Jaspe Is My Buddy & I Am Loving My New Pencil Pot

Still tired..Lucy is better but not all the way. I went to bed a little early and then got up with her twice last night. 2nd time was a total false alarm. You get up at 2 am, open the crate door, and she just stares at you like "oh, you're awake, would you like to pet me while I lounge here?" (Puppy version of the charming smile your 3-month-old gives you when you come into their room to get them out of the crib.) She got rice for breakfast this morning to help calm her tummy. Yes, the puppy version of the B-R-A-T diet. :) And to clarify, this is the first time she has gotten puppy food for two reasons: (1) general gastrointestinal health, and (2) manners. We're getting there...on all fronts.

Pretty day, spring-ish, a little cool, so I pulled out my spring buddy, the Jaspe sweatshirt. I am still loving this. It's perfect for this weather. Comfy but not too heavy. Slim shape so that it's not too bulky. Love the gray melange color. And then jeans, white tank, black mocs and some pearls. Amazingly enough, I have again resisted the tired = ponytail default. (must be the haircut, maybe I should do that more often)

Polyvore set for today:

Wearing Today - 5/12/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew hoodies

So I spent the morning doing some cleaning out to help de-fuzz my brain. First up, the school supplies/arts & craft chest. This was hubby's grandfather's desk and it sits right behind the kitchen table. Perfect place for the crayons, glue, scissors, stickers, loose paper, workbooks, etc. And it was a total nightmare. So I went through each drawer, decluttered, cleaned, organized. Here is the top drawer - isn't it pretty?

And this is my new pencil pot - in other words, what I did with the pencils, on top of the desk so they are easy to get to, esp when in the midst of homework. 1-2" of pebbles in the bottom to help the pencils stand up straight, makes them easy to see and get to because sometimes, you really want that specific pencil, you know. And I won't have to listen to the requisite 5 minutes of sorting through them all.

I also went through the kids' books to do some cleaning out. And then a bunch of other straightening, organizing plus laundry and picking up for the cleaning ladies to come tomorrow. I feel satisfied with what I've accomplished today. Time to hit the grocery store, and then come back to walk Lucy until bus stop pick up. Hope you all are having a productive day!!

Jewelry Board - Part 2

I hung the 2 jewelry boards yesterday. Loving them. Getting dressed this morning was fantastic, because so many accessories were right there for me to look at. I am keeping the sterling silver in the lined top drawer of my lingerie chest to help with the tarnish protection. But this has all my favorite pieces out where I can (hopefully) remember to wear them.

The pic to the left is my wedding portrait and the 2 to the left of that are both of my grandmothers.

I hung the 2 boards to the left of my lingerie chest, over a vanity stool that is usually full of stuff, but I cleaned it off just for you all!Here we have it loaded up.

And full wall effect.

Organization is always so satisfying, isn't it?

Closet Update (with pics)

Well, as I told you last Thursday, I had made it through the "clothes" portion of my closet. I forgot to show you my clean out scraps. So much clutter cleared - 2 trash bags full for Value Village, 6 consignment bags - 2 for last Friday's drop off, 1 for next Wednesday's, 1 for Summer, and 2 for Fall/Winter next year (I guess I'll have to go through them then, but I did enough categorizing).

I haven't done much work on the other stuff in the closet (puppy training takes up a lot of time and don't want her getting *that* interested in my shoes), but I did a quick go through of some shoes, and came up with 1 bag full! Not that's it's categorized yet...

But I still have more shoe boxes, etc. to go through (yes, those boxes peeking out from under the pants each have about 4 pairs of sandals or flip flops in them - clearly I don't wear them all)


Closet Shelf After pic - check out these much more neatly arranged shelves. Look at all that open space! I can find my own clothes now! And you can't shop your closet if you can't find you clothes, can you?

J Crew Cambrige Cable Turtle in Tangelo and a Closet Update

It's cold here today. Really chilly compared to the earlier part of the week. I know, I know, cry me a river, whatever... But still... I'm not asking for 70-degree days ad infinitum. But, 45 degrees and windy is just not fun. Can we please take it up a few degrees and let the wind die down. Please?? What to do on a day where you've got spring in your heart but winter outside your doorstep? And you are always cold so you can't just thumb your nose at Mother Nature and wear a tshirt?

Let's see... how about a cozy sweater in a nice, bright, sun-shiny color? Hello J Crew Cambridge cable turtleneck sweater in Tangelo. It's kind of a crazy color. It totally reminds me of the very bright Crayola "yellow-orange" crayon. Or was it "orange-yellow"? I think they had both and they were 2 very different colors. Suffice it to say, it's bright and cheery. Yes, of course I got it on sale. I think January-ish, during one of the 20% off sales, probably $39.99-ish. It's a little sheer, so I sized up to the large, whereas my old navy Wellesley cable turtle is a medium. It's a good way to bring a little warmth into my day as I sit here and sip my tea. (paired with standard cami, Chicos jeans, navy patent flats, and very cool AT Loft pocket watch necklace)

So...how's that closet going? Thanks for asking! Well, remember my nefarious plan to trick myself on Monday by dumping all the pants on my bed right before I went to the office for a meeting? Worked like a charm. Of course I had to go through them all. Putting them away without the try-on would have taken almost as long. So here's our progress, with accompanying "pile" pictures.

