North Carolina

micro-apartments rock my socks

After reading this article last week about micro-apartments coming to Charlotte, I jumped out of bed like an excited kid ready to race downstairs to see what was under the Christmas tree. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve mentioned in conversation since moving to the Queen City, that I wished well designed micro-spaces were here.

Ask and you shall receive!

My favorite apartment to date was the 430 square foot one I had in Virginia back in 2009:

Small smart spaces

Small smart space

Small is simple. Simple is smart. Smart is mighty.

I have no idea why I took or saved these shots. Perhaps they were meant just for this, eight years later. The above is what my place looked like every day in all of It’s simple, small, unfussy, glory. No extra CRAP anywhere to take care of/manage or pay for! Ahhh…I love you, freedom! (Not pictured are my full sized bathroom and kitchen.) The units were brand new and my rent was $595/month. At the time I rented there, the developer tried selling me the unit. It would’ve only been $80k to own. What a deal. I should have scooped that spot up in a heartbeat. I’ve occasionally kicked myself for not doing it.

A Charlotte Agenda writer put out this piece today about the new micro-apartments coming soon. I completely disagree with her. The claim of small spaces and everything having to have a place all the time being stressful, is the exact opposite of anything I’ve ever experienced. (Still love you anyway, Agenda!) Everyday I work with clients who hire me because they have too much space, too much stuff, too many expenses…and they’ve reach a point they’re so over it all. I’ve found time and time again that the stressed and buried feelings much of us swirl in, are directly related to the excess of everything in our lives, not because the carefully selected items we’ve chosen, we love, and we actually use are best kept in their specific places at days end.

I’d never try to convince anyone who wasn’t interested, to live in a small space. You do you! I don’t necessarily think big is bad. I do think however, that far too many of us are incredibly wasteful, living smack dab in the middle of a serious drone zone believing we need a whole lot more than we actually do, to be happy.

I’ll see you for the Grand Opening at The RailYard!

#SmartSpaces #LiveSimpleDoMore #LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife

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gettin’ hitched

I went to a lot of weddings this year. My sister recently teased me, “Mom and I think you’ve been to more weddings than anyone else we know!”

Probably true. I love weddings. I love, love. I am a love geek.

So yes, I love weddings, and I’m a huge, huge schmoopy (thanks, Goette!) love geek, but I’ve never wanted my own big wedding. Read this piece from today’s Charlotte Agenda about getting married at the courthouse. Yeah! Perfection. Katie & Nick are my kind of peeps with their simple but sweet wedding plan and execution.

In 2015 as invites to weddings kept coming into my mailbox, I was thrilled for 2016 travel; Napa, Tahoe, Aspen, Charlotte…hello awesome celebration spots! Lucky me to have amazing friends living in fabulous places. I had a blast. If you catch me on a good day I might share details about the 6 hours straight I spent on the dance floor after Aspen nuptials wearing my animal print stilettos every second thankyouverymuch. (Thanks, Ronnie!) Lets just say I’m still giggling from that one. Misbehaving is sometimes fun, much deserved, and completely necessary.

Some people like big parties, some like small. I like a dance party. However you like to plan and do your party, do it. I will be there every time. Celebrating love and knowing there is plenty out there is all that matters:

Surprises

You might see me at a courthouse soon, at a fountain in Madrid, or just on another dance floor. Life certainly does take turns we don’t expect.

Here’s to love in every shape/color/size/place. Cheers my friends!

Blue martini

(Of course It’s a blue martini!)

#OnlyTheBeginning #LessStuffMoreLoveHappyLife #Celebration

*Have you scrolled to the bottom of my web page and signed up to get these blog posts in your email inbox yet? Please do! Feel the love:)

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learn about the secret lives of hoarders

Have you ever been curious to learn about why some people get addicted to “stuff?” Do you have someone in your life affected by hoarding? Come learn with us tomorrow night! We (the Carolina Organizers group) are hosting my good friend (and former boss), Matt Paxton from 4pm – 8pm at the Harvest Center of Charlotte to talk about who hoards and why this dilemma isn’t going away.

