In elevator
With phlebotomist, eyeing
Her blue box of sharps.

The Oasis From the Mess

This is my room! It's not messy, but it is especially small so it looks AGES to figure out a system that would keep it organized. I like it!

How to Survive a Messy House, Part 2

Breakfast Nook

As you can see, there is a microwave in the corner. The rest of the nook is pretty much unrecognizable. The best way to tackle something like this is to just dig in. If you're looking for something, just dig in and push things aside until you've found it. Or not.

How to Survive a Messy House Part 1

Hallway
Yes, believe it or not, this is the fairly clean part of the upstairs hallway. Now to be honest, a lot of that stuff is my brothers, things he brought back from uni that no longer fits in his room, or his apartment. But it is indicative of how the rest of the upstairs hallway is. (Downstairs is okay.) The hallway between our rooms is also lined with piles of stuff, but it tends to fall over.

When walking or running through a messy hallway, run on the balls of your feet. This ensures that even if you encounter a new obstacle, you can jump quickly to a clear spot of carpet. If you're going slowly, you may be able to pick your way through the mess. At night you can either shuffle your feet slowly so you feel your way to clear areas, or you can try to remember exactly where the obstacles lie and skip over it.

Family Room
Well...well. This room sextuples as the family computer room, bedroom, "sewing room", tv room, and laundry room. All meant in good spirits, as we don't have any other place to do these things. (Except for the bedroom bit.) Note the laundry piled everywhere and the "sewing table" which is really just a table with some thread and more crap piled onto it. Where is the sewing machine? I have no idea.
Many HGTV shows advocate creating "zones" for each room. However, this is an EPIC FAIL. There are no zones so much as piles of crap, not organized to their content. In one pile is scrap paper, plastic bags, some wrappers, clothes, books, and pillows.

The best way to treat this room is as a toxic waste site. Avoid it at all costs! The very first thing I purchased when I started working was a laptop so I wouldn't have to come in here anymore. I get a basket and collect my laundry from here ASAP to fold and put away in my room. Should you require use of the ironing board/steamer/vacuum/etc, take them out of the room and use them elsewhere. If you need to go to the windows, make a beeline for them and try not to look at your surroundings. Use the curtain to create a physical barrier between yourself and the room. If you absolutely must stay in the room for extended periods of time, clean up the area around you.

Pantry
I once cleaned the pantry, organizing it first by type, then size. Years later this is still a huge boon, because it means that my search for non-perishable food is streamlined. Use the same on-the-balls-of-your-feet technique to pick your way through.

One of a Kind Spring '09

OOAK: Yea, that's my stash. I've been saving up for ages to go to this show, and I'm so glad I did. If Zanisha hadn't come with me I'd probably still be in hibernation. We went on Wednesday, then I went back on Saturday. I thought about each purchase long and hard, because I am indecisive like that, but in the end I'm happy with what I did and did not buy. I took that picture in the hopes that I could win free tickets for OOAK Winter '09. Yea, I got a skirt. It is THE most fabulous skirt I have ever owned- from Morena, my very first designer garment. It's really fun to spin in because it's not your average circle skirt, (although I have nothing against circle skirts!) it's cut like a kite skirt but really cool. If I could clothe myself out of the stuff at OOAK I would be the most stylish person ever. Also, either really poor or really rich.

My cool waist belt and wrist cuff, (dupioni silk!) are from Viola Blanca. Her designs are different, but the defining factor is really the quality of the silk and construction. If I could have, I would have gotten a whole pile of other stuff. God, I want some silk...my Tita Luth said in September or something that she would totally be behind me if I decided to go to Thailand just for silk. Theoretically of course because that would be stupid. But oh, my, god.

Red fine mesh earrings from Flying Frog Designs. They are my first red jewelry ever, and possibly my first red clothing/etc ever. I used to hate red, and I still think I look weird in red, but those earrings really pop.

Fancy hair and night-out makeup by me! Well, not really. I knew at the most, only half my face would be in it so I really just rushed and painted on some lipstick. The hair was easy because my perm is still in, (I know, right!?) so I just did a messy bun and stuck some hair sticks in there because I couldn't be bothered with bobby pins.

I got these really awesome prints on Saturday because on Wednesday I coveted them but had to think about it. I've been thinking about getting some art on my walls. I mean, I've got some cool stuff up there and it's positioned well, but I'd like some art of my own. Art? $$$$$$!!! Prints? $$$$! Art cards? $! So I got two art cards from Alicia Wishart, a polar bear and a tree frog, and I wanted the zebra but it wasn't there anymore so she said she would mail it to me. I love her style, it's so graphic.

The wristlet is from this new place, House of Hsueh. I feel like such a whitey, but that's korean right? She's really cool, she didn't mind that I sat there for like, ten minutes staring at these two different fabrics deliberating. That one in particular is the double circle wristlet. She's got smaller and bigger wristlets/bags, and some cute mod headbands too!

Oh, and the rest of the outfit? Oh boy, sleeveless top with those strings on the side that are like a drawstring but not really is from Jacob Jr, years and years ago. I'm sucking in my tummy for the picture because even though I still fit into that top, I fit into it but look like a donut. Rainbow "friendship" bracelet from Out on the Street, (I get one every year at Pride to mark my coming out, but I might not this year.) The other bracelet I'm wearing that that BUTT UGLY Medic Alert. Wedge sneakers from some place in the states, and for some reason I always think that they're purple when I know they're brown with flowers.

I loved Lux and Luster but dude, I haven't been saving for THAT long. I saw quite a few puffed cuffs on jacket sleeves, (only 3/4 sleeves, because let's be honest, a full length sleeve with a puffed cuff? Gross!) and loved them all. I've got a lot of spring jackets though, and 3/4 sleeve jackets aren't practical in Canada.

Okay, I'm tired. All this pretending to be so un-trendy that I'm trendy is making me sleepy.