GoVo, It's NaBloPoMo!

I thought I was hilarious when I realized that if you're at Starbucks and want to order a product that includes milk, and you want to be sure the milk does not contain the bovine growth hormone, you could order a Grande Skim Latte, NoBoGroHo.

I don't think anyone else thought this was as clever as I did.

Anyway, apparently this is national blog posting month (NaBloPoMo), which means those of us with blogs are supposed to post at least once a day. I think this is great, but it didn't exactly coincide with my recent lifestyle changes. Meaning I'm apparently five posts (or so) behind.

What else is new.

The point I suppose I'm making is, Hi! Welcome! I'm a regular blog poster again!

And I'm at work! In my livingroom! And I don't have to feel guilty for taking time to blog!

And I can vote whenever I want to!

:::PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:::

Go vote today. Regardless of your political affiliation, I think we can all agree that having the right to vote means having the obligation, duty, and
responsibility to vote.
It matters.


Now back to what I'm sure you're all dying to know about -- the state of my "live/work" space.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

No, no, okay. Let's be serious. I know that I have maybe not been so much with the "tidy" way of living. Oh sure, I put forth a pretty impressive effort in the first few months of this year (remember my vow of No Joy in '06?). But it was not enough.

It is not enough to put things in bins. It is not enough to put things in stacks. It is not enough to reorganize, when all you're really doing is moving all your shit from one arrangement to another.

Turns out that is not so much cleaning as it is lying to yourself.

So now that I have to really live in my place, it's another story. If I am going to be in my little apartment all day long, I have to be able to move around. I have to have a place to put things.

That's really key, you know. It doesn't matter if you have a place for everything you already own, what matters is that you have a place to put things that come into your home.

For example. Last go-around, I neatly compiled and "put away" all my old magazines that I didn't want to throw out. The new issues were stacked on the lower shelf of my coffee table. It looked nice!

But I soon discovered that solved no problem at all, because there was nowhere to put any new magazines that arrived. And before I knew it, I was back to having all my storage space full, all my surfaces covered, and nowhere to put the things I'd acquire.


This time, I had no choice. It was time for an official Pitch & Bitch. That's what my mom always called it when it was time to purge. We'd all complain ("but I want to keep that!"), but when all was said and done, we never missed what we got rid of.

Anyway, now that I'm working from home and writing about it, and the lines between my home/work/blog life are completely blurred, I figure I may as well share with you what my apartment looks like. Why not?

(Well, aside from the obvious reason of my apartment just not being that interesting. But whatever. Hi.)

* * * *

Here is some idea of what my closet looked like "before."

Closet Before


And the bedroom, after my closet had thrown up:

Bedroom Before

Here is my hallway, which is actually even more full now because all the stuff I'm donating is currently lining the walls. Eventually, I might even hang the pictures that are lining the chair rail!
Hallway

More stuff to purge:

Mess


Ikea to the rescue! Pink boxes! Helpful Ish!

Ikea to the Rescue

And now?

Here is my bedroom, plain though it may be:

My Bedroom


And my new "office":

My


And my very helpful assistants:

Hiding Because He Can


And my view from my desk of my livingroom, and of the beautiful flowers Ish sent me to say congratulations on my first day of my new endeavor...

New Livingroom

Comments

  1. i'm glad you have a nice place to put your scissors.

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  2. rock on! it's like a wave of clearing sweeping through sf! all the cool girls are doing it. thanks for giving me another kick in the tush to keep up with my attempt to feng shui my clutter into a livable house.

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  3. anon 12:06 - erm, fair enough. i haven't added pens or pencils (etc.) to the cup yet because i'm still sorting through what goes on the desk, what goes in my "arts and crafts" drawer (which is now complete with drawer organizers), and what gets pitched. i realize right now it looks silly.

    sparkle - yay! it's sooooo worth it. purge! purge! purge!

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  4. Good job! Doesn't it feel good?

    Your place is cute! Love all that nice molding and hardwoods.

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  5. Hey, someday could you do a techy post and tell us how you do those cool lables and arrows on your pictures?

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  6. I don't know who decided that November is NaBloPoMo, because I already declared OCTOBER as NaBloWriMo. Y'all can read all about it at my blog specifically for that cause: http://nablowrimo.blogspot.com


    NaBloPoMo. *snorts derisively*


    (Okay, not that derisively. It's just that we just finished our month of daily blogging.)

    Amy

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  7. gah! look at the moulding in your apt. so, so jealous. *drools over chair-rail*

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  8. Wow, your assistant on the left is really into filing!
    I like your room- it's very zen and calm looking.

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  9. Ok... so maybe I missed it... I have had a busy month, but did you "divulge" where you worked before?

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  10. Jenny - Yes, it feels awesome! Hi!!! also. I miss you. (We should chat about July's conference!) Oh, and I would be happy to shed light on all my AMAZING technical know-how. You will laugh at me.

    GG - I am not sure, either. But the idea was that since someoned declared November as National Novel Writing Month, and since so many of us are um...not so good with those kinds of large tasks...they changed it from No to Blo. But I think it's perfectly blogerific of you to just be like, "that is SO last month!" :)

    Claire - don't forget, however, that "charm" is a trade-off. I have a chair rail, but the heat barely works. I have hardwood floors, but ONE power outlet in my livingroom.

    rachel - Yes, he made it clear that no more folders should go in that drawer. It was full enough.

    anon 2:01 - Hi. Haven't mentioned it yet. It's a post in and of itself. But thanks for reminding me.

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  11. Um, yeah...

    Sooooooo jealous of not only the total re-org of your place, but the fact that you will be now working from home! Yippee! That is truly a dream come true.

    And to the "running with scissors" Anon - I think they look smashing! And who needs pens/pencils/highlighters? Look at that MAC!!!!

    Enjoy every minute of it; you deserve it so.

    Kudos to you...

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  12. I didn't know you were going to be working from home!

    Wow, a 30 second-in-my-slipper commute! Lucky girl

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  13. Oooh - I heart your desk lamp. It's so Jetsons. And you have a bed frame! That's new, right? Problem with a headboard and footboard, at least for me, is that it's just one more place to either stub my toe or drape something that really should be put away. I admire your clothing-free bedframe, even post-closet-vomit!

    Ish's head is in the "to be purged" picture by accident, I presume???

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  14. I prefer my assistants to lick themselves, also.

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  15. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who has to deal with chubby grey cat booty in my way whenever I want to type on my pretty little Mac. If I leave my laptop open while I get up for even a few minutes, I come back to find my "assistant" curled up in a ball, asleep on my keyboard! What is that about?

    By the way, I love your "charming" apartment, and think the charm is totally worth it. Who needs heat? I've got blankets!!

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  16. Dude, your apartment is freaking awesome! Reading your post I was inspired to purge my own house, but then I realized no matter how much I throw out, it's still gonna have stained carpet and boring white walls. Maybe I'll try anyway... ;-)

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  17. will you and ish come do this to my apartment, please??

    wow. nice job. i feel inspired.

    and yet, the bottle of wine i just opened is calling me...

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  18. one thing about working at home (as great as it is) - you are prone to eating more. Beware of the grazing effect! It is also compounded by the fact that you literally expend no energy some days...try having no food in your house (I know you can do that!), since going out to get snacks will be too much effort.

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  19. Your apartment looks EXACTLY like my old one in SF! You don't happen to live on Sacramento, do you? I'm sure all SF apartments look the same to some extent, but it is kind of freaky!

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