I haven't touched mine for probably at least a year. But I used to pay for all my reading material by getting amazon gift cards with it...I made quite a bit! I don't know why I stopped but I just started again this week after the girls on the Fashion board were talking about it.
I think a lot of us used to do it...anyone still?? We should post codes again like we used to!
I am in desperate need of a new wardrobe so I am saving up to get some Gap gift cards.
Now I'm in the purging mood, I just went through all of our baby toys and books.
OMG how much stuff does a baby need? We have so much crap and we already have been given two fancy new teether toys and the baby isn't even born yet.
I filled a large grocery bag with toys that we don't need. The toys that are left still seem like way too much but I think I will keep them so that we can have car toys, diaper bag toys, and a basket of toys for down in the daycare.
The clothes are out of control too. We have like 12 bins in the garage..even if this baby is a boy I will go through each bin as it grows and start purging/selling stuff. I have some unisex stuff so I need to go through all the bins anyway. We might have one more baby after this but I know I kept a lot of outfits I hated out of guilt, and I am sure there are some things that are worn or stained. I'd love to get rid of a few bins' worth of clothes as this baby grows so that we don't have to store so much because I am sure people will buy more for this one...eek!
Just went through my daycare toy closet. I have a closet that is full of the toys that I rotate in and out...a big tent, a tunnel, all kinds of stuff.
I went through every box and bin, threw out broken pieces and a few toys. Organized it all neatly and it looks way better. Man I have way too many toys. Over 1200 square feet of "Kid stuff" that is not even our living space. when we moved, there was more daycare stuff than our personal belongings.
Feels good to have the one messy area tidy and clean! Probably not for long, but oh well.
I love my job, but sometimes I admit I think about how awesome it will be when I am done running a daycare one day and I can sell all this stuff...I hate clutter and crap and I have so much of it from daycare. We would double our living space too, when eventually I quit doing this. People always comment what a big house we have and I laugh....we only live in half of it. Closets crammed, my laundry room is lined with shelves that have big bins for every "Theme" of the month too.
That's not my actual friend's house...its just a pic I found. I just mean when people have dozens of products all stored on their countertop and they never put them away.
I agree- I would never leave anything sitting out that I was not ok with someone using. When I use bathrooms like that, I am totally tempted to peek at stuff....like if I see a pretty lipstick I might take off the lid to look at the color. I would never wear it, but I would probably peek. Or I'd smell a perfume or something.
If you leave all your personal care items out on your countertops...
Do you ever think about that guests will probably touch/use them??
All my stuff is put away in drawers or the medicine cabinet. I'd feel weird leaving out my hairspray and lotion and lipstick.....it would totally squick me out for everyone who uses my bathroom to see all the products I use, to possibly snoop and touch them and worse yet to use them.
I do keep lotion sitting out on my empty countertop next to the soap and it's totally for guests to use.
The reason I ask is because some of my friend's bathrooms look like this....
And every time I go in, I find myself lingering over their productss....browsing what they use not to be rude but because I love makeup and I am just interested. But I know if it was reversed I'd rather my friend not stand there looking/staring at all my personal stuff. But then again, don't leave it out for the world to see....
I don't know where I'm going with this...it was just on my mind tonight after visiting a friend.
I see it as a way to encourage each other to get stuff done for the monthly challenge. I didn't realize actually that other people saw it as a way to just get done what you have to get done for the weekend.... I don't think it matters. it's a good way to light a fire under your butt to get crap done! The monthly challenge is the same thing -just a way to get us all moving on projects and things we have been putting off, chat about it, share, ask for help, etc.
If you are at someone's house and they have lotion on the bathroom counter, do you feel it's all right to take a squirt of it?
Does it make a difference if the lotion is nicely displayed next to the soap on an otherwise clean counter versus a counter that is covered with hairspray and makeup products, etc?
1. Anything your friends have going on in their house that's completely weird?
Not really weird. One of my friends has a terrible living room. They have re-done almost their entire house but for some reason their living room is awful still. The furniture is arranged weird...it's all broken hand me down furniture, the walls desperately need to be repainted, broken vertical blinds, blue carpet that is all stained. Then other rooms in their house are really beautiful - not my style, but like a cabin/rustic/lodgey style with lots of stone and cedar ceilings. really pretty.
2. Any of your friends have a cool style you can describe for us?
Nope. A lady I used to babysit for had the coolest style. They lived in a bungalow, and had no money. She did tons of cool stuff..she made a coffee table out of an old window and covered it competely with candles from the dollar store. She painted her countertops black and her cabinets white, used cheap pine boards to put in a new bathroom floor that looked beautiful. She had her kids smother canvases in a single color of paint each ( I think they were green and purple) and then hung them in the living room with little spot lights hanging above...she was someone who really inspired me to be creative and make beautiful things with no money.
3. Do your friends like to decorate as much as you do?
One of my friends does. The rest, are hopeless or don't like to. The friend who does like to decorate does a good job most of the time but she doesn't really understand scale at all and likes lots of cluttery things. So overall her house comes across as beautiful but when I sit there, I think "OMG that lamp is so dinky it needs to be double the size!" or " why is that shelf full of random stuff all lined up? where are the groups of 3s, where is the tall and short mix?" I am hyper critical in my head sometimes because I am so interested and obsessed with rooms. honestly she has a really beautiful house, I'd just do some things differently.
Do you guys know what you are having?? I keep meaning to ask you and forgetting..
We don't.
Are you almost ready? I just bought a few things at the store today, and now I think we are all ready except for installing the car seat, packing my bag, and washing up the baby clothes.
Not due until Feb 20 - I just don't remember that achey sore crotch feeling with my DD...maybe this one is dropping? It's head down and it loves to push it's bum out really far....if I press on it's bum to stop it from hurting me, the head presses down, it's so weird/fun. LOL
Is it normal to have some aching in your nether regions near the end of pregnancy?? It's almost like period cramps but it's not crampy...just a steady ache...and it isn't coming and going like a contraction. I think I had my first braxton hicks last night...I never feel them physically but when I touched my belly it was rock hard all over and tight, then would relax.
On either side of the window the bed will sit in front of, I'd do a photo or art piece. Looks like there is a trunk at the end of the bed, I would keep it at the foot of the bed in it's new spot too.
Can you take a pic of where the bed is NOW? I can't see that wall...
Does the bed fit in the alcove space where the tv and couch are??
Then you could do a little more private of a bed space, and the big area can be "living" area. I am picturing the tv centered on the wall where the vanity and the couch are....and then the couch floating in the middle of the room. On the back side of the couch you could do a narrow table and two chairs for little games/dining table???
We have a hamper on the floor - dirty clothes go in, I wash them. Then I take up the clean clothes and they often sit in the hamper...so we have a dirty hamper and a clean one. Or the clean clothes get put on the bed but I don't fold them in time and we throw them on the floor to go to sleep....then they stay on the floor for another day or two. then the dirty gets mixed with clean...
It's awful. The one area I am really not on top of...the rest of my house is always tidy and generally quite clean.