos, purchase dates and repair needs but for me that would have just been a whole different level of crazy, besides, I have other things that require such organizational effort. I digress. I shelved (heehee) the box storage concept and lined the shoes up pair by pair but I lost precious real estate by not being able to stack them atop each other. That is when the IKEA catalog arrived in the mail and the hunt for affordable shoe storage began.

Unless you live under a rock, everyone knows IKEA has arrived in Brooklyn. There is even a free shuttle bus that picks up passengers at various points on route to the store. I swear it’s like going to Atlantic City. I am a fan of IKEA. They have everything you could want and because their price points are pretty economical there is no guilt in replacing things when the time comes. I like to mix and blend practical items from the store with what I own or have found along the way. Again I digress. With shoe count in hand off to IKEA I went.

There were a number of options but the size of the wall I would use and my budget narrowed down the choices.

I ended up purchasing the IKEA FRAN SHOE RACKS(http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70101053).

They screw into the wall and I was able to fit 4 pairs on each level by placing the shoes heel to toe. The only negative is that the rack only comes in black and red. I bought a total of 6 black units and at 8 pair each…you do the math

Hello, my name is Simone and I’m a shoeaholic...