Fun in Bainbridge

Last weekend was a Seattle weekend without any plans. We ended up taking the car on a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island.

 

They have two lanes for driving cars on to the ferry. I think this is the point where I got really excited to drive on to a ferry and yelled "It's just like Noah's Ark!". 

View of Seattle from the boat.

This looks like a fake background with how blue the sky is and the perfect skyline including the Space Needle. It really was just a gorgeous day out. I've yet to visit Seattle in bad weather (cold yes, but not even any rain) so I'm choosing to believe that everyone else is just lying about how yucky it can get. :)

I didn't get any pictures of us on the island, but we went to the Eleven winery tasting room on the main street then shared some chips and salsa at a cantina across the street. We're quickly turning in to old people with afternoon drinks and early bird dinners. 

Living More Simply

Yesterday I took step one on my minimalism journey. Actually, we're changing the name of the journey to living more simply. I feel like minimalism has a set of rules to follow and is an actual movement. I'd just like to enjoy more free time and have less clutter, both physical and mental. So there it is - living more simply. Credit for that should go both to Mom with her "Live simply so others may simple live" mantra and the boyfriend who mentioned something about a more simple life when I was describing my closet clean out. 

Now the details. I tackled my two most used (and most overflowing) drawers this weekend: The t-shirt and the work out clothes drawers. 

I knew I owned way more t-shirts than I needed or can reasonably wear, but I had no idea I owned 56 tees. That doesn't include tops that I wear to work or out socially. Seriously, 56. Ridiculous. I now own 21 and my almost broken IKEA drawer might last the rest of the year until I move.

My work out clothing drawer has been a source of stress for a while. On the days I'm not organized enough to set out clothes in the evening, trying to find something for the gym or a run at 5:10 am is not the best way to start the day. This drawer was such a mess I forgot about a brand new triathlon suit I had purchased (for no good reason) last year sometime. Hello, ebay! 

Overall, I have a "keep rate" of 48%. I may be less of a consumerist pack rat, but I'll never not be a data nerd. :)

Keep: 48 (44 + 4 - I have four items of workout clothing that now live in Seattle)
Donate: 48
Sell: 1
Trash: 2 (I had two work out shirts that were too stained to donate and haven't been able to find info regarding recycling used clothing that isn't worth donating)

Stuff

This is not a post about a hodgepodge of things, but a post about actual stuff. Some time in late 2009 while blog hunting (yes, I am my mother's daughter), I came across a blog on minimalism. As tends to happen in the blog world, one post on minimalism lead to as many more as I possibly could have stayed up reading.

I'm not a minimalist and probably never will be. I appreciate things and enjoy a certain level of comfort. I don't desire to live with only 100 belongings or live a monkish life. But I also feel very overwhelmed by how much stuff I have. Picking out clothes for work involves fighting coat hangers and hand bags in my closet. Putting away the dishes involves the precise placement of plates and cups to make sure nothing bursts out of the china cabinet and breaks. I simply have too much stuff. Way more than I need. And now, I've crossed a new line to way more than I want.

My quest towards minimalism probably won't involve much more than dealing with my consumption. I'm not trying to get away from the working world or move to India with just a small carry on to my name. But I would like spend the year applying what I read on these blogs to my own life in ways that make sense. I'm starting with the closet. I've given my self three months to get it under control, one step at a time.

Book Nerd

I wrote a detailed post last week describing how I came up with the following list of books for 2011. I reread it today before posting and had to laugh at myself. No one needs seven paragraphs to do what can be said in four sentences:

Read 30 books (well, 1 to go) in 2010. Thought 30 was a good number, but wanted to branch out from 90% fiction. Picked a few areas I’m interested in, filled in with books that have been on my list for a while. Left a few spots open to fill in later.

Simple Living

1. The Joy of Less (Francine Jay)
2. The Paleo Solution (Robb Wolf)
3. Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology (Eric Bende)
4. The Story of Stuff (Annie Leonard)

Memoirs and Biographies

5. Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortenson)
6. My Life in France (Julia Child)
7. The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It (Tilar J. Mazzeo)

Running

8. Marathon: A Novel (Hal Higdon)
9. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen (Christopher McDougall)
10. What I talk About When I Talk About Running (Haruki Murakami)

Personal Finance

11. Frugillionaire (Francine Jay)
12.
13.

Faith

14. Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Rob Bell)
15. Radical: Take Back Your Faith from the American Dream (David Platt)
16. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Litterally as Possible (A. J. Jacobs)
17. Mere Christianity (C. S. Lewis)

Travel

18. Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer (Chuck Tompson)
19. The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday (Niel MacFarquahar)
20.

Career

21. Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty (Patrick Lencioni)
22.

Fiction

23. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
24. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Anne Shafer)
25. Cutting for Stone (Abraham Verghese)
26. I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith)
27. The 19th Wife
28.
29.
30.

2011

2009 was the year of blogging about my CSA. That lasted a month.

2010 was the year of blogging about my adventures. That made it all the way to July!

2011... I'm going to give it another try. I have three ideas I'm going to start with and maybe one will stick: Continuing to document my adventures so I remember what I did this year (it was super fun to read back on my year from Jan - July right now); documenting my book list for the year (mostly to hold myself accountable); and finally, chronicling my new found fascination with minimalism.

So, fair readers (Mom and Lauren), I'll see you in 2011. :)

Good Times with the Smithskis and KK Turns 30

Back in June Kathy decided what she wanted to do for her 30th birthday - a simple party in the park where we could play childhood games and relax with good friends. So we booked a few picnic tables in Golden Gate Park and waited for the weekend to arrive. I mentioned the party to Lauren and Stu, who found out a few weeks before the big day that a friend was driving up to SF the weekend of the party. Lucky me - a great friend's birthday and some of my favorite people in town on the same weekend. :)

Lauren and Stu arrived Friday night, and brought Mini KK along with them. We left her at home and headed out for dinner at Kennedy's Irish Pub (for Indian food, of course) and met up with a friend of theirs from law school on Union. They got to suffer through a truly Marina evening and know understand me on a whole new level. I never get to cook for anyone, so I invited them over for breakfast on Saturday morning and we made breakfast tacos. They were edible and possibly even good. We set off for the party, figuring Muni was the easiest way to transfer a life-size pinata.  

We had so much fun hanging out at the park together. Despite the frigid temperatures and bad wind, we managed to have an egg toss and a pinata beating. 

Happy 30th KK! I love you and am so thankful for your friendship.

Espana!

The Collins Family set off on a two week adventure around Spain at the end of June to celebrate Mom and Dad's 30th anniversary on 7/5/2010. We kicked the trip off by meeting in Denver, where Dad surprised Mom with a DVD of pictures taken over the last thirty years. Great way to start the trip! Becky, Joey and I have been so blessed to have an example of a wonderful marriage all our lives and to be a part of a family that enjoys extended family time every few years. :)

Happy 30th, Mom and Dad!! I love you!

We traveled together through Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Marbella, and Barcelona. Our timing was perfect - we managed to catch Spain's round of 16, quarterfinal, and semi-final World Cup games. We left just a few days before Spain took the championship game for their first World Cup win. Here are a few of my favorites pictures from the trip. All the pics can be seen here.