Latest / Uncluttered and Unfiltered: The Podcast For Women Over 50 / IT'S TIME FOR A MID-LIFE FALL ORGANIZING REFRESH

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IT'S TIME FOR A MID-LIFE FALL ORGANIZING REFRESH · Uncluttered and Unfiltered: The Podcast For Women Over 50

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  Welcome to Uncluttered and Unfiltered, the podcast urging
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  you to let it go and don't look back, with nationally acclaimed
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  professional organizer Christine Stone and self-proclaimed Hot
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  Damn Mess radio and TV personality Eden Kendall.
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  Welcome everybody to Uncluttered and Unfiltered, the podcast for
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  women over 50 with Eden and Christine.
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  Now not every episode we do is all about organization, even
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  though Christine is a professional organizer, but this
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  one is. So whereas normally we say hey,
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  wait till the end for a random organizing tip, this one is
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  going to happen all the way through.
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  And the special occasion that is the reason for this is fall is a
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  is upon us. I mean depending on where you
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  live you might not experience any fall temperatures yet, but
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  at the very least if you look at your HomeGoods or your.
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  Right. Oh, you're in your?
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  Or your Marshalls or whatever. You're going.
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  To fall, it's fall. So it's fall, y'all, as we say
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  here in the South. So we're going to do a fall
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  refresh. So yes, this is all in your
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  wheelhouse. Well, I love doing a fall
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  refresh for empty nesters because it's different than when
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  you have kids, kids at home still.
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  Yeah. I mean, it really is because
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  your house takes on a different feeling in a different meaning.
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  When the holidays come around and you change seasons, You
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  don't you don't do it all around children.
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  And usually when your kids are little or even high schoolers,
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  fall is back to school time. So that's really the focus.
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  Even though it's nice to honor the season change, it's not all
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  about that. It's about activities changing.
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  Soccer starts, everything starts back up.
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  So we're talking about the empty nester or, you know, even if
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  your kids are just high schoolers are kind of doing
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  their own thing. They're getting themselves
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  around. You can really zoom in and and
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  think about your home. Right.
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  And I like to focus though on, because I see so much of this
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  when I'm organizing clients over 50 whose kids have gone to
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  college and they're out. The first thing I'm going to
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  talk about is entertaining products, meaning how much of
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  like the Halloween stuff and the, like you said, the
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  HomeGoods Tchotchkes, I call them because there's so many of
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  them. How much of that stuff are you
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  still keeping even though you don't really display it anymore
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  because you just don't like it? It's not really, I don't know.
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  In my opinion, now that my kids are gone, I'm a little lazier of
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  putting everything out. You know, it's a lot of work,
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  you know what I mean? So get going through those bins
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  and really only keeping what you are going to really start
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  putting out. Are you going to, you know, as
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  we get older, it's like a couple pumpkins will suffice.
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  We don't need to decorate the whole.
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  House we don't have to have a Pinterest board going on in our
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  living room. Every throw pillow doesn't need
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  to get changed. Out right, exactly.
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  So also in part of this is do what makes you happy.
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  You know, if you want just fresh flowers on your coffee table
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  starting in the fall, then do that.
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  I mean, you're at a different place in your life, so doing
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  what you did when your kids are little, you don't really need to
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  do that anymore unless you want to.
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  If you want to, you should go ahead and keep doing it, but
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  I'll do. It big if you want.
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  Right, right. But I see a lot of empty nesters
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  who were like, why did that? Because my kids were around.
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  I did. I'm too tired.
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  I don't want to do all that decorating.
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  So that's the first thing really go through all your fall
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  entertaining items. Let me ask you what you would
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  say to me if you came to my house and you found a big tub
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  and I said no, I don't put that out anymore, but one day I'll
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  have grandkids and then I'm going to want to decorate if
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  they come and visit me at the fall in the fall.
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  I mean, this is what I hear all the time.
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  I mean, here's my theory. If you have all the room in the
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  world in your house and you want to keep something with that,
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  what the dreaded what if I say it's your life, it's your house.
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  But most people, especially people who have downsized or
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  over 50, do not have the room and they still want to say what
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  you just said, but they don't have the room to keep that.
