I lost 187 pounds today!

I lost 187 pounds today after the A Shred Ahead truck pulled up to my driveway. I had spent the equivalent of 12 people-hours going though my office, pulling out everything that I could let go of now that the new Mojo Mom is coming out in less than six weeks. All the drafts and questions that mattered along the way have now been decided, and the finished book is almost here.

So when you want to turn over a new page, it helps to get rid of the old work that might be weighing you down. I spent three hours working alongside a team of two organizers, and three hours on my own going through my files and sorting out what I didn't need.

Hello, clean office...now, even my dog wants to hang out here with me.


Now that the de-cluttering is done I have a feeling of incredible lightness, both mental and physical. My office is a much nicer place to be, and I can throw open the doors and windows to let the world see in. It's not perfect by any means, and I still have a follow-up date with my organizers, but it's a major improvement. When we were done, my joke was that Oprah could knock on my front door and I could invite her in to sit down for a cup of tea. She wouldn't be turning me in to Peter Walsh for the messiest house in America tour!

Since this issue is clearly on my mind, I invited Perri Kersh of Neat Freak Professional Organizing to be my guest on The Mojo Mom Podcast this week. I'll be posting that episode shortly.

How is the economic crisis impacting you?

America has the economic crisis seared into it collective consciousness right now. And Moms are impacted greatly--whether it means you have to go back to work to make ends meet, recover from a layoff, or discover your kids' college fund just lost 30% of its value.

I'll be following this issue here on the Mojo Mom blog as events unfold. My question for today is to ask how specifically is the economic crisis is impacting your family, and what information would best help you get through this difficult time? I will be working on creating resources over the next several weeks.

I'd love to hear creative solutions as well. Necessity is the mother of invention for a reason. We are often the ones who have to figure out which knobs to tweak to make it all work for our families.

For example, my friend Perri Kersh came up with an awesome approach to creating a free summer camp program while still working four days a week. Perri is so creative that I'd love to attend her Girl Camp! Read more on Perri's Enough is Enough blog:

GIRL POWER CAMP 2009!
Invite 5 girls to participate (helps if they know each other at least a little so they’re excited to spend a week together). Ask each mom to take all 5 girls for just one day during a week of the summer. Plan fun activities (bookclub, journal writing, a compliments box where the girls can write nice things about each other, pool time, outside play time, craft activities, cooking…whatever you’re in the mood for), and you’re off and running. I am in love with this idea. It’s creative, keeps the girls moving, builds on their self esteem and a sense of community, and it’s FREE!

We’re doing one week of Girl Power camp this summer as an experiment. My daughter is already so excited–it’s like a week of playdates–what’s not to love? Plus, it provides me with 4 work days where I don’t have to arrange or pay for childcare. In this economy, what could be better? And as a super summer bonus, I can channel my inner camp counselor…but just for one day. Almost makes me excited about summer again.

Challenges, opportunities, problems, solutions. I am interested in hearing them all. My podcast co-host Sheryl Grant commented that she's dying to talk about this with friends but it's a sensitive topic to bring up. This is one converstation that might be most satisfying to share online.

Kickstart your fashion mojo without buying a thing

I've learned a few things from my own challenges battling disorganization and clutter. Throughout my twenties, I moved every year or so, and this forced me to go through everything and cull my belongings on a regular basis. I could pretty much fit my possessions in a Honda Civic hatchback.

But we've been blessed to put down roots in Chapel Hill for seven years now, and the downside is that I finally started to feel buried under all of our stuff. Our books and clothes were particularly overwhelming us with the sense that we just didn't have room give everything a "place."

So I have experimented with adopting a policy of "unshopping." Apparently there is a whole unshopping movement--see www.freecycle.org, and my friend Perri Kersh's excellent Enough is Enough blog--but I am going to tell you about my personal approach to engineering a wardrobe upgrade without buying anything new.

Sometimes when you feel like you have nothing to wear, it's really just that you:

1. Have nothing clean to wear

2. Have lots of old and/or yucky clothes cluttering up your closet resulting in a situation where...

3. You don't really know what fashion gems you have tucked away in the midst of the junk.

Moms in particular are susceptible to fashion clutter, because let's face it, when you have kids, you accumulate a lot of stained t-shirts and a wardrobe that is at least temporarily unfashionable. Fun/depressing fact: if you do a search on the photo-sharing site Flickr for "fashionable mom," almost all the photos that come up are either extremely UNfashionable moms OR Victoria Beckham.

The good news is that you can significantly upgrade your wardrobe without buying a thing. In fact, if you are unhappy with your wardrobe, you shouldn't buy anything new until you've gone through the unshopping process. The key is to get rid of things that are not working for you. If you can't wear it or don't like it, it's not doing you any good. You can donate clothes that are in good repair, and either mend of pitch worn-out clothes.

Mojo Mom's Unshopping Strategy:

They key to my image upgrade is to get rid of your yuckiest clothes and promote your nicer clothes to everyday wear.

If you are beyond the mess-intensive nursing/baby/toddler years, throw out any item that is stained, worn, ripped. You may want to save ONE old t-shirt and not-nice jeans outfit for art projects, but celebrate your maturing family by LETTING GO of your outdated schlumpy-Mom Wardrobe.

Feel like you have nothing to wear even though there are plenty of clothes in your drawer or closet? Good--start by looking at those "nothing to wear" clothes as a place to start unshopping. A good way to find your "nothing to wear clothes" is to wait until you have a huge pile of laundry saved up: the clothes you do wear are in the pile, and the clothes you don't wear are still in the drawer.

Some of your favorite clothes may get caught in a dry-cleaning or hand washing dead end. Look for those neglected piles of dirty clothes and get them cleaned. Voila, you may have just redoubled your wardrobe with just that one step.

It may be time to say goodbye to some of your beloved oldies. Even if you have the legs to wear a baby-doll dress, does that image still suit you? I am all for saving some favorite or unusual clothes for future kids' costume wear, but if you can move these items out of your main closet, do so.

Even if you are not at your "ideal" weight or shape, start putting your best fashion face forward as you are now. Don't wait for a mythical "someday...." If you haven't worn an item in two years, seriously consider getting rid of it.

After you've concentrated your wardrobe to the "best of the best," see what you have left and start wearing it. I think most Moms (ahem, speaking from experience here) would benefit from getting rid of their crummiest tier of clothes and promoting more of their "nice" wardrobe to everyday wear. Cut out the sweatpant/sweatshirt ensembles and dreaded "Mom jeans" and kick everything up a notch. There's nothing wrong with jeans, by the way, as long as you do the work to find a pair that truly fits and flatters you.

It's a little more work to stay on top of the laundry/dry cleaning process when you wear nice outfits, but putting in that effort will extend the use of the clothes you already have.

It may seem like I am stepping out of my normal Mojo Mom realm here, but isn't just about fashion, it's about living consciously. Take a step back, get rid of clutter, and enjoy the best of what you already have. Think about the image you are projecting: is it really you? Dig out of the classic Mom trap of "letting yourself go." Really think about who you are now, who you want to become, and how you can align your best inner self with your presentation to the outside world. This is about taking good care of YOU.

On a related note: the holidays are upon us in full force and are taking up more and more of the calendar every year. Remember when "Christmas shopping" started AFTER Thanksgiving, rather than before Halloween? I'd like to propose that we establish Unshopping Month between Halloween and Thanksgiving. It's a great time to get rid of things you don't need so that you can enjoy the best of what you already have. And that's something to be thankful for.