love

What. A. Day.

I'm finally sitting. Drinking tea (duh). Guns N' Roses is on Pandora (huh?) Okay, I love Guns N' Roses, but Pandora went from Jackson 5 to Ben E. King to Guns N' Roses... This is ironic, but if the irony is lost on you, well maybe you're better off that way. I digress...

So it's Valentines Day Weekend. w00t. (yes, I just typed that. don't judge me.) One of my best friends commented to me about not knowing what to get her husband for Valentines Day. [I'm not exactly sure how I can help with that... especially considering relationships avoid me. like the plague.] Now Heart is on Pandora... the irony continues! (Heart is too much, new song!) Of course, it's February. It's kind of hard not to think about love. Merriam-Webster lists nine definitions for love as a noun, and four for love as a verb. [I am the kind of person who wants to know exactly what something means, also considering appropriate context.] The last 24 hours were an expedition in love. I watched the entire first seasons of The Hills and Laguna Beach. I cherish these shows mostly out of nostalgic value. Also, I love television that doesn't acquire 100% attention so there is something on the screen to entertain me, but I can actually focus my attention on more productive endeavors.

My current MO has been "When in doubt, throw it out!" Today my chief interest was cleaning out my wardrobe. This consists of my closet, my standing closet, and my dresser. I'm a girly girl. I love clothes. I own more clothes than is probably necessary. When I have the time to clean out my wardrobe, I like to make the most of it. I empty everything. I especially try to rationalize letting go of pieces that I really don't want to let go of. Today was definitely a success. I got rid of lots of clothes and rearranged everything that was left. I love getting rid of more than you think is necessary. It provides you so much extra room and easy access to everything that is left. I filled about 1.5 boxes to take to Goodwill. (Believe me, I am desperately thinking of what to purge next so I can fill up that second box!) In the past week I've gotten rid of even more stuff and rearranged everything else. My room is really starting to look different - in the best way.

The closet purge has been on my mind. I'm limited in what I can wear to work (basically only things with the company logo). This is really starting to wear me down. Since I spend my work day not feeling so pretty, I like to look more feminine when I'm not working. I've even started painting my nails again. I can't wait until the weather starts to warm up and I can start wearing light patterned tops under cardigans! Not to mention I love the sense of accomplishment I get checking tasks off of my to-do list! Doing things that I consider part of "self-love", and how much they improved my mood, got me thinking about ways I can show love to others. You know, short of running down the street proclaiming "I Love You". Pinterest got me again. Example #1:

This might be the to-do list to end all to-do lists. What a challenge! I tend to know myself pretty well. I also know how to communicate fairly well; however, whether I choose to is another matter entirely. Still, looking at this list makes me second-guess every communication segment I've seen on The Today Show for... as long as I've been watching The Today Show. Here's example #2(another challenge!):

I definitely relate to this on both sides. Like I said, I think I am pretty effective in how I communicate but these days I seem to be choosing not to communicate. I admit this must be pretty frustrating. On the other hand, from my perspective, it seems pointless to communicate when I don't perceive actions that warrant that communication. Definitely something to think about... [Hold that thought!: Segue to future post]