Things I keep

Last Friday, I went with our upstairs neighbor to a Naked Lady Party.

Fifteen or so women gathered at one woman's house, with the husbands and children banished, carting large bags of unwanted clothes and shoes and household things. We spread them all over the living room and dining room, organizing them into categories (i.e., shoes by the window, pants on the love seat).

Then, after an hour or so of wine and food, someone shouted, "Swap!" Wine glasses and forks clattering to the table, we swarmed through the stacks of clothing, trying things on, examining ourselves in the full-length mirrors propped against the walls, and passing things that didn't fit to other people.

By the end of the night, we each had filled our bags with other people's unwanted things. Everything was free. The only rule was that you leave with about the same amount of stuff you brought with you. (It's the hostess's job to pack up all the leftovers and donate them to a local thrift store.)

Earlier that day, I was surveying my closet, deciding what to bring. And I thought about all the stuff I don't part with, all the stuff I keep and move from apartment to apartment, or never or rarely use.

So, for today's list... a list of things I keep.

Things I keep:

1. Navy pumps that I've worn exactly twice
2. An old corduroy blazer, which, despite my waiting, has never come back in style
3. Everything that was ever owned by my great-grandmother, regardless of whether I use it or if it's even usable (many decorative vases, a makeup bag, a cracked turkey baster)
4. Old candle stubs
5. 10 years' worth of journals, diaries and spiral notebooks
6. My dog's baby teeth
7. Extra buttons
8. Mostly empty bottles of fingernail polish
9. Exactly one pair of pants a size too small, just in case