Day 17 - Christmas Themed Picture Frame

It is sad, but I believe there already Christmas advertising that was happening in a local mall somewhere last month! The television reporter asked how the girl felt about shopping for Christmas in July and the young twenty-something year old exclaimed how wonderful it was since "you can never get too early of a start on Christmas shopping"! I don't know why exactly, but I was rather shocked by her remarks. I am hoping she was paid for her enthusiasm because everyone that I know has downshifted when it comes to Christmas spending, which means less time in a mall. Maybe I am just projecting here though. In my efforts to strive for simplicity, I went through my box of Christmas decorations and got rid of any superfluous items. I have a small 4 ft. Christmas tree and a couple of stockings. I don't need items to decorate the entire house, nor do I decorate for any other holiday. Having pictures in holiday frames isn't necessary for me which is rather evident since this has never been used!

Day 16 - Travel Pillow

I love to travel, but most of the time I absolutely loath the process of traveling from point A to point B. Maybe it is because we are loaded into airplanes like cattle. There was once a time when flying was a big deal! Men & women would dress in their finest clothing, have matching luggage sets and being a stewardess was a coveted job! Sadly I wasn't born yet to experience that sort of luxury. Now I just schlep though the airport in jeans and pray I won't be seated next to a screaming baby or the chatty heavy smoker/coffee drinker who ran out of breath mints. I am a carry-on only kind of girl and have been that way for quite sometime. I went to Europe about 12 years ago and immersed myself in the carry-on gospel preached by Rick Steves. Fortunately I converted before they started charging for checking your baggage!

It came to my attention a few months ago that I had quite a few travel pillows for just myself! I had FIVE to be exact! I guess I have just hid them well in various places. I have already gotten rid of three. This one makes four, although I haven't decided if I like the one pictured (which is full of cushy micro beads) or a small traditional type of pillow. One of them is going though and I am leaning towards this one. I do have a dilemma because both of these are bigger than what I would want to take in my carry-on. These are more for car traveling. Ideally I would like a super packable travel pillow that will knock my socks off in both comfort and portability. Anyone know of one??? Please leave a comment if you do. In the meantime, I guess I should be brainstorming how to fit my chiropractor in my carry-on!

Day 15 - Necklace

In one of my previous posts, I had discussed the easiness of getting rid of things that had negative emotions attached to it. Fine jewelry is a bit tricky to deal with though! There is usually a small voice in the back of my head saying that it is REAL white gold and those are TRUE diamonds on it... it must be worth quite a bit! In reality, jewelry store markup is outrageous and yet I would guess that 99% of people that shop in those places are shopping on emotion, not the better judgement we use day to day for our other decisions.

At the time, this was a thoughtful gift from a relative, although I never wore it. I am not big on fine jewelry and to me there is something a bit stressful about wearing something pricey on my clumsy self! Earrings and rings seem to do alright, but not dangly things with lots of slack! More recently though, my relationship with that relative has turned quite ugly. It is saddening that this happens, but I value my sanity and happiness. I also know that this person uses guilt and gifts as a bargaining tool. I got tired of hearing how I was supposed to be doing work to help her out because she had bought me all these things (none of which I had asked for). Not having this negative reminder around will clear up some mental space for happier things. I hope this necklace brings someone else some joy and happiness though!

Simplicity in Promotion

Today I was a vendor at a health fair for a local company. I have manned many health fair tables on behalf of other companies, but this was my first time doing it for myself! Most vendors usually devote all their table surface area to brochures, other literature and giveaway items. My table setup was quite simple and yet I got complimented for that! Rather than set out a bunch of different kinds of paper, I had only one handout. The rest of the information I wanted to convey was displayed on a monitor that was showing a continual slideshow presentation. On the other side of the table was a small basket of business cards and a fake flower arrangement. People seemed to be more engaged with me rather than trying to talk and look at what to pick out on the table to stuff in their giveaway bags. Yay for simplicity!

(The picture isn't the best since it was taken with my phone's camera, but you get the point.)

Day 14 - Signed Book

A few years ago, I stumbled upon the art of SHAG. I love his art because of the bright colors and fun depictions. I set out buying stuff like a few of his books, stationary and t-shirts. What I really wanted was one of his works though! I figured out that owning these little things are not quite the same. I have kept one book which shows all of his work which is fun to look through, but the rest is gone. This was a book that had great little cocktail drinks and snack recipes which I copied to my recipe book. Someday I plan to own one of his pieces, until then I don't need to spend lots of money on the little stuff which isn't what I truly wanted!

Day 13 - Pants for Martial Arts

I have always been a creature of curiosity. Trying new things that are out of my immediate comfort zone is something I strive for. Sometimes these opportunities practically fall at my feet! One day I was searching through the phone book to find a place where I could take some Tae Kwon Do lessons. Price was a big concern at the time. I phoned one dojo and they told me to come in for the first few lessons to see if I liked it. Once the owner met me, he made a surprising offer: I could take my classes for free if I helped out with the little kids class! They also didn't require me to buy a full TKD gi, so I bought these pants that were made of heavy duck cloth for the classes.





Those classes happened years ago and I definitely have fun memories of that time in my life! I don't really have much desire to do martial arts again though. The bruises and swelling were cool badges at one time, now I would probably have people asking me if my boyfriend beats on me. I will always be able to say that I gave a lady a roundhouse kick to the head! (That should really be on more bucket lists!)

Day 12 - Charms

Back in the mid-80's, my parents had some odd jobs at a large outdoor flea market. I remember them bringing home random things like a slide guitar, chess set and lots of cheap plastic stuff from China for me! I loved the bright belts, hair clips and page after page of stickers! The charms in the picture were one of the things they used to get for me. I think I might have brought these back after my last visit with my relatives in California. I still have childhood stuff that hasn't been completely dealt with out there and so I took a few things from their storage unit. I didn't have any real idea what I wanted with the charms, but I took what I could carry on the plane. I don't like the feeling of other people having to hold my stuff for me until I am situated to take it, but it is what it is right now. I noticed that these little charms are very popular on eBay right now and so I listed them for sale.