It’s almost 6 p.m. and I still haven’t made it to the gym. But for good reason!
Our apartment is clean.
Floors are vacuumed (and scrubbed!). Counters are wiped down. Towels and floor mats are washed. My suitcase from last weekend’s trip to Chicago is finally unpacked.
But, perhaps the most freeing thing I did today was pack up three bags full of clothes, accessories and shoes I no longer want or need.
I tend to hold on to clothes for a very long time. In fact, the majority of the clothing and accessories you see pop up on the fashion page are items I purchased years ago. This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not a particularly good thing when it comes to closet space.
When I went through my clothes this afternoon, I got rid of the clothes that fell into the following categories:
- Winter apparel that I didn’t wear once last season. If I didn’t like it enough this year, chances are I won’t like it next year either.
- Unflattering clothes I wish looked good on me. Sometimes I buy trendy items hoping that maybe they’ll look good on me. In the end they always make me feel awkward and self conscious. Gotta go!
- “I don’t care if these get ruined” clothes. I save some older clothes to have on hand just in case I need to wear something I can get ruined. I’m pretty sure three pairs of “I don’t care if these get ruined” jeans are two pairs too many.
- Duplicate items. For example: Button down/professional shirts. Now that I’m working from home, a small handful of professional shirts is plenty.
- “Bypass” clothes. You know the clothes you think are okay, but always bypass in favor of something you actually like? I got rid of a ton of those.
And then, since I was feeling oh-so-domestic, I decided to try my hand at making a whole roast chicken for dinner!
Ryan is still en route to Orlando (he should be here in an hour!) and I wanted to surprise him with a clean apartment and a filling dinner. Since chicken is to Ryan as whipped cream is to me, I think he’ll be excited! (And you thought you’d never see SAT/ACT-esque sentences again after high school! Psh.)
I didn’t really know what to do with the chicken, so I followed the directions on the packaging, and rubbed the flesh (underneath the skin) with some Woody’s Gourmet black truffle and fresh thyme herb sea salt and olive oil before rubbing the outside with more olive oil and a tiny bit of salt.
I then chopped up some carrots and onions to stuff inside the chicken and set it in the oven at 350 degrees to cook for a while (an hour and a half?). Cross your fingers that this bad boy turns out okay! We’ve got 45 minutes left on the timer.
And if it tastes terrible, there’s always fro yo…
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Good luck with the chicken. I can roast them fine, but carving up a whole chicken always baffles me! I seriously need someone to teach me the proper way. Mine turn out looking like it was hacked by a hack saw.
My roasted chickens always turn out a little undercooked! I think getting the whole chicken cooked properly is my biggest problem 🙁 But a whole chicken on the table for Ryan is such a great idea!
Go you for cleaning out your closet. I have a hard time letting go of my clothes…
You housewife you! After I clean my house, I feel like I’m at the top of the world! Then, a week later it’s in shambles again. haha oops. Happy Sunday Julie!
haha yes, totally! i’m hoping we can keep it clean through next weekend. 🙂
Aww, Julie! You are such a good wifey!! =] I’m sure the roast will come out fantastic! I’ve never heard or seen that brand of rub before, but I’m going to have to look into it! Next time, if your ever in need of a good roast, I tried this recipe from skinnytaste called peruvian chicken, and OMG! It was fingerlickin’ good!! And super dooper easy!! I guess the only thing to do with that roast, is to let it marinate for a couple of hours, but it’s really juicy! =]
p.s. I want fro yo!!! xoxo
ooh thanks for the suggestion!
I am totally the same way with clothes. I actually tried to get rid of a ton of stuff when we moved into our apartment in February, but now I just have a bunch of garbage bags full of stuff to go to Goodwill crowding my entry way. Guess I need to work on the follow-through! 🙂
Is that red purse from Nine West? I seriously think we have the same purse. Except I don’t use mine anymore (maybe you don’t either?) lol
haha no, actually. i think the brand is emilie. i liked it so much a couple of years ago, but sadly i never use it anymore!
Aww 🙂 How sweet of you! I bet he will be so surprised and appreciative!
Props for cleaning out your closet. I started mine months ago (I live in an area where we have all four seasons so I’m rotating clothes all the time). I think I donated 3-4 bags of clothes to my churches collection bin. I actually found a dress I wore to my friend’s wedding 12 years ago. Needless to say that got donated. I like how you categorized everything. Any chance you’ll be cleaning out Ryan’s clothes as well?
