Throw Out 100 Things Challenge

I'm in the mood for some spring cleaning. OK, so it's not spring. And I want to do more than clean, I want to declutter, too. So let me rephrase that: I'm in the mood to for fall decluttering.

Doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?

Well whatever you call it, I'm motivated to do it.

Recently I read this post by Jess Lively, a very wonderful designer/life coach/entrepreneur with whom I went to college. We worked/lived in the same residence hall and she was all about pairing down and simplifying, even back then. Love it. So when I saw her "Throw Out 100 Things Challenge" on her blog, I was so excited to do this in my own home, which has a tendency to be overloaded with stuff.

So here's my 100 things. I tried to recycle, donate, or sell everything I could to avoid waste.

To get going, I basically just started with a few items that I knew I wanted to get rid of and then figured out what I should do with them and grouped them with other items. That helped me think of other things to get rid of. For example, I had half a pack of puppy pee pads that Ripley no longer needed, so I figured I could donate them to the rescue center where we adopted him. So then I looked at the list on their website of items they needed. That made me realize I had some old towels and sheets they could use in the dog's crates. So just like that, my first group of items was out the door.

Donated to Helping Hounds Dog Rescue:
1. Old towel
2. Old sheet set and pillowcases
3. Half a pack of puppy "peed pads"
3-1/2. Dish soap & paper towels (these I bought specifically to donate)

That felt great to actually get the items out of the house right away and gave me motivation to keep going.

Recycled:
4. More than 50 tear sheets from old magazines (I took pictures of the pages I liked and uploaded them to Pinterest)
5. Six old magazines

Next up, I turned my attention to my feet. I've been wearing a pair of leopard print flats every day for a long time and now my toe was starting to poke through. Probably time to get rid of them. Not to mention the shoes that the cats recently decided to use as a substitute for their litter box. I had washed the shoes as best I could, but the smell just didn't come out. :-( Darn cats.

Toss:
6. Four pairs of shoes
7. Broken thermometer (which has been sitting next to the smelly shoes for weeks)

While I was at it, I checked out my closet situation and realized I had some really cute shoes that I never wear because they hurt my feet or don't fit properly. So not smelly and not worn out. These could be used by someone else.

Donate to Salvation Army:
8. Four pairs of shoes

That's how this process went. I'll spare you the details of every decision I made. I just wanted to give you an idea of how I got started and kept up the momentum, just in case any of you want to join the challenge but don't know where to start. One thing really leads to another and another, which is really great.

Anyway, here's the rest of my list:

Toss
9. Broken compact mirror
10. Five expired items from the medicine cabinet
11. Five old prescription bottles
12. Wallet
13. Two plastic silverware packs
14. Knit coaster
15. Broken green mini blinds
16. Two empty bottles of sunscreen
17. Two store bags
18. Expired travel products
19. Package of dried-out wet wipes
20. Old makeup products
21. Ripped thermal shirt
22. Rusty shower caddy
23. Checkbooks from an old account
24. Old DVD
25. Stick-on carpet squares from the staircase
26. High school jazz shoes
27. Sims 2 computer game box
28. Christmas receipts
29. Low-quality DVD copies
30. Furnace filter the cats peed on
31. Three burnt-out light bulbs
32. Eight cardboard boxes
33. Lots of bubble wrap and packaging materials
34. Two Color Me Rad colored t-shirts
35. Four 5k registration tags
36. Destroyed feather cat toy

Recycle
37. Another two magazines
38. Contents of a wedding tote bag (wedding brochures, receipts, magazines, etc).
39. Gift bag
40. Stack of papers/documentation from a former job
41. Three user manuals
42. ANOTHER eight magazines (I think I have a magazine-hoarding problem - I just keep finding them stashed throughout the house)
43. Twelve binders full of college coursework
44. Six notebooks from college and high school

