UsedEverywhere.com

Operation Organize: Sometimes we have to do Boring Things to Better our Lives

Being a grad student in the social sciences, the sheer amount of paper I accumulate – even just over the span of a month – is stupid. From administrative-type documents to drafts of essays to articles, pages and pages and pages of paper fill rows of 2-inch binders. Literally, rows. It freaks me out. Now, before we get all high and mighty about what a big tree-killer I am, I assure you, I only print out what I absolutely have to – and yes, this still amounts to many binders-full.

So anyway, what I have yet failed to mention is that all of this material, while tucked neatly away in binders, is completely disorganized. I have no idea where anything is. And with summer school looming, I need to clean it up and get it together! So today I have decided to share with you my adventures in organizing – boring but necessary.

Behold! One of many piles of paper. I smudged out the text so that you don’t accidentally read it and immediately fall asleep on your keyboard. You’re welcome!

Step 1 I made a list. I separated all my information into Categories (Binders) and Sub-Categories (Tabs that will go in the Binders). It’s like an organizational cheat sheet.

Step 2 I wrote out my sub-categories on post-it notes that have cats on them. Don’t worry, any post-it notes/scraps of paper will work. I laid them out on my floor and then went through article-by-article, essay-by-essay, and put them in their appropriate category. If they didn’t fit into a category, I made a new one! So much freedom…

Tip: It’s a good idea to count how many binders and binder tabs you have before you do this and categorize accordingly. I ended up having to put loner documents together as “Other” so that I wouldn’t have to go buy more tabs.

Step 3 Once everything was categorized, I wrote out my category titles on the tabs for my binder dividers. You can also print your titles on these tabs if you are extra fancy, but it is much faster to just write them. At least for me. Again, I have smudged out my titles for your health. All I do is give. I’m here for the people.

Step 4 Insert your tab labels into your tabs, and start loading up that binder with all of your very interesting documents. Look at that organization! ‘Tis a thing of beauty. I used some blue-coloured tabs for ultra-special documents. Colour coding is not necessary, but some people swear by it. Mostly it confuses me. White. Blue. Blah. Simplification is where it’s at!

Step 5 Recycle! This is my recycle pile once the dirty deed was done. Good bye old documents! Go become recycled paper cups: it is your destiny.

And that is how I organized my binders for school. Trust me, it was more painful for me that it was for you. I hope you maybe even picked up a tip or two! Do you have any organization tips? Share them!

Another One Bites the Dust

So, it happened. You met, you laughed, you loved, you fought, you cried, and now you’re done… or some variation of this, right? Maybe you went through it a couple times, maybe there was less arguing; whatever went down, it’s now O-V-E-R.

Break-ups suck. This is not a particularly enlightening statement I know, and really there’s no point in flouncing up the description because it can be chronicled completely in those three words (or a two-word hyphenate, if you want to get technical).

creative commons image courtesy of CarbonNYC

A few of my friends have gone through this recently, and I’ll admit to going through some nasty splits myself in the past year or two. But it begs the question: after the Kleenex has been used up and the Ben and Jerry’s (Chunky Monkey!) has been polished off and you’ve watched He’s Just Not That Into You nine different times (not that I do that or anything…), what do you do with all the stuff?

Between the birthdays, Christmases, Valentine’s  Days and those lovely “just because” gifts, you can accumulate a fair amount. And not just regular stuff, either. Emotionally charged, memory-filled stuff from someone you used to love, or at least liked a fair amount. At first, everything is probably too fresh to do a thorough clean out – except for all the pictures you rip up and the gifts you’ve always hated and now have an excuse to trash. Once the dust settles and Spring Cleaning rolls around, how do you decide what to keep, of if you should keep anything at all?

