Now that I am FINALLY getting settled into my new life in a tinier space in a much bigger city, I find that one must change every part of their daily life from what they knew out in the sprawling suburban spread. It is challenging and often times frustrating, but I am finding it to be rather freeing. Let me explain.
Our apartment is "cozy" which is a real estate term for small. Luckily, our space really is cozy as we have made it that way by filling it with bits and pieces of who and what we are as a family. Many things are in storage as they could not possibly fit here--some of our larger pieces just wouldn't make it through the front door. The pieces that I did bring with me, feel huge and overpowering almost compared to how lost they were in our home. A friend of mine came into the city to visit over the weekend and kept asking, "Where did you have that piece?" or "Are those chairs new?". You walked by it every time you entered my front door and no. So many things went unnoticed in my home because, well, there were so many things. Not any more. Cleaning, purging, selling off stuff--it felt so liberating. A lot of work but well worth it in the end. Even now, as I continue to unpack boxes, some things are just staying right where they are in those boxes so Goodwill can pick them up this week.
Living in the city as I do necessitates being economical in every action you take. Grocery shopping--if it is last minute on my way home late in the day I can only purchase as much as I can carry. For "big" loads I pull my little "bubby basket" behind me--you know, those baskets on 2 wheels that grandmas all over the world pull behind them to do their marketing. I have gladly joined their ranks. If I can get enough for 3 meals I consider it a good trip. And I really can't overbuy. Storage is practically non-existent so you make sure you have just enough. Finally, brains are no longer growing in our vegetable drawer!! It's awesome.
Last, I find that I, not being the neatest person in the world but not a slob, pick up after myself all day long. With counter or closet space at a premium, you can't leave things thrown all over the place. My closet looks like a display in a Gap store with everything hung in the same direction and sweaters folded just right to make more space. It's feels crazy for me, especially if you saw my previous closet. I used the one year rule and had to extend it to two with all the crap I had in my closet and I am now down to only those articles of clothing that I absolutely love putting on. OK-yes, that I know is going to change as all the fall collections make their way to the stores. All my purging however will pay off as I get to economically (or not) fill some of my unused space.
Move over honey, your shirts are on my side.
You either love or hate Oprah...there seems to be no middle ground when the topic turns to her empire. Perhaps, it's just someone having that much power in the media turns people off yet they can embrace her message and pick out what they want to keep from all things that she "knows for sure". I can't lie, I look forward to getting my monthly magazine subscription delivered to my door--sort of a gift I give myself to sit with and pick apart over a glass of wine. It isn't Oprah so much that I enjoy, but the fact that she has surrounded herself with some very wise and interesting individuals who contribute or edit her magazine making for some very insightful reading. This month's issue really packed a wallop. 
I have come to realize that my thirst for knowledge is endless. I am not parched for lofty, complicated, large scale information like say, the theory of relativity. That would leave me cross eyed and frustrated (by my inability to understand it!). The knowledge that I seek is on a smaller scale; the books on my bedside table are more often than not non-fiction, speaking to a topic that has caught my attention and I want to know more about it. Lately, it has been the perfume industry, neuroscience and memory or the business of luxury and how it is evolving into something other than what it has been and why the evolution. Travel essays that take me to places I haven't been are another source of education for me--either I hope to get there or know I might not but have spent some time in a place seeing it through someone else's eyes. 
Now that I am FINALLY getting settled into my new life in a tinier space in a much bigger city, I find that one must change every part of their daily life from what they knew out in the sprawling suburban spread. It is challenging and often times frustrating, but I am finding it to be rather freeing. Let me explain.
