In cleaning out the garage, I ended up cleaning out a file cabinet that eventually found a new home via craigslist. It was two drawers of folders, the dregs of my past addiction to collecting information. We got a tote made for file folders and I settled down to sort.

Amidst the old letters, warranties and manual for things we no longer own, and just plain effluvia, I found a folder labeled ‘Things I Want”. Inside was an intriguing collection of pages from magazines, and scribbled lists based on places I no longer lived. A dresser (from back when I used boxes for my clothes because I’d just moved).  .A ‘grown up’ jewelry box (because I was tired of using just random jars and such and wanted a wooden one with drawers. A certain kind of makeup promising flawless coverage.  But mostly, there was a collection of pictures of clothes I loved that I wished I owned.

One, labeled Dressing for 2000, featured a floral tapestry skirt from the J. Peterman catalog. It’s perfectly stylish and appropriate today, I think. Don’t you?

Woven into our year of organizing are some very specific projects.

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