Spring Cleaning, Part One: Swaps!

Time to watch an episode or two of Hoarders for motivation, roll up my sleeves and clean house.



This month, I'm starting with my closets. I'd like to refresh my wardrobe but I don't have the money to fling at every cute outfit I see when I window shop -- and frankly, I've got way too many items that I never wear.

My solution? Swaps! Who knew that you could swap your clean, gently used/not broken stuff -- including housewares and whatnot -- all over Gotham for free? (I didn't!) 

Here's a short list to get you started.

• Stop 'N Swap! Sponsored by grownyc.com, you can show up with that blender you never use -- or come empty-handed and take whatever you need.  (Sounds like hippies to me...!)
• Fashion Swap and Meet is wunderbar -- their last swap featured fashion bloggers.
• Although meetup.com features over a dozen swaps in the New York area (including one for single parents with small kids), Five Boroughs Clothing Swap looks promising. It's members only -- hopefully with others who are as thrifty and fashion-conscious as you are -- it happens six times a year and it's free.
• There's lots of shops that swap, like Thrift Disco and The Frock Shop...
• ...and yep, you can do this online via Swapdom, Swap! and Thread Up.

My solution? A few times a year, there's an extremely private swap amongst maybe a dozen friends that involves a lavish meal, lots of wine and clothes galore.  Whatever gets picked over is donated to a great cause, like a women's shelter.  (My favorite donation spot: The Bottomless Closet.)  And because I know which girlfriend has that pencil skirt I used to love, I can always get it back if I miss it too much.  That's the beauty of swapping with a closed circle of friends: we're all up in some small part of each other's closets.

There's also another seasonal swap amongst friends -- a tea party! with cocktails! and delicious tea cakes and whatnot! wheeeee! -- that's strictly vintage.  All this with regular donations to the Salvation Army means that my closets are actually in pretty good shape these days. And here's a happy bonus: losing this pesky winter weight means that I get to wear all the clothes in my closet, not just the stuff that fits me this week. 

Next month: Zen and The Art of Clearing My Junk Room...!

Spring Bucket List 2014 -- The Harlem Edition

I like bucket lists but I don't see any that accommodate me: a dazzling urbanite that's highly creative and still curious enough hope for the kind of fun that I can only have in New York City -- and yes, preferably Harlem.  Even though this place feels like an elegant gentrified corpse most of the time, there is a heart that still beats somewhere in these mean streets.  In a way it doesn't matter because I know how to make my own fun.  On the other hand, it matters a lot because this is New York City -- the one place in the world where I shouldn't have to work this hard to find things that are unique to this city.

Here's what I'll be up to this spring.

1. The Clean Program -- because nothing recalibrates me from the inside out like this does.
2. Africa Now! Festival, April 2 - 6
3. The FREE 30-Day Yoga Challenge
4. Keith Faison Presents An Easter Show, April 19th at The Apollo Theater
5. The Annual Easter Parade of Hats, April 20
6. La Casa Day Spa Detoxification Package
7. Harlem Jazz Shrines, May 4 - 10
8. Radiant Light: Stained Glass from Canterbury Cathedral at The Cloisters, February 25 - May 18
9. Gauguin: Metamorphoses, March 8 - June 8
10. Carrie Mae Weems: The Museum Series, January 30 - June 29

May Cake

Nothing is going on and everything is going on.  It's all up in the air and it's all down on the ground and it's everything or nothing and nothing is going on. The sun shines so brightly these days -- with a blue sky brilliance that makes me feels so alive. And then I run outside and it's effing freezing and I'm walking home shivering like a small poodle and I'm thinking, what is the what.

The engine is revving forward and all systems are go and something in me is on pause. 

Spring cleaning abounds.  This seasonal winter weight gain is melting off me like I'm a snowman on the beach. I'm editing my closets very carefully. And thanks to that wacky tv show Hoarders,  I can't stop decluttering and throwing things away.  Needless to say, rewrites abound.  And of course, having a sinus infection and temporary laryngitis is pretty much the icing on my many-layered May cake.

The NaBloPoMo theme for May is Comfort -- whatever that means.  At the moment, I'm finding a lot of comfort in my ukulele.  I really don't know how to play it but its so simple, I can play it, if you know what I mean -- and every time I get a new chord right, it feels like I won the Lotto.

Okay, back to my closets and my rewrites. Just in case you're interested, here's what I'm working on with that uke: Ten Arpeggio Excercises!

Spring is here but not really...

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn."  -- Hal Borland

while spring drags its feet to get here, i'm doing a lot of deep cleaning to my body, this apartment and the rest of my life.  it was instinctual, like a weird reflex. disappearing into the clutter and disarray that constantly threatens to engulf me means losing myself in a whirlwind of memories more often than i care to admit.  sometimes they're not so pleasant.  forgiveness is essential.  so are boundaries.

the other day, i had an epiphany that full-on stopped me and left me floating in midair for what seemed like an eternity: i love myself, i have someone to love and i am doing something -- a lot of things, actually -- that i love. here's the kicker: i'm doing all of this in new york city. my life is nothing short of miraculous. i'm grateful to God for every moment i get to live it.

i don't know how i got here. there were certainly moments when i didn't think i'd ever get this far. and God only knows where any of this will take me. yes, i'm still perfectly capable of getting in my own way but the mistakes i make have a strange way of paying off in the long run. thank God.

so here's to spring, how ever it comes -- spring cleaning, spring makeovers, springing forward instead of falling backward, spring fever. there's something cathartic about these unexpected snowstorms that that have been happening so frequently this year. i step onto the midst of it as it's happening and everything is so fresh and new and deathly still. there's a purity to all that whiteness everywhere. it's like the world is trying to make it all gleam one last time. the garbage magically disappears and everything feels new. all at once, i have a strange, solitary feeling and yet, i feel so much a part of every single snowflake there is. 

and then there are yellow patches in the snow and the garbage begins to reek because no one is collecting it and cars start getting unstuck violently and the snow gets super dirty. and i wonder why i wanted it to snow in the first place.  ah, the neverending love and the unquenchable hate of new york city.

well. something is coming down the pike. i wonder what it is.  or as my great-grandmother's favorite gospel song goes, 'i believe i'll run on and see what the end is gonna be..."

spring cleaning

i'm doing a lot of deep cleaning at home so shifting gears and doing the clean program seems like a natural progression.  today is day 2 of 21 days of eating clean.

the truth is, i've been pretty sedentary lately.  i do my five miles a day, thanks to my fitbit but apparently that's not enough to keep my body from turning into a chunk of solid lard. unbelievable but true: i can't remember the last time i even tried to hit a speed bag. and thanks to all that cheese i ate when i was on the road, my cholesterol is through the roof. 

i've done the clean program several times, without the shakes and pills. the first time was extremely difficult but now, not so much -- probably because i've incorporated a lot of its principles into my diet.  don't get me wrong. i fall off from time to time but the foundation is strong and thankfully its getting stronger all the time.  it's nice to pause, turn around and realize that i've grown and changed and i'm still changing for the better.

if we eat and live like our grandparents and great-grandparents -- fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats/game, plenty of water, fresh air and exercise with no fast foods, processed foods, junk foods or sodas whatsoever -- we'll be just fine.