sarahcentric

Yes! I’m packing! Get off my back!
More like trashing, actually. I am beyond mortified and ashamed by the amount of garbage I’ve kept over the years. Here are my top three items…

A Queens Parking calendar from 3 years ago.
You know… for the car I never had… because that’s the point of living in New York City.

A dozen dessert glasses. I never did get to host a 7 course supper party complete with sherbet to cleanse the palette.

My greatest find! A glass container filled with a variety of tea bags, which my former best friend Andrew pawned off on me when he moved three years ago. A warning to those with friends who are moving: this is the biggest racket of all time! Re-locating friends conning you into thinking that you need their garbage.

“I thought you might want this tea. I didn’t want it to go to waste”
“Oh sure, yeah. Thanks!”

How did this happen to me? How did I become the person with three year old Lipton tea in the closet?!
As much as I’m mortified by some of the ridiculous items I’ve kept and cannot get rid of fast enough, other ridiculous items are surprisingly sentimental. I knew it would be hard to pack the Christmas ornaments from my first party in 2002, but I wasn’t expecting the emotional sucker punch from leftover cocktail napkins from that same event. I actually made an audible “awwww!” when I found a tupperware pitcher from some beach-y events a few years back.

Up until this apartment 8 years ago, I was the girl who rolled up in a 90s style wool hippie sweater, one backpack, and one carry-on bag ready to pick up a half of my friend’s rent. This one-bedroom in Astoria was my first attempt at making a home. Now I’m dismantling the whole thing and starting over in a new country.

This was my idea, but seriously…I cannot believe this is happening. Deep down, I am confident that it’s time to move on to new people, places, and conversations. (Oh man, the conversations are the best part of travel. They’re so weird and awesome!) But on the surface- in the middle of 8 years worth of tea bags, christmas ornaments and extension cords (soooo many extension cords)- new is feeling pretty scary right now. I guess that feeling is unavoidable, but not the move. Because it really is happening.

Which reminds me, I have this wok.
I thought you might want it.
I don’t want it to go to waste.