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21.12.10

day 2

follow the 20 minute rule.
i posted something similar to this a little while ago.
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instead of waiting for a long weekend to get your life organized, straighten your stuff in doable time frames. take 20 minutes to sort through the pile of mail, fold the clean pile of laundry, organize your linen closet, or put away baby clothes your baby has outgrown (in my case).
i like to keep a bag in my closet and if i notice i'm not wearing something for a while, it'll go into the bag to give away. i also keep a bag in my baby son's closet and once he's outgrown an item, it goes into the bag. once the bag is full, it is put into a bin and saved for future kiddos.
we had three boxes and one american eagle bag filled with stuff in a corner of our living room. i wanted to GET rid of the clutter, so i sorted the boxes and bag, threw out a BUNCH of stuff, donated some stuff and put the consolidated items in two crates to bring down to storage. i feel like we have a clean corner. that wasn't as bad as i expected!

20.12.10

day 1

lately i've been feeling discombobulated, unorganized and cluttered. it's probably due to moving and having a baby so close together. i have hospital bills, baby clothes, baby books, magazines, regular bills, work stuff (i work from home), wrapping paper, diapers, and other stuff in one room! it's overwhelming. i want to re-organize my life, so over the next 30 days, i'm going to post ONE tip per day to getting organized and if i did it! i'll try to include images - either google or from my apartment. these tips are taken from the November 2007 issue of Self magazine (yeah, yeah, i have OLD magazines too). here goes!
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30 days to getting organized - paraphrased from self magazine nov 2007

make your bed! it's a quick way to make your bedroom peaceful and presentable.
when you walk into a room with a bed made, it looks neat and tidy, even if there are cluttered pieces nearby.
i use a washable duvet cover and have for years. it's something i loved while vacationing and living in Sweden, so i have amassed a collection of duvet covers. it's a fun way to switch up the decor of your room without spending an arm and a leg. they also make it EASY to make your bed in the morning. no sheets to fumble with, just straighten your duvet covet, fluff the pillows and you're done. ikea and crate & barrel have some great options. ikea is obviously for the tighter wallet and c&b a little pricier. if you're not sure a duvet is for you, pick one up at ikea for less than $30 to test it out.
{google images - can't remember - woops}
yes, i did make my bed today... i make my bed everyday because i LOVE crawling into a made bed at the end of a long day!

11.12.10

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

and we have our tree...

sam joined us cutting down the tree...
i have yet to upload the pics, so the picture of the tree must suffice.
and i LOVE the instagram app on my iphone.
it's HOW i got this gorgeous picture!
sam has two "first" ornaments - a picture frame and a tomte (sitting at the top of the tree with a white beard)

9.12.10

Lussekatt

 December 13th
Santa Lucia & My Morfar's Birthday
Morfar, Mormor, Mom - Summer 2007
It's coming up...
In honor of Santa Lucia...
I baked these...
With this wonderful lady...
heather "pensling" the lussekatt
and they were tasty...
I'm always afraid my Lucia buns won't rise, that I'll mess up the yeast.
But they did, and they nice, tasty and fluffy...
delicious with hot chocolate, or for breakfast or dessert or a snack... :)
 for those of you wondering WHY they're special: they are made w/a saffron, an expensive, but delightful spice that makes the buns a golden color. maybe i'll tranlsate the recipe from swedish some day and post it on the blog, until then, the pictures will have to suffice
{note: heather, i'll get you the recipe even if it doesn't end up on the blog, thanks for baking w/me}
 miss you morfar... thanks for teaching me the art of baking... you would be proud
Lucia buns fresh out of the oven

3.12.10

procrastination - at work or home

there is something we all dread at work or home? you dread it, you avoid it like the plague, you procrastinate. you visit Google News, Google Reader, check Facebook, Twitter, update your blog... instead of attacking the problem at hand??? i know i'm a culprit whether it's cleaning out my email inbox, paying bills, filing, scanning, and other such mundane tasks...
 you too can change... this method stems from the 5-Minute Room Rescue: you hate cleaning the house, so you set a timer for five minutes. you start clearing the worst room, stopping with a clear conscience when the buzzer goes off. not so bad. the trick is that once you start, you probably won’t stop. by scaling down the goal to 5 minutes, you overcome your own inertia.
 Dread and inertia are the enemy.  So set a timer for just five minutes and get to work clearing a path.
 taken and slightly reworded from Fast Company

ps- i did this earlier and eliminated the box of miscellaneous papers i "packed" just before moving... and what do you know, i was done in an hour... more than 5 minutes, but now it's done and the box is not staring me down!

2.12.10

craving these...

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not really sure why... but i really want some cinnamon chip scones right now!
here's a recipe i posted last year: cinnamon chip scones

starbucks  makes delicious cinnamon scones and i kinda want one right now, fresh outa the oven...