Good luck with the chicken. I’ve never been brave to make one myself. Hope it turns out well. I’ve heard Publix has some pretty good roast chicken and Costco too. Keep that in mind for the future. Enjoy your dinner and Ryan’s homecoming.
ryan is so good about being a minimalist when it comes to clothes. i actually BOUGHT him a shirt and a pair of shorts this weekend. 🙂
I clean my closet out at least once a year. I get tired of clothes fast and always want to make room for new ones. You should try to take those clothes to a Plato’s Closet or a Clothes Mentor. They buy used clothes on the spot!
yes! i have one bag specifically for plato’s! i hope they take some of the stuff!
Kudos on the chicken! I’m sure it will come out delicious! Do you guys eat the light and the dark meat? We usually just eat the white meat, but there’s something about roasting a chicken that makes me feel oh-so domestic!
What do you do with your “retired” clothes?
i have a bag i’m taking to plato’s closet to see if i can get some money for those clothes, but others i’ll may take to goodwill… though i know my church also is active with a women’s shelter in the area. i want to see if they need something!
I get soooo nervous going into Plato’s. It’s so weird. I feel like they judge my clothes and I get so embarrassed if they don’t take my stuff. haha!
Ah! Me too! Whenever Buffalo Clothing Exchange returns my items I hang my head in shame and leave.
The chicken looks delish! The way to tell if it is done (if you don’t have a meat thermometer) is if the leg moves very easily when you wiggle it – I share this because the first time that I made a whole roast chicken…let’s just say that it was a RARE meal… 😉
Are you a Kappa Delta (I noticed the hat on top of that clothes pile)? I was a KD at Albion College!
yes, ma’am! AOT 😀
I love roasting chicken. Ryan will be very pleased, I’m sure. I also love decluttering. I’m geeking out over the sorting I’m going to have to do when I move in two weeks.
I love cleaning out my closet… well after it is done!
Lately I have been trying to filter out some of my old sweats from living in residence! I figure the less sweatpants I own, the more likely I will actually get dressed on lazy days!
Goodlucck with the chicken!
Wow, your productive Sunday put mine to shame! Don’t you love the feeling of a clean closet (or is that just me being a weirdo?). Clearing stuff out that I KNOW I won’t wear makes me feel so much lighter for some reason.
Hope the chicken comes out good! Have you ever checked out Glamour’s Engagement Chicken recipe? http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2006/07/engagement-chicken
I know you’re already married, but maybe this will make Ryan want to renew your vows ; )
Good luck with the chicken! I’ve roasted a whole one only once and it actually turned out really good!
I also took a car load of stuff to Goodwill — it feels good to get rid of so much stuff!
I cannot get through 5 minutes of cleaning my closet, bathroom, etc. without getting completely distracted! Maybe my house will be clean tomorrow…or next weekend. Anyway – your blog inspired me to create one of my own today! Thanks, PBF!! Andddd now I’m craving chicken..
It feels so good to get rid of clothes, doesn’t it? I got rid of 7, count them…7!, trash bags full before I got married. It’s so nice to just have things I like in my closet!
Roast chicken?! That is sooo bold. Good luck!
Good luck with the roast chicken! I’ll be honest, cooking a whole chicken has ALWAYS intimidated me. Maybe someday I’ll get the courage to try it!
Even though I have a large walk-in closet, it is not big enough. I have been trying to minimize the over-capacity by weeding out items every so often but it’s so hard to get rid of clothes that fit and have nothing wrong with them other than you cannot remember the last time you wore it. But something’s gotta go! I give a lot of my clothes to my boyfriends little sisters, they love it!
It will be tasty! Anything with truffle is automatically droolworthy 🙂
I love when I clean out my closet.. my drawers. I try and do it kind of regularly.. like when I run out of hangers. I KNOW that I have more hangers.. then outfits I wear.. so when there is no where left to hang my clothes.. its time for a cleanout!
Clothes clearing! I just got home from college for the summer and my childhood room is just too full of my childhood! Dropped off 4 garbage bags full of clothes (going all the way back to 3rd grade) at Goodwill today. Is that what you do?
