Tidying Up: Master Bathroom (and products I love)

Our master bathroom is the only room in the house that hasn’t been redone in some form.  If we ever move, we will have some work to do in this room.  But for now….it doesn’t bother me.  It is what it is, and no one ever sees it except my husband and I (well, until now when I blog about it ha ha).  Everything is kind of mismatched (including our towels), but that’s okay.  The bathroom serves it’s purpose.  As long as it’s clean, I don’t mind that it has some issues ha ha.

It has a very large shower (no tub), a vanity, toilet, and some built in shelving.  I re-vamped the room and cleaned a bunch of stuff out.  I was pretty ruthless.

I am NOT a ‘product’ girl.  I used to think I was, but I am not.  In the shower, I use:

1.    Kirkland brand moisturizing shampoo from Costco.  Don’t knock it until you try it.  Since using this shampoo I have not had to use conditioner AT ALL. My hairdresser still can’t believe it.  I told her to try it ha ha.  The best part?  It’s 9.99 for a gigantic bottle.  My hair is in great shape.

2.

    

        Sonia Kashuk Pink Inocencia Exfoliating Body Polish.  This is probably my one ‘splurge’ (although not really…it’s only $8 on Amazon ha ha).  I HAVE to use an exfoliator year round.  And this one by Sonia Kashuk is amazing and my skin smells good for hours and hours afterwards and is sooooo soft.

3.    Bodywash.  I buy whatever is on sale and/or whatever I have a coupon for.  I try to buy ‘unisex’ scents since I refuse to buy one body wash for my husband and one for me.  We share.  Right now it’s this big bottle of Olay.  I believe I paid $1.49 for it (after coupons, cartwheel, and red card discounts).

That’s it for the shower.  For my other ‘everyday’ uses, here’s a couple other things I love:

3      Simple Skincare Micellar Cleansing Water.  I’ve only been using this for a short while, but I love it so far.  Basically it’s water enhanced with lots of multivitamins and other good things for your skin.  It’s very hydrating for your skin.  I apply a bit to a cotton pad and put it on first thing in the morning.  It also can be used as a makeup remover, but I only use it in the morning BEFORE I put on makeup.  It’s really helped my dry skin.

5     Neutrogena Healthy Defense moisturizer.  My dermatologist recommended this to me years ago and I’ve been using it ever since as my daily moisturizer.  I get the SPF 50, which is extremely important where I live.  My face is protected from the sun in this high elevation pretty much 24/7.

6      True Blue self-tanning lotion from Bath & Body Works.  I have tried EVERY self-tanning product out there.  I am a white, white girl living in New Mexico, so believe me….my whiteness stands out even more here than it did in Nebraska.  And this tanning lotion really helps.  It doesn’t stink, it goes on smoothly, and in the 2+ years that I’ve been using it, it’s always blended very nicely.  I’ve never had blotches.  I use it in the spring and summer 2-3 times per week.  And I promise I am never orange.  In fact, I am still really white, but not AS white after I use this.

8    Nail polish.  I was ruthless in cleaning out my nail polish stash.  I had tons of colors that I never used, all kinds of base coats, top coats, strengthener, etc.  You would think I painted my nails all the time.  Ha!  I NEVER paint my fingernails.  Ever. (although I’m thinking about getting a gel manicure before we go on vacation this summer).  My toenails are ALWAYS painted though.  I only get maybe one pedicure per month in the spring and summer months (if that), and in between, I do my own.  You would think I was a professional with all the stuff I had.  Nope.  I always reach for the same TWO bottles.  They are both ‘Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure’.  Basically, it’s one bottle of polish that is EVERYTHING…base coat, color, top coat, etc.  And I’ve been using them for years and they WORK.  My toe polish stays on forever.  In fact, when I change the polish it’s not because it’s chipped it’s because I’m tired of the color and want a change.  This stuff works.  So I kept those two bottles, ditched everything else, and then bought two more bottles at Target.  That’s plenty! (they run $8-$9 per bottle).

    Here are the 'afters' after tidying up our bathroom:

Nothing fancy, but it's clean and clutter free....that's all I care about!

Tidying Up: The Bedroom

Our bedroom has been a mess for quite some time.  I took 'before' pictures, but don't have the guts to show them here.  So....moving on, ha ha. 

 

First things first.  I moved all of the dirty laundry out of the bedroom/bathroom and into the laundry room.  Over the weekend, we got all of the laundry done and folded and put away.  Victory!    