Donate to Salvation Army
45. Wallet
46. Eight shirts
47. Four pairs of shorts
48. Dress
49. Wedding Countdown book
50. Old mugs
51. 28 old cabinet handles
52. Coin purse
53. Two votive candle holders
54. Promotional T-shirt
55. Two VHS tapes (Jurassic Park & Independence Day - both classics)
56. Assorted mismatched wine glasses
57. Jalapeno-shaped dip plate
58. Promotional coffee mugs
59. Collapsible cooler
60. Butter dish
61. Tiny skillet
62. Plastic drink cups
63. Beer koozie
64. Glass jar top
65. Cat condo
66. 2 lap pads
67. Messenger bag
68. Sweatpants
69. Thermal shirt
70. Winter hat
71. Hand towels
72. Dish drying rack
73. Personal CD player
74. Three pairs of headphones
75. Bike lock
76. Graduation cap
77. Velvet jewelry box
78. Makeup case
79. Wristwatch
80. Three old French books
81. Two college text books

Give to Friends
83. Four magazines

Return
84. Three DVDs to my parents
85. Cookie tin (parents)
86. Several borrowed books

Tossing a few last things...
87. Old favors from our wedding
88. Silk stems without the flowers

OK OK, I realize this list doesn't actually go up to 100, but I grouped a lot of the items together, so I'm actually way over 100. I was still trying to get to 100 on the list, but after waiting around almost a month without updating this, I decided it was time to just get the post up and feel good about what I've done. Maybe I'll do another post in January after the holidays. Because honestly, it does feel really good to get rid of some excess junk. And it's nice to have empty drawers and extra space in my cabinets again. And the idea of moving our stuff seems a little tiny bit less terrifying, so that's good too.

So it may have taken over a month to complete, but I'm so happy that I kept at it. I really do feel like my house is a much happier place now. Isn't it funny how that can happen, just by decluttering and finding a better home for some nice items that you no longer have use for?

Favorite

That's right. Favorite. Halloween is my favorite time of year. I freaking love decorating our house for Halloween and watching scary movies and going to haunted houses. Love it. And the fact that it happens in fall, when we get to go apple picking and ride on hayrides and see the leaves change colors ... I mean come on. What's not to love?

This year, Chris and I are going big and having a huge Halloween party, so I've been trying to get an early start on decorating. Here's a few in-progress pictures. If you've got any more ideas, feel free to leave a comment. I love suggestions!

In the picture below, I just bought big sheets of black paper and drew the bats by freehand and then cut them out. I just looked at the silhouettes in the picture to get an idea of the shapes. It took a couple hours to do them all and get them taped up there, but seeing as it cost all of $2 for the materials, I'd say I got plenty of bang for my buck. The clown painting is from Salvation Army. I just added fake blood directly onto the glass and painted the frame and mat to give it a creepy look. The big picture in the middle is a new find that Chris and I purchased when we were apple picking at Beak and Skiff.

Most of this little vigil is from last year. I bought a regular mirror with a cool shape from Salvation Army, then spray painted the frame with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint. I didn't tape it off or anything, so it gave the mirror an antique-y look while still being reflective.

The plates, again, Salvation Army. I drew the images on with a Sharpie marker, just looking at other images for a general idea. Then I put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to harden the marker so it wouldn't rub off.

The candles, just drip red wax on white candles. Super easy and creepy looking.

This project took a little more creativity. I'm making trophies to give out for our Halloween party costume contest. I bought plastic skeletons at Dollar Tree, and wood plaques at Michaels. Then I broke them apart and hot glued them into positions I liked, starting from the feet up. 

Below, we've got the beginnings of the Funniest and Scariest Costume trophies.

And my personal favorite, Best Couples Costume. In the picture below, you can still see the hot glue strings all over the place. So obviously, I've cleared them off. But I still need to spray paint them and add some sort of label and maybe a cute prop or two. So I'll keep you posted.

Another skeleton project - I'm obsessed with these $1 skeleys - was for my front door wreath.

I got the basic wreath for $3 at Target. Then I broke apart my skeleton and hot glued him into position. He's a very welcoming little thing, isn't he? After I got him in place, I took a $1 bouquet of silk flowers from Dollar Tree and cut it up. Then I hot glued the purple flowers, purple spider, and black twigs and leaves (all from a single bouquet) onto the wreath as well.

