Saturday is Food Day!

When you are in the middle of an organizing project it's often difficult to stop to eat because you're excited.  You see the final result looming on the horizon and you don't want to waste a minute.  Ah, but if your blood sugar dips you won't be able to think straight.  And that means your project may take longer than necessary and you'll be cranky.  I want to avoid delays and crankiness at all costs.

This  healthy treat recipe comes from Heather Pace a raw food dessert chef. They are called Super Food Cups.  I'm sharing one version here but Heather has a lot more choices at her web site and I invite you to visit and experiment. Just one word of caution: being good for you doesn't mean you get to eat an unlimited number! 

Happy Organizing!

Superfood Cups

Add whatever "add ins" you like. I've listed the items I used in this batch but I also like adding goji berries and cacao nibs.

1/2 cup melted coconut oil
6 tablespoons melted coconut butter
4 tablespoons lucuma
3 tablespoons maca
2 tablespoons mesquite
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons maple sugar
1/2 teaspoons vanilla powder
------------
Add ins:
Dehydrated buckwheat
Dried mulberries
Coconut Flakes
Hemp Seeds
Cashews

Sift the powders into a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir all together. Make sure the mixture stays warm to avoid ceasing.
Stir in whatever amount of "add ins" you want.
Pour the mixture into little paper cups or silicone cups.
Chill for at least 20 minutes in the fridge.

Heather's website is: http://www.sweetlyraw.com/

Friday is Animal Day!

Several years ago I was in a store with a friend when I saw one of these Paw Print Kits.  I immediately decided I needed one for my beloved Golden Retriever Miss Katie.  She was getting older and I thought this would be a great memento when she was gone.  My friend took the kit out of my hands and insisted I could get it cheaper elsewhere.  You know what happened, right?  Katie was old and the moment passed.  I never did get her paw print.  

My suggestion is to make an effort today to get one of these kits or whatever means of honoring your pet appeals to you.  The kit pictured above is at Amazon and it's one of my favorite gifts for my friends who have dogs.  I have Amazon Prime and it's always delivered within 2 days. I believe they are also sold at stores like Michaels and on the Animal Rescue site.  I hope you go there every day and click for free to help feed shelter pets.  You click and large companies make donations based on the number of clicks received each day.  In addition if you make a purchase part of the proceeds are donated to help dogs and cats who need assistance.

When Katie died a dear friend bought me a wind chime with her name and dates of birth and death etched on it.  There are lovely ways to honor our fur babies when they pass.  I had Katie cremated and her ashes along with a lock of her hair are on my bed side table.   What will you do?  Your choices may inspire others.

Sex, Books and KY Jelly

Whenever I enter a bedroom and find books literally everywhere I wonder how my clients get into bed at night.  I imagine specially designed pole vaults hurling them over that avalanche of books onto the bed. Traditionally stacks start on the night stand and mushroom over time  like a fungus.  I imagine my clients have some obstacles in their lives because this condition would not develop on its own.  I wonder (but never ask) if they are having sex.  The environment is so void of passion I have my doubts. I'm curious to know if they've ever broken a leg getting out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.  And only Heaven knows how they change the sheets or make the bed.  They look quite normal but perhaps they are secretly contortionists?  Now you know how professional organizers think. I'm giving away trade secrets. Or at the very least getting you to laugh.

The simple cure is a small bookcase.  You can get a new one at a home store, a fancy one at a place like The Pottery Barn or even shop for a used one at a consignment store.  A light sanding and a coat of paint can transform that bookcase you inherited but never liked.  There's no end to the places you can find a simple bookcase.  But every now and then there is a bedroom that literally can't hold one more piece of furniture. When I find those situations I know that all hope is not lost because the above night stand is a perfect solution.  

You will want to cull through your books from time to time.  Great books are like old friends but they don't all have to be saved.  You can donate some to a library, retirement home or women's shelter.  You can trade or sell them on line.  Share the fun, the joy and the knowledge in those treasures.  And speaking of fun and joy what about sex?  The little multi drawer unit pictured above would be perfect for a corner in your bathroom or closet to hold all those new lotions'n'potions you'll be stocking up on now that the sheets are clean and the launch pad is clear for take off.

Children's Art: To Save or Not to Save that Is the Question!

One of the great gifts of this digital age we live in is the ability to take a snapshot of our children's art work and save it on line at a site like Pinterest where every family member and friend can check on Junior's progress as a budding Picasso.  You can make your Board private and give out the password to those who are interested or make the Board public ~ just in case Junior really is a future Picasso and is trolling for an agent. 

There are other sites like Snapfish where you can turn this artwork into an actual book that Junior can show his future progeny: "See? This is what daddy was doing in the second grade!" And yes, I do have my tongue as far into my cheek as it will go.

The above image from my Zen Organized Life Board at Pinterest shows a really unique solution for the parent who prefers to keep Junior's art work on literal display at least for a time. Those are towel bars and the art is attached with clips.  I thought it was a stroke of genius and had to share it with you. If you wish to save a few originals each year you can put them in an art portfolio and label it with the child's name and the year.  But don't go overboard, OK?  Have you ever met an adult who had his childhood art on display?  It's far more important to you as a parent than it will ever be to your child.

