a confession

I'm known as a pretty organized person. Maybe even obsessively so. But this is the one area of my life that is never organized.

I'm somewhat of a compulsive shopper, and I have trouble getting rid of clothes. And shoes. And purses. I go through my closet several times a year, and every time we move, and I get rid of numerous bags of clothes. But my closet is still a floor to ceiling disaster area.

Whenever I "clean out" my closet, I try on everything, and if it fits and is in good condition, I keep it, and get rid of the rest. That sounds like a good plan, right? But the problem is, just because it fits, doesn't mean I've worn it in the last year. Or ever. The same goes for shoes and purses. Because really, you never know when you might need that reversible Esprit purse (purchased when I was in college) and those Steve Madden platform suede sandals (worn to my bachelorette party- eight years ago).

So this week I decided to tackle the task ruthlessly. I took the afternoon off from work, so there would be no toddler underfoot, and no husband pretending to watch said toddler while also playing the banjo.

I took EVERYTHING out of the closet, and tried to be brutally honest about what needed to be kept. There were far too many clothes that I'd been holding on to for years "just in case" I needed something to wear to a wedding, or a job interview, or a funeral. Or wherever it is vinyl pants get worn. Did you know I owned vinyl pants? I'm somebody's mother for God's sake. And I had far too many shoes that hardly ever get worn because, although they're super cute, they're viciously uncomfortable.

I also had numerous belts. Why? I don't think I've worn a belt since 1988 (and it would have been worn low on top of my over-sized shirt, not through my belt loops).

It was extremely painful getting rid of so many things that I hadn't worn much, or even at all. I do a lot of online shopping, and tend to keep things for the wrong reasons. Because it's such a pain to return items, I convince myself that I'll find a use for them at some point. So now I have to comfort myself with the thought that some lucky plus size girl shopping at Goodwill is going make out like a bandit.

After filling seven Hefty bags, I somehow still seem to have a lot of clothes, shoes and purses. But it's a much more organized selection (now with extra hangers). And now I have room for new stuff!