last weekend my parents were in town to visit since they had monday off for the martin luther king, junior holiday.  jeeeaaalllous!  there’s no rest for us tech folks who keep the world running!  regardless, we were all glad to host them in atlanta for their little getaway and some quality family time together.

saturday was pretty lazy, so sunday (after licking our wounds from the packers’ heart-wrenching loss to the cardinals) we got a good night’s sleep and woke to a lazy afternoon full of coffee, fruit, orange juice, and homemade banana nut bread (this recipe is to die for!  i also highly recommend adding chocolate chips).

we chit-chatted between bites and sips and then eventually got all freshened up and ready for the day.  per mom’s request, we made a trip to the nearby container store for, as it would turn out to be, a much more exciting venture than any of us had anticipated.

now, i wouldn’t say i am an organization expert, but i do tend to be on the more orderly side of things.  typically things in my home or workspace have their spot, although sometimes my mind, and thus my surroundings, become a little scattered.  i’d say it depends on the day and circumstances but that for the most part i keep things together pretty well.

the container store off peachtree has been around a while, replacing a borders bookstore that lost a long battle with ereaders, bankruptcy, and, probably, larger booksellers like barnes & noble and books-a-million.  this past sunday was the first day i had ever wandered into one, and i’d say it might have changed my life.  maybe not like the zaxby’s spicy bbq sauce can change your life, but close to it.

we took the escalator up to the second level and i think my jaw dropped open.  the walls and shelves were packed (in orderly fashion, of course) with all sorts of organization boxes and containers and storage units fit for a king.  it’s actually almost slightly overwhelming, and i was unsure of where to start.  mom grabbed a buggie for our purses and then we all kind of took off in different directions.  dad had his own cart and us girls walked the aisles of filing storage.  who knew there so many different kinds of filing systems for those important papers in your life! all i could think was, “in my next house i need a big office so i can buy lots of filing cabinets for all my things!”

and that was merely just the start of it all!  at this store they have boxes and bins for just about anything you can imagine.  from crafts to wine to laundry to desk supplies, you name it, they’ve got something you can store it in, no doubt about it.  it’s the kind of store where you walk in and say to yourself, “i don’t need any more storage solutions” but then walk out with a hundred dollars worth of product.  i can speak from personal experience because that’s exactly what happened to me!  and kari also!  my gift as an enabler worked as well on myself as it did on her.

now, here’s the thing about walking out of the container store with a massive bag of purchases:  you can easily convince yourself that everything you bought is absolutely necessary!  even if you functioned perfectly fine without it sixty minutes ago when none of those things were in your possession!

it’s true, everything i brought home that day has exponentially increased my quality of life.  for example, look what a mess phillip’s ties used to be!

now, though?  now they are perfectly hung one by one, easily displayed for quick viewing and choosing on this tie hanger.

what else?  how about that i used to dry sweaters on towels.  that’s no good!  it takes days for them to dry!

nowadays we dry them on this handy pop-open sweater dryer!  beware when first using, though, as the built-up tension means you need to open it very far away from your face.  again, i speak from experience.

and who can forget about the new footrest!  previously our feet just dangled off the sofa, no rhyme or reason to such forsaken madness.

now we spend our evenings lounging on this lovely, simple, and chic ottoman that is the perfect height for our weary legs.  plus, it doubles as storage.  what a steal!

finally (and this one might be my favorite of all), extra toilet paper rolls ran amok in the guest bathroom, just laying around on the floor so that folks would know where that extra paper is for their intimate needs.

alas, there’s a solution for that also.  look at this precious toilet paper holder that hooks onto the toilet tank!  i die!!!

i mean, it’s hard to believe we lived at all without these things and possibly even more impossible to fathom that the world went round.  praise the Lord for the container store!