Organization is Cheaper than Therapy

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being “what is soap?” and 10 being “no dirt shall ever enter my home,” I’d say I’m around a 7 at trying to be a neat freak.

I have the island of Manhattan and all of its lovely varieties of bugs to thank for that. I am terrified of bugs, so if I can ward them off by staying clean, I’m more than happy to do so, especially since Bailey–literally–wouldn’t kill a fly.

This is not the face of a killer. This is the face of a dog who needs a haircut, though.

Anyway, living in Manhattan also means less space than my suburban friends might have. It’s absolutely still worth the sacrifice for me, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t drive me nuts sometimes.

So those spices up there (which the fine people at McCormick sent me a few weeks ago) are appreciated, but their presence on my counter while I searched for a better spot was driving me a bit nuts.

As were the insides of these cabinets. (And yes, I will not buy another thing of sea salt or cane sugar for quite some time. Promise.)

I was hosting a Junior League meeting at my apartment last night, and I like to at least pretend I’m organized (even if some of the members of my committee read my blog and know better), so I needed to find a spot for those spices, since they clearly weren’t going in here.

So I bought a spice rack from the Container Store yesterday.

One little rack instantly made me feel more adult (do you know any college kids with a spice rack? Evan doesn’t count.), more organized and gave me a place for my spices. Like therapy but cheaper.

I used to be nervous about both entertaining and public speaking/leading meetings, so it’s a good thing I got over that, because last night, I led a meeting. While entertaining. (Reasons to recruit one of your best friends to be on your committee? They help you host when you’re slightly freaking out. Thanks, Lace!)

We usually keep our off-site Junior League meetings really simple–some snacks (hummus and multi-grain chips), salad and pizza.

Guys, I’m sorry if you smelled that candle from the hall and thought I had actually cooked. Psyche!

The salad is inspired by this recipe from Tiffany, who used to be on the committee. My version last night was far more simple: spinach, dried cranberries, feta and balsamic vinagrette–with walnuts added later.

And pizza, ordered from Pizza 33. I discovered Pizza 33 years ago late-night and have had a soft spot for it in my heart ever since.