I mean seriously, that's pretty darn cute for a wreath that cost me $5 total, right? Although I do wish I had a tiny top hat for him...

Next up, I turned my orchid into something a little more frightening. The flowers had fallen off the plant a while ago, so it was just leaves and a long stem. That part is all real and alive. 

Then I took the last flower from that same $1 bouquet from Dollar Tree and put a little surprise inside. Just some plastic vampire teeth that I once again hot glued in place. But before I stuck them in there, I dripped a red wax candle along the edges to make it look like gums. Then I glued it all in place. 

The only thing I would warn about here is that you have to be careful not to get the hot glue near the wax because, well, wax melts. I actually went back over the teeth with the wax once they were glued in place to touch up a couple spots.

Another skeleton. Did I mention I love these guys? They cost $1 and they glow in the dark. What's not to love? I made him a prisoner inside a birdcage that was used as a centerpiece at our wedding reception. He's hanging out in our kitchen, by the entryway. 

I've also been trying to Halloween-up my staircase. Lots of creepy garland and spooky pictures to replace our usual pictures on the frame wall. The mice silhouettes came in a pack of 12 for $1 from Dollar Tree. Unfortunately, Ripley keeps pulling them off and rippling them apart. Guess he's not a fan of mice.

And now, to reassure you all that I'm not totally obsessed with darkness and death or getting too out of hand with this Halloween stuff, I give you ...

Puppies and rainbows!

Pooch with a mouse cowboy riding him. Maybe this is why he keeps killing the staircase mice...

Puppies and kitties are also my favorite. And crazy hug rainbows are nice too.

Anyone else getting the jump on Halloween decorations? Got any tips or ideas to share?

Our Trip to Surf City

The week before Memorial Day, Chris and I packed ourselves and our puppy into a car and hit the open road. Well, less open than full of traffic. But at the end of our two day (14 hours of driving) trip, we made it to North Carolina, where we spent a week with my family.

We really had a lot of fun and enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone. The condo was great, the area was nice, and the beach was gorgeous. Oh and the weather was completely perfect, which we we worried about because we were still in "value season." A lot of the attractions were still closed that week, so that was a bummer for the kids, but for beach bums like Chris and I, all we needed was some sunshine and good waves.

Once we got back, I created a Dropbox folder so we could all save our pictures somewhere everyone could access them. It's so fun to see the trip through other people's lenses. I totally missed the "babies eating sand" adventure, so it was nice to get to see it after the fact. lol

Picture courtesy of Andrea Worsham.

One thing my mom very sweetly mentioned was that my pictures all looked really great. (Aww shucks, you're making me blush!) I do have a pretty nice camera. It's a Canon PowerShot 12.1 megapixel camera with 20x optical zoom. Definitely not a professional camera. No DSLR here, but it gets the job done. The huge optical zoom can make a really big difference in capturing clear pictures from far away.

But the other reason I think she liked my photos so well is because well, I have a lot of experience snapping pictures. And especially, travel pictures. After you come back from a trip or two and are disappointed with the photo memories you have of your adventures, you learn pretty quickly what you need to do to get the right pictures.

So while I am by no means a professional, I thought I would share a few of my personal tips on how to take nice vacation pictures. Mostly things I've learned from trial and error or by accident (sometimes that's the best way to learn). So while you peruse my North Carolina vacation photos, hopefully you'll enjoy reading my tips, and at very least, learn what not to do. haha

Oh, also, some of these are pictures from my cell phone. Because sometimes my camera wasn't handy but my cell phone was. My thought is that a grainy picture is better than no picture. And sometimes cell phone shots even turn out pretty nice. Never as good as a real camera (believe me, I've tried everything) but it's still possible to get decent pictures. So let's call this the first tip:

1. Know when to use your cell phone camera. See that beautiful sunset over the ocean? Or the hula dancers just after twilight? How about your dog playing tug-o-war with your friend? Well you better memorize the scene because if you try to take that picture with your cell phone camera, you're bound to be disappointed. In my experience, cell phones are not the best for action shots or lighting issues. If the lighting is funky and you have the time to go grab your real camera, by all means do it. Obviously with action shots you may not have those extra couple minutes, but it honestly may be better to just enjoy the moment in person than try to capture it horribly on your cell phone. Sometimes it works out for the best, but not often. Tricky shots deserve a real camera.

