Patty Morrissey love thrift stores AND decluttering

11/22/21 • 60 min

Patty Morrissey, a New York-based coach and master Kon Mari consultant, loves to go thrifting on Long Island. She grew up thrifting and garage sale-ing with her grandparents and still goes to the same shops today. She's also a Kon Mari consulant and coach who knows a thing or two about how to help people find what sparks joy. (In fact, she's in my house helping me organize during the pandemic thaw).

Keep up with Patty on Instagram as @pattymorrissey and @clearcultivate, then head over to her website to learn about Cultivate Club for 2022

Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Show Links

Transcript Follows

----more----

Patty 0:01
Hi, my name is Patty Morrissey and my favorite thing is shopping at thrift stores.

Announcer 0:26
Welcome to the Finding Favorites podcast where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones.

Leah Jones 0:29
Hello, and welcome to Finding Favorites. It's Sunday, November 21st. And then a hilarious, strange, wonderful world that I live in. I recorded this week's episode on Monday night with my dear friend, Patti Morrissey. In it, we joked about her coming to Chicago to help me organize. She texted me later and said, "What if I come on Saturday?" So Patty came to town yesterday, and has been helping me organize my house to get ready for the rest of chemo, getting my life set up, kind of a good reset as I head into the next 10 weeks of chemotherapy.

Leah Jones 1:06
It's been very funny this evening to step away from a friend to edit a conversation you had with that friend earlier in the week. Taking time out of precious in-person hours to do a digital task related to being with that same friend. So I will keep this introduction short, and let you enjoy Patti Morrissey and I talking about thrifting, and all the work that she does as both KonMari consultant and the owner of Clear and Cultivate, the Cultivate club, though there will be links to everything. She's based in New York, but the internet means she can be everywhere. And airplanes mean she can also be everywhere.

Leah Jones 1:53
I'm really grateful, again, to the support of my friends and my family this week, second week of chemotherapy. I got acupuncture, I slept for four hours, I came home and got a lot of energy from the steroids. So, I went to the car wash on Friday night, which is a normal thing to do after chemotherapy, I don't know. I still have my hair; I'm anticipating it coming out this week. So take care of yourselves, have a great Thanksgiving. If you got a 20 pound bird, take it out of the freezer. You got to start thawing now, if you're going to be able to cook it safely on Thursday. Wear your mask, wash your hands, and keep enjoying your favorite things.

Leah Jones 2:56
Hello, and welcome to Finding Favorites. I'm your host, Leah Jones. And this is the podcast where we learn about people's favorite things and we get recommendations without using an algorithm. I am joined tonight by my dear friend, Patti Morrissey. Patti is the founder and head coach of Clear and Cultivate. They facilitate fresh starts -- they have the Cultivate Club, declutter parties, training and coaching. I brag about Patty for a lot of things -- there's so many things. But I do appreciate the shine I get when I'm like, "Patti, she's Marie Kondo's go-to in the U.S." That's very fun to say. You're one of the very first certified Marie Kondo consultants in the United States and you have spoken -- there have been times when she hasn't been able to speak and they're like, "Patti, why don't you come to Hong Kong and give this presentation?" But, you do so much more than that, and I'm thrilled to have you here tonight. Patti, how are you doing?

Patty 4:03
I'm good. I'm good. I had a great Monday, reorganizing my basement, practicing what I preach, just hanging out. What was your Monday?

Leah Jones 4:17
My Monday -- it was very nap-oriented -- it wasn't my goal. I got up, I took a shower, I got to my computer, I g...

Keep up with Patty on Instagram as @pattymorrissey and @clearcultivate, then head over to her website to learn about Cultivate Club for 2022

Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Show Links

Transcript Follows

----more----

Patty 0:01
Hi, my name is Patty Morrissey and my favorite thing is shopping at thrift stores.

Announcer 0:26
Welcome to the Finding Favorites podcast where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones.

Patty 4:03
I'm good. I'm good. I had a great Monday, reorganizing my basement, practicing what I preach, just hanging out. What was your Monday?

Leah Jones 4:17
My Monday -- it was very nap-oriented -- it wasn't my goal. I got up, I took a shower, I got to my computer, I g...

Previous Episode

Intro to Zombies with Mahyar Amouzegar

Mahyar Amouzegar, a New Orleans-based author and academic, joins us this week to talk about reading, writing and Zombie movies. Mahyar shares the story of immigrating to the United States shortly before the revolution in Iran, how he gets to know the characters in his books and what he would do in a Zombie apocalypse.

His newest book The Hubris of an Empty Hand is available on November 18th.

Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Show Notes

Dawn of the Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Shawn of the Dead
The Cured
The Walking Dead
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Daniel Suarez - Daemon and Freedom
Jasper Fforde
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

Mahyar 0:00
Hello, my name is Mahyar Amouzagar, my favorite thing is to read, write, and watch zombie movies.

Announcer 0:07
Welcome to the Finding Favorites podcast, where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones.

Leah Jones 0:19
Hello, and welcome to Finding Favorites. I'm your host, Leah Jones. And it is Sunday, November 14th. It is booster day in the Jones household. I got up early this morning, went to Jewel for my scheduled Pfizer booster and got my booster. And then mid-edit, made a mistake of sitting down in my recliner, and took a Pfizer booster nap. But I'm so happy to have the booster. Now, I'll admit, it could have also been a post-chemo nap. Friday afternoon was my first treatment of chemo. I got Taxol for my breast cancer, or it's my breast cancer treatment. And they pump you full of steroids every time you get an infusion. So, I definitely know that steroids are kind of winding down at the same time that the COVID booster is hitting my immune system. So, maybe I didn't plan that great. But the best time to get the booster is the time you got the booster.

Leah Jones 1:30
I wrote all about my experience of getting chemo on my Caringbridge account. So, I will just link to that in the show notes. Instead of going into it in audio form, as well. Already tired of telling the story of the first infusion, because it was a long, boring day until it was not boring. And then, it was a very exciting four minutes. And then, the day wrapped up pretty soon thereafter. But I'm here -- I'm feeling pretty good. It is pitch-dark out already. The time change last weekend really threw me for a loop, but I'm doing well. I'm really grateful for the incredible gifts of my community taking care of me since I got this diagnosis in June, and had surgeries in September and October, and now 12 weeks of chemo one down, 11 weeks to go in this part of the treatment.

Leah Jones 2:33
A question I've had is why chemo, if it was just stage one and they got all of it in the lumpectomy? And because of the combination of being estrogen reactive and HER-2 positive, though progesterone negative, the combination of markers in my cancer said the research currently says that chemo really helps stop it from reoccurring in the next five years. Northwestern has done the research; they've tried to do this one with surgery and radiation only. And that is not effective enough for my medical oncologist, and I would rather just have one bummer a year of cancer treatment now, than just do a lumpectomy and radiation and cross my fingers. That's why I chose to go ahead with chemotherapy. I know it's not the choice that everyone would make, but that is kind of where my risk tolerance is.

Leah Jones 3:45
So today, I have Mahyar Amouzegar on He is an author, professor, Provost, truly a man of the world. He grew up in Tehran and Iran, immigrated to the United States as a teenager in the 70s, right before the the revolution, and spent a few years in New Zealand. His daughters live there now, and now he lives in New Orleans. We are talking about his new book coming out in December and zombie movies, and it's a delightful ...

Next Episode

Taylore Nicholl is an Armchair Expert Expert

Taylore Nicholl, host of the podcast Extra... Ordinary, loves the podcast Armchair Expert and is here with an introduction to the popular interview show hosted by Dax Shepard. Taylore talks about how she started with an interview with Mae Whitman (one of Dax's co-stars on Parenthood) and eventually found herself in a green room at the Ellen Show with Dax!

We talk about childhood trauma, finding father figures through podcasting, the important research around ACES, and Taylore's love of all things theater, drama and Ben Platt. (Happy birthday, Taylore!)

Show Links

Extra... Ordinary Podcast
@TayloreNicholl on Instagram and Twitter
Armchair Expert: Nadine Burke Harris
The ArmCherry Companion
Arm Cherry Direct and Arm Cherry Direct linktree
Newcomers

Transcript follows

----more----

Taylore 0:00
Hi, I'm Taylore Mullins, and my favorite thing is "Armchair Expert."

Announcer 0:04
Welcome to the Finding Favorites podcast where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones.

Leah Jones 0:17
Hello, and welcome back to Finding Favorites. I'm your host, Leah Jones. It is Sunday -- I always have to look up the date -- November 28th. It is also the first night of Hanukkah. It's the last day of Thanksgiving, the long Thanksgiving weekend, for those of us who had a four-day weekend. It's also the end of my first cycle of chemotherapy. One of the things I learned this week is that for me, a cycle of chemotherapy is three weeks long. So when somebody had said to me, "Typically in the second cycle is when you start losing your hair," I thought, "Oh, second week, my hair is really holding on strong," giving me a strange sense of invincibility. Also, my hair looks particularly good for being three weeks into my chemotherapy treatment. But the nurses told me to expect to see the hair loss in the next couple of weeks. During the second cycle is when your follicles start to let go.

Leah Jones 1:26
Overall, I've still been feeling pretty good in chemotherapy. My worst days right now are Mondays, Tuesdays after the steroids wear off, but we've worked out my Benadryl levels. Last week, I had terrible Restless Leg Syndrome triggered by Benadryl. This week, I didn't have that. But the weekend, what I lovingly now call "Steroid Saturday," it's a real high-octane day. But I was able to get some sleep last night because my sleep has been a little wonky. Had a really nice Thanksgiving. I'm also a couple weeks out from my COVID booster, which feels good; I'm really grateful I was able to get that. My mom came up for Thanksgiving, my neighbor, Ezra, my nephew, Andy, we ordered in from two different restaurants. And our dining room table was like a Venn diagram of gluten-free, vegan, and neither gluten-free nor vegan. So, like Jack Spratt and his wife, everybody was able to eat at least a third of the dishes served at Thanksgiving.

Leah Jones 2:49
Then tonight, for the first night of Hanukkah, my friend, Nadia and her son Zeke came by and we lit the first candle. And next weekend, I'll have people over for my annual Hanukkah party, but it won't actually be in my apartment -- it'll be in my yard. My dear friends are helping me host that -- all of these adjustments for a holiday season as I become more immunocompromised. I don't know, chemotherapy's weird, man, cancer is weird. That's my answer. This week's episode, we recorded many weeks ago. I really I got quite a backlog because I was so afraid of how I would feel once chemo started. But it's perfect because this week I'm talking to Taylore Nicholl -- Taylor Mullins. She's the host of the "Extraordinary" podcast, which is currently on hiatus, but will be back.

Leah Jones 3:53
And yesterday was her birthday -- Happy birthday, Taylor. Taylor is on this week talking to me about the podcast "Armchair Expert," Dax Shepard's podcast, one that I've mentioned many times before. In the hopes of getting my friend, Jocelyn, to listen to the podcast, I started a little Facebook fan group that then grew to 7,000 w...