Eleven down…1 to go! I’m happy to report that I survived November, it is the month when “worlds collide” at Kuzak’s Closet. All of my organizing clients need organizing sessions before the holidays and the estate projects that come by way have to be handled before year-end. I will admit that much of my survival is credited to a week-long trip to London during the first week of the month. I packed my bags and left Taylor and Al in charge. It’s no surprise that things were handled perfectly.
I left for my trip at the tail end of the Campbell tool sale, a huge project that was fun for the staff and also led us to hiring our latest team member, Yovan. He is like a flash of lightning, always on the move and quick to help. He has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to recycling which is a key element to both facets of my business. Aside from the Campbell tool sale we organized one of the most memorable estate sales of my career in Los Altos Hills. I’ll talk more about that later in this post.
The first of November marked my 10 year anniversary of being a professional organizer and my 5 year anniversary of moving Kuzak’s Closet to California. To reflect on the occasion I put together my top 5 secrets to success in Silicon Valley…here is #4, you can read the full post here. There is a rumor that my tips may be featured in a major publication by the end of this year so stay tuned for that!
While I was away we partnered up with ModCloth for a fun fashion post about layering. It was perfect timing because the weather in California was just starting to get chilly. I’ve been living in cardigans, scarves, and leggings and I couldn’t be happier. Fall is the easiest time for me to shop and feel comfortable in my clothes. Do you have a season that works best for you?
I had a major “letting-go” moment this month by letting the staff handle an estate liquidation in Los Altos without me. I thought it would be cool for them to document their day (for my pure nosy-ness) and to show you exactly how we clear out an entire home in 6-10 hours. Revisit this post for a full play-by-play…I personally love these types of projects because they are a blend my background in professional organizing and project management with my love for estates! We have a liquidation in San Francisco today and I hope to see many of you there!
Okay, now for London! My husband was teaching privacy workshops at the Google office there and I decided to tag along. I was on my own most days so I relied on London Walks to keep me motivated to see new sites and learn more about British History. My friend Pam told me about them before my last trip to London and they are amazing. This time around I was a walk-aholic, doing 2 walks a day sometimes. My favorite walk was the St. Paul’s Walk that led us inside and to the top of the cathedral. Aside from that walk the Blitz walk, Covent Garden, and the Sherlock Holmes walks were my favorite. Another highlight was seeing the poppies before the WWI installation went away. What a sight!
When I wasn’t walking I was enjoying english tea and snacks…
Or a museum. This time around I spent time at The Tate Modern and The National Portrait Gallery. Museums are free in London and offer hours of entertainment.
It was also Christmas in London already which was really cool. I love holiday decorations so it was fun to see the neighborhood decorations and how the big shops like Selfridges, Liberty, and Harrods prepared for St. Nick.
After the London trip reality set in and it was back to work. We’ve been jammed with estate and organizing projects as well as planning blog content for the holidays and the New Year. For the first time we visited the home of an estate sale shopper to showcase the treasures they have found at Kuzak’s Closet estate sales. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time so I am happy that we had a shopper willing to participate. Monica is looking for other shoppers who would be willing to have her stop by to snap some pics and take a quick interview so please let me know if you are open to being featured!
The day after I arrived home from London my older brother Christopher arrived on a plan from North Carolina. I invited him to come until Christmas to help me at Kuzak’s Closet. We are so busy and can use all of the help we can get. He’s living with us so it’s also nice to have someone else around the house to help out too. He has washed my windows, prepared lunches for me and the crew, and dinners on busy week nights after work. He’s been working 6 days a week since he arrived so I guess we needed him! I am hoping he will stick around in the New Year. Here is a collage of some of the highlights from the organizing jobs this month. It’s been all about pre-holiday maintainance with existing clients so we’ve been digging out garages, hanging shelving, sorting through holiday decor, and decluttering kitchens and pantries.
The rest of the schedule has been devoted to Estate Sales. It’s such a great balance for me to have both the professional organizing sessions and the estate sales both for staffing and personal sanity. Both facets of the business stem from professional organizing but there are times when I hit a wall managing families in the estate process or organizing clients who are struggling to maintain or let-go. I call it compassion fatigue and I am noticing that I it doesn’t come up as often as it used to now that I can ask Taylor and Al to help me manage the client projects and expectations. I am so thankful for my staff and I don’t know what I would do without them. We work hard and have fun at the same time. With a big crew I sometimes worry about people not getting along but so far we have all found something to like about one-another. The big thing holding us together right now is Billy’s upcoming heart surgery. I know that each of us is worried about how his recovery will be so I think it glues us together. Here are some of my favorite behind the scenes moments in November…
I was glad to have a few days off over Thanksgiving. I started off the holiday with a 5K in Mountain View and then ate my way through the rest of the day. My friend Larry came down from San Francisco for a few days and he helped me with high-tea service for a Thanksgiving lunch that was followed by a full Thanksgiving meal (that I ordered from Andronicos, don’t judge me). It was a great weekend filled with much needed friend time, mani-pedis, collage football, and decking the halls of my house with Christmas decor.
I know this month is going to be amazing, December always is. It is the time of year when people contact me and they absolutely cannot wait to have our help. It’s always an interesting juggle but somehow I make it all work. This week we will be in San Francisco for our first estate project in the City by the Bay. I’m excited to change things up a bit and I think our shoppers will be too. We also have an estate in Woodside and Taylor and I are headed to BlogHer Pro this week. I’ll be sharing behind the scenes snippets on Facebook and Instagram so stay in touch!
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