DECLUTTER: WHAT ENOUGH LOOKS LIKE TO ME (aka. THE GREAT CLOSET PURGE OF 2014)

You know when you read something and your brain just goes WHOOSH in an Eli Cash - Royal Tenenbaums "Pew....wildcat" kind of way?

"Getting rid of the clutter, excess, and all the things that were distracting me, made room to figure out what I wanted. I wanted freedom. Freedom from the things that weighed me down, and freedom to want what I wanted and time to do what it took to get it, and enjoy and appreciate it."

(From Courtney Carver of Project 333's post: Dressing with less will help you get everything you really want.)

Well, that was my brain a while ago which helped a closet overflowing and chock-a-block with 15 years worth of this:

Take it ALL out, try it ALL on...

transition via many, many, many loads of these:

Donate it ALL...

and fuelled by lots of this:

Nigiro's Ceylon Pettiagalla tea...

and saying goodbye to these (which were so pretty but I had never worn):

These held the promise of an (un)fashionably broken ankle...

to this:

Enough.

That is IT. 

Summer and Winter. 

Nothing hidden (shoes live separately - a post for another day). Nothing in the wash.

Breakdown:

1. The TOP top shelf holds a bag with my swimming gear. Next to that, a bag with a few Winter hats (my ears protest wind) and a pair of gloves. To the right of that, my "I'm not ready to let go of these/maybe I will wear these sometime" pile.
2. The top shelf holds a bag with two woolen Winter jerseys, and another bag with some transition season lighter cardigans.
3. The first of the smaller shelves holds my yoga teaching gear and workout wear.
4. One shelf down holds undies and pyjama sets.
5. The 2nd last shelf holds my basics: 2 pairs of jeans, 2 denim skirts (1 midi + 1 maxi), 2 pairs of denim shorts and 4 good-quality t-shirts that can be dressed up or dressed down with accessories (1 in red + black + blue + white).
6. The bottom shelf holds socks and slippers in a basket.
7. Hanging: 2 heavy Winter coats + 2 fitted blazers + 1 linen jacket + 1 soft-shell + some scarves/pashminas + 4 dresses + 2 cotton skirts + 3 collared cotton shirts.

Realisations so far:

• I used to wear only a small portion of my clothes over and over again. Boring.
• I hung on to clothing for far too long - items I had worn in my teens and twenties (I have been the same dress size since the 10th grade). Although the size still fits, the style no longer does. Honesty in this regard is vital for this process to work. People change. Roll with it.
• I cared less about the quality of the garments, and wore my favourites (that were actually LESS my favourites and more just sloppy convenience), even when the quality had deteriorated with fading/piling/small holes in the fabric. I am now aspiring to Jennifer L. Scott's lesson from Madame Chic about using only your best, and I am liking the results.
• I am far less overwhelmed when opening my cupboard because I have so much less to go through. Part of trying EVERYTHING on during the paring down phase was also making matching outfits. I now know what goes with what, thereby putting an end to the: "I have nothing to wear" in a closet FULL of clothes conundrum.

Highly recommended resources:

Tips for decluttering and paring down minimalist-style.

• The Minimalists' post: What things can you get rid of?
• The duo from New Minimalism's post: The 7 most important questions to ask yourself when decluttering and their 3-part series on closet clearing.
• The Minimalist Packrat's posts: 6 Steps for getting control over your clothes and a minimalist take on clothing.
• Reading My Tea Leaves life in a tiny apartment: survival tip #107
• Courtney Carver's (of Be More With Less and Project 333): 7 simple truths about dressing with less.

Fashion: Body Shop Make-Up

The Body Shop is having a fabulous 3 for 2 sale. Can I get a "woot"?

I just happened to mosey on in to the Brooklyn branch to pick-up a new tube of BB cream when I happened upon the sale. 

Since I also wanted to try their new Extra Virgin Minerals Loose Powder Foundation, I thought I'd throw in a new puffy make-up brush for said foundation powder, and cash-in on the 3 for 2 offer.

I haven't used loose powder foundation since finding out about my corn allergy and realising that a large number of the varieties available in South Africa are talc-based, which may or may not include corn starch (which, in retrospect, certainly explains the years of skin rashes and itching after applying powder foundation).

So the great thing about this Extra Virgin Minerals Loose Powder Foundation is the distinctive lack of talc. It contains:

Mica (Opacifier), Titanium Dioxide (Sunscreen), Kaolin (Absorbent), Illite (Anticaking Agent). [+/- CI 77492 (Colour), CI 77491 (Colour), CI 77499 (Colour), CI 77891 (Colour)].

