A Peek Inside My Drawers

Remember when I told you about cleaning out my closet and finding my Africa letters? Since starting my new job, home organization has been on my mind a lot. I think most people that know me would say I'm incredibly organized. I love planning and organizing every aspect of my life! I need to simmer down actually. So imagine my surprise when I realized that I'd gotten comfortable. I'd moved in to my house, stuck stuff in places, and never addressed it again. I started opening some drawers and getting a little uncomfortable. 

These two drawers have no official purpose in my kitchen. One is my coupon drawer. The problem with a drawer is that stuff expires and stays here forever. The other is my coffee filter, lunch bag, plastic silver wear, ant trap drawer. I have no idea how this even came to be. I just know it needs to change!

  This is my tool drawer. It also is my "I don't know where this should live" drawer. As a result I have tanning goggles (I haven't gone tanning in like 7 years), air freshener, thread, and pens living in here with my crowbar and hammer. 

 This is my long silver wear drawer. And my lids for cups. Rolling pin. Chopsticks. Chip clips. Measuring cups. It needs addressed!

This was my shining star of organization (and proof I go through a lot of forks since there aren't any!)

 But every time I shut the drawer this happens. Talk about wasted space. 

This is my baking and spice drawer. There's always a near collapse of spices whenever I get one out.   

   This is my baking stuff. Mixing bowls, beaters, etc. And my cooler. Why?! I don't even remember the last time I used a cooler. 

 This is my breakfast and on the go shelf of my pantry. Also proof that I really like Cheerios, almonds, and oat meal. The whole pile on the back of the shelf is a big mess. 

This is my recycling cabinet. I get too lazy to walk it outside and just pile around the can. You can see I've enjoyed some takeout, a new pair of Tom's, and more Cheerios. 

  I just had to show a "good" cabinet to try and redeem myself a little!

This is my solution in the bathroom to no medicine cabinet. Pretty organized. 

But before I get too cocky, this is my "random stuff" bathroom drawer. 

I was just sad looking at the mess I had. I needed some storage bins, organizers, etc before this would get better. But, I needed to feel instant gratification. So, I tackled my closet and my guest room closet. 

My life has changed a lot in the last year. I had a job that required me to wear all black business suits for 7 years. I had a lot of black suits! Then I went to a job where I had to wear dress clothes for year. So I have lots of different colors of dress pants, sweaters, and dresses. Now I wear jeans and tee shirts to work (so strange and awesome!). My closet full of suits and dresses wasn't working anymore! 

This was the left side/the main side I use. It was pretty dark:

 This was the right side. This is most of the random or casual stuff I never touch:

 This is my guest room closet. The box on the top shelf was where the Africa letters were. I have a bridesmaid dress, some sweaters that I have no idea why I kept (but had the presence of mind to not unpack them into my closet):

I also had a vacuum (this is the only carpeted room in the whole house), a Christmas pillow, the clothes I wore when I painted the room 2 years ago, an emergency bag that goes in my trunk during the winter (with boots, gloves, extra food, etc), a painting I inherited from my great grandma, some shelves, and a painting I bought in Africa. Basically nothing logical. 

 Oh and a light that had never worked. When the house was shown it was out. I've been that lazy that I've never changed the bulb. I'm so ashamed! 

 I use the drawers in this room for hats and scarves, bathing suits, and extra sheets. 

 Somehow extra picture frames, candles, and scrapbook paper found their way into them though? It's like the house is haunted. I started out by moving that all to the proper place. Then the spare sheets in the closet went into the dresser. 

 Then I went through my clothes. I had done my dresser not too long ago and ended up with this to donate:

After I did the left side of my closet I had this:

 And all of the junk on my right side was just that... Junk. 

 I wasn't ready to part with my black suits yet. I moved them all to my guest room with my very formal dress clothes that I probably wouldn't need more than once a year. Then I used all of my freed up hangers to hang clothes from my dresser that I frequently wear:

 The right side of my closet is again my less exciting side. This is where all of my dresses, dress clothes, and very wintery stuff went to live:

Here is the mafia widow closet. All black! The vacuum lives in the basement now and everything else has been given a home:

I forgot all about the painting I'd bought in Africa. The last time it hung was in Springfield. It works really well with the black and whites in the living room, but doesn't have any shadows. It looks great in the hallway:

  

 I was able to pull 2 trash bags of just closet clothes together to donate. 

So, I was able to make a dent in my closets! Last month I also did my office and attics. Stay tuned for bathroom and kitchen drawers, another closet, and the pantry! 

The One Where I Admit I Can't Drive

I'm a bad driver and I have bad luck (if there is such a thing). I just need to put that out there. I some how seem to date the jerks. I also find them on the road. Or... They find me!

Two weeks ago I had an accident on my way to get paint for this project. I just got my car back and thought I would fill you in on the massive experience I have in this department! 

Let's start at the beginning. 

This (on the left) is H.

H is my cousin and child-hood best friend. We did everything together, including driving school. We had to be in a car with a 3 fingered shop teacher/driver's ed instructor and Ed. Ed took us up and down curbs like nobody else could! He was so bad! We were good! If you got some certain super-high score on your final driving test you somehow got to skip taking the test at the DMV and just got to go in and get your license. I swear. I was one of the elite few that got to do this. 

I was successful.

I was confident.

I was a great driver!

I was so great the DMV just handed me my license!

Three months later I was the one that did this to my dad's car: 

and this to my forehead:

Evolution

This blog began as a kind of therapy. I was miserable at the Top Secret Retailer. I was in a big relationship slump with a boyfriend that had vanished off the face of the earth and a wrapped birthday gift for him sitting in my coat closet. I was sad and just needed to get some things out. I was literally crying over my pie at Baker's Square with my parents one night complaining about all of this. I then switched to telling a work story and my dad suggested I write a book, or start a blog, or something because I told stories differently than most. I took their advice.

This blog was born.

At first it was all over the place about the things that made me happy, the things that made me sad, and the things that made me me. Writing made me happy! Since then this blog has evolved. It's still all of those things. But, it's shown me a passion I was never able to put my finger on. I also started working at an art school with a great Interior Design program. One day I was talking to the head of the department. She said "there's girls that don't know if they want to design fashion or design interiors. I always ask them 'What did you do when you played with your Barbies? Did you spend your time dressing them and doing their hair or did you spend your time setting up the Barbie house?'" It was like a light went off over my head. I went to school for fashion, but when I thought about opening my own store I pictured its interior. I went to school for the wrong thing! I have always wanted to be unique. I grew up forced to associate with someone who imitated what I wore, how I did my hair, and what I wanted to do with my life. I intentionally went a different direction with my future as a blatant statement that I wanted to be unique... Not my smartest move! Anyway- Blogging about interiors, working in a creative environment, self evaluation, and encouragement from my friends has led me to this place of evolution.

I'm starting my own business!

While I'd love to not be dependent on just me and my income, I am. It will not be my full time job. I don't have the resources to do that... Yet. But I will be doing what I love. Someday I'm determined to have the resources to do that 24/7 (husband or not)! 

Allow me to introduce you to EJ Bee Designs:

It started as this (just a sketch on some notebook paper):

 My test webpage looked like this:

Finally, the real webpage was born (you can click on the bee to get there)! 

I want to say a big thank you to my loyal readers that helped me uncover this hidden talent, and a big thank you to my friends and family who have literally spent hours helping me take this concept from just that, to reality! If you, or someone that you know lives in the Chicago area needs some design/organization work done please think of EJ Bee Design. 

On Turning 28

Last year I had a little melt down. I'm pretty sure it was a 1/3 of the way through life freak-out. Being 28 is more comfortable. There's something about looking a deadline in the face and missing it that makes the whole thing a lot less stressful! Nearly dying, changing jobs, and relationships helps shake things up and mellow you out a bit too! 

I'm 28, I'm alive, and my world hasn't fallen apart because I didn't reach all of my goals! To that I say:

Happy Birthday to me! 

What a Difference a Year Makes

I was reading back through old posts. A year ago I wrote this:

"I'm convinced that at some point in my life I will not work retail. I will be normal. Shopping on Black Friday will be avoided, I will have weekends off, and I will adjust to waking up at 6 a.m. on a daily basis. Instead Black Friday is the highlight of my work year for the potluck we throw in my back room and the fact that the day flies by, I work Saturday nights, and I get to sleep in until 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. For now this is my life. And it's interesting..."

A year later and all that I have to say is: Thank you God for answering my prayers! I'm not entirely convinced that I won't find myself at a new top secret retailer someday... But thank you God for a holiday off, for waking up at 6 a.m., for weekends off, and for Black Friday just being a day of the week and not a day to train and recover from! Thank you God!

