The Joys of Moving House!

So blog posts have been lacking and it’s due to a house move. What.a.nightmare. I’m no stranger to moving as in my lifetime I calculated this to be my 13th move. That’s quite a lot. I have a real envy of friends who only ever lived in one house and still go back to the same house to see their parents. I mean that never would have been me as mine separated when I was 17 but still I think it must be really lovely. All those memories in one home.

This move has been extra tricky as I’m moving in with my boyfriend you see and he already has a house full of furniture and things. I too have a house full of the same. I also have a hell of a lot of dance kit for my dance school that all needs to be housed. So my lovely other half has boarded out all his loft ready for me to relocate my dance stuff. He’s so pleased with his new found space he keeps saying things like ‘I might put my weights bench up here’, or ‘chill out up here’ I’m like seriously?! He has no idea… I tried telling him but I’m sure when 1000+ costumes descend on his home he will not be ‘chilling’ or ‘working out’ in his loft. Just to give you an idea here’s a shot of one side of my loft currently…

It’s been hard work getting rid of everything. Honestly the charity shop must love me! I’m taking a few bits of furniture with me and obviously personal possessions but otherwise I’ve been selling things left right and centre. That in itself is a pain. I had a women turn up with a fiesta to collect a three door wardrobe… it gets worse… with her child in the car and a boot full of shopping. Palm to face.

Then there was the epic moving of my beloved lizard Eugene today. My bearded dragon friend who I have had for eight years has moved once with me. He didn’t like it, his beard was black for a week! (For those who don’t know they go black when stressed) with the vivarium loaded in my dads van I popped Eugene in my car and set off. Now he can’t get too cold so I lovingly strapped him in the passenger seat next to me and put on the heated seat, ha ha! I was hoping it would be a quick journey but typically I was caught behind a tractor, two learner drivers and a road was closed. Still we made before he was cold and his beard was not black… result!

Moving house would not be so bad if everything else stopped whilst you did it. But that’s not the case for me. It’s been a busy week with my dance school doing awards too. I’ve not had a minute. I’m actually fuming that I’ve not had a bath in two weeks (don’t worry I’ve showered ha ha!) what I mean is a soak in the tub with bubbles, I’m missing it.

I am lucky in the fact that I currently rent so I have been able to move my stuff bit by bit. I dread to think what it would be like all done in one day! I’ve been in my house seven years so I have kind of forgotten. I am hoping to be all moved in by a week Friday. Between now and then though here’s what’s on the agenda… lunch with a friend, more furniture collections, cheerleading classes, a dance party, the big loft sort, two Halloween fun days with my dance school and 25 pumpkins to carve – BUSY!

Wish me luck guys! I think I’m gonna need it!! Here I am looking frazzled, tired, with greasy hair, no make up and my fellas hoodie… so glamorous!

I will back with more blog posts after the big move… once I’ve been to the spa to rejuvenate myself of course.

Rachael 🙂 x

Mindful Buying…

Following on from a recent blog post where I mention I’ve been looking into minimalism I decided to tackle a clear out of all things beauty. This included clearing bathroom cabinets, draws and my dressing table. I’m not particularly a beauty junkie but I was actually shocked at how much I unused products I had.

I can’t blame myself for all of them though. You get bought things from time to time that you would just feel ungrateful if you immediately got rid of. You put them into a draw knowing full well you will never use them. STOP. You know what would be better than this… taking them unopened to the charity shop or giving them to a friend.

Also among the discarded was facial products, sun cream (erm when did I buy this?!) hair bobbles (I could have put my hair up in a different bobble for a year!) shampoo and conditioner (tried once and discarded as it didn’t suit my hair) body products (just not a smell I enjoy!) and make up. Loads of make – up! Now when it comes to make up I’m a simple girl. I have an active job so having a face full of it is not on my agenda so why I have bought such items as a contouring kit I will never know! (The one time I used it I looked like a panda).

I shop when I think I deserve a treat. We’ve all been there… when you feel you’ve worked non stop and you just want to get out and buy yourself something. This is the most dangerous type of shopping. This is when you buy things you DON’T need and probably won’t use. So as I stared into the pile of discared things bought mostly on such shopping trips I silently scolded myself.

I decided if it didn’t fit in the dressing table draws or one set of wicker draws it had to go. It was not an easy task as some of the stuff was expensive. Now I know what your thinking… you should have given it away. Slight problem… most the items had that little symbol on the back saying 6 months or 12 months. Now I think these labels are somewhat overlooked (don’t shout at me! I’m no beauty expert, I just use things till they are gone!) but I’m not about to start asking friends ‘hey do you want this eye shadow pallet I think I bought it in 2012… it’s never been used though so should be ok!’

The point here is definitely excessive buying but also not regularly organising my things. I vowed to start buying more mindfully. But what does this even mean? For me I decided it means when I pick up a product I ask myself these 3 questions…

1. Do I need this?

2. Do I love this?

3. Will I use it/wear it more than once?

It’s okay to buy things you don’t need if you really love them. But I concluded it’s not so great if you won’t get good use out of the item. So this is the start of my more mindful buying. I will let you know how it goes ha ha!

When did you last have a clear out? Do you buy mindfully? I must admit there is something therapeutic about clearing stuff out and everything being tidy. Maybe there is some truth in the saying ‘tidy house, tidy mind’.

Rachael x

I am not a hoarder…

There is nothing quite like an impending house move to make you look at how much stuff you actually own. I tell myself I am not hoarder… but is this true? I’m not so sure…

I have a house full of stuff like most people but how much of it do I actually use? I do regularly donate things to charity, throw things away but still I am coming to realise that I have way too many things. About a year ago I bought Marie Kondos book ‘The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying’. This promised to provide an effective way to banish clutter forever. After reading it I did have a major declutter but perhaps didn’t fully commit to her methods as the clutter slowly came back. It’s too much to explain her methods here but I would definitely recommend this book if your looking to get fired up about tidying.

I am not a naturally tidy person… clean but not tidy. My boyfriend actually calls me the whirlwind!! You see I start a task, get distracted with something else and then look at the clock and realise I have to leave to be somewhere!! Leaving a mess… or doing some kind of crazed tidying that’s really just stuffing things away. But what if actually didn’t have so much stuff in the first place?! Then I couldn’t make so much mess right?! You see where I’m going with this…

I am hearing the word minimalism more and more these days so decided to look into this a bit. Now why I’m not about to downsize so I could fit my worldly possessions into a backpack a lot of the information I read about minimalism is really resonating with me. Sometimes I feel I’m drowning in stuff and it’s exhausting. Do I really need 10 sets of pyjamas? 7 different shampoos on the go? 3 different potato mashers?! (Okay so maybe that’s because I can’t seem to make mash that’s not lumpy so I kept buying them!) but you get my jist.

So guys I am about to embark on a major decluttering journey… I don’t think it will be easy but it should be worth it. You know what they say…tidy house, tidy mind. Let’s see if it’s true. I will share some blog posts with you as I go along…. hopefully that will keep me motivated too. If you’ve got any tips about decluttering or minimalism feel free to share.

Rachael 🙂 x