On the subject of great Body Shop products, their Hemp Hand Protector has been a staple in my Winter toiletry kit since 2000. Nothing overcomes the Highveld's dry-skin cracking tendencies like this stuff does (especially for obsessive hand washers such as myself).

I love this video where Carrie Peterson explains her daily make-up routine and how she makes her own powder foundation powder using arrow root powder and cocoa powder. Clever!

I love wearing a hint of mascara on my upper lashes but had to throw my new Yardley one out after it made my eyes sting and burn and tear-up.

If you know of a great mascara that is particularly good for sensitive eyes, please tweet me. I'd appreciate it!

Fighting the good (immune) fight

This Winter has been a good one in terms of illness for me. 

I have managed to dodge the majority of bugs which have come knocking at my door due, in large part I believe, to daily (sometimes twice daily) yoga sessions. 

As those of you with autoimmune diseases can attest, this is no small feat.

However, there is something about the unholy triumvirate of changing seasons + a bit too much dairy + a sugar attack (hello slab of mint Lindt I comfort ate in the time span of a day) which kicked me in the metaphorical nuts. The throat tingle my husband brought home after sharing a classroom with a strep throat sufferer turned, for me, into a raging and lingering sinus/strep/chesty type infection which I am still fighting a week later.

Determined not to hot foot it to the doctor for a course of antibiotics if I can possibly help it, I have chosen instead to turn to the following mini arsenal, starting of course with the age old wisdom of:

1. REST! Nothing to it but to do it - even when you are an antsy mo fo like myself who struggles to sit still.
   
2. GINGER TEA. Fresh ginger. Boiled water. Feel the soothing and burning properties on an inflammed throat.
   
3. ACC 200. There's a delicate way to say this, but I'm not going to find it. This stuff loosens up the mucous (aka snot) so that you can hack it out - great, big, green globs of it!
   
4. LOCABIOTAL. Anti-bacterial. Antifungal. Anti-inflammatory. Spray the throat. Spray the nose. Hope for the best. Burns like a bastard.
   
5. WILD OREGANO OIL. This is a new one I haven't tried. Simmy brought some home for me yesterday, so it is a brand new soldier in my fight. Apparently, it is touted as being nature's antibiotic. We'll see how it goes.
   
6. DETOX YOGA. Granted, for the past six days my pressured head has balked at the thought of hanging upside down in downward dog and just having a shower has sent my heart into a frenzied flutter, but no matter. Today I started practising what I preach and incorporated a few detoxing poses into my standing moments, right here next to the bed. Keep the lymphatic system happy and what not.
   

So there you have it!

Link Love: Fun Reading This Week

I loved this post by Shauna Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl fame about gratitude and an appreciation for the mundane days.

PLENTY

Shenee's experience at a gym reminded me of two things: (1) Why I myself no longer go to gyms (but prefer to exercise in the quiet of nature), and (2) why I love taking a non-sizeist and non-elitist approach to teaching yoga at Tree of Life Yoga.

NOPE, MY SUPER-FIT SISTER IS NOT MY TRAINER

Yearning for minimalism and redefining your feelings about "stuff"? Courtney Carver of Be More With Less has a few suggestions on this topic.

THE 3 STEP PROCESS TO REDEFINING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH STUFF (AND HOW IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE)

Ashley Riordan eloquently has more to say on the topic.

A PAIR OF GRAY FLATS

And finally, for some kick-ass listening while reading, go no further than alt-J and their song: 

FITZPLEASURE

Gluten-Free Travel: Scenes from Dublin

University College Dublin, coffee shop, dark chocolate, fortuitous signed copy of a Liz Ryan book.

University College Dublin, terriers everywhere checking out the water fowl sitch.

Fiji Coffee Bar, gluten-free baked goodies available routinely everywhere, imagine that.

Fiji Coffee Bar, vintagey juice bottle design, nice.

Hired a Raleigh bike, main form of transport regardless of the weather (soooo much rain!), fell in love with it - perfection.

Teapigs, rooibos is so international!

Coeliac Warning: Woolworths Cream Cheese with Black Pepper

UPDATE:
You know how Shakira said hips don't lie? Well, neither does my gut!
I have received confirmation that this product is processed on the factory line directly after the Sweet Chilli variety, which contains gluten in the flavouring.
It is important to note that nowhere on the packaging does it state that it is packaged in a factory which also processes gluten. The packaging only mentions nuts.

