CSM

Lately (especially by mid-week) I arrive home to a kitchen that looks like the following:

As promised. The first edition of Clean Sweep Monday's (albeit a tid bit late on my behalf...lo ciento!)
I've been constantly faced with little to no counter space due to the fact that I have clutter overwhelming my life! Tonight, I made one small step towards ridding myself of this burden. My small kitchen may look like a disaster zone, but the counter tops and stove were clean..and were unfortunately littered with miscellaneous items (everywhere). I got down to business, and slowly but surely tackled the junk. I parted with items I knew I wouldn't need/use. I put away items in their correct spots. I cleared my counters of clutter. And.It.Felt.Great!
End results:


I really do love having a clean kitchen. It makes my heart smile! (and also makes me REALLY excited to cook!!)
Over the weekend, I also found a hidden treasure that was going to be thrown out. I can't decide if the best part of my discovery was that it was free, that it helps to hide my router/wires, or that it's something I've wanted for a long time, but hadn't had the audacity to spend money on it. I present you with my new wine rack!!!!! (sans the wine...Note to self: Pick up wine next time you're at the sucker store!!)

Introducing...CLEAN SWEEP MONDAYS!

A television, queen sized bed, closets and dressers filled with clothes, a kitchen table, silverware, pots'n pans, a laptop. These are only a few things taking up space in my apartment. I got to thinking this morning...what would happen if it was all gone tomorrow? If I had to officially start over from scratch... Would I be able to do it? Would my life end up cluttered as it feels now? I honestly think I am too selfish to give up the luxuries that I have been afforded. I have books to read if I feel like reading, an extremely comfortable bed to sleep in, dishes to eat off of, and a crappy dishwasher that helps me to clean said dishes. I have food in my cupboards, and a collection of about 100 or so dvd's I could watch at any given moment.
A coworker of mine recently had her car broken into, and it really got me thinking about all of the material items in my life. I think part of my reasoning is a bit of self-revelation rearing its head. The realization that I don't need to fill my life with more material items. The realization that my life is cluttered with material luxuries that many in this world will never have the opportunity to experience. I wish I were less selfish with my belongings. I wish I could muster up the courage to donate 3/4ths of the clutter that feels like its suffocating me...but I can't. I will continue to hold onto these items..but I think a great goal for the rest of the year is to not add anymore to my mass chaos of clutter. I NEED to begin to take baby steps to thin through some of the items, and make some tough decisions. Do I really NEED most of my clutter? Will I even notice if it is gone? Why do I feel the need to hold onto superfluous items? Why do I spend $100.00at Target, and feel like I have nothing to show for it?!
In the past month I threw out SIX GARBAGE BAGS FULL OF THINGS...and I still feel like I could toss at LEAST SIX MORE bags if I took the time to go through my crizap! That's a lot of unneccesary stuff if you ask me!
So, publicly I will make a small pledge to myself. I will NOT buy anything other than NECESSARY items at Target. In fact, I am going to start taking a picture of each Target purchase as an effort to keep myself honest! If this isn't too appalling to the three of you out there who will read this...I think I am also going to attempt to document the demise of my clutter!!! YIPPEE to throwing out "treasures". I think I can, I think I can!! I think it is EXTREMELY plausible to tackle one area of my apartment a week...so by the end of the summer I should be clutter free and feeling on TOP OF THE WORLD!
Say a disaster hits tomorrow; as long as I have my little man, my health, and a warm place to sleep at night I think life would be pretty swell....at least that's what I'm saying now...

(If you haven't already guessed it...starting next monday I will dedicate my blog to detailing my efforts at cleaning up my life. Hopefully, I will be ambitious and post pictures of the efforts; including (but not limited to) target trip photos, and some "action shots" (try and contain your oooo's and ahhhhh's please..hehehe))