The Packaging Police Want You!

I'm going to bet that every professional organizer has a pet peeve.  Mine is the way American products are packaged. You buy two large bottles of shampoo at a store like Costco and what do you get along with them?  A mountain of cardboard.  You purchase a multi-pack of toilet paper at the local grocery store and what do you get? A lot of plastic wrap holding all the rolls together.  What bothers me is that people bring these items home, take out the one item they intend to use and then store the rest with all that packaging intact.  It robs you of invaluable space. I declare that the Packaging Police are going to knock on your door and take all the unwanted cardboard and plastic wrap.  After they leave the Angels of Clear Space will be flying from room to room squealing in delight! 

I selected the top image because if you look closely the toilet paper has been unwrapped and stacked neatly.  It made my organized heart go pitter patter. It's great if you can have one central location that every family member can check when the stash in his or her bathroom is running low.  But do distribute a few extra rolls in every bathroom so that no one ever has one of those emergencies. Made you laugh, didn't I? 

Before I leave you I added one other image.  I thought it was such a clever way to house a roll of toilet paper as well as the books every American seems to need when he or she sits on the throne.  And that candle is a sweet touch, isn't it? 'Do what you gotta do' is my motto for the bathroom but make it beautiful, keep it functional and for heaven's sake pare it down to the minimum.

Keep Track of Your Life: the Art & Science of Note Taking

Someone wrote to me recently and asked for my help finding the definitive, best in the market place notebook.  I have been in love with notebooks since I was a girl and yet this question stopped me in my tracks.  How could I ever declare one above the other in usefulness?  We all think differently.  We need to record different kinds of information. It really boils down to personal choice and that was my response.  I've since jotted down some ideas on note taking that go beyond the tools themselves.  I hope you find them helpful in case you too are in quest of the perfect notebook.

• ·      There are circumstances beyond our control that will make keeping track of the business of life a bit more difficult than normal.  It might be a happy circumstance like a pregnancy (mommy brain, anyone?), the natural decline in cognitive value as we age (anyone over 40?) or the fuzzy brain of chemotherapy.  Don’t lose track! Keep a notebook with you.  It can be utilitarian like a child’s spiral notebook or be made of the finest leather.  It might also be your electronic tablet. What matters is how much you enjoy holding it, using it and literally seeing it in your world.
• ·      If you get totally caught up in day-to-day demands including the needs and wants of others, your life will unfold in a haphazard way.  It’s much better to chart your course with intention.  And no tool will be more helpful than a calendar system.  A good one allows you not only to keep track of your literal activities but also to see exactly how you expend your energy.  The best version to assist in this way is the month at a glance.  Time and energy are commodities like money or food.  If you squander them, there is no 'take two.’ Whether it's on paper, an app on your smart phone or the calendar on your computer, the key ingredient in your decision to choose one calendar over another is this: which one will you enjoy? I use the Entrepreneur edition of the Day Runner for my personal calendar. 
• ·      The act of writing down information helps solidify its place in our memory.  If you’re a student, you can make use of a multi-subject notebook.  There are many ways to duplicate keeping the information we need stored in an easy to retrieve fashion.  After all, if you take the time to make the note, it stands to reason you may need to reference it later. A business professional for example might not want a multi purpose notebook but rather have several folders that relate to one project.  Why have them scattered in a file cabinet in alphabetical order? Using a box bottom hanging file folder, multiple related manila folders can be filed in one place.
• ·      In today’s world you can keep track of your life with a smart phone or tablet. Research the available programs before you decide on one.  Remember that no program is going to keep you on track.  You have to update the app in order for it to store your input in an easy to retrieve way. You are as always the engine that drives this train not the app, notebook or tablet.  Evernote is popular for general note keeping and Mint.com is great for financial record keeping.  

 It Bears Repeating ~

The key ingredients in making any app, notebook, calendar or binder work are your motivation to have ready access to the material, your willingness to use the tool and the enjoyment factor. I have special notebooks for my yoga retreats, others that I use for planning a workshop or seminar and others still for planning personal projects.  A new book idea for example is usually born in a notebook chosen for that purpose.  It will travel with me wherever I go. Once the idea is solidified in my head I will abandon the notebook and work exclusively on the computer because it's faster to record my thoughts with a keyboard and make corrections and changes.  By the way the notebooks pictured above are from my personal collection.

Let me leave you with a word of warning: devoting different notebooks to specific types of note taking is not the same as having multiple notebooks for the same purpose in use at the same time!  You will create more chaos in your attempt to remove it from your life.  Funny how the ego keeps us attached to ‘same/old, same/old’ even when we swear what we want is change.

New Contest!

All during the month of June you can enter to win a copy of Organized Life with Baby at Goodreads. 

There will be two winners! 

Whether you are pregnant or are going to a baby shower this is the guide you need to help you through the changes in your environment.  Mother of five Meagan Francis and I stay with you until baby is five months old.  We cover everything from where to give birth to what a newborn really needs in his or her nursery.

Here's the link:

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/54524-one-year-to-an-organized-life-with-baby-from-pregnancy-to-parenthood-t

GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE