Oh Organization { + New Experiences }

This weekend was chock-full of new learning experiences for me, nothing super big and enticing but my neurons were maxed out after the weekend:

Apparently Barney (as in the big purple dinosaur on PBS, circa 2003?)  is no where to be found anywhere near Houston Texas. I was asked to bring a Barney cake and gift for an impromptu birthday party this past weekend and the purple monster was impossible to find. So, if you're planning a Barney party in Houston, don't make it last minute. And if you do, and you know someone still crazy about Barney, your best bet is going to be the the thrift store...And on a side note, when my son was little and Barney was still big, there was this super cute little girl who went by the name of Gianna on the show. That cute little girl is Selena Gomez, who is originally from Texas.

And apparently stepping on catfish on Galveston Island is a common occurence. After 2.5 years out here in Texas, we finally made it out to Galveston Island this weekend.  And after close to 2.5 hours of being on the island, my youngest little guy stepped on a freshly released catfish who managed to pierce the sole of his foot.

We were fortunate to have bumped into an officer who dispatched for EMT's.  It's a good thing it wasn't super urgent because we waited around for a good 30 minutes for EMT's to arrive, who, unbeknowst to us, needed to wait for the ferry to transport them over and still drive around and find us.  They administered First Aid, which was basically a quick rinse and gauze. It was especially helpful that I had baby aspirin on hand.

Baby Aspirin has proved to be indispensible on more than one occassion.

A huge Ferry??!?! The fact that there is this huge ferry that transports you and about fifty other vehicles was so new to me. I remember in CA, we needed to pay to go dolphin watching. And on this magical ferry we got to see dolphins perform acrobatic-like stunts for free as we transported our car, dogs and our little bodies across the ocean, all for free. It was all so new to me, and probably old news to you but it was still mind-boggling to me. Apparently I've been living in a bubble.

We spoke to a total of four different people when the catfish incident occured and one out of two people had stepped on a catfish. I've never heard of it before (maybe because I've been living in that bubble). I'm only able to speak on the subject because everything turned out ok. And if this occurs to anyone else in the future, I thought I'd just let you know everything should be ok.

However, catfish out here are known to be very dirty and the risk of it being infected is always of concern. Everything appeared ok to EMT's, us and our little guy. And everything continues to be ok.

So, why images of organization? Because I've been super busy all weekend. Because being super busy usually equates to no time for housework, which equates to chaos. And those images are pretty soothing after a chaotic weekend.  I know life can get worse than living in a bubble for a good portion of your life, but when we can make life simpler to enjoy busy weekends...I'm all for it.

I don't have sources for the above images. I'd gathered them a few weeks ago. If you know where the images originally came from, please inform.

I have Issues...

...Issues of Domino, various articles, and a multitude of scraps that hold inspiring images.  I'm intrigued by the ways people organize their 'wares'. I personally keep my inspirationals in journals.

A few weeks ago I got into a little bit of trouble on a thread for calling organization "sexy and sane."

Apparently the new mother's weren't too keen on having organization be used in a sexually explicit context. But I still hold true to my reasoning: decluttering is total feng-shui of the mind.



I love the look of the clear drawers higher up as they visually display anything you might have. Or the image above where goods are easily accessible and displayed for ease in inspiration.

With the aid of a little P-Touch, choice containers, and a kung-fu mentality against clutter, in no time you'll be the Si-fu of organization.

The above images are from Kelly Wearstler (Browse her site and keep an eye out for her organizational style + style altogether).

How do you stay organized? Or not?

Re:loved - New Use for Old Tape Deck

<cue the twilight zone music>

In the spirit of Real Simple's New Uses For Old Things, some things don't need to be refashioned, just repurposed.

Take this old tape deck for example,: he was sitting all alone and abandoned at my workplace freebie table. Nobody wanted him, and I don't blame them. Who the heck collects/keeps old tapes anyway?  < hides collection >

I snatched this little guy because, I'm guilty. I still collect old tapes, especially when my local library is selling them for 10 cents. Score! The latest one was a  James Bond theme songs tape (and a Lionel Richie, The Sounds of Halloween and...). But that's not the point. Behold, organization maximus:

Forgive the cartoon-esque design. I commited every photographer faux-pas this morning. I photographed in the dark, early a.m. hours, without lighting plus some urgency.