I find jewelery is the first to end up on UsedVictoria.com, with the exception of one ring that I wanted forever and he really only paid for. That doesn’t count though, that one’s mine (even though it was nice of him to remember). What about things like sweaters, purses, and scarves? If a split is bad enough, are even the CD’s and DVD’s, coffee mugs and Body Shop products too much to stare at? I might be venturing into overly dramatic teenage girl territory here, but I genuinely want to know what you keep and what you toss, and what’s the time frame? Do you sell or just throw out?

Kiddie art, and what to do with it

A couple weeks ago I posted about a birthday party my youngest was attending. The hosts had requested that the gifts were to be handmade or secondhand. We decided to give the birthday girl some original artwork (painted by my youngest) and tuck it into a secondhand frame.

Pictured here is a version of what we came up with. I’m not sure who was more excited about it, me, or my daughter. (You can click the image to enlarge.)

Neat eh? But what should we do with the REST of the art that’s lying all around the house?

When my kids were younger they seemed to come home with piles of artwork every day.

The issue of children’s art can be a pretty touchy subject. More specifically, what to do with your children’s art can be a sore point at home when the kids are unwillingly witness to Recycling in Action.

The conversation begins innocently enough. It often happens when they catch you with their artwork in hand, poised over the recycling bin.

“I thought it would be a good idea to recycle this painting,” you say cheerily, helpfully, because you can’t remember what your fridge looks like underneath the layers of art and you’ve decided that you need to clear a space RIGHT NOW.

Silence.

“You made it a year ago,” you add, looking closer at the work in question. “In fact, it looks like you were trying to get some brown paint off your brush or something. Actually, I’m not even sure it’s a painting…” Your words trail off because you suddenly look up and notice that the baby blues staring back at you are starting to well up. And overflow. Egads.

The words finally come, punctuated with hiccups: “B-But mom! That was a painting of a bearrrrrrrr!”

Oh, don’t you feel like a terrible parent. So what is a mom supposed to do?

I had a few ideas in a past post about household art. My favourite thing to do (to this day!) is to either scan the art (if it’s small enough) or take a photo. The latter works especially well if it’s 3D art. For example, we once had a couple of  ”snowmen” kicking around the house that were made out of white tube socks stuffed with sand. And leaking all over the place. CLICK.

Other things we’ve done with kiddie art include:

• wrapping gifts in large preschool paintings (in fact we’ve had great success with this)
• laminating smaller pieces and creating placemats for the dining room table
• cutting up paintings and making bookmarks, gift cards and gift tags

What advice do you have for parents who can’t deal with the influx of art? Other than not getting caught recycling it?

Used Around Town: Good Things Household Consignments

Eden and I walked into Good Things Consignments unsure of what to expect. The first thing that was immediately apparent was how busy it was – around two o’clock in the afternoon and Good Things was the most bumpin’ spot in Oak Bay. We were quickly spotted by Gita Da Costa Reis, the son of owner Junice Da Costa Reis, thanks to Eden’s strategic placement of a UsedVictoria purple bag. He welcomed us to take a look around – this place had everything from collectables to kitchenware, jewelry, furniture, books, art and curios galore. The first item I was drawn to was, of course, Lily, the family dog and store greeter; Gita wasted no time in telling me, “she’s not for sale”.

While Eden was transfixed by a trove of vintage purses, I tried to make eye contact with an obviously very busy Junice, hoping to introduce myself the second she seemed to be free. This second never came. But she finally noticed my desperate glances and asked me to come chat with her while she helped out the customers looking to sell some of their effects.

“I’ll take this, not this, not this, this…”, Junice said as she quickly went through

Miss Lily

the items brought in, filled out a consignment form, and told me about Good Things, simultaneously. Previously working in antiques, Junice and family opened up Good Things Consignments in 1994. Despite never advertising (beyond word-of-mouth), a fire, and a flood, business was still booming. In fact, they recently expanded the store a second time to make more room for inventory. After a month, items not sold are reduced in price, and after another month they are given back to their owners or donated to one of the many charities in need in Victoria. This keeps the inventory fresh; and with her keen eye from years of experience in the used goods market, Junice only accepts high quality items.

