As I was driving to work yesterday I realized that the sun was shining right in my eyes and I actually needed to put the visor down and was wishing my sunglasses were in my purse. Wow, what a difference an hour makes. I usually head to work at 8, which is still before the sun is up at this time of the year. I worked out on Friday morning so I was heading to work right before 9. It was like plugging my body in and feeling my batteries recharge. I love this time of year when the days are visibly getting longer and I actually have some daylight left after I get off of work. One of the things I miss most about being in college is having time during a weekday to be out and about in the winter, enjoying the little sunlight that we get.
The other impact of all this unshine is my annual spring fever urge to purge has hit. I want my house to feel less like a cacoon which I curl up in to keep warm and comfortable all winter and more like a zen chic, clean modern home with no clutter, no mess, and far less stuff than I currently own. We're still purging items that we inherited over 2 years ago from hubby's Grandmother. After cleaning random bits of the house and setting Roomba to work I had a box of paperbacks and a trash bag of clothes to purge. Probably not enough for a garage sale so I'll be taking them off to charity on Monday. I also got a magazine today which had all sorts of articles on living in smaller spaces and making the most of them. Rather than having a McMansion with lots of space that never gets used with rooms that you barely see week in and week out (aka our current office and laundry/bonus rooms) these homes were designed to be utilized thoroughly with thoughtful design making each space an important part of the house. When I visualize my "dream house" this is totally what I picture, smaller, cozier, and with a very thoughtful design aka The Not So Big House books style.
I kind of have to keep my stuff to a minimum with the move to law school not too far off in the distant future. There is no way I'll be schleping shelves and shelves of paperbacks, engineering textbooks, or outsized clothing with me half-way across the planet. Of course, it pains me to admit defeat and get rid of my skinny clothes, so until the time that I actually have movers at my house giving me an estimate on how much it would cost to bring it all with me I'll probably still have an itty bitty sundress from Senior year of highschool.
I've always loved small spaces. I have a friend with a 600 sq-ft condo in D.C. which I love. Her house has only things that she really really loves. She'll never have a reason to go on the show Clean Sweep to cleanse her house of clutter. When she gets the shopping urge she doesn't stock up on cheap tank tops at Old Navy, I on the other hand have a whole stack of them. Instead she impulse buys beauty products which get used and thrown away and her clothes are minimal because she only buys really nice stuff. I have a really hard shoe size so whenever I find a brand that has my size I go nuts and buy way more than I need. As a result, I have more shoes than people who have easier to find shoe sizes because I impulse buy them. My friend with the tiny apartment doesn't buy crap, instead her closets are full of a few very expesive Louis Voutton's, Jimmy Choo, etc. shoes, nice suits, and very classic clothes, which in comparison to all my bulk (current and already donated) probably cost the same, but look way better. I'm hoping to be more like my D.C. diva and stop buying crap. To that end, I have the annual spring fever purge ahead of me. The days are getting longer and it is getting easier to have the energy to excercize, so maybe this will be my year to fit into the sun dress again. Hmm...come to think of it, that dress isn't that great, I'll probably donate it as soon as I fit back into it. Perhaps its time has come.
