Out with the old...

It's New Years' Eve! And more importantly, it is still December, so I will keep my December blog count above (1). Impending January means that it is almost Sam Says's one-year blog anniversary! A year ago, I think I talked about how I don't like to make a big deal about the new year, but then I kind of made a big deal about the new year...

I'm not particularly good at keeping my New Years' resolutions. Past highlights have been "Go to the gym three times once a week month year," "Floss every day" (though I still always lie to my dentist and say I kept that one...), "Become fluent in Spanish," and "Save [an unreasonable amount of] money." So last year I silently resolved to be a good blogger. I've had a couple rough months, but compared to my other resolutions, I'm pretty impressed with myself. (New strategy: at the end of the year, figure out what I did well, and then lie and say it was my New Years' resolution.)

This year, instead of thinking of new resolutions ("In with the new," as they say), I decided to focus on ending the year well. With the help of my friend Jessica, I successfully cleaned out my closet yesterday! Jess was a huge help, and I can now add with certainty that it is a true friend who will tell you that your clothes are ugly. Example of me going through my clothes: "Jess, I really like this shirt because it's white and it matches everything, it's from J. Crew, and I've only had it for like 4 months. But it doesn't really fit, and there are five holes in the armpits..." (She made me get rid of that one.)

After I finished the whole closet (three or four hours later), I wished I had taken a before picture (You know what they say.), but here's the after:

(Okay, seriously, you should have seen it before.)

And here are the different piles I created when I was finally done. (For background about the piles, click here.) By the way, I got a whopping $23 for that "clothes to sell" pile. Not going to think about how much it cost me in the first place.

Some tips for you from my experience, if you are going through your closet. Get rid of it if...

1. There are holes in it.

2. It was not purchased recently, but the tag is still on it.

3. You haven't worn it in over two years.

4. They are shoes and your feet have blisters or bleed after you wear them.

5. It's not the same color it was when you bought it.

6. You have no idea when you bought it or where it came from. (This happened to me, no joke, with a $200 pair of jeans yesterday.)

7. When you try it on to ask your friend how it looks, it takes less than 0.25 seconds for her to yell at you to take it off.

8. You have more than three of the same thing. (Yep, I had seven of the same shirt.)

9. It is your seventh-favorite pair of workout shorts, and you don't exercise more than five times a year.

10. You can't sit down in it without worrying about something ripping.