Wednesday, April 12, 2017

A Little Spring Cleaning & My Velour Shame.

Oh Spring.  That favorite time of year when the sun starts to shine just a little bit brighter, the weather starts to get a little bit warmer, and all us southerners and midwesterners hide from tornados in our basements and closets.

But spring also brings with it a sudden and powerful urge to...



At least for me it does.  Does it for you?  And why spring?  Why not fall cleaning or summer cleaning?  These are questions I try not to let keep me up at night.

My Spring Cleaning every year is a lot of the same.  It involves those big 39 gallon black trash bags (highly recommend those!) and our playroom.  It's where I like to start.  My boys are about to be 7 and 9 and they just don't play with toys much at all anymore.  I would have to say the only inside toys they play with are Nerf guns, video games (Wii Sports) and occasionally they'll want to play a board game or work on a puzzle.  So why do we have 47 stuffed animals, 38 remote control cars (all with dead batteries and missing remotes), 74 Hot Wheels cars with missing wheels and 4000 Lego pieces?

#truth

My trash bags have been really full the past few times I've made a sweep through the playroom.  Tons of random game pieces, Mcdonalds toys, Nerf bullets, action figures they never played with, and oooohhhh the LEGOS.  They ask for Legos at every opportunity.  Birthdays, Christmas, Easter...they always request Legos.  But do they ever actually build anything with them??  That would be a big fat giant NEGATIVE. I think they've finally figured out that Legos look a lot cooler in commercials than they are in real life.  I know I have.  #somanytinypieces

And by the way, if you step on one of those bad boys barefoot on the hardwood floor...it will take all of your strength not to yell out your favorite four letter word.  (Insert all the head nodding mamas here)


I don't have any cool before and after pictures where my room went from messy to amazing or even any pictures of the 4 giant trash bags I filled up with CRAP a couple of months ago and tossed.  But I do have a few things I've learned over the years that work for me when it comes to decluttering, spring cleaning and organizing.

For starters, I found this book last year and it kicked my butt into high gear.  I went a little nutty de-crapifying our house for several weeks and it felt good!  The book was so easy to flip through and I could choose bits and pieces out of it as I needed.  And it's a really pretty book too so it looks cute sitting on a bookshelf or on a sidetable.  ;)  I even posted it to Instagram last year because I loved it so much!  You can find it on Amazon here.  Just the cover makes me feel more organized.  And happy.  :)


When it comes to decluttering, I'm finally at a point where if I don't want it, I need it gone as fast as humanly possible.  I used to sell the good stuff on those Facebook garage sale pages and I got rid of a TON of stuff doing that and made some extra cash too!  But these days, I don't have time for all that.  Plus, I've already gotten rid of the "good stuff" so really, all I'm left with is the junk that I was too embarrassed to sell.  

So I finally just tossed it.  If it was gross (old toys with dirt, writing all over it, crusty old food...you get the idea) I tossed it immediately into that black trash bag.  I wasn't going to sit there and waste time scrubbing that stuff off so I could sell it for $3.  Basically, if I had to do anything to it in order to hand it down or give it to someone, it just went in the trash instead. I stopped thinking so much and just started acting.  If I didn't need it and knew no one else would be thrilled with it, bye bye!  When in doubt, throw it out!

Clothes on the other hand, I donate.  My boys' clothes get handed down to my cousin who takes what she wants and passes the rest along to whomever she may know who could benefit.  My old clothes get taken to Goodwill.  But I am not the best at cleaning out my old clothes.  I'm definitely the cliche of holding onto those favorite jeans because I'm just SO SURE I'll be able to squeeze my big butt back into them someday.  But the other day, I pulled some jeans out that I've been holding on to for so long and realized that even if I could fit into them again, they aren't cool anymore.  So the donation pile got a little bigger.

Excellent advice.

Now there is one other thing in my closet that I'm having a hard time letting go of.  I never wear these anymore but I just keep thinking they'll come back in style soon and I'll be all set!

At one of the boys' baseball games the other day, Erika, Shay and our friend Meagan were talking about what we could donate to Meagan's garage sale (she's adopting a baby girl!).  I confessed that I had a whole bunch of these that I've been hanging onto JUST IN CASE they come back in style.  I asked the girls if they thought they would make a comeback and they all quickly told me to just LET THEM GO. Sigh.