 

Next, I changed the sheets and made the bed.  Our 'comforter' is pretty sad.  It's not even a comforter.  It's a snagged blanket.  I refuse to buy ‘real’ comforters for two reasons:  1 – my husband gets hot at night and kicks off the blankets and usually just uses the sheet.  And two, we have animals, two of which sleep with us every night, one that has front claws.  Which is why I use $14.99 Calvin Klein blankets from Costco as our bedding.  And I’m totally okay with it. Once the blanket is worn or snagged (after probably 6 months), I go to Costco and get a new one.  The old one I cut up into 4 pieces and given to Watson as his blankie (4 pieces will last him about 6 months, so it all works out).  The circle of life of the blanket.  What can I say, it works for us.  And to me, spending $30 a year on bedding is okay.    

 

After that, I removed everything that doesn’t belong in the bedroom.  Dishes and miscellaneous products that I’m not sure how or WHY they ended up in the bedroom.

 

Then I folded and/or hung up all of the clean clothes that were piled on top of my dresser and hanging on the hooks we have in our entryway.

 

Then I went through my half of the closet one more time and got rid of anything that I haven’t worn in the past 6 months.  There wasn’t much because I just did this not too long ago.

 

Then I cleaned up Abby’s area.  Abby does not sleep with us.  She is simply too small and it’s best for her own safety to sleep in her own bed.  So she has her little ‘nook’ on my husband’s side of the bed.  Her bed, TWO blankets (she likes to burrow), her food and water dish (before bed she gets a small handful of kibble as a snack until she’s a year old and fresh water of course), and her basket of toys.  We keep our bedroom door shut all day so at night when we open the door to go to bed, she comes charging into the bedroom, eats her snack, chooses a toy, plays with that toy for 20 minutes or so and then climbs in and burrows under her blankets in her bed.  And we don’t hear a peep out of her until my alarm goes off every morning.  She’s a good girl.

 

Anyways, back to the bedroom.  

 

Then I cleaned.  I swept the floors, even under the furniture.  Then mopped.  And vacuumed the rug and dusted. 

 

Then I took a good, hard look at the ‘visual’ clutter.  Candles, pictures, knick-knacks, etc.  I got rid of a few things that I didn’t care for or didn’t ‘spark joy’.  

 

And then I took some pictures and a deep breath and basked in the glory of our newly cleaned bedroom.  Here's the afters:

 

So. Much. Better!  I swear I sleep better in a clean & organized room. There is just something so nice and relaxing about not having extra clutter around or having stuff all over the floors and surfaces.

Another thing done!

(I didn't have the heart to tell Howie to get out of my pictures, so he's showing off a bit.)

Gathering

I was originally going to title this post ‘Packing’, but it’s not really packing yet, it’s ‘Gathering.’  

We are less than a month away from our trip.  My lists are crazy.  I truly believe I need to start getting things together NOW and not wait until the week before we leave to start packing and getting things together.

I thought I would start putting everything on my ‘Belgium’ shelf (which I blogged about a while ago), but it quickly became too small, so I did some rearranging, and basically cleared the shelf completely.

But within a couple of weeks, the shelf looked like this:

Yikes.  And because I am me, I couldn’t just leave it like that.  That would be a travesty!

I gathered some empty bins and baskets that I had on hand and put them to work. 

I took everything off the shelf and dumped it on the bed.

  

I sorted everything.  I made piles:  toiletries, carry on items, husband's items, things I'm not sure I'm bringing yet, and things that will go in my luggage.  And then I put everything into the appropriate places.  Toiletries went into the bathroom bags, carry on items went into my two carry ons:

Everything else went into bins that I will pack when the trip gets closer.

I also have a bin just for empty bottles that I will fill pretty soon.

As I add items, I put a checkmark next to them on my master packing list within my Europe notepad.  That way I know I have it on the shelf already.  Obsessive?  Maybe.  But it helps my anxiety about packing and not waiting until the last minute.

As I continue to gather, I can just toss the items into the appropriate bin.  I’m hoping this will save some time when I actually pack!

I am also starting to get my clothes ready.  I only need a couple more things from Old Navy, and one more pair of shoes.  And then my clothes will be ready.  But other than my jeans and a couple of skirts, I am starting to wash everything and hang it on the way left side of the closet.  I won’t wear anything before the trip.  Some people might think this is nuts too, but again….it helps me.  Do you know how incredibly fast these next 4 weeks are going to go?  

So that’s my process.  I will continue to add to my shelf while getting other stuff around the house done before we leave.  We will be incredibly busy until then and I don’t want to get burned out before we leave.  Being organized helps keep me sane!

