paring down

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I know we're all paring down these days- which, surprisingly, I am not minding so much. I've long tried to rid myself of 'unnecessary' things, and one of those things I deemed unnecessary was catalogs. I think I managed to get on just about every catalog's list because I subscribe to a million magazines. My mailbox was overflowing with crap, and I started to feel really guilty about the amount of stuff I was putting in the trash. 

Something I did last year- and am grateful for- was to subscribe to Green Dimes and Catalog Choice. Green Dimes is a paid service (I believe it is $16/year) and Catalog Choice is a free, non-profit site. Both of them will get you off of mailing lists, and greatly reduce the amount of stuff coming to your mailbox. I can say, a year later, it has made a HUGE difference for me. For a couple of months I had to log in all of my non-desired catalogs- which was a bit of a pain- but now, I am just about catalog-free and loving it! (I say that in the same voice as Kramer on Seinfeld when he talks about going underwear free and 'loving every minute of it!'). Of course, I still let my beloved J. Crew catalog (shown above) and a couple of other choice catalogs come through, but other than that, I am thrilled to be catalog free. 

the great cleanout of '09

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It started simply with one closet. Then the tree fell on the house, and we had to vacate two closets. Given that we have no attic or basement, this was a huge blow- and meant that stuff was EVERYWHERE in the house. Which has sparked the great cleanout of '09. I've actually gotten rid of enough things that I will only be able to fill one of the closets whenever we can move the stuff back in. And though I don't have an 'entertaining closet'...a dream of mine...I do now have some 'entertaining shelves', shown above. My son has even gotten into the organizing mood and helped with my filing. 

in the mood...

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for organizing and de-cluttering (though I am almost always in the mood, actually). I'm one of those people that get excited by office supply stores...all those file folders and pilot precise point pens- ahhhhhhh-mazing!  

Just a handful of my favorites for this task, above: Shredding scissors (how cool are these?!) from MOMA, of course. Another gorg MOMA item- big-buttoned calculator for figuring just how much you went over budget this holiday season. Priority clips from Mateo Ilasco via See Jane Work. Trig file cabinet from CB2 (I own this, and love it- the wheels aren't ugly which sealed the deal for me). Another personal fave- the Kate Spade desktop calendar....I've been getting her calendars for 4 years now (the one thing I don't do electronically!), and love them. Osaka storage boxes from CB2...now on sale, and going fast. Of course- the P-touch label maker I couldn't live without! I have to label everything these days (the arrival of my son brought this to a new level). And something I have coveted, though I don't know if I'd actually use...the Neatco Receipt scanner. Very cool.