For the picture below, I only had a couple seconds to grab my phone and snap this picture, so I went for it. Sure, the light at the bottom is blown out and Ripley is pretty fuzzy, but it's passable. And it's a cute memory, so it was worth it to take the picture on my cell phone. It wasn't really an action shot and the lighting was mediocre, so in this case, I say go for it. Also, I see Ripley lick Chris all the time, so I wasn't missing out on much by holding the phone in front of my face.

Here's another cell phone shot. Pretty fuzzy. Not sure why I didn't grab my actual camera for this one, but there ya go. Lesson learned. In this picture, Ripley was showing me his unhappy face. He did not enjoy riding in his crate. Can you say "lapdog"?

2. Tell the story. On this trip, Chris asked me why I was taking pictures of him and Ripley while we were just driving to North Carolina. And I told him I was documenting Ripley's first road trip. And shortly after that, I captured that first picture of Ripley licking Chris's nose, a picture that to me, tells the story of how grateful Ripley was that Chris pulled him out of the crate and let him ride on his lap in the passenger seat. It's one of my favorite shots, not because of the stellar quality, but because it reminds me of this little moment of the trip that would otherwise be forgettable. Sometimes those are the moments that fill in the little details and complete the story of your vacation. And they often get overlooked in vacation photos, which is a shame. I love little details like that.

3. Follow my favorite writing advice from Ernest Hemingway: "Write drunk; edit sober." In other words, when it comes to taking pictures, snap them freely. Take 10 or 15 pictures if you're not sure you're getting a good one. Play with the settings if you need to and just try stuff out. Don't hold back when you're in picture-taking mode. Just make sure you have a large SD card (a 32GB card is sooooo worth the money) and you can take pictures until your battery gives out on you. Then, when you get home, pull the massive collection of pictures up on the computer screen and "edit" away (ie. delete the bad pictures and Photoshop the decent ones). For every picture I post here, I probably took between three and ten alternates that either got trashed or filed away later.

4. Zoom out. I see a lot of vacation photos of people's faces and not much else. You can't even tell where they are or what they're doing. So then, they're not really vacation photos, are they? Capture your surroundings to get a sense of the place and tell that story I mentioned earlier. With today's camera's having such high megapixels, you can usually end up cropping the picture to get in a little closer without the photo getting grainy. In fact, sometimes I prefer to crop pictures after the fact instead of using the zoom on the camera (this is especially true for cell phone camera, which don't have optical zoom). Digital zoom is basically worthless, so get the wider shot and enjoy the scenery or crop it out later. I promise that you won't forget what your face looks like just because you can't make it out in the photo, like the one below. You can just barely see Chris in the middle of the picture. But what a fun shot! I've got shallow water, two rows of waves, that deep teal ocean, all that sky, and about 1% of the picture is Chris. But I really like the picture because again, it tells a story. It reminds me what it was like to stand there as the waves crashed against my feet, watching Chris plunge into the ocean.

5. Pop a squat. Everyone stands up and takes pictures around them, holding the camera at eye level. And honestly, it can get a little boring. Plus, you're missing out on all the other wonderful perspectives out there. Think of your toddler and how she's seeing the world. Pretty different than how you see it. Same with pets. I really like this picture below that I took of Ripley (yes, I was squatting). By getting down at his level, I can see in this picture how he was seeing the beach, longing to play with the other dogs, maybe curious about the underside of the pier. That feeling of being so close to the sand.

