What Ana Does

I'm looking for some luck. After job hunting for weeks, I've been finding really interesting opportunities, but not getting a lot of responses to my inquiries. And I shouldn't take this as rejection. But I do. Not hearing back on things feels like rejections. And it's tough. I recently discovered this Feng Shui book I've had for many years, and I remembered how well it actually worked. It's really all about moving your stuff around your house, to unstick your chi and allow new opportunities and fortune to enter in. And I'm all about that. So I've identified that my "career" gua is our entryway and maybe a little of the garage. Both areas have been a disaster since we moved back in, so maybe it makes sense that my job hunt hasn't been so smooth. Little by little, I've been moving stuff in and out. And using tips, such as writing down the job I'm looking for ... so the universe knows what to bring me. (Isn't that calle...

Declutter My House My full-time job right now is getting the house squared away for us to be gone for two years. Mostly that means decluttering, donating, selling (AKA Craigslisting) and organizing. The 142 Picture Books I Donated to Bernie's Books!  When I get to the "Packing Step" of this move, I don't want to dig through the unusable detritus that lives in our house. Once it's gone, all the good stuff should be sorted together. For example, all the yoga mats not eaten up by Lando our dog should be in a tidy pile so I can pack them up together. Or the mystery and expired items under the bathroom cabinets. Or I'm only considering the books we LOVE to read. Because maybe, just maybe, we'll have a someone living/renting our house while we're away. Or maybe we'll list it on Airbnb, or something crazy like that. (Those plans are still being ironed out.) Which means all our personal junk needs to be sorted and stashed away. Decluttering a...

I snapped this picture just before I removed all the breakables to prepare for the carpet installation. I thought it looked kinda pretty, so thought I'd share.  Dining Room Wall

I'm starting a new thing! We all know Spring Cleaning. And we all know I'm programmed to do Spring Cleaning like a boss. But, I'm adding the Winter Declutter. Because when you've been stuck in your house for several months thanks to very cold weather you get sick of looking at things. Donation van is coming tomorrow. If I didn't use it/wear it in the last 12 months and won't likely need it in the future (that's tricky) ... of it goes!

Again we hosted Christmas with my family and again I was frustrated that we have a large space -- the basement -- that we couldn't/didn't really use. Sigh. In discussing plans to finish the basement, it became clear that we won't have the funds to do it in the next 6-8 months, at least. And maybe not at all this year. (It's a lot harder than you'd think to prioritize house projects/improvements.) But, I have to do something about it or this icky feeling of having a space in my house that I can't use will eat at me. So, I'm gathering my goals and figuring out some ways.  Goals Lego Land:  The girls use the basement as their Lego playroom. We've thrown Ikea tables and pieced together some rugs down there, along with some lights. I need to maintain that and maybe make it more comfortable. ( Note: the neighbors came by this weekend and moved a majority of legos back to their house, but I have a feeling they'll be back. )  The Home Gym:...

Last weekend, with great weather and a light schedule, gave us the perfect opportunity to get some house projects done. Hooks: I 'd been thinking about shuffling around the hooks in the house, to maximize organization and some storage issues that crop up during our busy weekday schedules. I just can't stand when we're not using this house to it's fullest potential.  So, despite all the new holes I put in my walls, think I created some more-usable spaces.  Sorting Station This area below the stairs held family photos and a large lamp. In the switch-around from several weeks ago, I decided it would make a good landing place for bags, backpacks and eventually the hats, mittens and scarves.  Here's this area now, with the addition of hooks and assigned storage.  After: Decluttered. With Hooks. Photos: The spot over the sofa in the parlor also needed some attention. In the hallway shown above, I had picture ledges that were gettin...

We didn't have the summer garage sale we had talked about this winter, but the fact remained: we need to move a bunch of stuff out of our house. Pronto! So, a donation van is heading over this week. We don't get the cash, but will get a nice tax deduction for the work. And free up more space. Usually I feel a little lighter after a purge. But, honestly, all I'm feeling is half-done. Like this is just the tip of the iceberg ... and I didn't commit the time to really dig deep into the darkest corners of the house to dump more stuff. Related posts: More about my quest to clean

There are several issues with the backyard and now that it's warm enough to get outside I can't ignore them anymore. It's now about prioritizing the issues and finding someone to help me with them.  First, the area around the raised beds need to be tackled. Mostly, a weed guard needs to be laid down and wood chips need to be filled in on top. Currently it's a bit of a wreck. Also, we all need to keep our fingers crossed that the hydrangea will come back under the dining room windows. Then, there are the steps to the back door. The bricks fell apart over the winter starting with just a few. Now, it's just about the whole step. The adhesive only works at temps above 60 and dry. And we haven't had a warm enough weekend to even contemplate the project. As of this weekend, the weather is starting to feel spring-like. So, maybe soon we can start those repairs.  Alice Models the Broken Stairs - And First Day in Shorts! What a mess! Off to find...

