fun sunday in san francisco

Posted on September 29, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Hi friends! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! I ventured into San Francisco by myself for the first time today, and it was so much fun! The sun was out and the day was beautiful. It was an easy trip in — all I did was drive 10 minutes to the BART station, hop on the train and ride for 40 minutes, and then I was in the city! I love public transit!

My excuse for making a trip into San Francisco was a reading that my new writer friend Vanessa was giving at the famous City Lights bookstore in Jack Kerouac Alley. She did fantastic!

Afterwards I spent a blissful half hour browsing through the bookstore’s three book-crammed floors. I could happily live in a bookstore!

It was a lovely day walking around, taking in the sights and people-watching! I’m looking forward to making another trip into the city again soon!

Have you been to San Francisco? Any sights/shops/restaurants to recommend?

recap of my clutter-busting summer!

Posted on August 23, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy Friday, friends!

This summer — inspired by the Clutter-Busting Challenge hosted this past May by Crystal at Money-Saving Mom, and the amazing Victoria at Snail-Paced Transformations who is continuing to give away, get rid of, or sell 3 things from her home every week this year — I have been on a mission.

My goal: get things out of my house that I no longer need or use, and get them into the hands of people who do need or could use them.

It’s amazing how much STUFF we accumulate, right?? I am not even the biggest shopper, and still I am just floored by the amount of THINGS I manage to bring into my life and into my space. Books, clothes, magazines, papers, flyers, do-dads, mementos, knick-knacks … where do they even come from??

In regards to clutter, this summer has been a perfect storm of sorts. I moved back home into my childhood bedroom, which was still crammed with stuff from high school and from the year I lived at home after graduating college. Plus, I brought home boxes of new stuff I’d accumulated while living in Indiana.

I was determined to slowly sort through everything through the course of the summer and get rid of as much as possible before moving up the Bay Area to begin my Steinbeck Fellowship. Also, as longtime blog readers know, I really don’t like to waste things, not even uber-ribe bananas. So if an item was useful, I didn’t want to just throw it away — my goal was to repurpose or donate as many items as possible!

Three months later, I’m happy to report my room is much cleaner and less cluttered, and I’m feeling more energized as a result! Here is a list of all the things I got rid of this summer, including how I repurposed some items:

3 boxes of books: donated to the local library and the Boys & Girls Club
approx. 40 back issues of various magazines: donated to local senior centers and hospitals {just make sure to tear off the address label and any other personal info before donating!}
2 large bags of clothing, including my heavy winter coat and a bunch of scarves: donated to Goodwill
3 lovely little girls dresses, still in great condition, from when I was a little girl: also donated to Goodwill
4 pairs of shoes I never wear: donated to Goodwill
2 large fleece Snuggies that were not being used: repurposed into two handmade no-sew baby blankets for two friends of mine who each welcomed beautiful babies into their families recently
2 outgrown T-shirts: transformed into diy pillows
10 small hotel shampoos and soaps: donated to a local homeless shelter
1 no-longer-used cellphone: donated to a soldier through Cell Phones for Soldiers.
3 large trash bags full of old papers no longer needed: recycled

WOO-HOO! It feels so wonderful to de-clutter! Not only did I physically get rid of a ton of items, I feel like the act of clearing and sorting and donating was emotionally cleansing as well.

This task was an amazing reminder of what a difference you can make little by little, day by day … I never imagined at the beginning of the summer that I would be able to get rid of so much unnecessary stuff, but slowly and surely I did!

What goals have you been working on this summer? Any fellow clutter-busters out there? I’d love to hear your tips for STAYING de-cluttered — my next task! 🙂

some related posts you might enjoy:
– cleaning out my closet clutter
– tips for selling things on craigslist
– year of kindness challenge: donating clothes
– year of kindness challenge: donating books
– year of kindness challenge: donating toiletries

clutter-busting challenge

Posted on May 9, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Crystal at Money-Saving Mom is hosting a Clutter-Busting Challenge in which she is getting rid of {throwing away, selling or donating} at least 7 items for every single day of May. She is inspiring loads of others to do the same, including me!

I already did a lot of clutter-busting last month when graduated from Purdue and moved from Indiana to California … the move was the fire-under-my-butt motivation to sort through my various papers, knick-knacks, books, clothes, kitchen supplies, etc. and decide what was worth taking with me. I ended up donating and selling everything except for the clothes, blankets, books, and important papers that fit within five suitcases and a few big shipping boxes.

When I arrived home, I had another opportunity to clutter-bust: my bedroom at home {which my parents have been sweet enough to leave as-is during my time away… it hasn’t been converted to a home office, at least not yet!} There were books and papers and random STUFF that had accumulated during winter breaks and summers at home and that I hadn’t gone through in years.

After a few days of sorting, I am proud to share with you the big pile of stuff that I am getting rid of!

I took the clothes/shoes/purses to Goodwill and donated the books to my local library. Not only does it feel good to purge your life of unnecessary items, I also love imagining the person who will enjoy each item in its next life!

Are any of you doing spring/early summer cleaning and organizing? I’d love to hear your success stories and tips!

You can follow along the entire Clutter-Busting series at Money-Saving Mom here: https://moneysavingmom.com/series/clutter-busting-challenge

year of kindness challenge: week 14

Posted on April 8, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy Monday, friends! How was your weekend? The weather has finally shifted from winter to sunny spring and I am LOVING it! Walking outdoors and soaking up the sunshine and fresh air is such a pleasure.

