Organization at Last, But Will It?

J and I spent MLK Day getting our shit together. I was inspired by an article that my mom brought over during their visit earlier this month. The article asked "are you a filer or a piler?" I am definitely in the "piler" category, which means I should not be allowed to pile anything. Ever. It's a miracle that Miles hasn't been lost permanently under a pile of old bank statements. So, I walked myself over to the Paper Source to buy pretty file folders and give myself an organizational intervention. 

I'm pretty pleased with the results and barring some sort of natural disaster, I'm determined to keep it in order.

** Update** As of February 1st, my desk is still in fairly good working order. And the filing system has been amazing.  

Nesting Part I

Many of you who follow my blog and Facebook news feeds know that I've been hit hard by the nesting bug. It all started one night when I had a dream that the baby came early, was a girl, and could already talk (with a couple of choice phrases under her belt that would make a sailor blush). I was in a frenzy the next day picking up the apartment and was convinced that if J didn't get a new smaller desk in the next ten minutes that my head might explode. Luckily, J was willing to play along and really got into doing some serious apartment reorganization. It's so nice to finally feel settled. And now, I am at a point where I can share some of the work that we've accomplished. 

Except for hanging artwork and photos, the back bedroom feels pretty great. Last week I finished making a roman shade for the window to block out some of the summer sun and add a nice touch of color to our desperately pale yellow walls. J did get a new desk that looks surprisingly similar to his old one, but has a slightly smaller footprint. We were able to tuck it in the corner, which afforded more room for our bed, chest of drawers, and a some room to breathe. He also got to hang another one of his mobiles, which takes the total apartment count up to three (I'm pretty sure he's going to convince me to hang at least one more). 

By chance, we also found the last piece of furniture to complete our living room. Recently, I'd been prowling Craigslist like mad looking for a matching end table to go on the other side of our couch, but was having little success. The nesting bug had really been buzzing, letting me know that I couldn't possibly give birth with only one end table in the living room (I know, I know). As we walked down Hawthorne Street on Monday with Naomi and Kyoko, I spotted a furniture shop with great mid-century pieces. There was a cute little end table in the storefront window that caught my eye, like a puppy dog begging to be taken home. I almost didn't look at the price tag, because I was certain that it was going to be way too pricey. However, curiosity won over and I looked. It was a little more expensive than I had hoped to pay for an end table, but it was so much more awesome than the ones I'd been finding on Craigslist. We perused the rest of the store as I pondered, and after about ten minutes of looking I was asking Jesse to guesstimate the dimensions of our trunk. He asked if I wanted to walk around a bit to think it over, but I was sold. And in about five minutes, so was that end table. 

The purchase wasn't nearly as impulsive as it may have appeared to our guests, but the outcome was pretty exciting. Baby G is officially allowed to arrive.


Stay tuned for Nesting Part II: Baby G (Finally) Gets a Nursery.

Spring/Summer Cleanup

This morning as Jesse and I slept in until 9am, which in our house is nothing short of miraculous. Neither of us were quite ready to face the day, so we pulled out our laptops to check out World Cup updates from the two games we missed this morning. As we were watching soccer highlights, Baby G woke up, rolled around, and Jesse got to play with his little feet that that poked and prodded around my ribs. It feels so great to have Jesse home again and share a perfectly relaxing Saturday morning.

While lounging, I decided to change up the blog a bit. Blogger just rolled out new design features that make it very easy to switch things up (and look really really talented in the process). I think it took about 20 minutes, most of which was spent agonizing over what color to make the borders around my photos. Details, people. It's all in the details.

Updating the website really put me into a spring/summer cleaning mood, so I think I'm going to tackle a few organization projects. We're going to get our living room back in order, hang a few photos, and maybe even tackle a closet. I'm ready to have my life back in order again!

Organizing My Life: An Update

I've heard people say that sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. I think that's pretty true with illness, certainly this economy, and of course, my organizing projects. Sometimes you have to just explode a few boxes before you can pack their contents neatly away in their proper place. See? Even though the bedroom looks even worse than when we started, progress has been made. There are blank spots everywhere on the bookshelf. I'm hoping by the end of the weekend that at least half will be completely empty. I'd like to put down some shelf paper and maybe have a place to temporarily stash our clothes and sheets.

