If June was the month of Tending To My Teeth, then July has been the month of Caring For My Car. Today I had a new rearview mirror installed (it’s part of a campaign that I’m doing with BlogHer); I had an appointment at 9:30 this morning at a place that mostly does stereo installations, I think, and as soon as the little man and I walked in the shop, I knew that we were going to have to find something, ANYTHING to do besides waiting there.

Because it was hot.

And there were some big ole fans.

And sometimes big ole fans just feel like they’re recirculating all the hot.

Fortunately there was a Walmart next to the installation place, so I got my laptop out of my car (when we left the house this morning, I fancied having lots of writing time while we waited), grabbed my child’s hand and set out across the pavement. It was almost like we were pioneers in search of a new land, only the new land had already been totally paved and boasted some pretty impressive outdoor lighting. Not to mention that it also offered a full-service pharmacy and portrait studio. And Subway.

Anyway, once we walked inside the Walmart and were smacked in the face by some blessedly frigid air conditioning, I grabbed a cart and started steering it in the general direction of oh, I don’t know, wherever. I could tell after a few minutes that the new Walmart was in some ways a flip-flop of the Walmart by our house, and the more I thought about the fact that I’d walked into some sort of Walmart Opposite Day, the more disoriented I was.

Seriously. I was like a cat in a room where all the furniture had just been re-arranged. I mean, I didn’t go quite so far as jumping up onto a non-existent table, but I was a little confused.

At some point in all our wanderings I found myself right next to an aisle of adorable storage baskets (I’m pretty sure that they were where the purses would have been in our Walmart), and I stopped for a second because MY WORD, storage stuff is so much cuter than it used to be. After I took a good look at all the colors and patterns that they had, I decided to move along to the health and beauty aids section because apparently I never tire of looking at shampoo and conditioner and hair spray.

Seriously. It never gets old.

Anyway, an hour or so later we picked up my car and drove home, and as soon as I walked in my bathroom, I thought, Dadgummit – why didn’t I buy some of those storage things when I was all turned around in the Walmart? Because here’s the thing: right now I’m fully convinced that my make-up and toiletries and whathaveyou are the most profoundly unorganized that they’ve ever been. I like for everything to be really accessible, and for that reason I’m not really successful with any organizational system that requires me to dig in the deep, dark recesses of drawers and cabinets.

The flip side, of course, is that my current organizational system involves a couple of plastic Lancome make-up bags and an assortment of moisturizers and hair products scattered all over my bathroom countertop. Along with my hair dryer. The hair dryer technically has a storage spot in a basket underneath my sink, but the basket has gotten filled up with make-up samples that Mama gives me whenever she gets a Lancome free gift (hence the make-up bags I mentioned earlier), and I’ve gotten in the (bad) habit of just leaving the hair dryer on the counter. The last time Mama was here she had the idea of using this wire serving piece as a catch-all for my make-up, but there’s so much space between each piece of wire that smaller items fall through and bigger items just look flat-out bulky.

SO, INTERNET: what sort of system do you use to store your toiletries? Do any of you have an on-the-countertop system that’s clutter-free? Have you figured out any way to categorize your products that makes sense? I’m so bad at this kind of thing, but THE STUFF IS DRIVING ME CUCKOO. So please advise.

(And if you want to tell me how you keep all your earrings organized, I’d be perfectly delighted about that, too. Because trying to figure out what to do with all of them is an ongoing challenge.)

(Notice how I said “challenge” all diplomatic-like.)

(I would hate for my earrings to read this and find out that they’ve been on my nerves a little bit.)

Oh – and just FYI. I have four small-ish drawers on my bathroom vanity – and then double doors underneath the sink. In case you need a visual.

And if you have any links to storage stuff that works for you, link away. I’m feeling a little desperate – but so happy that the internet is always kind enough to help.