So here it is...



The Velour Tracksuit.  

And I have about 12 of them hanging in my closet.  Still.

Back in the early 2000s, these things were all the rage.  I know when I was 23-25ish, I LOVED them.  I wore them all the time and I'm sure I thought I was super cute.  I had them in all colors.  Navy, black, red, green, pink, brown, purple, beige.  

This was when we were living in Buffalo (age 24/25?).  I was in my favorite pink Victoria Secret tracksuit.  It was terrycloth I think, not velour.  And I loved it!  I seriously want to go yank it off it's hanger from the top rack of my closet right now and put it on. 


Y'all, those tracksuits are comfortable!

The funny thing is, that the next day I was looking through some Real Housewives of NYC's Instagrams (because I missed the original cast so I've been binge watching the series on Hulu and tend to get obsessed) and when I scrolled through Dorinda's feed, she had THIS PICTURE!!  Team Dorinda!!


I personally think she looks fabulous and now I'm wishing I had one in yellow also.

So anyway, my tracksuit collection may be the first thing to go when I spring clean my closet very soon.  Maybe I'll keep one or two just for old time's sake...and wear them secretly around the house when I know I won't be seen.  ;)  But they do take up a lot of room in my closet and we all know how precious closet space is.

So to recap this super insightful post on how to Spring Clean your home:  

When in doubt, throw it out.
Use the big 39 gallon trash bags and fill 'er up!
Donate if you have stuff that is worthy.
Facebook garage sale pages can be worth it.  (they can also be terrifying)
Try to let go of the past.  Esepcially when it comes to clothes you haven't worn in 10+ years.

Were you a tracksuit lover as well?  Or do you have something else you have been holding on to in hopes that it will one day come back in style?  I want to hear about it!

And thanks to Erika and Shay for hosting Workin' It-Spring Cleaning Edition!



   
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11 comments

  1. When those track suits are back, you'll be ready!! Hahahaha!

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  2. Love your advice and how you're keepin' it real. It's gotta be hard to let go of those tracksuits. Sounds like you had a full collection!

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    1. I definitely had a full collection! Haha! Thanks, Laura!!

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  3. This post couldn't have come at a better time!! I am in the process of getting rid of some of the girls toys. Emma really no longer plays with toys, but Alyx at the great age of 3 LOVES all the toys. So throwing things out right now is hard because I know how much she loves all this crap! ha!

    The track suit...well I never owned one, but I used to see people wearing them ALL the time. It's funny how things come in style and then quickly go out. Haha =)

    Have a great day!!

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  4. LOL about those tracksuits!!! I know I had at least five colors in various brands, but I have the opposite problem with clothing - I'm always like "Where did such and such go??" It might be having two sisters (I definitely have some items of theirs, shhhh!!). Happy Spring Cleaning :)

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    1. I don't have sisters but I did have roommates in college who were like sisters! And I definitely remember all those "now where did that go???" moments! And then I'd see my roommate in my favorite jeans in the student union looking better than me in them and have to get mad... 😂😂😬 Thanks for stopping by!!

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  5. Just start wearing them and YOU bring them back! Lol people will see you in them and think wow they're back?! And I bet so many people would wear them if they came back :) how comfy were those though?! I had a navy one and my sister had pink!!

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  6. Oh my glitter.... I had so many of those track suits. But honey I donated those suckers years ago! Just let them go!! ������.
    But I'm right there with you on the cleaning! It's going down here in GA.
    And yes I have shouted several 4 letter words while stepping on any color Lego!!! ��������

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  7. The tracksuit dilemma is so funny! I like the whole, "would I buy it if I were shopping right now."

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  8. I've been known for my juicy pants for years. I still wore them every single day until my very last pair gave out this winter (and by gave out I mean they had been sewn to death and the drawstring had ripped through the waistband). If I still had some, I would continue to wear them daily. Nothing is as comfortable as juicy sweats.

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  9. Those tracksuits!!! Oh man I went and read your post from last April about them and laughed right through it. I had so many too! My favorite was a dark brown one that made me feel super put together yet cute and comfy. Ha! So funny!

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