While the success of Good Things Consignments can be attributed to many factors, including excellent customer service, Lily, or the high quality and variety of items that can be found there, Junice attributed much of it simply to the fact that there is a need for

Inside Good Things Consignment

Good Things in the community. What was perhaps most interesting was the way she described the relationship between Good Things and online markets like UsedVictoria.com as complementary, rather than in competition. Junice told us how customers will often bring in goods that they had a hard time selling online, and items that couldn’t find new owners through consignment were sometimes put up for sale on the site. As two different marketplaces for selling used items, online communities and consignments provide different options to meet the varied needs and preferences of sellers.

Thanks Good Things Consignments, for welcoming us into your store and teaching us a thing or two!

Good Things Consignments is located at 104-1841 Oak Bay Ave. Victoria, British Columbia.

Earth Hour Top 7!

We’re a month shy of Earth Day (April 22nd – no forgetting!), but while you’re getting organized for that you can have fun with Earth Hour on March 26th at 8:30pm.

What is it? Glad you asked! It started in Sydney, Australia as a way to show support for the planet and take a stand against climate change. All you have to do is turn the lights off for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 26th. Easy, right? Besides the energy savings of the lights being off, Earth Hour helps make people more mindful of their energy consumption –  a hot topic these days.

creative commons image courtesy of Muffet

So here, in honour of Earth Hour, are the Top 7 thing to do while the lights are out (well, the Top 7 PG things anyway)!

1. Make an Earth Hour Lantern! You can do that right here, and maybe make a real one for the event, too!
2. Earth Hour Party! Invite some friends over to hang out by candle light or flash light, make some snacks and have fun! Sitting in the dark is way more fun with your buds.
3. S’mores! A little indoor or outdoor fire (safety first everyone!), a little marshmallow, graham cracker, chocolate? Cuddle up in some blankets and tell campfire stories. A guaranteed success.
4. Movie time! The lights are going to be out anyway – why not make some popcorn and curl up with a movie?
5. Pitch-black art projects. Canvases? Finger-painting? Kick it like it’s 1994 (or whatever year it was when you were 5) and get some crazy art happening. You never know, it could turn out to be really cool! Just be sure to lay down some newspaper first and stay away from those scissors!
6. Marco Polo/Hide and Go Seek. Maybe move pointy or potentially dangerous out of the way first.
7. Sleep! Why not call it an early night and catch up on some Zzzz’s? Especially if you had a late night Friday…

Happy Earth Hour!

Update: Can’t believe I forgot to mention this (it’s been a long week): Our site will be dark during Earth Hour! We did it last year, we’re doing it again!

Who Wore it Better?

Eden and I are kind of a running joke in the office. One of the reasons that we were hired was because – beyond both being students built of flesh, blood, and awesome – we couldn’t be more different in our interests and experiences. But, as it turns out, Eden and I share a brain. The number of times we have finished each other’s sentences, spoken as a “we”, and unintentionally wore the same outfit to work (all in the same day), borders on creepy. For at least a day there everyone was calling us “Kayden”; or was it “Keden”?

So last week we decided to embrace our similarities and challenge each other to a “Who Wore it Better” showdown á la celebrity tabloids. If any of you regularly read this blog (or Twitter) you will know that Eden is somewhat of a fashionista, putting me at an obvious disadvantage (see, we are different!). For those of you who don’t know, Eden is on the Left and I (Katie) am on the Right. And here are the results:

The pants – they are both tweed! I swear it!

So, who wore it better?

Another DIY for the DIY Challenged

How exhilarating was my previous DIY, right? Hah. You may have guessed, but I am an incredible newbie to this whole do-it-yourself game. I’ve decided to try and expose my weakness and hopefully make a 180-turn from where I am now… Baby steps.

