The Purge

With the recent appointing of my Life Coach (hehe), I was strongly encouraged to upcycle some items that aren't being utilized anymore. So on a trail run, I gained some clarity (as usual) on a way to do this and feel really good about it. My friends who love to sell stuff are probably going to cringe at this thought, but I decided to just give it all away. I don't have time to mess around with selling each individual item and I would MUCH rather see my loved items go to a loving home.

Note to self: When you have cancer and decide to have a purge party, you should probably let people know that it's just to simplify life, not because you're dying! I kept plenty of stuff, no worries :)

I wasn't sure how to go about inviting so with a lack of time (of course), I decided to just cast a small net on Facebook of people who I knew would be interested  even if only a few could make it. I wasn't sure how it was going to work and I really wanted to prevent brawls in my house over coveted items. hehe Luckily, everyone who came was very well-behaved and lots of people went home with some goodies. Coleen and Ashley even brought their own purge which was AWESOME! I got some goodies too!! :)

James did me the biggest favor by taking my toaster oven and all accessories off my counter. I need room to bake granola, people!! And every man needs a toaster oven, right James? ;) Several of the ladies and I swapped dresses, jackets, shoes, and well...pretty much every item of clothing known to man. I even scored a fur vest!!

Justin came to pick up Josh's train stuff for their little guy, Nate. Sarah and Justin are awesome running friends and their little man is such a cutie! He loves trains and Josh has really grown out of them and is totally consumed by Legos. Nate probably doesn't even realize what he got yet, but he scored a ton of Geotrax stuff and lots of Thomas the Train stuff. Josh was so excited to know that there is another little boy ready to love his stuff the way he did. And to make room for the Legos he asked for from Santa :)

Julia snagged a stack of books for her nephew Hudson, Erin (interim director of CMN) took some LeapPad stuff for Children's Miracle Network and the kids in PICU. Erin also gave me a sugar scrub manicure because she is awesome and knows that I can't go to a salon to get one because of my risk of infection. (thanks EM!) Maggie was my surprise..I haven't seen her gorgeous face in WAY too long. She stayed late and drank good wine with me. So thankful!! There were a lot of really awesome items that found new homes and whatever was left at the end of the day, was picked up a week later by Ozanam and donated to those less fortunate.

I totally plan on doing this again since my goal in life is to have less 'stuff' and live simply. Any excuse to spend the day with awesome friends is good enough for me :)

Result: Operation Purge was a HUGE success!!

xoxo
Shelley