February 16, 2019 In Uncategorized

abandon ship!

I mean…abandon crap!

It’s Saturday afternoon. We’ve just finished up another project helping a client take back control of their life, and I’m finally having a few quiet minutes at my desk. Shocker I’m thrilled to have some time to read articles about lifestyle and minimalism that have popped in my inbox recently. I’m adopting the following as the quote of my month of February. It makes me cheer and imagine high-fiving all the soon-to-be clients I will repeat it to:

“Never underestimate the importance of abandoning crap you don’t need. It has the power to change your life dramatically.”

We got this sweet card in the mail from a client we worked with a few weeks ago:

We helped this client abandon a LOT of crap. No, her lifelong items bought with hard-earned money were not garbage, but they were things she no longer needed/wanted/used, and they were holding her back from moving on to the next adventure in life she wants to be on. So? We said peace out, crap! as we waved goodbye and thank you to the donation truck and driver from AMVETS.

(Did I mention how much we love our clients and they become like family?)

Circling back to today…

I just texted one of the realtors I work with and told him the first thought that popped in my head the instant my eyes opened this morning was I wonder if the donation truck has picked up the items from the house yet. The house I’m referring to is the one we prepped for market ready this week. Photos are being taken on Monday, and the house is officially up for sale next weekend. Most people on a Saturday morning would be waking up thinking of coffee, a honey-do list, kids sports games to get to, or who’s turn it is to cook the bacon. My 24/7 thoughts are constantly trying to come up with more ideas on how I can help those around me abandon more crap, so they can seamlessly get to where they’re trying to be.

Can you imagine trying to wake up and get dressed and out the door to your job, or get your kids off to school after walking into your closet looking like this?

If you can’t find your socks, how can you find your sanity in this busy life?

The above photos are from the Blue Lollipop Road collection of before and after. In this case, the “after” aren’t even fully complete, but you get the idea. The before are the reason I wake up thinking about abandoning crap and donation trucks. They also make my head hurt thinking of how stressed I’d be if that was the closet I attempted to dress myself in on a daily basis. No wonder why everyone in America is beeping and angry by the time they reach the Starbucks drive through at 7:30AM Monday – Friday.

IF YOU HAVE LESS CRAP. YOU HAVE LESS CRAP TO MAINTAIN.

Doesn’t that sound so freeing?

ABANDON THE CRAP AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

I promise, it works, and we can help you:)

Maybe tomorrow I’ll wake up thinking only about bacon…

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #LiveSimpleDoMore #KnowYourInventory

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February 8, 2019 In Uncategorized

join me tomorrow: downsizing

Luxury Home builder, Toll Brothers has asked me to come for a 3rd time to host a downsizing seminar for their prospective and recent home buyers. Tomorrow (Saturday February 8, 2019) I will be at their Regency at Palisades location, just outside of Charlotte, NC. I was at this property last year and LOVED it. During my first visit, I asked the ladies in the office, Is this where our parents move to have more fun than we do?! Pool, golf, club house with chef’s kitchen, tennis and bocce courts, massage therapist, fitness center, and more…and all on site? Yes, please. This community is designed for an active lifestyle. (Didn’t you know 60 is the new 30?)

So what happens tomorrow? I will casually sit and have a conversation in the gorgeous open living room/kitchen/dining area one of the model homes. I’ll advise on how to declutter a lifetime of “stuff,” and plan for a path to more freedom and fun. The Palisades homes are not tiny homes, they’re between 1,700 – 2,400 square feet. Downsizing doesn’t mean living in zero space, it means living simple so you can DO more. It means clearing the chaos from your life, so you have MORE time, space, and money. It means stepping out of the Drone Zone, and getting unstuck.

Are you ready to make a change?

You know I love to talk. Come sit on a couch with me and let’s chat about your next chapter…

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #LiveSimpleDoMore #Downsize

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January 29, 2019 In Uncategorized

downsize-o-rama

For anyone who thinks working for yourself would be awesome, you’re right. If you think after you start, you’ll also:

Get rich

Have easy as pie days

Always wear pretty things

Feel glamorous

Sleep 8+ hours a night

Actually be done when you walk out the door

…you’re crazy.

I’m on a 10 day straight run of work like mad, time crunch, let’s get this house on the market now, I’ll sleep later, run. Just 2 more days before break time.

Have it any other way? No, thanks. As my friend Aaron says, I’d rather work 80 for myself any week, before I work 40 for someone else.