I’m going to show you how to make a pair of really cool earrings made of tassels. Sounds kind of silly, but they’re consistently all over the red carpet – everyone from Kate Hudson to Natalie Portman (most recently at the Oscars!) have been spotted in them. Sure, theirs are usually dripping in diamonds, but you can easily customize these bad boys with beads to add a little more oomph.

The most difficult part of this whole DIY is finding some tassels. I ran all over Victoria in search of some, my quest coming to an end at Chintz & Company. The earring hook and bead portions are very easy to find, available at most dollar stores and craft shops. The tassels I did manage to find are very long and very dramatic, so I decided to skip the beads to avoid overkill situations. Having said that, the next time I make fancy tassel earrings there will be beads a plenty!

So for my version you need four things!

1. Tassels (2 – assuming you have two ears)
2. Earring hooks
3. Clear nail polish
4. Scissors

First, cut the top of the tassel so it’s no longer connected in a loop.

Tie in the earring hook and knot it tight.

Trim the extra string around the knot and seal with clear nail polish. Let the nail polish dry and add another coat if you deem necessary!

That’s it! Soooo fancy!

My one disappointment is that the tassels are a little bit heavy. I’ll have to search for some lighter ones (or only wear these ones on very brief special occasions). I might take off the tassels and toss one or both on a long chain and make a really chic necklace. So many possibilities! Especially since the 70′s are making a serious comeback in the fashion world.

A hot lunch buy

Sometimes it pays to spend more on certain things. It took me awhile to learn this lesson. Take thermoses (thermii?) for example. Whenever I’ve cheaped out on the purchase of a thermos for hot drinks it has always leaked. It is Law.

I’ve been promising my daughters that I’d buy insulated food containers for ages. I haven’t been able to find the right one. Until now.

We were browsing the aisles at T & T Supermarket (an Asian grocery chain) over March Break and I stumbled upon this beauty:

The pricetag was a hefty $32.00, and it was the last one on the shelf. (This is probably a good thing because I could only afford to buy one at that price.) I picked it up and turned it over in my hands to take a closer look, praying it would become a good buy and not end up in the garbage like some of the other insulated containers we have purchased in the past.

It is a thing of beauty; steel walls with an easy-grip lid. And there’s even a little bowl which nestles comfortably inside, helpfully (and hopefully) separating two potential food groups while keeping them warm at the same time. It also comes with a cute little carry bag.

This is going to do wonders for our lunch menu. I can finally pack hot meals… like spaghetti and meatballs! And maybe even oatmeal! Or a stir fry with rice! Suddenly my future seems a little brighter.

But here’s the problem, my $32.00 didn’t buy English instructions. If you are able to read the scan below, can you please let me know if I’m missing anything important?

Click to embiggen. And thank you from the bottom of my hot-lunch lovin’ heart!

Phishing, Crime, and Online Classifieds

It is no secret that scammers, fraudsters, and criminals target online classified sites. In fact, Security Week, an online publication for all internet and online security news, reported that in 2010’s second quarter, online classifieds made up 6.6% of all online phishing attacks and that this number is on the rise.

“What is phishing”? Phishing is any attempt to get at sensitive information like usernames, passwords, credit card details, and so forth, through misdirection, such a posing a fake website as the legitimate one. The goal is to fool you, often into willingly providing private information and/or funds, and take advantage of weaknesses in online security. Another form of online dishonesty that I have seen is harassment. Fake ads are put up on the site with a target’s phone number; the outcome of course being that this individual is overwhelmed by phone calls and in some cases, house visits, by eager buyers for the fake items that were posted.

Recently, Craigslist has come under fire being accused by Oodle of letting crime run rampant on its website. The Business website, FastCompany, reported on this, releasing an article referring to Craigslist as a “Cesspool of Crime”.