I also made floor plans of our two bedrooms last week and little scale paper pieces of our furniture. We've been trying to figure out a configuration for the the yet-to-be-purchased-but-much-anticipated-guest-bed in the back room. Until a few days ago, we'd been calling the back room the larger bedroom because, well, it looked a lot bigger. As it turns out, they're almost exactly the same size, but due to doors and built-in shelves the second (front) room it just has a lot less wall space. I think we've gotten a good arrangement figured out that will accommodate a daybed, Jesse's office desk, and a baby crib. Don't worry, we plan on making the crib a somewhat movable fixture, so please still come and visit us. You won't have to tend to our spawn as part of your room and board -- that is unless you're really dying to jump right in on night feedings.

Last weekend, Jesse and I also put together our Expedit shelf from Ikea. Once we get all of the crap cleared out of the hallway (like Jesse's muddy running shoes and miscellaneous items that have piled up in a matter of days) I think it's going to look pretty snazzy. Adult-like even. Gasp! The bottom boxes currently hold nearly all of my fabric stash, sorted by color. Since the top cubby holes look pretty lonely and are just begging for us to fill with more random items, I made another trip out to Ikea yesterday afternoon and picked up four more. I haven't decided exactly what will go in them, but I'm thinking art supplies and other crafty things that we don't use on a regular basis.

As for the rest of the weekend, Jesse and I plan on trying to set up our small TV with the digital antenna to see if we can catch the Superbowl on Sunday evening. I am planning out a delicious menu that will include braised pork (either made into a carnitas pie or tacos), fresh guacamole, chips and dip (of course), and a King Cake. I feel that it's only proper to celebrate the Saints making it to the Superbowl during Mardi Gras season (in addition to this being my official birthday weekend) with a King Cake. My mom passed along a recipe that I think I'm going to try this year that has a cream cheese filling. How could you go wrong? MMM. I can't wait for Superbowl Sunday!

Ahh Home

Saturday's push to unpack and organize felt really good. We made so much progress on the books that we were even able to pull out some of our art. I think in D.C. we took for granted the fact that our books add so much color to our living space -- something we only realized once they were no longer there. Of course, we're still pushing boxes of stuff from one corner to another, but I think one more week and we'll be in pretty good shape.

Sunday's focus was to get the bedroom in some sort of order. So far it has been our go-to spot for piling random mounds of things that have no place. Also, last week I had a revelation that if I am going to start doing contract work, there is no way that both Jesse and I can accomplish anything in the same room. I decided that we needed to set up some kind of work station in the bedroom so I could have a door to close and a space of my own. It's still very primitive, but nothing that a little art and an actual chair can't fix.

And what of the breakfast nook you ask? Well, it's officially become the furniture refinishing station -- that is until we find another kitchen table and chairs. The old kitchen table was a little big for the space, and well, I hadn't yet found chairs. Now it's much more suitable as a desk/project table. Also, I only have to find one chair to match instead of four -- that is a much easier task to tackle on Craigslist.

I'm getting much closer to finishing the sanding on my consignment store chair (I found some 100 grit sandpaper that has been useful in removing those tough spots of varnish). I'll be staining and this weekend for sure.

Organizing Streak

Yesterday I decided that I couldn't stand the chaos anymore and started stomping around the apartment looking for hiding places for all the stuff that has consumed our living room for the past month. In the same way that a dog can destroy a flower bed in a matter of minutes when digging a hole for its most precious bone, I too made space in our closet. Crawling in on all fours, I started chucking things over my head -- shoes, bags, clothes, cleaning supplies -- all over the floor. Jesse stared bewildered by his desk, no doubt dodging a stray shoe or belt, and then decided to go on a run. It wasn't the most rational way of organizing, but the closet is looking a lot better.

When he came back from his run, we had dinner and set out a plan for fixing the mess and making our apartment feel like home. The first task was to either hide or eliminate the boxes full of books and cd's. Since most of our hiding places have been filled, the only option was to figure out where to put the contents held within the wall of boxes. We both knew what the next step would be: Billy bookcases. Stat!

As much as I have talked about having as little Ikea furniture in our apartment as possible, I am continually drawn there to seek out ideas and options for organization. So, we arrived at Ikea this morning at 9:30 sharp and marveled at the empty parking lot. The store didn't open until 10am, but we decided that the $1.99 breakfast would help fuel us through the trip. It was a relatively short visit. We found the Billy bookcase aisle and were in the checkout line by 10:30.

The bookcases are quite tall, so we had to fold down the front passenger seat to accommodate the boxes. As a result, I had to ride home in the backseat of our car. It felt totally weird, so we both pretend he was my chauffeur on the way home -- I would make outrageous demands and he would reply "as you wish." The rest of the afternoon was spent assembling the bookcases and unpacking books. Sunday will likely revolve around more organizing and shifting furniture.

