December, 2012

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m taking a two-week blogging break to spend time with family — and to enjoy Dave’s extra-long two FULL weeks of Christmas break!

However, I couldn’t just leave for two weeks without wishing you all a VERY Merry Christmas, or without sharing our 2012 Christmas card — and a few cute family pictures!

One of the pros of running my own business is that I can take time off whenever I want. One of cons is that it’s really hard to actually take time off! However, based on my past experiences and the last 5+ years running a business, it’s 100% worth it every time I do!

So as we enter another crazy and busy holiday season, I’ve decided to take a two-week break… and yes, I’m excited!

Since I didn’t do much decorating for Fall or Thanksgiving, I was itching to get out my Christmas decorations. I scaled back quite a bit because I knew Nora would get into EVERYTHING… however, our house still feels really festive!

Come on inside and take a look!

Today, I’m sharing a very simple (but effective) “Clear the Clutter Before Christmas” challenge that will hopefully encourage and motivate you to clear a little bit of clutter from your home and life before Christmas day.

No matter how busy you are these next 10 days, YOU CAN DO THIS… and you’ll be so glad you did!

I’m a pretty firm believer in meal planning as a way to save time, money, and a whole lot of stress each week and each month. So today, I’m really excited to share a fabulous online meal-planning service that does pretty much ALL the work for you {besides actually making the food}.

If you’d like to revive your meal-planning efforts, a subscription to eMeals.com might be just what you need!

As I mentioned last week, Dave and I have been hosting all sorts of holiday parties with family and friends — and believe it or not, I hardly did ANY cleaning before company arrived.

No I’m not sick, no I’m not lazy, I’ve just decided that our company doesn’t care and a “lived in” house is actually more welcoming than a perfectly clean house.

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly — her stubbornness won out so Nora is now fully transitioned into her “big girl” bed in her “big girl” room (at 1 year old!)

Today I’m sharing pictures of the mini-makeover

Some of my favorite things about the holidays — specifically Christmas — are the fun family traditions I know I can always look forward to year after year.

Today, I’m sharing a few of our family traditions, but I’d also love to know what some of your favorite holiday traditions are (either for your family, friends, work, or from when you were little.)

When I first started this blog (Sep. 2010) I was spending $20 or less on groceries each week — yes, that’s $20, NOT $200 — and no, we didn’t eat ramen noodles every night!

Fast-forward 2 years and our grocery bill has more than doubled… but I suppose we’re in a different season of life right now and I’m OK with that.

The past few weekends have been chucked full of holiday entertaining in our home — apparently our new kitchen nominated us to host every single holiday party this season!

If you’re also entertaining this holiday season, here are 10 simple tips that should help things go a bit smoother — and actually let you enjoy your time with family and friends!

Today is Dave’s birthday (he’s 31 — which is much older than me!) so in honor his birthday, I’m sharing one of HIS favorite orgainzing tools — the DUO 7-Pocket Accordion Binder File!

Happy Birthday Dave, and thanks for being so neat and organized

Over the past few months, we’ve noticed that Nora has an obsession with pictures… like whenever there are pictures around, she can’t focus on anything else until she carefully looks at all of them.

So the other day, I took a yardstick and extra clothespins and made her a photo collage for her bedroom wall — in about 10 minutes!

A few weeks ago, I posed the question, “How should I decorate my living room wall?”

I was super excited and inspired by all the feedback I received — and after a couple weeks of thinking, I came up with an idea that looks fabulous. Come take a look and let me know what you think!

I had a ton of mashed potatoes left over after Thanksgiving — even after I gave a bunch of them away and made a shepherd’s pie!

So last week, I made this delicious Cheesy Mashed Potato Soup — and was it ever delicious. Even Nora liked it!

We celebrated Nora’s first birthday over Thanksgiving weekend, and I’m sharing a bunch of pictures — and a few tips that helped me keep the entire cost of her party under $50!

I’d love to hear any of your tips for birthday parties on a budget!

Today is the last day in my week-long Creative & Clutter-Free Gifts series… and it’s my favorite clutter-free gift of all {acts of service}.

I’ve always been a big fan of service gifts — much more so now that I’m married, have a house to maintain, and a child! I’d take the “gift” of a cleaned kitchen or a few hours of babysitting over almost anything from the store… any day!