I totally did this today too!! One of my favorite tv personalities -Bethenny Frankel, calls it “editing”. I love editing my closets, kitchen, and especially the office area. *Liberating*
There is something so good about roasting a chicken yourself. I made my first one a couple months ago and it was completely delicious! Hope Ryan enjoys.
I go through all my clothes every major season change (winter and summer). I get rid of at least one garbage bag full of clothes. And since I do it twice a year, I can sit and think about items for a bit.
I adore a good roasted chicken. I used to be vegetarian, but when I started eating meat again for protein reasons, roasted chicken was the first thing that didn’t make me sick.
Hope the chicken turned out well! When I was in school this past year I made not one, but two chickens and one time I stuffed it with an apple and then had it sit in apple juice. The second time stuffed with an orange and had it sit in orange juice. The chickens ended up moist and delicious!
this is so random but i just went to publix soley to buy the sandwich thins you always use and they were bogo! just thought i’d give you a heads up! :]
I am the same way when it comes to clothes. I save clothes for so long thinking, “well maybe I’ll actually wear this even though I haven’t in the past several years….” It must feel amazing to have them out. I really need to do that soon…
Your roasted chicken prep sounds really similar to Ina Garten’s “Perfect Roast Chicken” from the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network, so I’m sure it will be good! She’s got tons of other great recipes too on foodnetwork.com…she never disappoints!
So glad i decided to read your blog as I was debating between the gym and having about 30 minutes to rest before going to an event. I have been cleaning our apartment all day and haven’t taken a rest day yet this week and this made me feel so much better!! Hope you have a fabulous night with Ryan!
Way to be productive! You inspire me to do some serious cleaning & organizing!
Just curious, but what are you doing with the clothes you no longer need? Your clothes are so cute…feel free to donate them to the “Alison Fund” if you want! 😉
Roasting a whole chicken has always intimidated me…I can’t wait to see how yours turns out!! 🙂
Way to jump off the chicken ledge! Thats pretty hip…it’ll turn out just fine im sure your your better half will be stoked when he walks in the door…set it and forget….well…unless you wanted to baste it every half hour or so with some broth…but Im sure it turned out just fine…and Truffles eh? High class
good luck with the chicken! It looked great!
Great chicken idea! Since I got married a few months ago I have been trying to be more domesticated!!
You brave soul! I have never attempted a whole chicken either… I would probably look like a deer in the head lights if someone asked or wanted me to make one! One day I will tackle the task.
I wish I could have the will power to get rid of those categories of clothes (especially bypass clothes!). It must feel great to have a clean house, and sometimes cleaning on its own is a workout.
I love cooking shows and learnt that for every pound of chicken, takes about 20 mins. When I roast a whole chicken I normally just guess how many pounds it is (compared to my dumbbells haha) and then if it’s 4lb, go with an hour and 20 mins (at 350*); works every time and I also brine it for an hour before it goes in – makes the skin nice and NOT dry!
The first (and only) time I roasted a chicken it too so much longer to cook than I suspected. It’s really difficult to figure out where to puncture it to get an accurate temperature reading. Hope yours turned out tasty!
You should host a naked lady party (clothes swap), you can rid yourself of tons of clothes and acquire new awesome items!
Why is having a clean house the best thing ever? I’m a neat freak by nature, but there is such a satisfaction from vacuuming up crumbs!
Girl! Im doing the same thing this week! Im cleaning out clothes and accessories and taking them to platos to maybe get a little cash , would be great for honeymoon cash even if only a little : ) just 100 bux could buy a dinner one night there!
I do give a lot of my clothes to one of my moms friends daughters, they don’t have a lot of money, and she loves the stuff I give her so much! Makes me happy someone can love my clothes like I did until I get bored of them or have too much : )
hope the chix came out!!!!
Julie! I absolutely ADORE you and you have inspired me to create my own blog!
A clean house is the best thing EVER! Also, the chicken looks delishhhhhhh!
What a great meal to come home to! The smell alone will be amazing!! I’m sure you got a pretty kick-ass workout from all the cleaning! I STILL need to sort out my wardrobe, procrastination isn’t helping me at all!
Julie! I absolutely ADORE you and you have inspired me to create my own blog!
A clean house is the best thing EVER! Also, the chicken looks delishhhhhhh!
Cleaning can be such a relaxing way to spend some free time. The chicken looks great! Sure it will be fine!
Were you a Kappa Delta?!
Ooo good luck! Whole chickens scare me!