This old tape deck now holds my collection of letter and number stencils, some paper scraps and some easter cards I made...but never sent out. I tell you, organization (and planning) is a beautiful thing.

On another note,  tapes themselves have several uses, right? You can use it as a blank tape and create your own tape mixes. Oh, you've outgrown that too?  I still think tapes are pretty nifty.  Where else can you create a music mix for free (The library? Your mp3 collection? Good point.) ? Who cares if the songs were a little off from one another: Boys 2 Men, La Di Da Di (Doug E. Fresh) , techo, Salt 'n Pepa. Come to think of it, those all did go pretty good together. Ah, the 90's. 

What 90's hits did you love that might inspire others to find on tape purchase on mp3?



Keepsakes

I'm not that big into scrapbooking. At least, not until now. Since my first born was one I've been itching to create a memory box to adorn the home with of his first onesie and cap. He's soon to be eight making this project long overdue.

Since I was already researching this project for myself, I thought I'd spit this out here for your use.

Ideas: Clockwise beginning top left: baby keepsakes, childhood keepsakes, family vacation, school days scrapbook via Martha Stewart.

Call me crazy (or a nerd) but I've still got all my ID cards from junior high through high school and I've been wanting to tackle a project featuring my many many mistakes looks. Maybe in the future I'll showcase those ID's, but we'll leave that for another day.

In keeping with the tradition, I'll return a little later for a freebie Friday. I hope.

Hacking Never Smelt So Good

Yesterday I made the impromptu decision to join my littlest one on his school field trip.  I reminded him every day for a week about his trip and asked him if he wanted me to join him.

He's a very independent little guy who's always talking about muscles, obsessed with The Hulk, and loves the smell of icky things, so it came as no surpise when he responded to my question with a semi-grudgingly, "you can go if you wanna, or you don't go if you don't wanna."

Fine. I was hoping for something a little more melodramatic like: please mama, join me, I can't live without you, like my seven-year old does.

My husband convinced me otherwise to join my little one, his face beamed with total joy, we had the time of our lives and I forgot about this little thing called job, or blog for the day.

With that I mind, it doesn't really matter if they act as though you're not everything, or that they've outgrown a certain "baby" toy because (1) their lying (or I've convinced myself such) and (2) I don't ever want them to grow-up, but since they will, I want these days to last.

And this comes with good timing because I'm revamping a playroom, and video games will not take the place of their lego's and trains.

So, where does this hacking business come into play? Here. Check out these playroom ikea hacking ideas via Ikea Hackers. Why? Because organization is a beautiful beautiful thing. And if you don't yet have children, you will one day cherish these ideas.



Choo-choo. Tutorial here.

This table is sexy. (Do you know how difficult it is to keep those itty bitty lego's in one place?!?) DIY here.




Future Picasso?  Idea here.



Cool cubbie idea because who knew a war could be waged over one computer? A mom, that's who.
DIY  here.

Happy Thursday!

Proclamation Organization



(1)(2)(4)(5) Real Simple (3) Flickr (6) Martha Stewart

 So we hear it all the time, declutter the home, declutter your thoughts and well, this one is very true.

In 2008 I devoted nearly the entire year to developing a place for everything and everything in it's place. It was a tough ! I hadn't planned on an entire year on the project... that's how long it just took.

Some years back, when I was in an emotional rut, a friend came over and so I tidied up the place (boxes juxtaposed in a corner) and she said, "Wow, you're really getting there." And I thought,  What?!? I am there. This  IS neat. Those were some pretty rough years.

A word on wordle {.net}

If you don't know Wordle, you don't know, well, wordle and that's all there is to it.

For those of us who don't possess the software necessary to create something of ultra cool proportions on our own, we're fortunate enough to live in an era where other super cool people not only create, but share their creations with the world.

Wordle.net (in case you didn't know) is where you type in text or a URL to create "word clouds". The site wordle.net was created by Jonathan Feinberg using logarithms (found in the FAQ's section). The reason for detailing this?  One word: logarithm.

I just ended my hate relationship with math. We do use math everyday fellow internet browsers, we do.  ( Moment of silence)




Above: 'X-mas List'.  "George" is the fortunate entity who gets to greet each morning next to me (and a totally 80's kind of guy).



Above: 'To Do List'.  Lists are boring. Having to do things is boring. But at least, while I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing, I can have fun creating a "To-Do" list, therefore, making "To-Do's" a fun thing.

http://www.wordle.net/