Not only do phishers and other scammers target the people who use Craiglist like they do on UsedEverywhere.com, but alarmingly there have been a number of reports where people have become victims of violent crimes following their interactions with the site. While it is reported that criminal transactions over Craigslist are an extreme minimum when coupled with successful and legitimate interactions, the nature and plain existence of these crimes has hurt Craigslist’s reputation, and even spawned the creation of crime-watch websites, for instance, Craigs Crime List.

What are we doing differently? What are we doing to help protect you and your family here at UsedEverywhere.com? For starters, we feel it is important to keep you informed, which is why we are writing this blogpost. It is also the reason why we have written previous posts alerting you to scams and online safety. For example, Tips for Staying Safe Buying and Selling Online;  This Hockey Ticket Scam; or This Email Scam.

After we have armed you with the know-how to help protect yourself, the second line of defense is the automatic removal of ads by the website. This system removes the all the questionable ads from those that don’t quite check-out to those posted by blacklisted scammers. In 2010, 2.6% of all ads posted across all of our websites were weeded out by this automatic check-and-balance system. Next, we have a team of moderators that work their bums off to keep spam, fraud, and crime off of our sites, as well as respond to your questions, concerns, and reports of those problem-ads. Across all 43 sites in Canada, our moderators removed 6.12% of the 2,779,209 ads posted in 2010.

We are able to keep the number of ads removed low and the level of security to you high, largely because of the help you provide us. By clicking on that “Report Ad” button for ads that you know to be illegitimate, we are able to get rid of the rest of those bad ads that sneak through. I have to reiterate how important it is for our users to give us a hand in pointing out scams and unsavory posts on our sites – I personally have received a few alerts about scams related to puppy ads from you guys! Thank you for helping us do our job better and making good use of that “Report Ad” button and our hotline: 1-888-480-3250

Dreckitude and Swandom

Someone very famous once said that fashion is something you either care about or you don’t. It’s almost innate in a sense, and even though there can be varying degrees of interest, it’s not something you can articulate to someone who just doesn’t care. I happen to belong to the camp of people that do care, and don’t hold it against me if that very famous person may or may not have been an Olsen twin.

I love fashion not for the labels and the price tags, but for the demonstration of creativity and as avenue for self-expression. I’m fascinated by personal style, and when personal style evolves in such a way that it becomes signature in that sense. I think back to high school when the “cool” girls (ie. the ones with the loaded parents) were all clones flocking to the over-priced, wannabe-hipster mothership – Aritzia. Of course they looked good, but who doesn’t look good in $400 jeans? The people with the most interesting looks don’t appear to have stepped out of a catalog – they’re eclectic mix-masters, and they tend to make masterful use of vintage shops, thrift stores and sites like ours (if they’re awesome, they use UsedEverywhere.com. No bias, right?).

Sure, to some people it’s just getting dressed. Sometimes it’s a game, sometimes it’s a throwback to a childhood filled with playing dress-up. To others it’s a reflection of who you are.

This guy has serious style. creative commons image courtesy of justinplambert

My best friend Michela is famous for her equine inspired collection of dresses, sweaters and blouses and anything in mustard yellow. My roommate Derek is known for loud and interesting dress socks (rumour has it he made waves in a recent job interview because of the green ones he was sporting!). My baby bro, Rob, can most often be found in grey, black and navy sweaters and sporting his incredible sneaker collection.

What about me? I tend to wear 34 lbs of mascara and liquid liner, I can usually be found in some sort of wedge heels and I’ll buy everything I can get my hands on in eggplant purple. Jeans? Only dark ones. Sunglasses? The bigger, the better. All of this is besides accidental/on purpose coordination with Katie, of course. We’ll be showcasing this awesome/freaky habit of ours in a blog post next week with an USWeekly style “Who Wore It Better?”

Do you have a signature style? What about the kids you know? Do you find it astounding how prominent their sense of style is already?

Bonus points for anyone who knows where the words in the title are from… Anyone? Any takers? C’mon people, I know you know.