Spring Cleaning With Duane Reade

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Even though Mother Nature is taking her sweet old time bring Spring to NY this year, my internal time clock is insisting that Spring is here. My feet want to ditch their cumbersome winter shoes and run barefoot and carefree in the grass. My nose is begging for the sweet smell of Hyacinth blooms and freshly cut grass. And, my body is wondering when it'll be able to lie on a picnic blanket feeling the warm sun on my face.

 

Unfortunately, in our neck of the woods, it's not going to happen any time soon. There's still snow on the ground and as of this morning, the weathermen are still predicting more snow. So we're still stuck bundling up in our winter coats, hats and gloves and snatching whatever sunshine we can, when we can.

But my inner clock doesn't care about these things – it's itching to fling open the windows and air out the house – regardless of the 40 degree temperatures. So to quell my need for Spring to be here (NOW), I decided to tackle some Spring Cleaning tasks this past weekend.

 

One of my least favorite chores to do is to clean out out linen closet. Truth be told, it's a train wreck in there. It gets so messy that I have to make sure that I clean it out each spring and fall to keep myself from going batty. Or getting hit in the head by something falling off the shelf. Or finding out that all of our flashlights are dead because the kids wasted the batteries playing flashtag in their rooms.

Each person has a different reason for keeping their closets tidy, but mine is strictly based on being very Type A. In my home, I want nothing more than to have all of the clutter gone and all of the kids stuff neatly put away. Instead, my home regularly looks like a wrecking ball has crashed through it. But with two kids and two dogs, a neatly organized home is somewhat of a fantasy versus a reality right now.

 

Since I don't have hours on end to dedicate to keeping my home tidy, I let the closets be train wrecks for a few months at a time, and then I go through them – all by myself – and put them back together again. I have a system, which keeps me on task and it sort of goes like this. I take inventory of everything that needs to be replaced (like expired over-the-counter medications), restocked (band aides and batteries) or donated (towels that have seen better days). Then, I decide what items we still use or need, and which ones we don't. After I have a list of what we need, I reward myself for doing the job that no one else will do (Yes, that means you, my dear Husband), and I go shopping.

I'm not an overly extravagant person, but there is definitely something to be said for hanging out in a local drug store and buying all sorts of practical stuff. Plus, when you gte to do it in a neatly organized and impeccably tidy drug store like the Duane Reade over by my mom's house, it's an organizer's dream. Plus, if you go super early in the morning, no one is there, which is the perfect environment for an extroverted introvert like myself.

 

Anyways, at this point in my life, I am becoming more interested in natural and homeopathic medicines. Although we still use lots of commonly known over-the-counter products, I have also been stocking our medicine cabinets with natural and homeopathic alternatives when it works for my family. So if you were to snoop in our cabinets (come on, everyone does it!), you would find mainstream meds like Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen alongside alternatives like Curamin and Arnicare. You would also find mainstream skincare products like Proactive and Aveeno alongside more natural options like Witch Hazel and Coconut Oil. This is just how we roll.

So when I went into Duane Reade with my mom, I was really excited to see how many options they offered. I had no trouble finding any my preferred over-the counter meds or any of my preferred alternatives. Plus, they also stocked a great array of Duane Reade private-label brand products that were much more cost effective than the name brands. From toothbrushes to eye drops, from band aides to witch hazel, they had everything on my list.

 

I was even able to snatch up some #DRSpringTime surprises like a birdhouse for my kids, some seeds for myself and some super tasty 70% dark chocolate that my husband had been begging for! Overall, I was really impressed with the variety of products offered and will happily escort my mom on future shopping trips to this store.

 

To learn more about Duane Reade you can follow them on Twitter, FaceBook and Instagram! (Thanks so much to #CollectiveBias for turning me on to a new drug store!)

 

Happy Spring,

Denine

 

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