Purging.

Now that the school year is done, I can kick back and... clean the entire apartment. I spent the majority of my 4th thoroughly cleaning our bathroom. Even though our apartment is by no means large, we have a disproportionately large bathroom, complete with several sets of plastic drawers that we've put in there for extra storage, plus our tiny washer  / dryer unit.

With the exception of one summer between the ages of 18 and 26, I have moved every. Single. Summer. And thankfully, we're not moving this summer, wahoo! But one of the things that always frustrates me about moving is that you scrub down your entire home... only to leave it. Our last landlord was a jerk and was always implying that he thought we were trashing the place (which we obviously weren't). To spite him (and to ensure getting our security deposit back), I scrubbed every inch of that apartment until it shone. But instead of feeling vindicated, I just felt sad because I was never going to experience the joy of restocking the immaculate refrigerator that I spent two hours cleaning.

So this summer, room by room, I'm going to change that! Starting with the bathroom. Essentially did "moving-caliber" cleaning where I pulled everything out from all the shelves, drawers, dusted and sanitized every surface, purged old products, reorganized, and did all the little things you never do (often enough), like take down the shower caddy and scrub it, scrub your lint filter with an old toothbrush, dust all the baseboards, etc etc. It was a thrilling 4th for me! Heh. Note sarcasm.

Now it's time to tackle... the closet. I have a huge problem with letting go of... everything. Clothing, things, people... eh. So I am quite proud to say that after a thorough combing of my closet, I have found five tops and four skirts to give to the Good Will. This is big. This is major. I'm also keeping two simultaneous lists: 1) things to have tailored, 2) new outfit ideas. Now to tackle the under-bed boxes and the dresser drawers and hopefully double my Good Will pile. Wish me luck!

Good Will gifts.

As my list of to-tailor garments grows, I get a bit worried. These three pieces, all for upcoming weddings, are currently being worked on:

And while I love them all and want them to fit properly, my bill came to a little over $100! Oy.

Might be time for me to whip out my needle and thread and take some risks. Or solicit a local fibers major... hmm.

I digress. May my dresses return to me soon and let the purging continue!