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  So that's where I come in as a professional to really sit down
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  and talk about, well, what if they don't come for 10 years or
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  I noticed with my own daughter having grandchildren, we're
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  going there all the time because she is young kids and just want
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  to get on a plane with two young kids, it's easier if I fly to
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  them. So you're keeping all this for
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  what I mean in reality. Think about that.
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  Think about what you're really. You're really getting them for
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  Halloween? Probably not.
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  That's not a travel holiday. No, they're gonna stay home and
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  be in their neighborhood with their friends.
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  Right. Now, if you want to be like we
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  love putting up a big inflatable at Halloween because we know the
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  kids all love it in our neighborhood.
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  But that is the one and only real decoration we have for
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  Halloween and it goes up every year, right?
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  But most we wouldn't probably change have pumpkin things.
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  On our right, everywhere on. The dining room table or
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  anything like. That I, I, but I see a lot of it
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  I so going through those bins and only keeping what you
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  really, really think you're going to use and donate it.
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  And now is a good time to donate it because this is when people
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  want it. They can use it, somebody else
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  can use it if you donate it. So now is the good time to
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  donate it. Also looking at your if you're
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  going to entertain, a lot of people entertain around the
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  holidays. November is Thanksgiving,
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  Christmas is December, you have Hanukkah.
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  You have so many things going on.
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  Don't wait until a week before the holiday to go.
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  Gosh, I only have 4 four forks. The other three got eaten up in
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  the garbage disposal and now what do I do?
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  Because I swear every time you do that you go.
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  And everyone else had the same thought and there's nothing left
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  anywhere. That would remote that way.
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  Right. Or that you would remotely like
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  and you're just buying stuff that's mediocre and then you
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  want to get rid of it right away because you bought it out of
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  stress. You know what I mean?
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  So now is the time to go through your placemats, your
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  tablecloths, all those things that you use for entertaining,
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  and let those go and keep only what's in great shape that you
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  really think you're going to use.
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  And it goes with kind of the feeling and the decor of your
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  home. Now, a lot of times you had the
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  pumpkin tablecloths because you really went all out when your
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  kids were around. But you're like, I'm not putting
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  that pumpkin tablecloth on my table now.
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  Then let it go. Get rid of it.
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  If you can't find your forks, by the way, the first place you
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  should look is in your kids bedrooms behind their night
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  stands. That's just a pro tip, yeah.
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  See, we we had the no eating in your bedroom law because of
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  bugs. But you know, everybody has
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  different eating rules. You also had girls.
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  Yeah, and you had a boy I had. Two, he had, he had to eat all
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  the time and right, we never get him into his room if he couldn't
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  eat in. There, right?
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  That's what I mean, he said. Boys are so different.
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  So anyway, also the linen closet and if you're going to have
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  guests staying with you for the holidays, do you need new
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  towels? Do you need little travel size
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  toothpaste for them or extra toothbrushes or new pillowcases?
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  Like look at your linens and say, oh, there's a big hole
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  there, there's a stain there. Now is the time to change out
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  those and you can get them so cheap now.
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  I don't good good linens for very inexpensive now.
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  So now is the time to prep your if you're having guests a guest
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  room situation without waiting till the last minute.
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  So the guest room focus on the outside.
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  I don't know about you, but the minute that weather changes, I
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  am out on my back patio all the time.
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  So beforehand I like to spray off the cushion, spray off the
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  patio, maybe change some decor in there, change the pillows out
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  on my, you know, couch out there, whatever.
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  But really thinking about your outside because you're not
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  sitting out there when it's 100°.
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  No, you're not. And you're not even paying
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  attention to it. At least in Florida, we're not.
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  We don't, we don't go out there. There's mosquitoes, it's hot,
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  it's muggy, it's humid. So once the weather shifts, you
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  are going to be out there. So what can you do to really
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  clean up the space and refresh it so that you're going to enjoy
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  it again come the cooler months? Of course, we're going to talk
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  about the closet. I believe it or not, have
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  already done mine. I just refreshed.
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  I do believe it. I do.
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  Believe it. I did it over the weekend.
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  I refreshed and brought, I have like a winter slash travel area.