Jesse said today that unpacking the books felt like being reacquainted with old friends. It's true. Having our books and things around is already making it feel more like home.

Charge It To Admin

For the past two days I have been immersed in tasks that (if I were getting paid) should be charged to the "admin" account. They're the types of things that nobody really enjoys, but must be addressed every once in a while. I sent out a couple of emails regarding job opportunities and tinkered with my resume. I also checked out a few temp agencies to visit in the near-ish future. Since we moved into the apartment I have also been avoiding the filing cabinet like the plague, not knowing what sort of beastly things were lurking. Today, I opened the top drawer to find a jumbo hanging file that I had never seen before. I exclaimed "Dear God, what is this?! And why did it move with us?!" Jesse mysteriously disappeared into the bedroom.

While preparing for the move from D.C., I discovered that I had married a petty hoarder. I say petty because he isn't one of those egregious types that saves bubble gum wrappers and old cereal boxes (and sometimes he hoards things that turn out to be really sweet). However, today I opened that jumbo mystery file and found that it contained over six years of paper bank statements - complete with the little inserts that come in the envelope. As a historian, it was fascinating to document the evolution of Bank of America's privacy and disclosure statements from a two-page pamphlet to a small book over the years. As a pragmatist, I couldn't understand what would possess a person to open an envelope, unfold their bank statement, and file away the entire contents (very neatly) in their active vertical files. Needless to say, the paper shredder got a workout this afternoon.

Yesterday, I also started sanding my chair (considered an admin task in my book). Almost immediately, I remembered how much I dislike sanding - not because it's hard work, but because I really could do without the feel and sound of sandpaper scraping wood. I also don't really care for the feeling of sawdust on my fingers. It's akin to the sensation you get in your teeth and head when you hear nails on a chalkboard (only much less severe). My friend Kyle hates the feeling of fleece (or anything soft and velvety). I think he's probably one of the only people who could truly understand what I mean. It doesn't prevent me from sanding, but I wash my hands a lot. With that said, I do think the results are worth the horror because I have been able to rub out nearly every scratch and blemish. It's hard to tell from the photos, but the vertical post has been sanded, not the arm.

I think I'll end my day of "admin" tasks by taking another trip to the grocery store to buy some of the food staples that we have forgotten. I have had the urge to bake cookies for the past few days in our giant new oven, but lack things like brown sugar, and chocolate, and baking powder. Shopping for grocery staples isn't really fun, but I'll be happy to have a fully stocked pantry again!

Organizing the Apartment: An Initial Survey

About 4 weeks ago, the Washington Post began a series of articles called "Organizing the Attic." The articles follow the Post's deputy editor for the Home section as she embarks on controlling the chaos on her top floor. I've been religiously reading the weekly entries and anxiously awaiting the teaser lines for the next week's topic. Last week, organizing holiday decorations, was not very useful since I don't really have any in our tiny apartment. However, this week's post about organizing books could not have been more timely.

Given that we only have 56 more days until lift off, last weekend Jesse and I decided to start unravelling the chaos of stored items in the apartment. The idea of packing up all of our stuff was a little overwhelming, so we decided we had to start somewhere. We couldn't know what to toss and what to keep if we had no clue what was stored in the depths of our "organization." So we decided to divide and conquer. Jesse burrowed into our walk-in closet and I got started on the books. Like the editor of the Washington Post articles, I'd like to be able to easily use my husband as a scapegoat for the shelves of books around our home, but alas, I too came into this relationship with a lot of book baggage. And since we both contributed to the problem, we both had to make decisions about which books we thought we might actually use again. It felt good to go through the titles that we hadn't read in a while, and to stumble on the total head-scratchers like the duplicate copies of three different volumes of Foucault.

Most of my Saturday afternoon was spent flipping through dusty pages, assessing their condition, and posting them on Amazon's Marketplace. I was astonished how many we sold in just 24 hours (this photo shows only half of what I sent out this week). We both wondered why we hadn't done this a long time ago, but then realized that we probably would have spent the cash on gadgets or beer. So, the moral of the story is that hoarding actually worked in our favor this time. All of those books that were just collecting dust might actually pay for one of our plane tickets to Portland. Sweet!

Next step: the CD collection (insert evil laugh). I liked The Crane Wife's post Wednesday about taming the wild music beast, but I imagine I'd incite an all-out mutiny on Columbia Road if I advocated the philosophy of "in with the old." And, to Jesse's credit, he does purge the collection occasionally. So, for now, I'm hoping for a system of storage that doesn't include the double-deep layering thing that makes it nearly impossible to access entire letters of the alphabet!