Today, all my thoughts about what to post all lead back to one person: Oprah. It wasn't on purpose, but as I tried to find a common thread I realized she was it. First things first.
Organization. It's been on my to-do list for months, probably years, okay, perpetually, to purchase items to get more organized. This type of to-do makes me feel excited and anxious all at once - excited for the prospect of increased organization and beauty, and anxiety because it's not as simple as it sounds. I need to sit with the disorganization for a while first, figure out what the actual needs are, and then spend an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to find the perfect item or items that I have envisioned at the right price. Many times this results in a purchase of nothing, a vow to invent, build, or create the thing that I think I need or a "temporary" solution where I decide I can "make do" for a while. I can see one such solution from where I'm sitting now.
Today's organization mission was related to organizing H's toys in a way that they would be visible and accessible to him, easy for me to "rotate" and clean up, but not encased in plastic or on shelves that H could dismantle in under five minutes. I was choosing between going to Ikea and the Container Store for my adventure and chose the Containter Store simply because it opened an hour earlier - retailers take note: ten am is not an acceptable opening time for mothers of toddlers. I like to spend most of my money before 11am and one hour is not enough time to do that.
My plan going in was that I would buy their simplest, clear plastic bins in a variety of sizes. Yes, they were plastic, but it was as nice as plastic could get in my opinion. And, they could be labeled, or repurposed for general storage if they didn't work for the toys. H fell asleep on our somewhat roundabout route (I wouldn't say I was lost) to the store, so we spent a bit of time in the parking lot before we actually got to go into the store. It reminded me of the time my family drove through the night to get to Disney World and it wasn't open yet when we arrived. We had to pull over at the gate and my parents and sister went to sleep for a couple of hours while I sat there and stared, face pressed up against the glass, waiting for the park to open.
Once inside, we did a full and slow lap around the store, perusing the many different options and then went back for a cart to pick out a handful of plastic bins. I decided to also get a long plastic bin for wrapping paper, something my mom has that I've always coveted but never thought it was "necessary" enough to warrant a purchase, until today. I was proud of myself for letting go enough to throw it in the cart. This choice changed the course of my day.
As H and I were headed to look at some more bins for my homemade sand/water table bonus plan, the wrapping paper bin fell out of the cart. A lovely Container Store employee swooped in to save the day. She did oddly joke and say, "Did he (H) throw that out of the car?!?!" before she picked up the bin and brought it to the front of the store for me. This action or offer always makes me nervous. It's asking me to make a commitment before I'm emotionally ready, but she did it without offering another option. As she came back in my direction, I decided to chat her up because I'm an extroverted idiot. I actually said, in the CONTAINER STORE, "you don't make anything that is specifically for kids' storage, do you?" She contained (ba dum dum) herself long enough to go get another person to help me, at which point I overheard her quoting my ridiculous statement to the second employee...an elfa designer.
Others might have been scared at this point, but not me. I knew elfa. I own some elfa. I know how it works. It can be very useful, almost decent looking in fact. I have some pre-owned elfa (courtesy of B) and we actually outfitted H's closet with some elfa last year. But, for the toy storage, I had another plan I told them, another much less expensive, simple plan. elfa was not a part of that plan. Until, several sweaty minutes and a pretty display case away, it was:
So, I spent a lot of money - and way more than I planned, but I think it was worth it and it took H almost 7 minutes to take all the drawers out and dump them on the floor the first time, and that was before I secured the tops. In fact, I'm so happy with the results that I want to go back tomorrow to get more to help with my office organization.
What does this have to do with Oprah you ask? I went on the Container Store Web site and there was a coupon for 25% off everything in the store - only for Oprah viewers of course. It wasn't worth it for the elfa, since that was 30% off on its own and I of course couldn't use the discounts together, but it did work for those plastic bins, including the wrapping paper one that was waiting for me at the counter so I HAD to buy it. But check out my homemade water/sand(oatmeal) table (repurposed, very old IKEA coffee table) with those hot plastic bins I've been telling you about (that's painters tape on the bottom - a temporary solution):
The other Oprah related items that I am now too tired to write about are SEX and RELIGION, oh yes, and motherhood too. Can you tell I've been catching up on Tivo this week? Hopefully, I'll find it in my neat and tidy heart to post about these very important topics tomorrow. I have a lot to say.
PS - The wrapping paper bin sits empty. The wrapping paper stash in my house has gone missing. It's quite bizarre. I actually had presents to wrap tonight and I went to get the paper and it has vanished. I won't even tell you how upset this has made me, less for the sad look of the empty bin, and much more because it tells me that my house is too big, too cluttered, too disorganized, and if you watch Oprah you know that your home is a metaphor for your life, and, well, I don't like what that says. Please come back, wrapping paper, so I can put you in your new, shiny, clear plastic bin. Ah, metaphors.
