Closet Craziness

I moved into my brother's old room three years ago, and the first thing I did was fill the closet with everything I could get my hands on. Then I crammed the nooks and crannies with random little things, like an alien-bobble-head, a mini-dollhouse of pink legos, a UFO landing site, and pictures of Orlando Bloom. Then I shoved a few sparkly ballroom gowns on top for good measure.

I shut the door, hung a pretty picture on the outside, and vowed never to open that closet again.

Three years later, I moved back to America, and, after a week of wearing exactly the same outfit, came to the conclusion that maybe I should unpack my clothes.

I tried various unpacking methods.

First, I kept everything in suitcases on my floor. But, after a few days, the suitcases magically shrank, as suitcases tend to do once opened, and my clothes no longer fit inside. So I took a more artistic approach and left my clothes in piles, on top of furniture, and draped from my bed.

This was... messy.

After a few painfully stubbed toes while trying to navigate the labyrinth of stuff covering my floor, I decided it was time to have a functioning closet again.

Surprisingly, on opening the door, no flying saucers came rushing towards my face, nothing came crashing down on my head, and my pictures of my beloved Orlando had not come to life to stage a coup against the disaster that had taken place in my closet.

I decided to go all Peter Walsh on my closet and emptied the entire thing out... onto my sister's bed.

The result was a nice, clean, empty closet. Which immediately made me want to fill it with stuff.  I resisted, and set about dealing with the mess I had made in my sister's room.

But what to do with all that stuff? I set my eyes on a playpen in the corner of the room, and decided that it would be my "donate" pile. My goal was to fill the playpen with things for charity, and then when it was full, I would take everything else back in my room, close my sister's door, and hope she didn't notice...

At the same time, I worked on relocating things to other parts of the house that really didn't belong in my closet. Okay, that's cheating. I'm a dirty, dirty cheater. Shhh!!

• Hall Closet: Coats and jackets
• Cedar Closet: Ballroom gowns worn less than twice a year, linens and towels from my old apartment (I'm planning on moving to a new apartment in a month or two and won't need them until then)
• Office: Office Supplies, computer parts, printer
• Attic: Legos and kitchenware

Back into my bedroom closet went all of my clothes from the floor, along with a basket of souvenirs from India, a tote bag of my professional organizing supplies, a box of computer/video games, a few board games, and a pretty red box containing my collection of Rubix cubes.

I'm happy to say that my closet is now clean and functional! But I'm still wearing the same outfit everyday. Why mess up a perfectly good look ?

Toothpaste Math

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

2.

At least, that's about how much patience I have before I shove the entire thing in my mouth and chew it into tiny bits. I guess I'll never really know how many times I can lick a tootsie roll pop.

But, I do know how many times I can use a travel-size tube of toothpaste.

It's 30.

I counted.

For the not-so mathematically inclined, here's what you can get out of your travel-sized toothpaste:

• a month of brushing your teeth once a day
• 15 days of brushing your teeth twice a day
• 10 days of brushing your teeth three times a day

Or, if you are traveling with a friend/partner/spouse:

• 15 days of brushing your teeth once a day
• 7.5 days of brushing your teeth twice a day
• 3.75 days of brushing your teeth three times a day

Or, if you are me and my sister when we were little:

• 2 delicious toothpaste smoothies*

These figures are based off of a .85 oz (24 g) tube of toothpaste.

This means that the average person uses about .0283 oz (.8 g) of toothpaste per use.

Let's apply this to a normal sized tube of toothpaste!

My mom's toothpaste is 7.8 oz (221 g).

So, I could brush my teeth about 276 times with my mom's toothpaste.

Brushing my teeth twice a day, that tube of toothpaste would last me 138 days, or about 4.6 months.

So I only need to buy 2.65 tubes of toothpaste per year.

Too much time watching Extreme Couponing has convinced me that I should stockpile at least 195 more tubes of toothpaste so that I have enough to last me the rest of my life. Better make it 200, in case I need to teach my future children how to make their own toothpaste smoothie...


*I do not advocate using your travel-sized toothpaste to make smoothies containing various leftover cooking ingredients, spices, and dirt. Been there, done that, it doesn't taste good. It probably isn't very good for your health either. Also, avoid drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth, as it tastes almost as bad as a toothpaste smoothie.

St. Christopher's Inn: The Organized Hostel

Some hostels are full of lizards that hang on the wall and watch you while you sleep. Some hostels are full of cockroaches ready to scurry across the floor and touch you at any given moment. Some hostels are full of organizational tools that will scare away all the lizards and cockroaches and leave you will a profound sense of peace and organiziness.

One of the best organized hostels that I've stayed at is St. Christopher's Inn. They've got hostels all over Europe; I'm currently overcoming jet-lag by blogging at 6 am in their Paris location.

Here's my list of the top 10 reasons I love St. Christopher's Inn.

1. The Website

Aside from being super easy to navigate and book online, they also put together a list of local sights to visit and monthly events. If you're new to a city and looking for quick ideas on what to do, this is a perfect reference, even if you're not staying at the hostel. If you're in Paris, like me, check out:

Paris Sightseeing

Paris Monthly Events

2. Under-The-Bed Lockers

Each person gets their own private locker under their bunk bed. These lockers are GINORMOUS and can fit your entire suitcase, along with your backpack, purse, and about a bajillion souvenirs. There's enough space that you can keep all your things controlled and organized if you so desire. Or you can be like me and say "screw you organization, I'm on vacation" and then go buy more souvenirs to shove in your locker. 

 (I'm really not usually this bad, really. I'm just in the process of moving back to America from South Korea, and stopping over in France with all my luggage on the way home. Good idea to lug all your most important possessions through the streets of Paris? Probably not. But at least I can fit it all in my locker...)

On the downside, locks are not included, so bring your own, and make sure it's fairly big since the space between the top and bottom of the locker is sizable. (I've tied my flashlight to my locker to make it easier to open at 6 am when I can't sleep)

 
Also, bring your own travel-sized WD-40, since the lockers also squeak.

3. Privacy Curtains

Snore in peace, and block out sunshine during your mid-afternoon nap.

4. Bed Labels

Who doesn't appreciate a good label?

5. Discount Cards

 You can sign up at home to get a free temporary discount card before you go, and bring it to the hostel for 10% off your booking. (If you only get the real card at the hostel, it doesn't count for the initial discount if you've already made the booking, since you pay for your rooms and then get the card. If you get the temporary card at home first, you can show it before you pay for the 10% off. You can also use the card for 10% off food and drinks, and for all future bookings.)

6. Personal Lights and Electrical Sockets

Located on the wall above you pillow, charge your camera and laptops behind closed curtains, and stay up late reading the latest trashy French romance novel without waking up the other people in your room.

7. The Organized Shower

Hooks to hang your clothes on, a mini-shelf for your toiletries or shoes, a bar for your towel, a partition to keep your things from getting wet, and a real actual door that locks.

8. Free Bedding

It's not only free, but also clean and comfortable. And one less thing to pack in your suitcase! (And if you stay in the girls-only rooms, you get free towels too!)

 
9. Free WiFi

Check your email, post on facebook, update your blog, the possibilities are endless.

10. Toilet Paper 

Happiness is a gigantic roll of toilet paper...