My fridge is naked.

Two posts in one day? Nikki, are you crazy? No - I'm just game-deprived and blogging a lot.

UPDATE: I have moved from the closet to the kitchen. I just cleaned off 2+ years of thank-you notes, birthday cards, baby & wedding announcements, congratulations cards, expired coupons, kid drawings, adult drawings (not THAT kind of adult...), and even an Easter card circa 2009. Phew!

You think hoarder emotions are tied to clothes? Try greeting cards! So, to everyone who has now vacated my refrigerator - your cards were appreciated. And thank you for the magnet back.

A Week Without Games

It wasn’t my most successful, and it definitely wasn’t my easiest “without”. However, last week’s “Week Without Stuff” was my FAVORITE so far. I started off strong, but missed a few days toward the end of the week. Because I had a very busy week, I’m giving myself a grace period to purge my house of more “stuff”. My hamper is getting very full, and I actually think this could be a habit that sticks. It’s hard for me to let go of things, but I’m also ridding myself of the guilt, etc. that makes me hold on to them. Does that make any sense?? Example: Every time I see a certain shirt in the closet, I feel guilty for buying it even though the sleeves didn’t fit right. I keep telling myself I’ll go & get it altered, but I never do – so I feel guilty. Got rid of the shirt, and *poof!* there goes the guilt along with it. Was it stupid to buy it? Yes. But time to move on.

This week I took my friend Angela’s suggestion: A week without computer games. So far, I haven’t slipped, but I think I’m going to have to block a few sites on my computer. Sporcle.com, I’m lookin’ at you. My lunch breaks will be different. This week, I’ll be busy working on a project every evening, so this should help keep me focused. That, or drive me insane because I won’t get any mental “fun” breaks.

Over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder-hoarder

It’s only Wednesday, and already this has been a hard –albeit productive- week. This blog has been just the excuse I needed to purge my house & my life of STUFF!

My giveaways/trash include:
1 pair of khaki capri pants
1 black lace shirt
1 black silk top from Express (never worn)
1 pair of black mules
1 pair of black flats (maybe never worn?)
1 very worn small black purse (trash)
1 Buzz Lightyear Happy Meal toy
7 worn-out bras!
2 pairs of dressy sandals from prom/bridesmaid outfits
1 knit skirt
1 broken necklace

Who knew I was a bra hoarder?? I found bras that were missing underwire & one with duct tape on it. (…which I wore for a long time with duct tape! LOL) Bras are expensive! When I find one I like, I guess I get attached to it & don’t throw it out...for years.

In the process of cleaning out old purses, I found lots of loose change, a handful of bobby pins, and an old favorite pair of earrings & a necklace. Woohoo!! Plus a random Polaroid of me with the Chippendales. If the bra hoarding didn’t make you laugh, this should.

That’s not even the full list of what I’ve purged so far, so I think I’m doing pretty well – but it has been difficult. There's a lot of guilt associated with giving away something I never wore. And more than once, I’ve walked back to the basket with the intention of trying those capris on – because who knows? They might fit. And even though I haven’t worn them in 2+ years, maybe I’ll spontaneously like them again! Right?!

Even though Nikki the Hoarder is having trouble letting go of her useless crap, Nikki the Cleaner is starting to love this. I’m uncovering stuff I actually WANT and will USE, while getting rid of the stuff that’s just cluttering up my life. I hope this becomes a habit. Tonight, maybe I’ll tackle the giant pile of mail & paper lurking in the back room.

I'm back, bebeh!

I’m back after a two-week lapse, so here’s a super long post to make up for lost time! Huzzah!

After my last post, I began a week without chocolate, which wasn’t bad – but more difficult than expected. Do I really eat that much chocolate?? I slipped up a couple times toward the end of the week, but they were honest mistakes:

- I bought a bottle of Frappuccino on the way to work, which wouldn’t have been cheating, except…it was mocha flavored. I drank it and felt guilty.

- I had dessert duty for Sunday night dinner at my parents’ house. I had a busy weekend, so I planned to stop by the grocery store & pick something up instead of cooking. Without thinking, I bought BROWNIES and ice cream. I ate one and felt guiltier.

