I have a subscription/recurring charge purge on my list. Look at PayPal, credit card activity, Substack, and Amazon Prime and cancel any paid items. I’m also going to cancel our wine club memberships—we live in wine country and we have 4–they are great because we can take guests to free tastings, but our wine rack is full and we are cutting back on alcohol so it makes sense to pause it all and then maybe sign up for some different wineries in the spring when people start visiting again.
I am considering this a sign from the universe to go do the thing: I have been procrastinating a closet reset all morning, and now it’s noon here. Time to pull it all out, vacuum, clean the carpet, set aside donations, etc etc etc.
I'm in the midst of a big wardrobe review, going through every bit of clothing and cataloging it on Indyx. It is labor intensive and I am probably only half way through, but I've already learned a lot. Sorting things into categories has made me see that I often buy multiples of things I like, but I always reach for my favorite thing of a category first (for example, I have a big stack of white t-shirts, but I tend to wear the same 3 all time and ignore the rest). I am very curious to see what percentage of my wardrobe I actually wear in 2025.
Oh, this is My Exact Shit and I want to hear how it goes! 2024 was a year of aggressive closet pruning for me. One thing that was very helpful to letting go (and buying better) was that anytime I didn’t like how I felt in something, I immediately took it off and put it in the donate pile or the alterations pile, and noted WHY. Common culprits were: too short, too-stiff fabric, not-structured-enough cut.
New Year’s resolutions/intentions/resets can be such a beast! I’ve had the most success when I plan to do one small thing or make one small change and do it every day. In fact, it can help to print out a calendar and put it on my fridge and cross off every day that I do the thing. It eventually becomes a habit.
One year my resolution was to floss every day. Another year it was to make my bed every day #LAMOB. I remember the year it was to switch from double space to single space at the end of a sentence.
I think this year it’s going to be conquering the snooze button once and for all!
I'm resolving to do bite size clearing-out, like one dresser drawer at a time. This is a year where I won't likely get whole days to reset/declutter, but I can still chip away. Happy new year, Jolie!
They are a pain to make, but rugelach freeze beautifully and homemade ones are SO much better than even ‘good’ bakery versions. Smitten Kitchen’s recipe is the ‘easiest’ but the dough is still fussy. We do jam AND mini chocolate chips in my house but skip the fruit in a mash up of the recipes in her first book/site. The website recipe is here: https://smittenkitchen.com/2015/12/unfussy-rugelach/
This holiday season I committed to cleaning out my stash of samples/mini beauty products. They went into stockings/gifts for my nieces and SIL’s and everyone had a bit of a swap at our party. It was fun and I didn’t feel guilty about hoarding or products expiring!
My sitter is a wizard at finding homes for donations so I plan to continue to clean out old clothing/gear/books from my kid’s room and our closets/basement. I don’t think I’ll ever top the high of finding a home for our massive mudroom bench/shelving unit with a refugee family but I’m pleased that an old coffee table is set to leave our house in January!
Hope you had a wonderful holiday, Jolie, and Happy Happy New Year!
I have a subscription/recurring charge purge on my list. Look at PayPal, credit card activity, Substack, and Amazon Prime and cancel any paid items. I’m also going to cancel our wine club memberships—we live in wine country and we have 4–they are great because we can take guests to free tastings, but our wine rack is full and we are cutting back on alcohol so it makes sense to pause it all and then maybe sign up for some different wineries in the spring when people start visiting again.
I am considering this a sign from the universe to go do the thing: I have been procrastinating a closet reset all morning, and now it’s noon here. Time to pull it all out, vacuum, clean the carpet, set aside donations, etc etc etc.
I'm in the midst of a big wardrobe review, going through every bit of clothing and cataloging it on Indyx. It is labor intensive and I am probably only half way through, but I've already learned a lot. Sorting things into categories has made me see that I often buy multiples of things I like, but I always reach for my favorite thing of a category first (for example, I have a big stack of white t-shirts, but I tend to wear the same 3 all time and ignore the rest). I am very curious to see what percentage of my wardrobe I actually wear in 2025.
Oh, this is My Exact Shit and I want to hear how it goes! 2024 was a year of aggressive closet pruning for me. One thing that was very helpful to letting go (and buying better) was that anytime I didn’t like how I felt in something, I immediately took it off and put it in the donate pile or the alterations pile, and noted WHY. Common culprits were: too short, too-stiff fabric, not-structured-enough cut.
New Year’s resolutions/intentions/resets can be such a beast! I’ve had the most success when I plan to do one small thing or make one small change and do it every day. In fact, it can help to print out a calendar and put it on my fridge and cross off every day that I do the thing. It eventually becomes a habit.
One year my resolution was to floss every day. Another year it was to make my bed every day #LAMOB. I remember the year it was to switch from double space to single space at the end of a sentence.
I think this year it’s going to be conquering the snooze button once and for all!
These cookies really dazzle on a plate and are totally delicious. The slice and bake form factor makes them a good freezer friend: https://smittenkitchen.com/2021/12/checkerboard-cookies/
I'm resolving to do bite size clearing-out, like one dresser drawer at a time. This is a year where I won't likely get whole days to reset/declutter, but I can still chip away. Happy new year, Jolie!
They are a pain to make, but rugelach freeze beautifully and homemade ones are SO much better than even ‘good’ bakery versions. Smitten Kitchen’s recipe is the ‘easiest’ but the dough is still fussy. We do jam AND mini chocolate chips in my house but skip the fruit in a mash up of the recipes in her first book/site. The website recipe is here: https://smittenkitchen.com/2015/12/unfussy-rugelach/
This holiday season I committed to cleaning out my stash of samples/mini beauty products. They went into stockings/gifts for my nieces and SIL’s and everyone had a bit of a swap at our party. It was fun and I didn’t feel guilty about hoarding or products expiring!
My sitter is a wizard at finding homes for donations so I plan to continue to clean out old clothing/gear/books from my kid’s room and our closets/basement. I don’t think I’ll ever top the high of finding a home for our massive mudroom bench/shelving unit with a refugee family but I’m pleased that an old coffee table is set to leave our house in January!
Let’s talk more about the Amy Army!
Happy new year to you Jolie, and to all my fellow Aspiring Clean People here!
These cookies are delicious and are a hit everywhere I bring them:
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/coconut-lime-cookies/