Sunday - skirts, and Monday - pants - wish I had a picture of the pants pile up - it was scary.

Tuesday - dresses, exercise/gardening/paint clothes (it's a sliding scale and items move down the chain)

Wednesday - shirts and jackets (basically tops other than sweaters). This one almost did me in. I started it at 8:00 right after the kids went to bed. So so so did not want to do it. But the piles made me. (yay for the evil plan!)Thursday - sweaters, sweatshirts, bathing suits, bathing suit coverups

I still haven't worked through today's pile, but will obviously do so before I get to go to bed. My bag for the consignment shop is over-full, so I will definitely have enough to take tomorrow, and may have to set up another appointment while they are still taking spring clothes.

Still to do: shoes, bags, and coats, and the random items in the nether regions of the closet.

The Productivity of Procrastination...

You know how you know you really really REALLY need to do something but you just can't quite wrap your head around getting it done? That's how I feel I about my closet right now. It' s my major project to get done over the course of the Lenten shopping ban. But I just can't quite get there. (Kudos to Joyce for the fantastic job on her closet - see aptly titled post on The Deed Is Done. Can I borrow the "tell it like it is" 14-year-old?)

And it's way too pretty outside today to start. Temps in the 70's. No way am I tackling that job today.

So, what else have I been doing? Organizing the junk drawer in the kitchen, duh. Adding little bins to contain things. Tossing about 75% of what was crammed in there. And now we have....Tada!!! So so so so so pretty!

Ok, I swear I really am going to get to the closet. I have another appointment at the consignment shop to drop off this Friday, so I definitely have to do part of it by then. Maybe a weekday project while the kids are at school? Arrange my work schedule so I have a lighter day? Yep, that's the plan. Wish me luck!!

Happiness in My Kitchen

We started a little science project this weekend. courtesy of 60+ bulbs that I had ordered from our fall fundraiser at school but never planted. When you are co-running the fundraiser, working, and being an actual parent at the same time, guess what? There's not much time left over for bulb planting. Thought we would try forcing the bulbs to see what happened. Some of them already had little shoots. They may not bloom, they may give us franken-flowers, but it should at least be interesting.

Recipe: bulbs, shallow-ish dish, pebbles, water not quite to the bottom of the bulbs.

Here we have 20 crocuses in the white wavy dish, 3 hyacinths in the footed glass dish, 30 tulips in the cream pie plate, and another 10 tulips in the glass bowl. If nothing else, this will make me smile.

This made me think about the other touches I've added to the kitchen over the past few months to make it better, more workable, and a happier place for me.

#1 - Fruit/veggie basket. Ok, it's technically called a plate rack, but at $16.99 from Target, whatever, I love it. It's just what I had been looking for...for several years. You see, the problem with most multi-level racks like this is that they are too tall to fit under the upper cabinets. And I really wanted it in this exact spot. This one just fits underneath (although you can't pull it directly out because of the lip under the bottom, you have to tilt it a bit). And it has 2 levels - so you can put smaller produce up top and bigger produce in the bottom, with plenty of room to reach in a grab something, like when your 8-year-old wants a banana. Note the open grid to let your produce get some air! But you can clearly see that I need to go to the grocery store because all that's left is tomatoes. Other fruit/veggies are in the fridge, I swear!

#2 - Baker on island. (from Sur La Table) This was a gift from my mom for my birthday. I love it, and want to keep it out instead of baking with it and storing it somewhere. So...voila, the perfect place to keep the "caca" papers as my friend, Claudia, calls them. School stuff, random to do lists, whatever. It's the perfect size to contain all the papers (10 x 14), and it's easy to shift onto another counter if you need to use the whole island. A definite improvement both aesthetically and organizationally. The papers were getting lost over by my laptop.

#3 - Utensils & seasonings. The flower pot is from an earlier purchased-from-Target bulb experiment. (Calla liliy bulbs with soil, it was even a Smith& Hawken product, total failure) But the pot is fantastic for all the spatulas, ladles, etc - a perfect size, just broad enough at the top. And I love the color. The tray keeps all the frequently used seasonings in 1 spot, right next to the stove - veggie & olive oils, salt in the lovely olivewood salt keeper I got Chef Hubby for his bday, and both pepper grinders (auto & manual) It's all nicely contained. Very handy and helpful! (A tip from Tyler Florence's latest book, which I highly recommend - great all-around resource on kitchens, cooking, techniques, tools, etc.)

#4 - Electric tea kettle. (from Macy's, and yeah, it's always on sale for $69.99 there) I love my tea. I'm not much of a coffee person - I love the smell of it, but need to add so much milk and sugar to drink it that I may as well just have a milkshake. I start every day with tea, and usually have several cups in the afternoon. It's a total comfort thing. So a healthy choice for me. Hubby got me this tea kettle for Christmas a few years ago and it just rocks. Super quick and the kettle detaches from the corded base to pour. How cool is that?

Humble Pie had a great posting about the kitchen earlier today. It really is the heart of the home. We all spend so much time there. It should be a happy place. So find something in your kitchen to make you smile...