The Secret Gift of Moving (if you do it right!)

I live in a house. I have rooms for storage. Soon I will live in an apartment. I will have rooms for living in. I like clothing and I might be an acute hoarder. Can you guess my problem?

I have way too much stuff!

No, but seriously I have a lot of stuff. Jeans, makeup, books, old school work, craft crap, scarves, sweatshirts, weird shadow box figurines...like I have been collecting my stuff since I was a baby. Don't get me wrong I have given away my fair share of clothing throughout the years and I throw away mascara when it's too dry, but moving from a  house to an apartment is different. I have to get rid of clothing that I would have never gotten rid of if I kept on living in a house, but we just won't have the space to house my collection. Aside from the fact that it is kind of hard to give away clothing I want but down have room for, it feels good as hell to slough off my junk and realize I didn't need any of it to begin with.

I have probably donated half my wardrobe, something like 15 bags worth, and it is a little like uncovering the you, you really want to be. Like instead of having 5 black tees, I only kept the one black tee I always wear that makes me look good. Or instead of keeping 10 colorful/floral/print dresses, I picked the three that scream Rachael. You have to be honest with yourself about what you know you will wear over and over and what you bought because it was on sale, trendy, will fit next month etc. And keep in mind there will be opportunities down the road to buy clothing should you need to...umm hello Larimer Square, 16th Street Mall, Denver Boutique shopping yes please!

Moving is an opportunity to recreate your life.

We are building a new life in Denver and along with that comes the chance for a bit of reinvention. I have always wanted to have a well put together living space, decorated purposefully with beautiful items that showcase all that you hold dear and your panache for interior design. ;) With my house I never really bothered. I don't know if it was the fact that I was overwhelmed by the amount of space I would need to decorate or the fact that all my furniture was hand me down and it just wouldn't look cool no matter how I tried to swing it. So Denver is my chance to show Joe and the world how I can put together a room and make it look cool, mostly with stuff we already own. But first I have to donate/throw out all the weird tchotskis that don't fit in with the aesthetic I am going for. Clutter is never pretty!

Moral of this story is you can do more with a whole lot less. It is going to feel amazing to be in our new digs without all of our old crap bogging us down.

Post Script: Best fun finds to date...the great pair of Paige skinny jeans I found in a laundry basket of old jeans and my acceptance letter to Hathaway Brown from like 1997 (gave me a good reminiscent laugh.)