Speaking of spring, it seems fitting that the kindness challenge this past week was to give someone flowers. I gave flowers to two lovely people this week: my friend Shavonne, who aced her thesis defense {my defense is this Wednesday, eek!} and to the English Department Schedule Deputy Judy Ware, who is retiring this semester after many years of service. She is a really sweet lady and will certainly be missed at Purdue!

I picked up a couple pretty bouquets at the grocery store while I did my shopping for the week.

It was so much fun delivering them to Shavonne and Judy! Both were so surprised and excited to get flowers. Their faces lit up! It was the best $10 I have spent in a long time.

Judy sent me an email that afternoon:

“THANK YOU for the beautiful wishes and special card/good wishes. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. Enjoy finishing your degree and your academic next steps!!!”

This week’s kindness challenge pairs nicely with spring cleaning: go through your bookshelves and box up the books you no longer need or do not plan to read again. Then donate them to your local library, Boys & Girls Club, school or homeless shelter. You could also purchase some new books to donate. A great way to get children involved in this act of kindness is to have them pick out their favorite book to donate to a child who maybe does not have many books of his or her own.

{Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while may know that literacy is a cause very dear to my heart — you can learn more about my organization Write On! For Literacy here!}

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn <AT> gmail <DOT> com.

Have a great week!
-Dallas

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year of kindness archives:
– week 1 challenge: donate items to those in need
– week 2 challenge: leave quarters & note at laundry machine
– week 3 challenge: write & send a kind handwritten note
– week 4 challenge: give hot chocolate to someone outside in the cold
– week 5 challenge: do something kind for a neighbor
– week 6 challenge: deliver valentines to a nursing home
– week 7 challenge: donate to a food pantry
– week 8 challenge: donate toiletries to a shelter
– week 9 challenge: post a kind note in a public place
– week 10 challenge: do something kind for a child
– week 11 challenge: thank someone in a genuine & meaningful way
– week 12 challenge: deliver baked goods to a fire station
– week 13 challenge: give someone flowers

goals & meal-plan for the week of 3/10

Posted on March 10, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear friend Erica! I love you so much, sweets! Wish I was there to celebrate with you, but you are in my thoughts!

Erica and I have been friends since seventh grade, more than half our lives. She is thoughtful, witty, brilliant, kind, and an amazing listener. Whenever I am home, we meet up for epic 3-hour chai latte dates at our favorite local cafe, Simone’s. Everyone should be so lucky to have a friend they can talk and talk and talk for hours with, laughing so much their cheeks hurt. I feel so blessed to have her as my friend!

Here’s how I did on my goals this past week:

revise up to page 120 of my thesis novel {I feel like I should be able to cross this off, but technically not sure if I’m up to page 120… I’ve started revising from the beginning forward AND from the end backwards, because when I make changes in the beginning I go ahead and revise the later chapters they correlate with so I don’t miss anything … eventually, I guess I’ll meet in the middle!}
~~blog about Week 9 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week~~
~~finish reading Vanishing by Deborah Willis~~
~~finish grading papers for both classes~~
~~send cards to my Gramps and Aunt Shirley~~
~~knit 25 rows of the baby blanket I’m working on~~

And here are my goals for the upcoming week:

revise up to page 180 of my thesis novel
blog about Week 10 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
finish reading Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
finish grading papers for both classes
finish the baby blanket I’m knitting

What are your goals and menu plans for the week?

This post is linked up at Menu Plan Monday!

happy friday!

Posted on March 8, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

I have finished teaching my afternoon class, which means it is offically SPRING BREAK here at Purdue! Woo hoo! There may still be snow on the ground, but it is beginning to feel a little more like spring. Today’s temperature was a balmy 40 degrees, and it is staying light out later and later, which is so nice after a long winter of 5 pm sunsets.

A few fun things of late:

Yesterday I saw Warm Bodies, a zombie love story. It was witty and hilarious and surprisingly moving. I loved it! If it’s still playing where you are, I’d highly recommend it.
Today I had lunch with good friends at Panera {shout-out to Sarah The Pajama Chef: fuji apple chicken salad is the best!} My friend Matt and his wife Casey recently got the most adorable basset hound puppy named Merriwether, and I could not stop petting her soft ears and wrinkly face. I miss our family dog Murray a TON — I even dreamed about him last night! — and I can’t wait to see him this summer! He would have been jealous at all the attention I was giving Merriwether.

I just finished reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, a suspenseful, twists-and-turns mystery that was recommended to me by mulitple people and I have to say, I really could not put it down. The book is over 400 pages but I flew through it in a matter of days, even staying up late to read it a few nights! I was over-all satisfied by the book and very impressed with the author’s plotting and characterization talents, but for me the ending was disappointing. It felt like a roller-coaster that is building and building, and then just stops before the final descent. There is a final twist, but my main feeling when closing the book was frustration. Has anyone else read Gone Girl? What did you think of it?
The next book I’m planning to read is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green as part of the March PBF Book Club. I have read other books by John Green in the past and LOVED them, so I have high hopes for this one!
Maybe I am feeling book-crazy because I stopped by the local library this afternoon and spent some time browsing — one of my favorite things to do! I go to the library pretty much once a week and stock up on not just books, but also DVDs and CDs. Before I moved to Lafayette, I often used to overlook the library as a wonderful treasure trove of free entertainment.
I’m super excited to be participating in The Lean Green Bean’s Foodie Pen Pals group for March! It’s free to sign up, and you’re paired with another blogger or reader to send a box of treats and food goodies to that month. I’m having a blast picking out things to send to my pen-pal. You can learn more about the group and sign up for next month at The Lean Green Bean.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Anyone else getting spring fever?

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