home for the next year

I actually moved into my new residence hall a week ago (see my freshman dorm and summer dorm; they're not too different, other than size).  Unlike moving into my summer dorm, I had sheets already for this, and I had the help of a coworker before she went back home to get a few weeks break in before school started again.  My things are also in the suite proper this time - only two of my suitemates have moved their things in so far; our most compelling feature thus far is our growing mini-fridge farm).

Our entryway's simple; trash and a coat rack.  I'm hoping to figure out somewhere else for the bins because I don't like them there (not that anywhere else is better?)

Mini-fridge farm!  We're expecting like two-three more; stacking may be required.  Also, guess which is mine (hint: all the food is on it).

We have tables and things!  Also...those blinds.  Yeah.  Spending time untying knots is on my list...

The hall to my room, entering my room.  It looks dull, right?

Wrong.  It's fairly colorful, though I'm not yet done decorating.  I really like my dresser.

A while back, someone asked what sort of fanart I had on my walls.  I never managed to answer, being the lazy-ass I am, but here's a selection: Homestuck, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Sailor Moon.  Also, you can see part of my headboard-pride flag here.

The top of my wardrobe (wisely taken before laundry piles up...)

My bookshelf and desk.  More Homestuck is on the walls (telling me to do my homework, naturally), as well as some wall art I made from a Miuccia Prada quote that I featured in a Favorites post a while ago: "The investigation of ugliness is, to me, more interesting than the bourgeois idea of beauty. And why? Because ugly is human. It touches the bad and the dirty side of people".  I put her name and the bolded piece in pink.  I think that as a fashion blogger and artist, as well as someone who spends too much time trying to be perfect, it's important to see things like this every day, and to think about them and examine them.  I also have some cute cards from a local festival and last year's Cinematheque Miyazaki series.  My bags are all hidden under the bottom of the bookshelf, by the way.  It's a useful spot.

The shelving on my desk, which holds all manner of useful things, and part of my bed.  That hanging rack wouldn't fit over my door (it's too tall and close to the frame), so it went on one of my spare railings, which handily stacked on the foot.  My friend memory board thing is propped up on the power strip, and I've got a world map (favorite thing eeeeeever).

And finally...

My shoes are under my bed (along with various other things).  There are kind of a lot of them, and you can't even see them all in this.  I kind of have a shoe problem, don't I?  Sigh...

If you've moved into a dorm or new place recently, how have you organized it?  How did you deal with having a closet for a room?  (Seriously, my room's about 8'x9', just barely, and that's not accounting for the inset window that takes a foot off, or the piping that also takes a foot off... It's more like 7'x8' with that stuff...)

moving: this kills the woman

You might have noticed the distinct lack of posts for the better part of last week.  If you're paying attention to my twitter, you know that the chaos of moving suddenly and abruptly took over my life.  I moved in on Thursday (the 23rd), and spent basically all of Friday after work on unpacking.  I'm still not entirely done, honestly.  I also, unfortunately, accidentally took a bunch of my friend's stuff that she was intending someone else to temporarily store.  On the other hand, what else was I supposed to think when I saw her boxes standing there with a note scrawled on them saying "Thank you Sue"?  I'm still not entirely sure how else I was supposed to take that...  Oh well.  Hopefully she'll come by for them once she gets back from Chi-town and my room will get even neater.  (And hopefully she'll be more specific with things next time...)  In the meantime, some pics of the room!

 

 

It's definitely not completely done on the unpacking front, but I'm pretty pleased with the room...other than the fact that I don't have any full-size sheets.  Oops?  Guess that'll be one of the first things I buy with my first paycheck.

Obviously, with work, and packing-moving-unpacking chaos, there wasn't much time to bother with dressing nicely (seriously, I moved someone into their new place on Monday night, and then I moved into my new dorm on Thursday...) I did bother with something other than short-shorts and a tank top on Saturday, though, since that was basically my errands day. Probably fancier than grocery shopping and picking up packages merited, but whatever.

Shirt/rings/shoes - F21 | Shorts - Kate Spade Saturday | Tights - Walmart

Hopefully I'll have figured out our common area lighting by the time next week rolls around...it's kind of a special setup, and nobody's really bothering to actually do anything in the common area. My suite doesn't seem too interested in socializing with each other, which is kind of sad. Hopefully that'll also start happening soon!

