A Simple Nest

This entry is for me.  A sort of exercise if you will.  No pictures, lots of words, a bit journal like....a bit of a deviation...

"A Simple Nest"...this is the title of my old blog and (still empty) Etsy store.  The simplest I've ever lived was when Jake and I moved to New York for just one summer during his internship.  We just brought one suitcase each.  Everything else was stored away.  It was refreshing to have less!  It made me HAPPIER to have LESS!!!  There were things I missed of course: a car to drive is sure nice, and real dishes to cook with and eat on are far superior than reusing disposables over and over.  But for the most part it was liberating to have just the essentials.  I didn't have as much to keep track of, to clutter our apartment, or to clean.  When I got home I immmediately threw out almost all the other makeup that was waiting for me in utah.  Got rid of all my never worn jewelry and kept just 3 necklaces and a hand full of earrings.  I'm not completely reprogramed into less is more mentality.  It's hard to be when everyone and everything have taught me and are telling me that more is more.  But I'm trying.  Here's some of the changes I've recently made:

-Paring down the cleaning supplies.  So much can be cleaned with just vinegar and/or baking soda.  It's better for the environment...and my family too.  Here is a good guide to green cleaning.
-Cooking with raw ingredients more, and less processed food.  This is not an overnight process, so I've still got a lot to learn.
-Limiting my wardrobe.  I recently saw an organizing tip online on storing your drawer full of tank tops with the pile on it's side so you could see all of them and find them easier.  While this is an awesome tip...I thought...Who really needs a whole drawer of the item that goes UNDER the rest?  I stick with one white, one black, a navy blue, a red, and maybe a couple colorful ones.  Pants?  For me a pair of skinny's a pair of flares, a couple leggings and a couple slacks take up less than one square foot in my closet.  I love it.
-Getting rid of and/or not buy new books....EVEN if they are nice books.  If I want to get a new book I stop myself and think...can I get this from the library or find the same info on the internet?  Will I need this book in my collection still after it is read?
-Letting gifts go.  It's hard for me to get rid of something I was given.  I feel sort of guilty.  But I've realized that whoever gave it to me would not want me to hang on to something that was not making me happy.  I still appreciate the gift, but if someone else will enjoy and use it more than me than that is better for everyone.  There are much better ways to be sentimental than saving crap because someone special gave it to you.  I keep some things for no other reason than sentiment, but it has to fit in a keepsake box...not a garage.
-Stopped my old blog.  My old blog was really easy to use.  I loved typepad....EXCEPT that I was paying a small monthly FEE for it!  AAAAAnd....I felt guilty when I wasn't blogging.  And it took up too much time to blog often enough to not feel guilty.  I like it when I know someone is reading my blog, but I have stopped blogging for other people.  It's officially only for me and if others read it that also makes me very happy.  (comment and make me happy!).  But I will never again feel guilty for not being a better blogger.  It's just for fun after all right?

So I'm probly gonna use the name "A Simple Nest" for this blog.  Not because that's what it's about, but because that's what I'M (trying to be) about, and this blog....well...it's about ME!

Small Notebook is the best ever blog for living simple.  Read it if you can.  Not just the new posts...go back and read the old ones.  So good.