what i don’t want for christmas

December 21st, 2011   /   6 COMMENTS   /   exfoliating/stuff   /   life

Two years ago I started a new holiday tradition for myself here on MML. I started my annual What I DON’T want for Christmas List. Each year I exfoliate items that I wouldn’t want to receive for Christmas (because I don’t need, use, or love them) before the holidays begin. This helps me avoid the clutter that accumulates after December 25th and have plenty of room in my home and life for the new gifts that may come my way.

If you think about it, it’s the same reason my weight-lifting class instructor, Shannon, always made us work out extra hard before Thanksgiving and Christmas. She knows we will soon be eating a lot of food. And by stepping up our fitness now, we can offset (some of) the sweets later.

So I plan to do a deep dive into my wardrobe and pick out what I don’t envision myself wearing in 2012. If the piece of clothing doesn’t match my vision for 2012, it doesn’t deserve to be in my wardrobe come January 1st.

Because of my travel this week, I won’t have a chance to sort through my wardrobe before heading out to Philly on Friday. But I am excited to return to Chicago in January and do a through exfoliation in my bulging closet. The nice thing about having a small apartment is that I am forced to continually exfoliate any excess.

 

  • http://thingsafterrings.com Joanna

    I was just reading some of your old What I Don’t Want for Christmas and End of Week Exfoliation posts this morning and absolutely love this idea. After being recently hit with a bout of bed-bugs I’m inspired to completely de-clutter and purge before bringing things back into our apartment. Question for you: when you exfoliate, what do you do with your stuff? Clothes are easy: donate them. But what about other things like books, electronics, etc. I feel so guilty throwing things away.

  • http://www.lifeuncluttered.org Lauren L.

    I just did a post like this today!! :)

  • Monique

    I was hoping you would do a post like this again this year. I remember it! My sister and I, inspired by you, went one step further. We both read your blog, so we made a list of things that we don’t want this year, ie. tea, stationery, books… It made shopping for her a little more challenging but in a fun way. I had been in a rut, of buying her the same things. Thank you for the inspiration!

  • http://www.yellowbrickhome.com Kim

    Operation closet exfoliation is on the agenda for us this January, too! We’ve been looking forward to it (perhaps too much?). During our “staycation,” we’ll be purging closets and list-making for the year to come!

  • http://www.makeundermylife.com Jess

    Joanna, I have a great post that explains my perspective on exfoliating. I highly recommend reading it as it covers my thoughts on the subject (though you need to do what is right for you and your stuff, of course): http://makeundermylife.com/trash-or-treasure-what-to-do-with-old-stuff/

    Monique – I LOVE THAT IDEA!! What a great, great thing! If we all posted “what I don’t want for Christmas lists” for other people we would avoid a lot of clutter!

    Kim – I am so jealous! I plan to do the same next weekend when I’m back in town. : )

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