"Quick" Rundown of the Last 6 Months (Full of Pictures)

Things have changed big time in the last six months! I took a long blogging break because I was too busy doing everything you see below! 

• I painted the antique knobs on my garage sale find buffet to try to update it to match the rest of my style. It's scary painting something older than you!

I love how it turned out! I was afraid for nothing! It ties in my black mirror and frames so much better!

• I went and got myself a boyfriend! No worries... It's long over! It turns out guys that have no concept of how to manage their life, have a job, and manage their money really don't do it for me! On the plus side, he was a very nice guy and he was my Valentine.

• There was a giant blizzard. It pretty much shut down the midwest. My mall has never been closed. Even when there were bomb threats and gas leaks... But even they were closed! The pets and I stayed in with some Redbox movies and let it snow!

 

This is my screened porch in case I haven't shown it. 

• I decided to try the cheap route and spray paint my doorknobs, hinges, etc. silver before I spent the money to replace them all. Look for a post about this soon.  

It was easier than I expected and they've held up REALY well! I just googled "how to spray paint door knobs" and followed the links. I used these two the most:

http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2010/03/spray-painting-door-knobs.html

http://frugal-fabulous.blogspot.com/2009/05/tuesday-tip-spray-painting-door-knobs.html

• I decided to rip up the carpet on my stairs and figured I'd find amazing hardwood goodness underneath. I didn't. But while I was I smelled something cooking. I went into the kitchen, realizing I'd skipped dinner, and saw this: 

My neighbor's shed was on fire and it was spreading to her house. After being confused for a minute wondering if she was burning leaves or something I hopped into action. I ran around to the neighbor's house barefoot, called 911, tried to get my older neighbor out of her house and my very old other neighbor out of his. I then went back in to get the things out of my house that you always ask yourself "if there were a fire what would I take?" I ended up taking:

-The dog

-The cat

-My fireproof box with my important documents (I'm still kicking myself over taking something fireproof though!)

-My MacBook (I keep a journal on it and all of my pictures are on it)

-My purse

That was it! I threw on this crazy outfit. I was wearing really grubby clothes, I put on my long black wool dress coat, and my moccasins, and my hair was in a crazy bun. I'm sure I lost my future fireman husband because of that crazy outfit! 

(an after the fire shot with me in my wool coat ensemble and bun!)

The fire didn't spread to my house, all of my neighbor's were ok, and my neighbor's house that had the fire is almost completely repaired. And I got to practice calling 911...

• I mentioned the stairs. I'll do a whole post on how the stairs came to be as they are now. But for now enjoy the before and after:

They're SOOOOOO pretty aren't they? 

• I had someone stalk me at work. Long story short, I have a restraining order. This happened last summer and I recently went to court about it and he has since been released from jail. 

• I dealt with my chipped paint front porch that was bringing down my curb appeal with this cool stuff called Deck Restore from Home Depot that you can use on concrete and wood. It was super quick and gave the porch some texture that keeps it from being slippery when wet:

It looks pretty florescent here, but it was still wet. The next bullet point shows how much it darkened up. I really liked the stuff and plan on using it on my screened porch floor too!

• I bought a new car! I had some financial ah ha moments recently (more about that below) that made me realize that while I LOVED my German VW Passat, it took Premium gas that is not cheap! By switching it out for a much cheaper Kia I able to reduce my car payment by $100 a month. I am super excited for better gas mileage too. And, my little Passat cost $800 for it's 40,000 service. It was going to be $1,000 for the 50,000 and I wasn't up for that. So behold the new car! (And peek at the yard behind it. It's in the next bullet point!)

• The yard... It was attacked by grubs and it all died. Here it is all dug up (see Zulu in the corner "helping me out?"). I planted new grass, but it's far from the point where I can post an "after" picture!

• I convinced my baby brother to buy a house! Isn't it adorable!? He is too :

 He asked me what color he was painting his living room and that unleashed the color-loving-monster in me! 

• And finally, the biggest news:

I don't work at the top secret retailer anymore.

There's a shocker! 

It's been hard to  leave. But God is good. Sometimes hard is good! It grows you... I got a new job! I start this week! I will be the director of admissions for a major college. I will be OUT of retail!!!! 

So, that is where I've been for 6 months. More detailed:

 -How to do knobs, and stairs, and landscaping to get rid of grubs coming soon... Maybe!