When real things happen to imaginary people

I am upstairs in my (organized!) storage room, writing descriptions and taking photos for the next closet culling sale. Lots and LOTS of stripy clothes. And boots. (Including a pair of men's size 12 pointy-toe buckle boots. Yes, the classic gothy boots.)

Dear Self, you have GOT to remember that a UK size 12 is NOT THE SAME as a US size 12. Not even a little bit. ::sigh::

Anyhoodle, yes. Clothing sale, coming soon to this LJ!

Whoo, the coffee from Besalu was particularly nummy today. I kinda-sorta wish I had another one, but no. I will just have to "make do" with more tea. Oh woe, not the chocolate-rose truffle tea!

I am not going dancing tonight, as my usual dancing companions have other plans. But! I AM going to see Blackbird Orchestra (with Nathaniel Johnstone and guests!) and Robert Riel's Bakelite 78 tonight, so yay! (A big thank you to marc17 for the suggestion and being willing to play chauffeur for me!)

But before that, I get to go for sushi, and then for a babycake from Cupcake Royale. Buttercream frosting, oh thank goodness. Plus I get to see minim_calibre, her charming spouse, and my beloved Princess Tickybox.

This weekend involves stuff for Mothers' Day (hi, cupcakegothmom!), and possibly going to IKEA to look for organizing-type furniture for my storage room. If I get my way, there are pink chests of drawers in my future, oh yes.

Victory is MINE!

- 8 boxes of things to go to Goodwill.

- 7 big bags of trash to go to the dump.

- Lots and lots of paper and cardboard for recycling.

- 9 storage bins of fabric.

- 2 storage bins of assorted trim, ribbon, and lace.

- Clothes hung up in the closet and on the clothes rack, omg.

- All of the bits and pieces for jewelry-making in one box! (In no way organized, but all in one box!)

- 1 storage bin full of clothes that I'm either altering or selling.

- The kingdom of safety pins now lives in its own little fortress. (Also known as a fancy box.)

I found the far wall! I found the floor! Also, my storage room apparently comes with a fine layer of bat and star confetti, sequins, and glitter. No, I'm not surprised by this.

And now, I am going to flop on the couch, drink my vodka, rose, and tonic, and eat half a brownie. Later tonight, I will bathe in blood. (Yes, I purchased more vividly-colored bath salts from staxxy. What can I say, sometimes a girl just needs to bathe in blood.)

- I have discovered the Lost Kingdom of Safety Pins!

- Oh wow, there's the far wall! Haven't seen that in ages.

- Do dried rose petals just spontaneously manifest in here? I'm starting to think so.

- Same thing with boxes of vintage lace, 'cos I don't remember buying a lot of these.

- I wonder what will happen if I pull on this random piece of ribbon? ::crash:: Oh, boxes will fall over because the ribbon is tangled around them. All righty, then.

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I think next weekend will be the War On Clutter, The Sequel: Organizing! And I think I'm going to need to start checking out thrift stores for chests of drawers and such, to help KEEP things organized this time.

Work-at-home Friday! Sleeping in! Coffee and quiche from Besalu! I am probably going to be vaguely practical when the Stroppy One goes to Besalu and NOT ask for a pan au chocolat, even tho' I want one. (Really, REALLY want one.) Because I'm going dancing tonight with the StuntHusband (yay!), which means we will almost certainly be stopping by The Night Kitchen, and if I'm having late-night treats, I probably shouldn't have a pan au chocolat. (But Oh! How I want one. Hmmm, I may have to dither about this some more.)

This weekend is the long-threatened, marked-on-the-calendar clearing out of the Storage Heap Room o' Doom. Yes, I've attempted this before. But this time, I have NOTHING else planned for the next two days. Still, pray for me, and if you haven't heard from me by the end of Monday, I've probably been eaten by feral petticoats.

Clicky-links:

Firstly, the new post at Gothic Charm School!

Secondly, this is me reminding people of the existence of the Rocklove Jewelry Gothic Charm School Batty Heart necklace and the Starborn Alchemy Gothic Charm School body butter!

Thirdly, hey, the new issue of Steampunk Tales is available, with part two of a work of fiction by me!

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A question:

In a post last night about the ongoing cleaning/organizing of the Storage Heap Room O' Doom, I mentioned that I had a LOT of fabric that I wasn't going to ever use. jaborwhalky, because she is brilliant, suggested the following:

Make grab bags of the fabric by color and put them up for sale via your LJ at like prices of 20$ for a small bag of fabric and stuff 30$ for a bigger bag of fabric and stuff 50$ for a huge bag of fabric and stuff or the good good stuff.

Have that be with free shipping and see if you can't get more shoe money and make people you know happy with a random grab bag of Lady of the Manners fabric and crafts stuff.

Now, I think this is a really good idea. And oh, it would help me raise money to buy the assorted furniture and shelves I will need to properly organize that room. But! Do you folks reading this think it's a good idea? Would any of you be interested in it? (Yes, angldst, I know you already said you'd be all for it.)

I have managed to clear about half of the room now. This is very exciting!

I had plans for today. I did. They involved some writing, some sewing, and perhaps walking to and from the thrift store. But apparently my motivation doesn't want to do any of those things. Oh no, what my motivation is telling me we are going to do this afternoon is ... work on cleaning and organizing the Storage Heap Room o' Dooooom.

::blinks in mild confusion::

All righty then. As soon as I'm done with my snack of chips & salsa, I'm going upstairs. If I don't return, it's because the petticoats ate me.

All last year, I said "I'll tackle cleaning out and organizing the storage heap room after I'm done with the book!" When I needed to find a certain item of club clothing or supplies for sewing projects, unearthing them from the storage heap room was an exciting adventure. Would I find the black lace trim or velvet & faux-fur frock coat that I knew was up there somewhere? Maybe! (Well, usually. After 15 minutes or more of rummaging and heaving piles of ruffly skirts aside.)

But.

I'm done with the writing and editing part of the book, aren't I? Which means I really DO have to start The Great Clear-Out. Yes, it will be interesting and exciting, finding things I forgot I had. It will also be tedious, and really hard work. I am a pack-rat, to put it mildly. But it Must Be Done.

(This post brought to you by my rummaging through the storage heap room in an attempt to find a bag of fabric I KNEW I had. I eventually found it, but it took over half an hour.)

I decided to be productive today. (This was after a week that was very similar to being on holiday, because the fabulous sathinks has been in town. There was no way on earth I was going to write or Organize Stuff when I could talk for hours with someone I hardly ever get to see! And did I mention the cooking? The fact that there were multiple days that, after stroppy_baggage picked me up from the commute home, we walked in the house and were greeted with "Hi Honey!" and the scent of nummy nummy food? Conversation and food and much flailing. It was wonderful.)

Anyway, I haven't been very productive for the past week. So after running some errands (and er, finishing a hat alteration project I'd been thinking of), I sat down with the laptop, opened the file I need to be revising, and ... stared at it. I re-read the various (helpful! and good!) comments that the agent had made. And then I stared at it again, with a slightly panicked droning hum rising in my brain. Recognizing that today was obviously not going to be a Writing Day, I shut the laptop and climbed the stairs to my storage room.

( Where on earth did I get all these clothes? I don't remember owning some of these things! )

So yes. There is going to be a yard sale, probably on Sunday the 26th. Consider this post your official advance warning.