Being Happy With What I Have--Day 1 of my proclamation

First off, deceiving as it may be, I am not one step away from being diagnosed as a hoarder....it sort of looks that way, but let me explain.  (Brain Interjects: Denial is the first clue)....seriously, I love this closet. 

Down on the right is my underutilized sewing machine, which sits upon a bin of unused fabric I am saving to make some fantastic doodad or outfit.  Behind the sewing machine, you can't see it, but there upon lies a HUGE stack of vintage Martha Stewart Living magazines (insert your laugh here, I dig the gal).  I hang on to those magazines because someday I swear I will make a felted wool mushroom village for Kendall to play with after she has eaten a beautiful meal of rack of lamb and cleaned the kitchen floors with some magical cleaning concoction that only Martha would know. To the far left of the magazines is my collection of gift bags divided by holiday/season/occasion. To the left of that is my box of ribbons I save.  It is safe to say that a third of the closet is devoted to wrapping presents.....laugh away, but I LOVE WRAPPING PRESENTS....sadly the University of Arizona didn't have a B.S. in Wrapology....

As you move on up you will find a collection of my "unread books" and my cookbooks.....that third shelf is an half a shelf of stationary and cards (again unused).  You see that sort of tan box laying perpendicular to the cookbooks, that is where I put all the recipes I cut out or xerox.....

It is hard to see but on the left side (4th shelf) you see another bin and that is one of many of my "special" bins...there are old poems I wrote or notes from high school or old pictures or magazine articles of places I want to visit.  Just plain good stuff.....

Which brings me to the whole damn point of why I am showing this to you.  I am a shopaholic, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. Let me clarify, I am a bargain shopaholic...I am not one of those people that goes to Nordies and buys 10 pairs of Seven Jeans for $1500 dollars.  Anyways, a few years ago, I heard a woman on the radio talk about how she was having a "relationship wth STUFF rather then with people."  So today as I sat and wrapped a present for Kendall, I thought to myself that I really could get by with so much less.....that I could easily just be happy with everything I have.

So starting today February 13 (which is sort of a wierd day to start)....I am going to move towards this sort of wierd and not very thought out plan to stop consuming so much. 

I am going to give myself a little leeway:

1)I can buy necessary items (toothpaste, food, etc.)
2)I can buy consignment or used items.
3)I can still eat out and go see bands.
4)I can still buy gifts (hello, what am I going to do with the 87 giftbags I have?)

But overall, my goal is to stop wasting so much time and money in the retail marketplace and just be happy with what I have.  I am hoping this time and money I save will go towards better things.....I will keep you updated on the progress....it is not going to be easy.

PS Todays Hoar Frost.....breathtaking...pictures don't even do it justice.