21 Days of Downsizing: Day 5
Welcome to my 21 day series of downsizing my NYC shoebox apartment for a move to Australia! Alex + I have already downsized about 70% of our belongings, but I’ve got some “on the fence” items from my closet and I could use a bit of help!
If you know me well, you know that while I’ve come around on downsizing my fashuun, I will *gulp* NEVER downsize my stuffed animals. Cuz #crazystuffedanimallady
So, tune in to help me decide what closet items to keep or not to keep! Simultaneously, I’ll introduce you to one of my stuffed animal friends, cuz I could NEVER downsize them!
Day 5 – Bearly There
Meet Cilantro.
On April 14, 2017, Cilantro arrived to the doorstep of a ground floor railroad style apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She came with flowers and a typed card.
“Happy birthday to my bunny,” the card read.
One week prior, Alex was in sunny Queensland, Australia, researching florists in the Greenpoint area that would also deliver stuffed adiboo friends.
“Tina Tina! What are you going to name her?” exclaimed Christina’s friend Paulina, who kindly opened her place for Christina to stay while she hunted for jobs in the city after a two year hiatus from work living abroad in Taiwan.
“Cilantro. Cilantro Poli Esther Fish. Get it? Poli-Esther…Polyester?” Paulina, who went by the nickname “Poli” with many of her dear friends, laughed at the corny yet appropriate pun.
The two girls had met working together in retail back in 2006, Christina on the buying side and Poli on the vendor side. They knew the garment industry well.
That first month of hunting for a job in Manhattan messed with Christina’s confidence yet also brought about so many yet-to-be-seen learnings. Many tears, smiles, feelings of getting back on her feet, spurts of “I’ve got this” pulsed through Christina’s veins.
Cilantro watched it all with a huge smile on her face. Her owner was working hard to start a new life in the city and forge a new path ahead. She and Paulina had been blending up and drinking green juice each day to help with their spirits, positivity and health.
Cucumber. Spinach. Lemon. Ginger. Cilantro. And so Christina named her newcomer bear after an ingredient that lifted her spirits in a challenging build-yourself-back-up-from-scratch type of time in her life.
Except that it wasn’t cilantro in that green juice. It was parsley.
That damn NYC job hunt brain fog.
Now For Fashuun: To Keep or Not To Keep
Cilantro watched as I built back my career after a long job hiatus. She also happened to watch each of the below items get built back into my wardrobe after I arrived in Greenpoint with just ONE suitcase!
On the fence about the below items. To keep or not to keep? Comment below!
• a chevron striped long closureless coat that I have loved wearing in the city all over whenever I need something easy to throw on and complete the look…but haha it’s so worn out now cuz I literally wore it everywhere
• a green and black zebra-inspired top with bell sleeves and ruched body that I’ve honestly worn way too much during zooms in 2020 that’s slightly too large in the shoulders (falls off my shoulders a lot so during zooms I often clip it with sewing clips in the back)
• this large travel tote that has amazing compartments and is in decent condition but I’m a bit tired of it (yes we went to get bagels and stopped by our corner bodega where we sometimes make spontaneous ice cream runs after dinner and I may have stuffed two pillows in the tote to showcase its holding space potential)
• these shiny greenish gold boots that I absolutely love and found during one of my many Century 21 trips with my dear friend Sophia…just not wearing heels as much these days