100g of black pepper cream cheese agony right there, folks.

AND I'M MAD AS HELL ABOUT IT!

Two weeks ago I tucked into some of this stuff spread on rice cakes for lunch.

By that evening, I was writhing in intestinal cramping agony.

By the following day, the other symptoms of accidental exposure to gluten cross-contamination had started:

Joint pain.

Kidney pain.

Stomach pain.

Inability to digest food.

Heartburn.
The start of a flare-up of hidradenitis suppurativa (another uncharming autoimmune disease).

Diarrhoea.

Zero energy.

A feeling of being on the edge of getting the flu.

It took me 5 days to get any sort of energy back.

I have had coeliac disease a long time.

I stick to the most innocuous food stuffs.

What the heck is a person supposed to do when ingredients listed as the following:

Jersey Milk, Microbial Rennet, Selected Cheese Cultures, Black Pepper

make you sick as a dog?

What happens when you can't trust labelling?

When you can't trust companies that say:

Packaged in a factory that handles peanuts and tree nuts

and have, it would seem, managed to cross contaminate their product with gluten in the process?

As Simeon said to me:

There is no excuse with cross-contamination for factories and industrial/restaurant kitchens who profess to being free from gluten any more. There are gluten testing kits available that give you almost instantaneous results for anything from 5 p.p.m. to 20 p.p.m.

You make me angry, Woolworths.

You make me angry with your disdain in your lack of response to a customer complaint.

For an example of the polar opposite:

This is a photos from a packet of Keogh's Irish Crisps, a product I felt confident consuming while travelling in Dublin (suitable for vegetarians and clearly labelled as gluten-free). I highly recommend them as a snack for coeliacs travelling in Ireland.

Now there is a great example of knowing what goes into your product, right down to the spud!

Hazaa to Featured Writing and Consumer Awards

Hazaa!

BE BRAVE, BE BRAVE, BE BRAVE!

My writing is featured today over at Kind Over Matter with a post entitled:
Be Brave.

FAIRLADY CONSUMER AWARDS

My blog is entered in the food blogger category. Voting closes 27 July 2014.

If you likey this site and its recipes, please consider voting for me HERE.

Simple Salad Starter

While decluttering my home in a brush with #newminimalism, I have decluttered the dishes I have been serving up of late as well.

Decluttering a dish into more simple flavours is not, I believe, the same as deconstruction at all.

Decluttering allows each bold or nuanced flavour to speak for itself, while mingling nicely at the flavour party with its temporary friends.

Such is the nature of decluttered tastes.

Your palate will thank you.

• Form a tripartite alliance between:
• wild rocket;
• julienned fresh beetroot;
• smoked Italian provolone.
• Drizzle with buttery olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Part 2: Gluten-Free, Egg-Free Vanilla Biscuits with Lemon Curd Filling

Part 2: The Filling

Lemon curd. Lemony. Custardy. Oh so yummy between vanilla biscuits.

List of ingredients here.

Method:

1. Boil glass jars to sterilise them.

2. Grate the zest of 3 lemons + squeeze the juice.

3. Whisk egg yolks + sugar. Melt butter. Add lemon juice + lemon zest. Stir till it thickens (approx. 15 mins).

4. Decant into a sterilised glass jar. Allow to cool. Glue your vanilla biccies together. Store lemon curd in the fridge.

Part 1: Gluten-Free, Egg-Free Vanilla Biscuits with Lemon Curd Filling

Part 1: The Biscuits

Credit for the framework of this wonderful biscuit recipe goes to Emily from Recipes to Nourish.

Buttery. Melt-in-your-mouth. Four ingredients. Easy peasy.

Need I say more?

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup white rice flour (Entice rice flour)
• 1/4 cup excellent tasting honey (liquid)
• 1 pinch of vanilla seeds or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter

Method:

Pick subtle tasting and beautiful honey. Use vanilla seeds instead of extract if possible.

• Process ingredients in a food processor until a ball of dough is formed.

• Roll tablespoon-sized balls and flatten slightly between your palms, laying the dough on a buttered and floured non-stick baking sheet.

• If you're feeling compelled, decorate the dough with a cookie cutter imprint.

• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 8 minutes.

• Allow biccies to cool on the tray before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.

Part 2: The Filling follows tomorrow...