I’ve personally known Matt for 10+ years and have come to know this fantastic guy with immeasurable experience in the hoarding world very well. He makes this otherwise uncomfortable subject approachable and has helped countless people live happier, healthier, better lives through his work. His style of teaching is the perfect balance of being humorous, and compassionate. This will be a great event for anyone who wants to understand a little better about this subject and the attachments we have to physical things.

Here we are a few years back when I worked for Paxton in VA:

Paxton award

Register here now and join us tomorrow night, Thursday October 20, 2016!

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #Hoarding #Addiction

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i wish

I fell asleep texting with a friend last night at midnight telling him I felt like I was living in a war zone with the sound of helicopters and pop, pop, pop outside my windows. I live a few blocks from Uptown (Charlotte’s “downtown”) where lots of violence and madness has been happening.

I’m currently sitting at a Starbucks, just a few miles outside Uptown trying to focus on work and epically failing. It feels impossible to keep my mind out of the spin cycle thoughts of how incredibly messed up humans are these days. On a happy note, a police officer just walked in near me and a guy standing in line shook his hand and thanked him…then bought him a coffee. That made me smile.

I had a lunch meeting before this and when I walked in the restaurant, I passed by a table of 4 police officers.  Full uniforms and bullet proof vests. I stopped and thanked them, shared that I had just sent an email to some good friends of mine who I consider family (firefighters, police officers, ATF, FBI.) They thanked me for thanking them. Part of the email I sent to my public safety friends:

I have no idea how you ever had the selflessness to decide you wanted to do that kind of work however many years ago. I wish I was that awesome.

Oh the gratitude I continually have for all of the men & women in public service of any kind who help gift us freedoms and safety.

THANK YOU!

3 days a week in the early morning, I run in Uptown Charlotte, through the exact blocks that are now smashed to god knows what and ridden with graffiti after last night. Thursday mornings are typical run day for me. I ran a different route today. I had the inclination to crank out my normal routine and run through the heart of The Queen City as per usual to survey the damage, but I quickly snapped into…yeah…no…I don’t need to see that.

The media is awful, social media is worse. Nutty people are given free platforms to create chaos, and we react. It makes my head spin in shock and disbelief. I have numerous thoughts and opinions about the state of my city, this country, and this world, but instead of ranting about those, I will share what I thought about during my run this morning on that alternate route I took…

I kept thinking of the words, I wish.

I wish that each and every one of us, each and every day took just 5 minutes. 5 little minutes in silence, away from phones, laptops, TV screens, etc. to think about things like:

*What it felt like the first time we got our hearts broken
*What it would be like to be a police officer and get spit on
*How we felt last time we stood over a casket
*What that gut-punch feeling was like when our friend called to tell us they had cancer
*What it would be like to lose a baby
*What our days would entail if we were in a wheel chair
*How it feels when others judge us
*What it would be like to grow up without a mom or dad
*Those years we were broke as a joke
*How helpless we feel when someone we love gets hurt

Maybe if we took just 5 minutes to stop and think about what life has been, could be, or is for so many around us…we’d be much more loving, understanding and less violent with each other.

I wish.

Zero Violence World

#Charlotte #HowIWish #HateNeverWins

 

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tiny me up, scotty!

Thanks to Charlotte Agenda for this little (get it, little?!:) nugget of info. today about tiny houses for rent around my neck of the woods.

When I lived in Wilmington in 2009, I rented a brand spanking newly finished tiny house, (before anyone called them tiny houses) in the back yard of a sweet young couple who had a brick ranch and a cute 2 year old son. My tiny house was actually a converted shed and I only paid $525/month. The hubby, Zack had done all the work himself, complete with chalkboard wall in kitchen, pullout drawer dishwasher, modern rectangular bathroom sink, loft bed, high ceilings, and skylight. It was AWESOME.

I sure wish I still had that place!

This is where minimalists like me have an occasional DOH! moment:

I just looked for a few photos I took of my fab mini space to share with you here, and sure enough found that I have deleted them in one of my 7 million photo purging fiestas over the years. You will just have to envision the scene of my bike parked right outside white-trimmed french doors on the patio leading into my beach happy home that was light blue. I did find this summer of 2009 ocean shot of my feet during that time:

Beach Feet 2009

Ahhh…

What can you do to simplify your space so you’re able to live more?

