Why I Retreated into the Mountains for Black Friday

Hello Friends! I'm writing to you from a mountain lodge, nestled in the heart of the White Mountains, New Hampshire, for a long weekend of outdoor adventure with my family.

One might think I'd be out throwing elbows to save a few bucks at a giant box store, but when I saw the Verizon commercial that renamed Thanksgiving, ThanksGETTING, I got mad, and said NO WAY.

TOO FAR. NOT GONNA DO IT.

But the thing is, temptation had me looking at the flyers on Thursday morning. The deals WERE good. And in a matter of minutes, I had a list of things I NEEDED to buy. For me, my kids, and my husband. Sure, I was going to save a good $300, but I was going to have to spend about $500 to save that $300.

NEED. It was like an insidious monster, seeping into my brain!!

And then I remembered the book, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing" and I came back to my senses.

(Have you read it? If not, reserve it at your local library, pronto!!)

The premise of the book is that you shouldn't have anything in your home that doesn't "bring you joy". And I mean anything!!

I got my husband and kids on board this spring, and we "Kon-Maried" (the author's name has turned into a verb) our entire house/garage/basement and got rid of SO. MUCH. STUFF.

Books. Microwave. Clothes. Toys (lots of toys). Linens. Pottery. Picture Frames. Games. Even our toaster - because the crumbs drove me bananas!

It was pretty incredible to see how much useless and unnecessary STUFF we had when we actually held everyTHING in our hands and assessed its does-this-bring-me-joy value.

THIS WAS ALL STUFF WE NEEDED WHEN IT WAS ON SALE!! Stuff we bought for our kids or each other because of a gift giving obligation. Stuff that was GIFTED to us because of somebody else's gift giving obligation.

I reminds me of this quote I saw on a greeting card recently...

"ONLY A FEW MORE SHOPPING DAYS LEFT UNTIL YOUR LOVED ONES FIND OUT HOW LITTLE YOU UNDERSTAND THEM."

STUFF STUFF STUFF.

I'd say that about half the stuff in our house made us say, "eh".

No joy.

So out it went. We had a yard sale, but after 30 minutes of charging money, we started giving that stuff away.

TAKE IT. TAKE IT. TAKE IT!!!

We were cleaned out in no time, because we were giving away some really nice, really expensive stuff!!

And now... we only bring things into our house that pass the "does this bring me RED HOT CHEEKY joy" litmus test.

If gifts don't pass the test, they don't make it in the door.

My house is a bajillion times easier to clean. It's WAY more organized - because everything has a PLACE. And it's happier, because everywhere I look, I see happy things.

What I'm trying to say is this.

Please, don't buy to buy. Don't give to give.

If it's not the PERFECT THING, don't do it. Because you'll just be burdening somebody with a thing and then they'll feel guilty getting rid of that thing because it was a gift.

Shop wisely. Buy local. Give love.

xo Stasia