How was your past week?

I Finally Did It

I have never had a clean room, not even when I clean it. It always, immediately, descends into pure chaos midway through, and I give up and sit on the internet. However, this past week (before I got sick, obviously), I finally managed it. What's more stunning, though, is that (once I started feeling better and dealt with some accumulated mess) it's still clean, a week later. How'd I do that? Oh, right, I'm cleaning every weekend. That's how the whole 'clean' thing works. I'm also not throwing stuff on the floor, and I'm putting things back where I grabbed them from when I'm done using them. You know, everything my mom told me to do as a kid that I didn't believe her about... Don't let her know, though.

My roommate's side doesn't show in this, for the record. She and I both tend to be very messy, so I didn't think I'd let you have a glimpse of what my side is normally like. ;)

The Totoro occupying my desk chair was a birthday present from my ex (a post-breakup one, so no awkward memories attached, luckily, because I could never give up a Totoro), and it's one of four plushes in my room - you can see the other three, though you may not spot the fourth (he's hiding on the shelves in my window that you can only partially see). That green sign you see next to the photos on my desk says "Keep Calm and Buy Shoes", which is kind of the motto of my life. (No, really, the only thing that got me through my Econ homework last night was that I couldn't look at shoes until after I'd done it... I'm reeeeeaally easy). The pictures on my wall are a mix of Homestuck and Pinterest-spotted things, mostly Homestuck. Homestuck is...a highly interesting sci-fi webcomic that has characters who usually look like they don't have arms. But they do. That's only one of the multitude of odd things about it, but we'll leave out the fun and interesting alien romance system that I, personally, adore. Basically it's my fictional obsession of the moment (my floormate keeps telling me I need to read Small Gods and that I'll instantly have a new one, but I haven't managed to actually finish it yet and I feel guilty, because I keep getting distracted from it). The program taped to my desk is from The Last Five Years, which you should go see if you have the opportunity, because it's a fantastic musical, even if it is really sad! Just make lots of noises and flail afterwards, I promise it helps to handle the emotions evoked by the musical. Lastly, my to-do list is in post-it notes on that whiteboard and OH MY GOODNESS does it work. I have been so much more productive in these first weeks than I was all of last semester, not to mention, pretty much my entire high school career.

Now, aside from the decor, my dorm organization tips:

• STACKABLE SHELVES EVERYWHERE

I promise you, even if they're ugly (my window ones are soooo ugly, they're white plastic), the function of them is completely worth it. I have my stereo (that I stupidly decided to bring along - I used it once, before I got my computer in), plastic bottle vases holding various things, some figurines, one of my plushes, all my dishware and utensils, and a giant arm-chair pillow on those shelves. I have another shelf that keeps all my "office" supplies organized, which is hidden, in the pictures, by the stack of Deltora Quest books (sidenote, you should read those, if you haven't, because they're a fantastic kids' fantasy series - and surprisingly dark for one, too, refreshingly so, I think).

• hooks, hooks everywhere

I'm also not kidding. I forgot to take pictures of the other side of my wardrobe, but there are hooks on it holding bags and a windbreaker, and there are hooks inside of it to hold jackets (you see the hoodie hanging? Yeah!) and my purses. There are hooks on the wall holding my jewelry and other things. 3M was brilliant when they made those.

• remember that in dorms, function trumps form

I know, I shouldn't be advocating that, because ~fashion~ and ~pretty~, right? Unfortunately, much as I adore things looking lovely, unless you have a lot of money, you have to sacrifice that in most residence halls, because everything is in short supply. If it doesn't look lovely, but it works, learn to live with it until you can come up with an idea that makes it lovely.

• see if you can repurpose things

Repurposing things is really, really helpful, sometimes. My roommate burned out my lamp (the one on the fridge is the replacement she bought). How on earth do you dispose of a LAMP? I think you're supposed to take it somewhere or something? I didn't - I took all the burst bulbs out, got rid of the melted shades, and turned it into a hat rack. I needed storage for my colored pencils after the thing holding them broke, so I chopped the top off a water bottle and used that. Anything can be useful, even when it seems it's outlived its purpose, you just have to look to see it. (But not actual trash - I mean recyclable things, in general).

I hope this helps you with something in your life, or, at least, entertains you. Feel free to give any suggestions on dealing with res. hall life or cleaning (or both!) in the comments.