(A blog post that is going to bore the hell out of 49% of my readers)

 It may have been the insane weather yesterday; temps in the fifties, sun out, windows open with me feeling a little disoriented (and it looks like today is more of the same...whee!). Also could have been the fact that after a crazy busy week and turning the corner on this stupid cold, I'm getting my energy back. OK, that might be a little bit of an understatement. Also, I decided that while the nation is focused on being smarter than a fifth grader, I am smarter than a groundhog. It's spring; I decided. If not for everyone, it's spring for me.

One of my season changing rituals is purging the closet. When you feel the weather start to change (and yeah, I know that it's probably going to change back for a while), you can look at your couture (haha) and evaluate the relative likelihood of ever wearing it again against the fact that it is clogging up your closet. I love the ruthlessness. "I might wear it again" isn't the same as "I've worn it recently". If a sweater made it through winter without a wearing, it's toast. I used to have such a hard time with this. When I was younger, I always wanted clothes I couldn't have, mostly because I was responsible for buying my own clothes. As a young adult, this resulted in the more is more philosophy of shopping which works well at Old Navy. I remember having to buy more hangers to contain all my affordable fashions. Today, All those hangers are in a closet, filling up one full hanging bar and also lining shelves. It's really kind of ridiculous. Who says that the things that happen to you in your younger life don't have an impact on you as an adult. I ended up with so many things that I would buy and decide I didn't like because at low prices, why not? Anyway, that doesn't work anymore.

Right now, I am kind of into having a few nice signature pieces (this year, I am into the 3/4 length sleeve jackets over long-sleeve Ts and I've expanded my collection of Chuck Taylors...I refuse to grow up!). And I would rather spend the money on nicer things and have fewer of them. It feels kind of European...why is that?

So yesterday, aside from spring cleaning, I did a major (major!) closet purge.Seven garbage bags full. There were a few things that made it easier. One is that a local charity does curbside pick-up and that is happening today. One is that my size has changed; all that stuff they say about your weight shifting when you work out is true. I spent the first half of the day with a cup of coffee trying on pretty much everything and doing a little bit of a "What Not to Wear" analysis; capris not good for shorties like me, no pockets with big flaps, just because a shirt is your size doesn't mean the sleeves are the right length. Didn't wear it this year...that color doesn't look good on you...the tag is still on and you bought it 2 years ago...that was in impulse buy...you only wear baseball hats when you garden...just because a relative bought it for you doesn't mean you have to keep it. I even totally flashdanced one of those gray college alumni sweatshirts (that I end up with every Christmas) in an effort to make it wearable (we don't do waistbands in this household....wristbands either). We'll see how that turns out.

So before I put all this stuff out on the curb, I thought I would invite some of my younger girlfriends over for a little shopping expedition. We joke about the idea of going shopping in my garage. I've done some redecorating over the past few years (like totally changing my color scheme) and that resulted in me  furnishing a significant portion of my friends house (couch, TV, hutch, rug, framed art, etcetera). They have a gaggle of young kids and this kind of stuff works for them. And it makes me happy to give it to them (because they are my friends and because I don't have to worry about getting rid of the stuff). We all acknowledge that I have a shopping issue. I also cleaned out my handbag collection earlier in the year and gave them away out of the back of my car. So last night was just an extension of what has been going on for a while.

I pulled a full-length mirror into the living room, closed the drapes and opened a bottle of wine. We all kind of laughed as I pulled each garbage bag out of the guest bedroom ("there's more?") and the gals tried on stuff and said things like "I can rock this!" (whew, that makes me feel old...I can only say that with some sarcasm). Where I used to have a hard time parting with fashion, knowing who is going to be wearing it makes it much easier to say goodbye to. They were doing me a huge favor taking this stuff off my hands. My closet looks amazing. I told Cheryl's husband that he can thank me later after he sees what Cheryl went home with (she's a little sporty spice and let's just say that I'm not). So it may have been a little inelegant for the fashion to leave the house in garbage bags (seven garbage bags minus three on the curb this morning means lot of recycled, gently used couture...yay!).

This beat the hell out of a Pampered Chef party and I woke up with a purged household. Next up: my inbox. Because when the tiniest suggestion of springtime presents itself and you have the urge to purge, the best thing to do is acquiesce. Gawd, it feels so good,.