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  So I brought everything down and put all my coats and not heavy
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  because we live in Florida. I'm talking like a jacket or
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  something. And if you look at where you've
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  been keeping all your fall winter stuff and you pull it out
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  and you go, I'm not wearing that again, now is the time to get
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  rid of it. So if you want to buy something
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  new for fall to wear at the holidays, OK, now you have room
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  in your closet because you're getting rid of a few things.
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  So really doing a fall refresh and getting rid of some of them.
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  Maybe the really, really summary, summary time things and
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  do a switch out, which is what I do.
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  I always take my beach cover ups that are hanging and I switch
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  those to upstairs things I'm not going to be wearing.
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  And it just, it just refreshes your closet and makes you feel
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  like when you look at it, OK, I'm ready for fall.
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  It is it is always a good feeling to do.
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  That. Yeah.
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  Always a good thing. I mean, even if you do live in
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  Florida and it's 100° in September, OK.
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  I always find things I forgot I had when I do that.
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  Right. Yeah, exactly.
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  Especially with drawers. But yeah, whenever I'm doing any
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  kind of purging or cleaning out or refreshing, I find things and
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  I get excited about them. I know and.
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  I get rid of other things. It's like you have a whole new
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  closet every season. And so even the shoes, I mean
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  you may say, okay, I never even wore these shoes in the summer,
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  so I'm not even going to store them away because I never.
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  Wore the whole season went by right?
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  This is a really opportune time to look at all of your summer
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  items because now you've had an entire summer to wear them.
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  Especially like bathing suits and things like that.
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  You've had the whole summer. If you never even wore that
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  bathing suit one time, you're not going to wear it in the fall
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  or the winter. Right.
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  And if you keep bathing suits and drawers and you need the
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  drawer space, putting them in containers with lids and
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  labeling bathing suits and getting them out of your way
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  until you need them again. But making sure you know if it's
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  a bin that you can't see through, that you label it so
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  you don't forget where all your bathing suits are if you end up
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  going on vacation somewhere and then you're gonna kill me.
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  So anyway. But just making your home in the
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  fall, if you are an empty nester or your kids are just now
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  leaving for college, the last one's leaving.
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  It'll be something to do that will get your mind off leaving
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  that last child. You can really clean up
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  throughout the house and maybe make one space in there, your
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  own space, an Art Room, an office, whatever you want to
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  make it. Now that fall has come, the kids
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  are gone and recreating the space and making it a place that
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  really feels like you now. Not who you used to be, but who
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  you are now. And you're allowed to have a new
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  you every season. I agree.
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  You can have as many new use as you want.
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  I do all the time I do. Last week's ME was different
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  than this. Right.
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  Me exactly. And here's why.
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  Well, we talked about, I always forget when I talk to you on the
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  phone that I haven't talked to you about already.
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  But planners, like that's my new fall thing that I am literally
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  call me a geek, so excited about because I used to be the
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  biggest. My kids used to call it my
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  Bible. I went everywhere with my
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  planner and I have tried for so many years to do the whole
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  digital thing and I do it. I do it.
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  I'm not I don't love it. I've never loved it.
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  I've never come around to it. I just do it, OK.
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  It's funny because I went back to that.
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  I think it was our first year doing the podcast.
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  I was all digital and then when I went back to my notebooks and
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  a fresh notebook, every time I run out of space, I don't even
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  have to get through the whole thing.
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  If I get through half of it, I start a new one and I love it.
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  It's a whole new. Beginning.
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  It's a whole new beginning and I cannot wait to fill it.
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  I cannot wait. I, I literally spent two hours
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  just on all the different sites like cloth and paper that have
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  all the inserts to fill in because as you know, I'm very
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  particular sure. So I really wanted it to work
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  for my lifestyle and the things that I have going on.
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  So I just can't wait. I'm going to bring it, show it
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  to everyone. What's done, Treat?
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  Yourself. I'm going.
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  Back. Your kids always got a new
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  planner for school every year. Why not treat yourself?
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  I think I might treat myself to something fancy with inserts
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  etcetera because I just use a spiral notebook, but yeah.
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  I'm excited, Yeah. I mean, I already am ready to do
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  like my Christmas lists in it and everything, like put
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  everything, everything in it and have it with me all the time and
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  use it all the time. I'm excited.
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  So anyway, that's my fall refresh really is.
