the joy of less

                                      
been reading 'the joy of less' a minimalist living guide by francine jay, which has inspired me to get rid of a lot of stuff that's been hanging around my apartment for really no reason. the book, along with the pictures of the author's minimalist bedroom on her blog and the pics of others' entire closet contents, like the author of the blog 'castles in the air' whose name escapes me right now, have been really inspirational to me. in the book, francine jay describes that feeling you have on the day you move in to a new place. it's just a nice feeling of having a blank slate, a fresh start. and often when you move it has come after or during a big decluttering session. i don't know why throwing stuff out or giving stuff away feels so good. but it does. i don't like to feel that i'm so attached to the things that i own because ultimately, you can't take it with you. i'd like to be one of those people who can move at a moment's notice with no stress. that sounds ideal to me because moving is such a pain.


did a lot of grooming this weekend, in the form of whitening my teeth at the dentist (which was tedious and expensive!) and getting my hair trimmed today. i love the feeling of someone else washing my hair, so relaxing, and i love when i go to a salon and it's quiet and peaceful, not a lot of customers around chatting about nothing and loud blow dryers on everywhere. the stylist i had told me that usually it's much busier, so i guess i lucked out. he asked me if i ever watch the real housewives on new jersey and i said no. apparently they are customers of the salon i went to. having never seen that show i didn't really know what to comment about that.


i've had this kind of dull constant headache all weekend, and it's been annoying because i've been trying to get into the minimalism book. and it doesn't help that my neighbors have been so noisy. i try to count my blessings and remember that it was worse, much worse when i had a roommate and didn't live alone. but it's still annoying to hear loud hip hop music when you want to open your kitchen window and get some fresh air, or to hear a loud conversation/argument in the apartment above me (right above my bedroom) at 7:30am on a sunday morning. but those are the things you put up with when living in an apartment. i really took for granted the quiet that i always had when i lived in my parent's house. that was truly a luxury.