Hours after getting home from our relaxing winter break trip, I decided I absolutely needed a paint brush in my hand. I mean, it's been weeks since I painted any walls -- and I get a little crazy when I can't improve my surroundings. Don't you? Anyway, I looked at my laundry room and decided that it was a bite-sized project I could easily tackle in our last weekend of winter break. Before the Paint. And Look at Those Messy Shelves. The Horror.  So, first, I finished the aqua paint around the window. Next, we removed the collapsable drying rack -- why? Because it's collapsable and that's what it kept doing; Collapsing. Tres annoying. We found wall-mounted drying racks at the Container Store and installed those. Last, I shuffled, moved and ordered the supplies on all the shelves so they're better organized and used. There's nothing I hate more than good shelving going to waste. At the End of Day 1. Note the Collapsable Drying Rack. No! I w...

Anyone Want a Ride? For a long time I was so against decorative clutter. Maybe it was because I had a very small house and I insisted that everything be useful, but it seemed pointless to buy and display a porcelin statue or pretty candle holders. Decorations came from framed art and pictures -- on the wall where I had space. And maybe some pretty curtains. Heck, even my plants had purpose, aloe and herbs (though, always an African violet for Great-Grandma.) But every home decorating show, magazine and book will tell you that these knick-knacks add the finishing touch. Character! Style! Class! Big, White Vase So, lately, I've been hunting around for these little pieces of purposeless decorations. Mostly on One Kings Lane or Home Goods or Target. And with many rules. They have to be cheap (I'm not spending more than $20 on something that has no other purpose than to collect dust). They have to be unique or stlyish or really enticing. This clutter is supposed to com...

Here's the awful before picture of my entryway from the office. The main door to the house is on the right, the rest of the house is on the left. And it is just .... not good. Entryway -- What Happened Here?!  I've been pricing entryway furniture -- something with hooks, a shelf, a bench. Maybe some storage. A mirror would be nice. But, DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THAT STUFF IS?! I just can't justify spending hundreds of dollars on the foyer! Plus, I want to keep the profile thin -- so it doesn't jut too far out into this hallway and cut off running space. So, I have this CRAZY idea. Whatif Whatif Whatif I BUILT IN a piece of entryway furniture? Trim, beadboard, some hooks, pre-made shelves and bench? I'd get the style and sleek profile I want. And get to decide on color and overall look. Than reality check (!), I don't have carpentry tools or skills to undertake something that big! So, I did some shopping around IN MY OWN house for other options. ...

Before: Messy Hallway It wasn't what I planned earlier  for the upstairs hallway, but it came out pretty well.  This is the hallway, that connects the girls' rooms and the bathroom. It had to be green, because the carpeting on the stairs is green (with golden ivy; more on that in a later post). Once I painted the room green (Valspar "Grassy Meadow") it looked far smaller and my cabinet idea was tossed -- it would have complicated the space.  I had a shelving unit from the pervious owners of our last house -- it was stored in the basement. And I do like to reuse! It made me very nervous to drill the HUGE holes in the wall. Luckily, I'm generally reckless when it comes to home improvement so I got up the nerve and drilled away.  I'll need to style the shelving a bit better -- and I'd like to add another shelf to the mix ($14 at Loews) -- but it's a start. That framed map has been in almost every room in the house, so hopefully it has f...

This is the first time since early childhood that I have a laundry room that isn't just part of the basement. So, we're excited to put this room to good use. It's also part mudroom, so what you're not seeing are all the hooks and shoes stashed neatly (for now) by the door. We spent some time this week cleaning it up and working on some organizing. Of course, painting the walls will be phase 2. I'm thinking a sunny blue to match the pretty curtains. And notice the Flor carpet tiles that we brought from the old house. These were in our basement and created a path to our washer/dyer. We arranged them into a checkerboard here. Love how easy they are to reuse. Laundry Room Gets Some Cleaning Up

In my rush to declutter I filled a bin with DVD movies that we weren't likely to watch again and brought them up to camp in Western Mass. A few weeks later, I dropped off another pile of movies to resell in Hoboken. Days later I got a call from the place and was told most of the cases were empty. Crud! Further inspection lead me to a folder full of discs we brought to Europe last year. Empty cases everywhere! I was able to populate the empty cases for resale but I still have a stack of camp-friendly discs that need to be reunited with their cases. In the meantime, the brown paper bag I have them stored in reminds me of the bag the kid in Parenthood (the movie, not the tv show) stored his porn. And it makes me laugh just looking at it. Long story, short: It looks like I have a bag of porn. (I swear movies like The Goonies and Spaceballs are within.) Related posts: More about my quest to cook