- Then I ate a giant Hershey bar. Nope. Just joking.

Hilarious highlight: I got desperate for something sweet during that week, and the only dessert in my house –save for fat-free pudding- was a frozen Weight Watchers chocolate ice cream bar. Off limits. So, I decided to bake these.

The only problem? I didn’t have lemons or limes. I didn’t have milk. My ingredients were generic Splenda, egg substitute, questionably old powdered sugar found in the back of my baking cabinet, and some quinoa flour. That’s right, quinoa flour. I actually DID have real butter (Ben did the shopping) & lemon, lime, & orange juice. I told Ben not to think of them as cookies, but like an interesting sweet biscuit-type thing. I’ve made these sound disgusting at this point, but they actually aren’t that bad! That being said - barring a spontaneous gluten intolerance, I won’t be baking quinoa cookies again.

Last week was my week off AKA “A Week Without Blogging”. I’ve had a crazy busy October, and I was glad to not have to worry about one more thing last week. We got a LOT of cleaning up done over the weekend, plus recycling, plus grocery shopping, plus Halloween decorating, plus a metric ton of laundry. It felt good. And – all of that decluttering inspired this week’s “without”: A Week Without “stuff”. Vague? Perhaps. My plan is to purge no less than 5 items from my house (or desk or car) each day. Old magazines, clothing from the 90s, files that I no longer need to hang onto…all sorts of stuff. I am notorious for hanging onto papers and clothing because someday I’ll need them/fit into them again/frame them/find the perfect use for them. I also feel guilty about giving away things which were given to me. You know that box of random junk that has moved around with you since college? I have almost a room of that. Yikes. Rule for this week: It has to be MINE (Giving away Ben’s stuff would be easy. And fun.)

Here’s hoping this week keeps me off Hoarders!

It happened.

I was joking about the "worst case scenario" in my last blog entry. Well, it happened. And forget about my face -I am way self-conscious about too many *other* body parts. Despite what it sounds like, I AM actually gaining some self-confidence from this.

In the past, I've forgotten to put on makeup, or waited until after lunch to put on my face if I had a meeting, etc. That's why I didn't expect this to be a difficult week. WRONG! When did I start caring so much about what other people think of my appearance?? It's on my mind at every meeting I attend, and at every cashier I face. Hoping that'll fade by the week's end.

"CHEAT" REPORT: I still use sunscreen. I still allow myself chapstick (plain, untinted, non-makeupy kind). And...I used a spray-on fake tan.

Was that cheating? You tell me.
- "No! If you went fake baking instead, no one would call that makeup."
- "Yes! It affects the color of your face, so you shouldn't do it this week, you cheating cheater."

It’s about time I stopped covering up all of this hotness...

Surprisingly, I think my Week Without Alcohol was my easiest week yet! Moments of weakness: When my best friend begged me to go to a bar – on a weeknight, of all nights! She had two martinis. I had 3 ice waters. (The bartender gave me a couple bite-size Snickers, too!) I went to a friend’s Game Night on Friday, but since I had to be up & driving at 3:30am, I wasn’t very tempted to drink a beer. Again, water…and delicious squash bruschetta! The worst temptation was Saturday night after the Market to Market Relay. I was the team driver, and spent approx. 16 hours driving a 15 passenger van. Granted, it was WAY easier than actually running the race :) But I was very hot and tired and thirsty and ready to celebrate. No dice. I cleaned and returned the van, had a sandwich and some milk and went straight to bed. For 12 glorious hours. Ohhhh yeahhhh!

This week is a Week Without…Makeup. It’s about time I stopped covering up all of this hotness and let the world see the real me! (haha) I thought this would be an easy one for me, but I’ll admit it was a bit of a struggle this morning. My face is breaking out a little bit, and I worry about perceptions. Will my boss think I’m tired or that I just don’t care? Do I look like I was running late and didn’t have time to put on makeup?

Best case scenario: My skin will get a reprieve from my normal routine and I’ll wind up with a naturally glowing complexion. I guess this is a chance to try some fun homemade oatmeal scrubs or something?

Worst case scenario: I have to be on camera for something at work, which will be captured and preserved for future generations. Also, not too pumped about the possibility of Facebook photos this week…