AMEN! (And also, we spent the holidays in the Caribbean, so being the boss means you get to choose when to burn the candle at both ends at work, then relax while you light one on the table next to you at the beach as you sip on a corona:)

We finished up a 5,000 square foot purge, organize, and stage to sell in Charlotte, NC last week, then Team BLR directly road tripped up to VA for a much smaller 1,700 square foot home project, filled with lots more than the bigger one had. (Yes! We LOVE to travel to clients. From Texas to Tokyo…we can do it! Call us. We will come to YOU anywhere.) Let the open all drawers and closets, and SEE everything, begin! You’ve got to make a mess, before you make it better. (That’s with everything in life, right?)

(In case you missed above, yes, this is the glamorous uniform I sport in my “office” each day.)

Whoa. Lots of stuff! Intimidated? Never. We aren’t done with this current project yet, but here’s a good idea of a before and after:

This is only just taking off/out/away the piles, and coverings, and repurposing furniture around the house. We snapped this quick photo before we ran out the door tonight, and might change things around another 10 times, but oh the freedom of light, space, and what’s already there to stage if you don’t have the money/time/need to stage with furniture brought in!

Yay.

The best feeling is that we know this client we are working with on this downsize, will soon move closer to her grown kids, grand kids, have less to maintain/less work to keep up with around her next smaller space, and she’ll be able to relax and have more time to do what she loves.

Less stuff. More freedom. Happy life.

YAHTZEE!

Are you ready to get unstuck?

Ok, better hop in the shower and put on something other than my BLR sweatshirt and old jeans so I can get out for date night dinner, all fresh and clean, with my partner in crime. I’m not sure he’s seen me in anything but that uniform in quite some time…

#LiveSimpleDoMore #LoveYourWork #TodayIsTheDay


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January 18, 2019 In Uncategorized

less stuff. more freedom. happy 2019

I had a BlackBerry Pearl when everyone else had an iPhone, until I moved Charlotte because I loved it. (Nerd!) I don’t look nearly as cool as the other girls and guys in their all matching ultra planned out fresh new get ups at the gym because I still wear old soccer, and other favorite shirts I love that I’ve hacked up with scissors:

…and I drive a car that’s 15 years old and has 260k on it, because I love, love, love it. I’ve never thought of myself as way ahead of the curve or super trendy, but turns out I am! I’ve only and always ever kept/owned things that I love and make me happy.

This Marie Kondo life-changing trend of joy and magic sweeping the universe since her book a few years back and the tidal wave obsession her advice has created over the last couple weeks since her show Tidying Up starting airing on Netflix has me saying, REALLY!?! like Seth & Amy. When was it EVER a good decision to keep/have any things (or people) in our lives that don’t bring us joy? I thought everyone got that memo long ago.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to think this make sure joy sparks when you see/touch/feel everything you own mayhem happening will have me seeing less eye rolls from clients when I remind them you only have only 4 burners on your stove so how many frying pans can you really use?! and more high-fives & fist pumps as we purge, baby, purge the excess crap that’s burying them, en route to their freedom. But! For a gal like me who’s been living on her bright blue lollipop soapbox proudly labeled LESS STUFF, MORE FREEDOM, HAPPY LIFE…for years, I’m starting to wonder if I need to morph myself into an adorable tiny zen Japanese woman to get people to truly tune in.

Seriously though, if this cute little doll faced woman is what it takes for the world to start thinking about how they actually feel each day, and what they really want out of life, then address those most important to-do’s…I shall bow to the queen of “tidying.” Keep it up, sister!

While Marie jet sets the globe sparking joy in homes rolling t-shirts and filing papers, I’m going to keep lighting fires under asses of people that are ready to start fresh by setting their whole “place” up in controlled burn style flames.

GO TEAM DIANE MARIE! (Marie is actually my middle name:)

It’s a new year, and high time to sort out, kick out, or throw out any and all that makes you feel stuck, suffocated, or like crap. If you need someone to light your ass on fire, call me! (Seriously…call me at 804.339.6514, email Diane(@)bluelollipoproad.com, or send a message on my contact page.) I will Marie Kondo (ahem, Diane Peacock), the flip out of your life.

No more waiting.

We chose to spend the holidays in the Caribbean, because we’ve committed to wasting as little time, space, and money as possible, so we can do things like this.

How are you going to find more freedom in 2019?

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #LiveSimpleDoMore #BLRLifestyle

*I was asked to host another downsizing seminar here February 9th, so if you’ll be in the in the Charlotte, NC area, please join us! More info. to come soon!

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