Hanging Up

I've been trying to wrap up a lot of things around the house before we leave.  I've been purging, cleaning out closets, and 'tidying up'!  

Two years ago while we were in Phoenix we went to Ikea and I bought six little mirrors.  I am embarrassed to say that these six mirrors have been in a closet for the entire two years.  I just never got around to hanging them up.  So I added it to my list of things to do before we leave.  

And today, my husband hung them up for me. 

Now, I am not a 'measuring' girl.  I eyeball it, grab a nail and pound it in.  I remember my mom and I hanging up pictures in my first apartment and one of us would stand back, one of us would hold up the picture, and I'd say 'is this right?  To the left?  To the right?'.  Ha ha.

With my husband involved, there is measuring.

There is lasers:

And I have to say.....his method is much better than mine.  Look:

They are perfect!

And best of all, I got to cross of another item from my 'things to do before our trip' list.  

Les Oeufs

We eat a lot of eggs in our house, particularly because we don't eat meat.  We mostly eat scrambled eggs and hard boiled eggs.  But let's face it....hard boiled eggs are a pain.  I was never able to cook them right...they were always either under-done or over-done.  And don't get me started on peeling them.  I found myself buying already pealed hard boiled eggs at work for the convenience.

So I put a hard boiled egg cooker in my Amazon cart, where it has sat for the past two months.  I just couldn't pull the trigger for some reason.  Well, while I was in Santa Fe, I went into a kitchen store and found the same egg cooker I had been looking at online.  So I bought it.

And right away when I came home, I tried it out.

Basically, you puncture the eggs (it comes with a device to do this) so that they won't crack during the cooking process, fill the device with water, place up to 10 eggs in the cooker and turn it on.

18 minutes later, they were done.

The cooker cooks the eggs using steam, so they were a DREAM to peel.  No more wasted egg whites!  And on some of them the peel came off in just 3 or 4 pieces.

Aren't they perfect?

But the real test came when I cut them in half.  Would they be undercooked?  Overcooked?  Grey?

They.  Were.  Perfect!!

I will never boil eggs the old fashioned way again.

The device also apparently makes poached eggs and omelets but I doubt I will use it for that.  I plan to make hard boiled eggs at least once a week.  They are perfect for snacks and lunches!

Santa Fe

Today I drove up to Santa Fe to do a little shopping.  The outlet malls are only about 40 minutes away, and I got there when it opened.

I was looking for a few more pieces to take with me on our trip.  Particularly another pair of jeans, a light sweater/cardigan, and a cross body bag.

I was successful.

My first stop was Under Armor though.  My husband likes their Heat Gear shorts.  I got him two pairs.

Then I went to Anne Taylor Loft.

I got this light cardigan, perfect for layering:

Then I got this pair of jeans, the most comfortable stretchy jeans I have ever worn:

The best part?  Here's the original price:

And here's what I paid:

Awesome!

Then, I went to Coach.  I get one new Coach bag per year, and I haven't gotten one this year yet.  I went in there with ONE thing in my mind.  A brown or black cross-body bag to carry around in Europe.  I was convinced I wasn't going to find anything, because I had this idea in my head of exactly what I wanted.  I even went into Wilson's Leather and Guess first and a couple of other stores looking for this bag because I was convinced Coach wasn't going to have anything.

But I couldn't find anything at the other stores.  So I went to Coach.  And there it was.

It has another detachable long strap that make it a cross body bag.  It's a dark brown.  Usually I am not a fan of the signature 'C' pattern that comes on most Coach bags, but this one is pretty subtle and I actually kind of like it.  I had two coupons, equaling 65% off.  So I got a great deal on this bag.  Plus, I am going to take back the bag I got from Macy's a few weeks ago to help offset the cost.

Success!

After I left the outlet mall, I drove up the road for a bit looking for a place to grab a bite to eat.

And then I ran into Ross.

It was a large one, so I went inside.  

I got a brown flowy skirt ($8.99):

A v-neck white t-shirt ($4.99):

And two bras.  The bras are Jessica Simpson brand.  I've gotten this brand before.  They are good quality and they fit well.

This is the regular price for the two pack:

I paid:

Score!

My last stop was for a nice grilled cheese sandwich to go at Panera.

It was a successful trip!  And I think my wardrobe is almost complete for our trip.  I still need a couple of undershirts (camis) and some shoes.  But other than that, I am finished!

Now onto my bajillion other things I need to get done.  :)