Testimonials: Columns
“Angela Hoxsey is an organizational Maven. She is fast, efficient and a pleasure to work with. Angela makes getting and staying organized easy with her helpful tips, tricks and knowledge of organizational products. I hired Angela to help me prior to and after a large home remodel. She helped me to declutter, purge and organize multiple rooms in my home. I loved working with Angela, she helped me streamline my home and I enjoy the organizational benefits everyday! ”
Susanne Hudson, Napa, CA
“I’m thrilled with what you helped create. It totally blows my mind how quickly you work and I love your thought process. Fantastic!!”
Dona Bonick, Kopol Bonick Photography, Napa CA
“Angela is always thinking about my organizing issues and often sends suggestions and helpful advice and ideas, even when she is not physically on the job with me. She comes up with unique solutions completely customized to my business, home and personal style—things that I never would have thought of on my own...”
“I can totally trust Angela’s taste and rely on her honesty about what’s working and what’s not with regards to my wardrobe. That said, she is always respectful—if I say I want to keep something, she respects my wishes...”
“I have a lot of “stuff”, and Angela has always been non-judgmental about my collections, while helping me to make smart decisions about how to lose things that I do not need. I value her wisdom, her experience and her perspective. She is a joy to work with, I look forward to our time together and dread to think what my home, closet, garage, life would look like without her expert guidance!”
T. Beller, Verve Napa Valley
“Angela is my dream girl! I was referred to her to help me prepare to move after living in one house for 27 years. She was fantastic in helping me get organized and declutter years of gathering too much of everything...!”
“Angela took me from panic, and an overwhelming moving experience, to an organized new home. She is a pleasure to work with, has lots of energy, while always maintaining a positive attitude. I think she is "THE BEST"!!!”
Sheila Sosnow, Piedmont, CA
“Have you ever accidentally run across someone who just COMPLETELY changed your every day life for the better? And you couldn't imagine your life without them? That's how I feel about Angela. Angela came into my fairly organized but slightly hectic life completely by chance. I wasn't looking for anyone to help me organize or streamline my life because I didn't really think I NEEDED it. And just in the same way that she seemed to just quietly float into my life, she helped me with such kindess, grace and ease.”
Lindsey Wiseman, St. Helena, CA
“Angela has a real gift for seeing what needs to be done and pulling it all together. I have worked with many organizers in the past, but none as efficient and focused as she. From my office to the garage, Angela has helped create a system that works
for the long term!”Karen Schuppert, Napa, CA
“Angela Hoxsey was the best referral that I have ever gotten. Needing to get my house ready to sell and declutter the 20 years worth of accumulation was no easy task. She was fast, efficient and a joy to work with. The best part of working with her was her cheerful yet no nonsense way of getting you to decide 'keep, trash or donate'. . . Love it!”
Cherie Melka, St. Helena, CA
“We spent four hours organizing an enormous amount of paperwork and I feel like I just got a massage!”Joanne Maher, St. Helena, CA
“Whether you are prone to chaos, pretty organized yourself, or a combination of both, Angela Hoxsey can help you bring order to your home. Yes, you could do it yourself, but most of us have so many competing demands on our time that organizing tasks easily fall by the wayside. Angela has brought her professional touch to my home, demonstrating every time
the lasting value of an expert.”Karen Saeger, Ph.D., Berkeley
“You can smell the sanity. Angela is worth her weight in diamonds.”
Masako Takahashi, artist;
San Miguel de Allende/San Francisco
Columns
Harvesting Clutter-Free Gifts
Holiday gifting this year feels like I’m skating fast and smooth over a river of ice: effortless, exhilarating and, yes, fun. How did this happen? How did the usual angst and frustration transform so completely to confidence, joy and an almost childlike giddiness? Two words: no shopping.
A few years ago our families decided to give each other presents only if we were together during on the holiday. This cuts the pressure in half already, but it isn’t the perfect solution for everyone, especially when families are younger and the Christmas want/need lists are longer.
Also, over the years I’ve identified the edibles and experiences that my giftees look forward to and appreciate. As a lifelong health nut, I could never in good conscience give candy or traditional cookies. My husband and I spend hours cracking walnuts and dehydrating fruits from our trees to bag in cellophane and tie with handmade tags and twine. Oddly enough it took us several years to realize we had this cornucopia of nearly ready-made gifts in our own back yard.
I’m also experimenting with paleo (sugar free) truffles and brownies from the Practical Paleo cookbook by Diane Sanfilippo . I know, I know, go ahead and roll your eyes. But they are truly delicious and I can give them (and gobble them) without guilt.
If you are on a budget or want to give clutter-free gifts, take a look around your homestead. Is there something staring right at you that you could transform, with a little work, into a great gift? Do you make a great pasta sauce that you could jar and give? Is your cranberry jelly something people comment on and look forward to? Or maybe you don’t even need to give the product, just a neatly typed copy of the recipe tucked into a holiday card.
A dehydrator costs just $100 or less and, if you throw in a mandolin for slicing, can turn all that fruit you’ve been trying to offload into gorgeous treats. If you’ve never seen a sliver of dried Fuyu persimmon, it is a delicate and delicious thing of beauty. Multi-talented T Beller, owner of Verve Napa Valley, turned me on to persimmon drying and my dehydrator has been running non-stop every November since.
Remember the mix-tape? One of the resources you might not think about is your music library. Consider putting together a bunch of hand-picked songs for people on your gift list, either on a CD or a USB drive.
I also love to give time, our most precious resource. Since my main skill is organizing, I give gift certificates for my services. If you perform a service that people want or need, consider gifting it here and there. Even children have gift-worthy skills—computer and smart phone help anyone?
If you can’t afford to give too much time away, how about a portion of a service? For example, a hair stylist could give a free trim with the purchase of a color treatment. A personal trainer could give a free session on a package of ten.
The other thing I’m doing is spontaneously choosing a couple people on my list to receive extra-special or more expensive gifts. I found some rare first edition children’s books that my sister (who doesn’t read my column, so I’m not busting the surprise) mentioned.
I caved and purchased (online—no store time) some old-fashioned games from Restoration Hardware that will be fun for the whole family to play while waiting for the turkey in the oven or the (paleo) pumpkin and chocolate desserts to be served. While online I happened upon and splurged on a couple other gifts that will be appreciated without intentionally stressing over and shopping for them.
For me the best part about getting older is appreciating what I have. Especially living here, in the Napa Valley, the crazy abundance never ceases to amaze me. We spend our younger years cultivating and planting and our later years harvesting and pruning. The abundance from our personal harvests often make the most appreciated (and least likely to clutter) gifts.