Dear Target

I am really sad.

I was so excited for you to open your doors in Canada.

I won't deny it, I was not happy that your shelves were not quite as full as those of my American cousins. But you had stuff.

Stuff I liked.

Stuff I bought.

I could not have re-done the living room without the rug we found. You know, I drove to two of your stores to find it. I had hope. I had faith in you. And you had it. I say "it" like I was looking for something specific. I wasn't. I was just looking for something that would work.

I don't think you really appreciate how impossible it is to find nice large area rug in my price range in this city. Truly. Without you, I really don't think I'll ever find a decent one again.

The pouf! No one else even has poufs!

Another hard to find item in the price bracket I'm willing to pay?

Oven mitts. Yes. Nuts, I know, but decent, unobtrusive oven mitts are hard to find at a price I am willing to sacrifice to the dog from time to time. After he gets a hold of these, it'll be back to the gaudy things from Wally's world, I'm afraid.

Oh and there's a hand towel! Thank goodness I picked up a bunch of those last time I was in.

I'm not sure there's a room in my home that hasn't been touched by you.

My entryway.

I was so happy to find that tray.

The living room, of course. Changing up my living room this fall changed my life. Truly.

 the bowl. (But not the cacti.)

Looking at this reminds me how hard it is to find decent lamps--bases and shades.

The frame I chose for the picture I had taken with my Grandmother who passed away this fall.


The dining room/home office:

Such a great colour to that lamp.

That bird was just what was needed here.

And, of course, there is the bowl which started the whole kitchen refresh.

The curtains made out of the table cloth (eta: it was a shower curtain, not a tablecloth). Goodness, I feel like crying.

That fabric.
That fabric.
There is no decent fabric anywhere local. There just isn't.


My bedroom.

The mirror.

still in the box.

my lamp.

my sheets.

I even invited Target for Christmas this year.

I really was excited to find some buddies for my reindeer.

I had a hard time finding pretty plates this year. Home goods just had the gaudiest things. But you came through--even though I never realised there was a whole Christmas shop on your second floor.

Sparkly placemats. How fun is that?

Such a lovely table runner.

sigh.

Target, I wish you'd reconsider and just get the product into your stores. If you have to, close three of the four you have here in the city. (Only one of them was decently stocked, anyway.) You know I made a special trip to one of your stores one evening just to pick up your Threshold jug. It is a gorgeous jug. You were out.

But now, I will never have it.

You have returned me to home decor purgatory.

I'll miss you.

Assignment #9: Project Day.

Our assignment was to pick something off of our list.

I decided I would knock off a bunch of small projects instead of working on something big. I was craving instant gratification.

Instead, the whole day felt like eating a popsicle in the hot sun while it is dripping all over you and making you sticky and that last bit that's always so tricky to get just... falls... off.

Project #1. Install a longer extension cord behind the dresser.

Yep, Nope. Didn't work. No gratification.


Project #2. Tape two plastic bags together over the big brown drapes so I can get them into storage.

Well, OK, mildly gratifying, but mostly tedious. Now of course, I have to actually carry them down two flights of stairs and put them into storage. Too much work. (They're heavy.)

Project #3. Paint and "finish" pull out shelf.

sigh. I forgot the damn paint takes 16 hours to dry. Yes. 16. Nothing "instant" about that, now is there? Then there will be the rest of it to do. (I am going to put butcher block oil on it just because I want to see what it does.)

Project #4. Put another coat of wax on the coffee table.

Ok. That was OK.

Project #5. Clean the bathroom.

That felt much better.

From the Weekend: Scenes from the Kitchen Cure

I started on Friday and stopped on Monday.

Notice I didn't say "finish." That's 'cause I didn't finish. I did not clean the cabinets over the stove nor over the fridge. I did not clean the lower cabinets. I also didn't get to a couple of drawers.

But good enough is good enough.

I started a bit behind the 8 ball with a messy, messy kitchen.

I did countless loads of dishes.

Finally, I got these counters spotless.

Only to find Emma camped out on them later that night!

That's a paste made up of Dawn dish soap and baking soda. It does an OK job. I used to use it all the time, all over the inside of the oven.

But I don't have to, anymore! When we bought our new range a few years ago, I insisted we spend the extra bucks and get a self-cleaning oven. Woot! Living in the lap of luxury, now!

I cleaned this cupboard.

I found a few things to let go of.

These bowls are the last remains of a set of dishes my aunt bought for me in 1987.

The oldest food I found was a small jar of instant coffee dated....are you ready for it?


2004.


Yep. I remember I bought it to make an ice cream cake for my Mother's birthday one year.

That was Friday, my birthday.

On Saturday, I worked.

That night, I cleaned the coffee maker.

On Sunday, I started cleaning with the drawers. But then I went to work.

Monday.

I saved the fridge for Monday.

And that's all I've got.

Except for today. Today we have this:

I really hope the ceiling looks good painted blue!

Christmas Decorations Tidied.

I got rid of that red, gold and green chain garland. It just seemed loud and obnoxious to me.

I read Marie Kondo's book, The Magic of Tidying last week.

Ignoring all the odd bits (like objects have feelings and desires), her process for decluttering is helpful.

I decided to keep the Christmas cds with the tree as putting up the tree is the first time we want them.

Pick the object up, ask yourself, "Does this bring me joy?" Then, pay attention. How do you feel? Put it down in the keep pile or the toss pile, depending on your reaction.

The first page in this, my Christmas planner, tells me to buy Christmas cards and wrapping paper.

That is it in a nutshell. There's a procedure for going through your home (Kondo recommends starting with your clothes and then moving on to books and then other things. For obvious reasons, Christmas decorations are not a category.) She also advises you to dump everything you are considering out on the floor in order to force yourself pick up each and every item.

I didn't do that.

The newly emptied outbox is getting filled back up again.

But, I did go through each and every box.

I asked the question.

I got rid of two boxes worth of stuff.

And when I got everything back to its home under the basement stairs, I wondered how they had ever fit in the first place!