Simplifying Beauty

I don't know that I would call myself a girly girl but I definitely like to look presentable when I head out the door in the mornings. At any rate, I discovered liquid eye liner about 5 years ago or so and every since I've been hooked although I wasn't crazy about the potential mess of some eye liners and the fact that I've dumped the bottle of eye lining liquid more than once. Well, imagine my absolute surprise when I went into shoppers a few weeks ago to replace my now used up liquid eye liner and found out technology has taken a step forward in liquid liners! I picked up the new Maybelline master precise eyeliner which is like a felt pen for your eyes and thought I would give it a whirl.  No more over lining or spilling of liner everywhere! Perfect!! I have been in love ever since. It's not only a great product but also simplifies my beauty routine and helps me not waste precious minutes in the morning wiping up spilled liner......That's a win in my books. You can also check out the Maybelline site and some videos of the product Here. I haven't advanced beyond the simple line, but there are definitely possibilities with this product for those that are more artistic!

Alberta Votes 2012- Reminder

I wanted to write a whole post about other things that are currently happening in my life, but the vote tomorrow is too important to not post about again. I promise next Sunday I will be back with something newly organized and fresh!!

But please, please, please.....if you live in Alberta- GO OUT AND VOTE!!!! All the details you need are in my post form last week. I don't even care who you vote for as long as you let your voice be heard. Let's get our voting rate up from last time we went to the polls!

Alberta Votes 2012

So I initially expected this year's word "simplicity" to take me on a journey of decluttering my house. I really saw it in the physical sense. However, as I embark further on this journey I realize how simplicity can really be lived out in everyday life. The word is truly transforming my mind and how I approach my world.

This month is an important one for Alberta. We are out to the polls for our provincial election. Simplicity has taken on a new form for me in this. I am realizing that simply going out to the polls is not enough. I need to become more invested in this election - no I am not going door knocking to complicate my life with additional commitments- but I am challenging why I vote the way I vote and what is the best way for me to vote. Simply- I am doing my part to become an informed citizen.

And while elections are not simple in any way shape or form. You can easily spend all day reading what the newspapers and facebookers are saying. I am not reading every piece of garbage and nonsense that is being thrown about by the election but I am looking at candidates profiles and watching the debates. So in the spirit of simplifying your lives I have put together a few links you may find of interest as you navigate the barrage of weblinks, news coverage, etc. this election time.

1. where do you go to vote? Am I registered to vote? check it out here:

http://www.elections.ab.ca/Public%20Website/index.htm

2. what party do I align with the most? This was very eye opening for me to complete. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/albertavotes2012/features/votecompass.html

3. Live coverage of the last debate: http://watch.ctv.ca/news/latest/alberta-debate/#clip657448

3. and last but not least the parties and what they stand for. They can all be accessed off this site. http://www.elections.ab.ca/Public%20Website/603.cfm

and while I am not encouraging you to vote for any particular party, I am encouraging you to see what's out there and get out and simply get your voice heard! We are so privileged to have this opportunity!

$170

I am working towards making these posts a regular thing on Sunday nights. My Sundays are typically the day that I use to wind up for the week ahead, reflect on what the last week was like, plan my coming week and reflect on life in general. At the risk of making this overly philosophical I will stop there- just know that I do a lot of planning, thinking etc. in my head on a day to day basis with the peak of this planning occurring on Sundays!

So now that I've gotten that off my chest I would like to share with you why this post is titled $170. Well that is the exact dollar amount that I've made selling clothing out of my closet over the past 3 months. Not too shabby hey? I was pretty proud of myself. To think that instead of hoarding clothes for so long I was actually hoarding close to $200. We're not talking a bunch of high end, brand name clothes either. These were your run of the mill everyday, normal people clothes. that's what's so amazing about it!!

I have now "liquidated" that money and can use it on things that I really need or something that I've had my eye on for some time but haven't had the funds to buy. It was pretty easy too, just contacting a local consigner, cleaning and pressing my clothes, taking them over there, and then picking up the $ when my time was up.

What would you do with an extra $170 dollars? How much money do you think you are "holding" onto and not letting yourself access. I would challenge you to think about that and think about selling some of your own clothes.

Things to Do: Simplifying the Everyday

I have been on this journey of simplifying my life for 3 months now. I am behind in posting everything I've accomplished, but that will come. I am not trying to replace clutter etc. with the pressure to post here so you'll have to bear with me! Just trust that there are good things to come.

This week I wanted to update on the number of things I've purged from my home in addition to a tool that I've been using to help me simplify how I go about my week.

Here's how I used to conquer my to-do list. I would sit down on the weekend usually Sunday and come up with a long and detailed list of everything I had to accomplish that week. I would even add those things that would be nice to do to the list, but not necessarily things that need to get done. This would result in a long, daunting list that there was no way I would get through every week. I was not simplifying life, but rather making things WAY more complicated for myself. I needed to do something, and fast.

I found this little beauty at Indigo that has really made life easier. I now have a to-do this that captures my entire list by week but also breaks it down day to day. I only put those things that I feel I can accomplish in each day (keeping in mind that I also have a full time job) and then I feel victorious 7 times each week as I complete each days activities and highlight them off.

I can take one day at a time and it FEELS GREAT!!!!!

Here's my copy of last weeks. I knew my schedule was a bit full so some days in addition to work there is only one extra chore. Take a look!

Update of Purged Items:

My last total was 63 items you can find the post here and here's what I have since purged. With the list below I have no purged a total of 162! Woot! That's an average of more than 50 items per month- awesome!!!!

- 12 tops

- 1 pj bottoms

- 2 sweat pants

- 1 sweat shirt

- 4 dog collars

- 1 santa hat

- 6 books

- 3 nicknacks

- 1 paper holder

- 23 pens/pencils

- 13 pairs of socks

- 5 pillow cases

- 1 pair pants

- 2 jackets

- 2 packages muffin mix

- 1 bottle purfume

- pencil case

- laptop carry case

- 1 skirt

- 1 dress

- old makeup

- 1 pair shoes

- pedometer

- address book

- key chain

- 4 plastic food containers

- 4 water bottles

- 2 vases

- 2 bowls