6. Hand your camera off. I used to always feel weird asking someone else, even Chris, to take a picture of me. Like I was conceited or something. But the truth is, you don't want to get home and realize you were behind the camera in every shot and now you have no evidence that you were even on the vacation. When Chris and I were backpacking through Europe, I would take a picture of him in front of a cool fountain or the ocean or whatever, and then I'd hand him the camera and ask if he would take one of me. And I'm glad I did. Looking back on those pictures, I'm glad to see myself in them. And sometimes we would ask a stranger to take a picture of the two of us together, and those are some of my favorite pictures.

7. Embrace the weird. Go for the silly faces from time to time, even if you're standing in front of a church. Or snap the awkward selfie so you can get a picture of the guy with the mullet behind you. Why? Because life's too short and you gotta laugh as often as you can.

8. If you like it, it's a good picture. You're taking pictures to remember your trip. And no matter how much you love showing them off to family and friends, those pictures are for YOU. So take the pictures you want to see and remember, and forget about everything else. So what if the lighting is terrible and the edges are blurry and everyone else in the picture is making a weird face. If you enjoy the picture, it's a keeper.

9. Your face isn't important. Ok, sure. I like smiley pictures too. I take lots of them just like everyone (just scroll up if you want proof). But don't forget to round out that story of yours with some pictures of people from other angles, doing other things. Poses are fine, but candid moments are where the story live. In the picture below, Nick is holding Reese on her fourth birthday. He and Emily just wrote "Happy Birthday Reese" in the sand to surprise her and now he's showing her the message. I don't even need the words in the shot for this to be a beautiful picture. It's beautiful because the moment is so beautiful. Nick and Emily were so sweet to do that for their daughter and Reese was so captivated by the writing in the sand. For me, this picture captures that.

The Butterfly House at the NC Aquarium

10. Go to fun places. Sounds like a no-brainer, but if you want good vacation photos, go somewhere photo worthy. Even if it's just a day trip to the aquarium or a stroll through a really nice park, that's where you get more of the good stuff. 100 pictures of your hotel is gonna get stale pretty quickly.

I have no advice about the picture below. Ripley climbed in there himself and just waited for me to get the camera and take his picture. Totally random and perfect. So I guess my advice would be to cross your fingers and hope your dog has an eye for photography.

11. Look for art. I sometimes I think about what I'd like to see hanging on my wall and then try to identify it in real life. When I saw Andrea sitting there watching the sunset, I thought, "She looks like a model in a magazine or something." So I framed the picture like I would see it in an ad. I know that's not the same as art, but you get what I'm saying. Look for photo opportunities that mimic things you see in frames, magazines, etc. Hell, if you've got a picture you like, memorize the composition before your trip and try to recreate it, like pictures of flowers or a cute shot of kids rolling in the grass, or even the Mona Lisa. If you like it, chances are the inspiration you take from it will turn into a great picture.

12. Get to know your camera. When I got this new camera last year, I took a few weeks before our trip to Hawaii to figure out some of the different settings I thought would be useful. So they were fresh in my mind and I actually ended up taking advantage of the "Handheld night mode" and the "burst shot mode." But more than that, figure out if your camera tends to shoot pictures too light or too dark and how to compensate. Is there a long delay or is it pretty quick to capture the photo? Do you know how to quickly turn the flash on and off? One thing that I love about my camera is that it's set to take in a lot of light, so in low-light conditions, I can still get decently bright pictures. So this means I don't have to waste time testing to see if the flash would be better at times like the one below, when night is rapidly approaching.

So those are my favorites from my camera. Not perfect, but perfect for me. Hope the tips for taking nice vacation photos were helpful. It was fun to go back and think about all my other vacations and the photos that came out of them.

And also! My family took some wonderful vacation pictures too! Here's a few of my favorite shots.

Love this one because you can see the house we rented in the background, while you can also see what Adam and Nick were up to in the foreground.

Just try and tell me these two aren't going to be sitting at a cafe in a city somewhere when they're 19 or 20, wearing those big sunglasses.

Ok, so now I'm really done posting pictures now. It took me a week to finish this and I need to be done. Now. haha