Less is More i.e. Getting Rid of the Crap

I've been reading this awesome book for the past few days:

The Joy of Less, a Minimalist Living Guide by Francine Jay.  Is it awesome?  Yes.

I had gotten a little lost in the stuff packed in my house.  Tackling it became more and more difficult because I was overwhelmed.  I felt defeated before I started.

I'm such a headcase when I declutter.  "I could use it."  "I plan on doing that project."  "I will fit in that."  Blah. blah. blah.

Not only is The Joy of Less a room-by-room how-to declutter guide, but it is a pep talk before you even start.  The first part of the book is the psychology of it all, and now I feel clear on what I'm doing before I tackle the junk.  It even tells you how to declutter your schedule.  Yes!  I can't wait until I get to that chapter.  A totally foreign concept to me.

Minimalism.  It's a beautiful thing.  Simple.  Uncluttered.  Uncomplicated life.

Francine Jay has a blog called miss minimalist.  In her "100 Possessions" series, she writes about getting rid of all the small glasses, tall glasses, wine glasses, etc. and just using tumblers.  I like this idea.  I think I might get rid of all the cup clutter and simply use tumblers and mugs.  One style of each and get rid of the rest.  To be honest, I love my mugs and I drink wine out of them.  I also love it when a restaurant serves wine in tumblers.  I feel a tinge of guilt getting rid of all my nice wine glasses.  Some were expensive gifts.  Some of my old coffee mugs have kid photos on them. These are the feelings that start adding clutter to our lives.  What feeling will I have when all that stuff is gone and the tumblers and mugs are left, looking all nice and orderly?  Probably won't miss the expensive wine glass gifts that I don't really use.  I didn't get rid of the actual kids, just the old mugs with their photos.  What do you think about wine in tumblers?

Oh, and I read the book on my Sprint HTC Evo Kindle app ... no book clutter.

Raw Food ... Wooohoooo

How lucky am I?!!  I saw my beautiful friend Giuli a few days ago, and I was telling her about how I'm eating a mostly-raw diet (if you recall, I started this after I read Crazy, Sexy Diet by Kris Carr).  She informs me that her cousin is doing a raw food seminar in my area this week.  It turns out, her cousin is this beautiful lady, Gabriella Dalmolin, who blogs about raw food in her blog, Mind, Body, Soul ... and Food (rawnovicegirl.blogspot.com) and does seminars in Northern Virginia teaching people how to prepare raw food.

I learned so much from her, and she is such a fun, happy person.  Her enthusiasm is contagious.  Can't you tell just by looking at her?

The book she shared with us today is Living Raw Food: Get the Glow with More Recipes from Pure Food and Wine by Sarma Melngailis.  I'm going to pick a copy up today.

When I started this way of eating, I was a little concerned I would be eating boring salad all the time.  I am really surprised by the amazing raw food recipes I have discovered already.  It's all so good and easy.  I spend a little more time prepping my veggies and meals, but I hardly spend any time actually cooking.

Thanks for all the great info, Gabriella!  You're amazing.