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  I've been waiting on it. I ordered it, so it's not in
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  yet. So I've been because then I can
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  make all my lists in there for fall.
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  I can make all my lists for stuff, for my business, for the
• 15:00
  podcast, personal stuff. So anyway, stay tuned for my
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  planner. OK, we'll definitely have that.
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  It's so funny because we, you and I talk on the phone or we
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  text all the time and you know you're talking about your
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  planner. I don't want to side rail us for
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  too long if you have. More.
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  Oh no, I'm good. OK, good.
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  So we were talking and Christine just had a birthday.
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  The day we're recording this, her birthday would have been
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  yesterday. So happy birthday by the thank
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  you by one day belated. But I said I on Saturday.
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  I was like, what are you doing for your birthday weekend?
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  He's like, I'm getting my annual breast cancer MRI because you,
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  you have such a history in your family that you get scans.
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  Yeah, Twice a year I get I get a mammogram and then I get AMRI
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  because they make you do this test.
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  And if you pass the test, then you're eligible by insurance to
• 15:54
  pay for that. So I passed the test by two
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  points. Which is not a great thing cuz
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  that means that genetically you're predisposed.
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  But we already knew that, so you may as well take advantage of
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  it. And the reason I think, well,
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  kind of that they explained to me is because if you're doing
• 16:11
  those two things, even if it does come up, please never.
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  But if it does, they've caught it, hopefully early enough is.
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  This the BRCA. Test No, it's not for BRCA.
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  It's just my mom had breast cancer, my grandmother had
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  breast cancer, and two of my mom's sisters had breast cancer.
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  And so they just screened me to be extra.
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  And my mom didn't get breast cancer until she was 80, so she
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  was older so. Anyway, smart to do what you're
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  doing, but that's how you spent your birthday weekend.
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  Yes, because they now do them on Saturdays where I go and it was
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  the only appointment I could get.
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  And I'm like, OK, well, that could be a really good birthday
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  present to myself, because if it turns out that it's good, then
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  I'll be happy. Yeah.
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  So of course, though, I get scanxiety really, really,
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  really, really bad. I mean, really bad.
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  So I, they, the results were already in there on my birthday,
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  and I wouldn't read it. I wouldn't go in the portal and
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  read it because I thought 124 hours isn't going to change
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  anything and it's not going to ruin my birthday.
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  So I read it this morning. It was all good, which made me
• 17:23
  even happier. Like I got a belated birthday
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  present. Love that.
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  Yes, I love that birthday. Present so if you can't ask for
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  anything else for your birthday then good health at my age.
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  And many more. Happy birthday, good health and
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  many more. And then also on our text
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  thread, I was telling you that my new thing is I have to, you
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  don't have to do the New York Times puzzles every day.
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  I do. And I've noticed more and more
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  of my friends are doing this, but I have to do the mini, the
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  crossword, mini strands, connections and Wordle.
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  And I do this every day. Well, when I sometimes I forget,
• 17:59
  but most days. So my new thing is like, I'm
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  always telling my husband I'll be right in or I'll be ready in
• 18:04
  a few minutes. I have to do my puzzles.
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  I'm like, Oh my gosh, can I hear myself right now?
• 18:09
  I have to do my puzzles. Yeah.
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  So I'm wondering if anybody. Do you watch Jeopardy too?
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  Sometimes, sometimes yes, sometimes yes.
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  But the puzzles, I'm like, I'm always like, I'm trying to be
• 18:20
  keep my brain sharp. That's smart though.
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  My husband used to do those when they were on in the newspaper
• 18:25
  all the time. But I mean I used to do a lot of
• 18:30
  word search. Remember Word?
• 18:32
  Search. Sure, that's, but I haven't done
• 18:34
  that in a long time. That was my big crosswords,
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  yeah. I do the mini.
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  I don't do like the whole big crossword thing.
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  But anyway, OK, so now we have a fall refresh assignment list.
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  We're going to do all of the things you just mentioned and
• 18:48
  all of that stuff we've been holding onto because we're
• 18:50
  hoping that one day our great, great, great, great, great
• 18:52
  grandchild are going to visit from around the world to come
• 18:55
  see us on Halloween. They're not.
• 18:57
  That's the spoiler alert. So you can just let that idea
• 19:00
  go. And don't look back.