Day 6: Cleaning Day 1

Today I woke up at 10:30. It was a great morning! I forgot that I still had quiet days. Noah and I went straight to breakfast, and I didn't change into anything until 6. Well, I guess that just because today was the all dreaded cleaning day. And I wasn't about to clean the room and the bathroom in heels.

What slept on makeup looks like

No, this morning wasn't really a "quiet" day. In fact immediately after making breakfast, I decided the best punishment for not finishing last night's routine was to watch the "Fashion Police". Now, I think I have a pretty good fashion sense because since this project I've been getting compliments on my clothes from complete strangers and friends alike. But I know absolutely nothing compared to Joan Rivers and Giuliana Rancic.

Sandra Bullock knows we're watching...

This day was essentially a shitload of cleaning. I thought I would get really flustered and start crying but once I got into the hang of things it worked out really nicely!

Before

After

Cleaning reminded me of playing house when I was a little girl. When I was very very young, about 3-5, I refused to wear pants and always wore dresses. This was mostly attributed to the fact that I would always see children in preschool who wore jeans come up to the teachers and ask if they could have help zipping up their pants. I would not have such a battle with dignity.

As soon as I realized that zipping up my pants was simple and easy I banished the dresses and it stayed that way. Not to say I wasn't ever girly again. I tried my hand at playing with barbies and being a princess. And it was all fun and good. I especially loved Pegasus but my stepsisters insisted my favorite animal was the unicorn (well, I honestly loved the unicorn Pegasus!).

Before

After

Playing house was always fun though; I got to pretend I was a grown up, that I could actually have my own things and make my own choices. Of course playing house mostly consisted of pretending to clean and talking on a wispy high pitched voice to sound like a beautiful housewife.

I think to some extent we all maintain that fantasy of being grown up one day and be able to make our own decisions and have our own things. It's just looked at a different way for everyone. Some people fantasize about having that nice shiny car, and others dream of having the kind of love they would only see in cartoons.

Before

After

Though, I think that when it comes to cleaning its about having that fairy tale home, being Cinderella or Paris Hilton or whatever kind of princess that gets what she wants in the end. Perhaps these girls are creating a world around them, a fairy tale world where everything is bright and beautiful and is there for her.

Or is it because taking so much care into one's appearance naturally means taking care of one's home? Perhaps I'm searching for a deeper meaning than I can get out of this.

Before

After

The cleaning overall wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but maintaining it will be the true challenge. When I come home from work/school I drop my backpack and laptop on the floor and kick my shoes off any which way. When I change clothes I throw the dirty ones to the ground and if I decide I don't want to wear a certain shirt I take off the hanger...it's ending up on the ground too.

If I take food or drinks up to my room they'll be there until I no longer have counter space to put more drinks, and if I buy something new, the packaging will be scattered about until I have lost it and need to search the floor for it.

Before

After

These habits have got to change, and change now! My boyfriend has complete nagging rights as of today, and he can correct my messy behavior whenever he notices something.

Now, when I come home, I will neatly place my backpack and laptop in a designated area against the wall, where, if I need it, I will not tear into it's contends and end up with books, cords, papers strewn across the floor.

Now when I get dressed all dirty clothes go into the dirty clothes pile before I do anything else, and all clothes I tried on but decided against wearing will go back to their designated areas. Jewelry will always go back into its' box and makeup will always go back into its' bag.

When I apply makeup, I will take extra care into not getting it on anything but my face. And if I get any on any surface I will immediately wipe it off.

Every weekend I will clean everything all over again to make sure it stays immaculate. I also need to get some pretty curtains for the window, a nicer office chair, and some more hangers for all my clothes.

Being clean seemed like my biggest challenge but right now it just seems like a roadblock if anything. I'll have to get used to taking much longer to go to the bathroom, which means going to the bathroom at the right times. But maybe all this planning things ahead will work well for me.

After I was done, Noah and I decided to go out to eat. When we found out our restaurant of choice was packed we thought the best thing we could do was rent a chick flick and eat at home.

"Confessions of a Shopaholic" was a really bad movie. I think they were aiming for a "Legally Blonde" for 2009 but they just ended up with a big fat pile of shit. Noah and I got it because we thought we'd learn some things about fashion but all we learned is that green doesn't go with yellow and I'm doubting that too.

The protagonist had a terrible sense of style and I'm definitely becoming more girly because it bothered me throughout the film.

After I took a shower I decided to play the game of "Which leg is moisturized" with you all! So? right or left?I'm having harder and harder times figuring out how to put outfits together. This week I need to go shopping with a friend or I'm screwed! Tomorrow I'll be talking to an ex-girly girl though and she might have some stuff for me.