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #Simplicity #GetTinyLiveBig

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a time for incomparable experiences

I love waking up in the city:

CLT Skyline

…in the very early morning when the sun has just come up and the streets are all quiet. It’s like a peaceful calm before the traffic storm, those few precious moments for those of us who live on the pavement when we can sip coffee and dream big in peace before the honks and screeches start.

The city; A place where action happens and the world moves quickly. How I love it, and then escaping that madness to the complete opposite end of the spectrum which I love just as much (maybe a little bit more) at this point in my life. This was my happy drive to a client home today in the country:

Country NC

NC Green

Being in cement city for a Vermont girl during the warm months is very hard. Being in cement city for a nomadic-souled national park-loving, freedom-needing road tripping girl is very hard, so drives like this are always welcome. I need open windows, and green spaces. I need outside not inside, and I need room to breathe. Play It Forward Weekend kicks off 3 weeks from today in my home state, and I can’t wait. I always feel my absolute best, most creative, alive, and easy going self on the road. For as much work as this big event entails, it fuels me back tenfold to be able to hop in the car, all windows down and head far north to connect with the place and people I came from and do something good.

I spent many of my young adult years “on the road” in open spaces during the summer doing things like sitting in German biergartens, hiking in and around national parks, driving and camping across the country, and sitting in a hammock in the middle of the South Pacific. This time of year I think about every “kid” like me all that time ago who is boarding a plane heading for a language program in a country far away, or that group of gal pals who just finished up college and are now road-tripping across the country to go work at some random beach bar for the next couple months before they start their “real jobs.” I think about that group of guy friends who are planning a long 4th of July weekend away in the mountains to hike and camp in the next state over. I think about the recent high school grad about to embark on a Gap Year adventure, and I think…HELL YEAH! These are the times.

Oh my gosh that feeling and those experiences. They are THE BEST EVER, and nothing compares.

If you’re a parent reading this, please encourage your kids go on that trip/program/study abroad. They will become forever changed and even more badass than they already are. If you’re a twenty-something reading this and you’re slaving away at a minimum wage job that you hate before you go back to college, tell your boss thanks anyway, pack and bag and go somewhere new. Go explore anything you’ve wanted to before you get bogged down and locked down. You will never regret it, I promise.

My business is teaching people how to live simple so they can do more and be more of what they love. I work with clients typically age 45 – 65 who are making big life changes. A lot of them are getting themselves “unstuck” (whether their decision or not) from situations that were not working or not fun for a lot of years. Either during or at the end of my projects, nearly every single person shares the same three things:

1.) “I wish I had done this sooner.” (Downsizing, moving, jumping, making change, etc.)

2.) “I can’t believe how much stuff I have/had.” (Physical, financial, and personal.)

3.) “I wish I had traveled more when I was younger.”

During this time of year when air is warm and possibilities seem endless, all I think of is why doesn’t everyone who has any power, authority, or advisory over young people just tell them to go, go GO. Go before you collect a whole bunch of that “stuff” like I did! 

For any of my clients who might look back and wish they did things a bit differently, I know I have at least helped them feel more freedom that they might not have otherwise been able to get to. It is so rewarding. We leave each other with hugs most every time and I feel like we teach each other so much. At the end of the day whether you’re 25, 45 or 65, all we really want is to have good times with good people. The stuff really doesn’t matter…period. I learn that again and again and again.

So many of us make big humongous ginormous life decisions (like college majors, careers, cars, houses, spouses, pets, babies, etc.) at ridiculously young ages and far before we have seen the world at all or built the best possible tool box to actually make those often life-altering decisions. Before we decide on important commitments that will seriously change the course of our existence on this planet, I say get lost, go broke, laugh with strangers, try that weird thing, feel uncomfortable, open your mind, don’t listen to naysayers. Move to that place you’ve always been curious about, quit whatever is breaking your heart or sucking your soul. Get up early, stay up late, work hard for what you want and it will all come together. Get your own life, don’t live someone else’s.

Hit the “road,” Jack, Jill, and everyone else who’s young bucket list is overflowing! Collect people and experiences, not stuff. I’ll be thinking of you with big smiles as I hit the road myself here soon, imagining all the awesome adventures you’ll have.

#DoStuffDontBuyStuff #Explore #LiveTheLifeYouWantToLive

 

 

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