In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
All week long, I’ll be sharing my “must-have” items for infants — today, I’m talking about baby gear!
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
So for the rest of the week, I’ll be sharing my “must-have” items for infants — starting today with my must-have items for the nursery!
Two weeks ago, I was asked (at the very last minute) to bring a dessert for an event I had previously agreed to attend. I was a bit annoyed at the lack of planning — and I seriously contemplated buying something from the bakery on my way — but my “frugality” won over and I decided to make a simple dessert with the ingredients I had on hand.
It was my first time trying this recipe and it was SO good that I’ve already made it 2 more times!
Most of you know that I am a HUGE advocate for getting enough sleep. However, I’m also big on productivity and “getting stuff done”… so with a new baby who rarely takes naps during the day, I’m often forced to use the time when she’s sleeping at night to get stuff done.
Since I’m definitely a morning person, I’ve started getting up at 4:30am ONE day per week — which gives me about 3 totally uninterrupted hours to buckle down and get a whole bunch of stuff done!
My sister is getting married this summer and a couple months ago, I went with her to register for gifts. It had been while since I did much shopping for home items and I was simply amazed by how many different types of cookware was available in the stores!
We questioned some of the sales associates and I also did a little online research to figure the different pros and cons for each type of cookware — here’s what I came up with:
During my spring break “staycation” I showed a few pictures of my fabulous t-shirt quilt… but I didn’t really go into much detail about the process, or about how you could create your own t-shirt quilt.
And since I absolutely LOVE the fact that I was able to transform a bunch of t-shirt clutter into an extremely useful, practical, and memorable item — I figured I should share a few more details!
I’ve always been the type of person who likes to be REALLY busy (I think you probably knew that already!)
I thrive when I’m busy and am actually more productive, more efficient, and feel more “alive” when I have a long to-do list. I can usually handle a lot of stress and don’t often get overwhelmed. However, in my adult life, I can think of two very distinct times when I felt completely overwhelmed and “burnt out”.
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Instagram, Quora, Digg, YouTube, etc. etc. There are so many different social media venues… I find it impossible to keep up with them all!
While I think it’s absolutely essential for small businesses to utilize the massive {and totally free} advertising and promotional opportunities provided by social media; I’m also the first to admit that they can be a HUGE time-suck.
After yesterday’s fun giveaway, I have to catch you up on the last 2 days of our Spring Break!
We’ve been hard at work around our house and in our yard… and had such a great week catching up with family and friends.
I’m a little sad that our week-long “staycation” is coming to an end… but I think I’ll be ready to get back into a routine next week. Plus, I’m really ready to start making my to-do lists again!
Nora woke us up nice and early again… and even though Dave and I were both super tired, we pumped out a bunch of house work before it got nice outside.
At the end of the day we had a fairly clean house, freshly washed sheets, a 10-yard dumpster filled with yard waste, and a freezer full of delicious baked goods… not bad!
Our Monday started VERY early when Nora decided she really didn’t need to sleep in… I guess she doesn’t realize that Spring Break is not the time to wake up so early!
Even with the early morning, we were still able to cross several projects off our list; including reorganizing our master closet, defrosting {and restocking} our deep freezer, a bunch more yard work, new hair cuts, and more!
I’m always on the look-out for FREE tools to help improve my business. So when I got the iPhone, I immediately started searching for apps that would do just that.
Apparently there are a ton of free productivity apps, but I didn’t need or want them all, just the best ones. So for the past several weeks, I’ve been testing them out… and I came up with a list of 9 of my favorite free apps for small businesses.
I like to think that I’m pretty good at managing my time, being productive, getting things done, etc. etc. however as much as I might try, I can’t do it all. I have to make choices every day about what I will and will not spend my time on. Sometimes, it’s an easy choice, other times it’s not. Many times I make wise choices, but other times I don’t. It’s all just a balancing act I suppose.
So since a few of you asked, here’s a short list of things I do and don’t MAKE time for…
Ever since Dave and I tied the knot {almost 6 years ago} I’ve struggled with making REALLY good fried potatoes. I even resorted to using frozen potatoes in times of desperation.
I can still remember the first time I attempted to make fried potatoes… I set off the smoke alarm 🙂 Well, after almost 6 years of trial and error, I’ve finally figured out how to make really good fried potatoes.
Here’s how I do it…
The other day, I mentioned a handful of things we’re willing to splurge on… and after talking about splurging, I received a few emails and comments asking if we had cut back on anything in an effort to save more.
The answer is Yes! Yes, we are cutting back on some things… and yes, we are still splurging on others. I’m assuming many of you could say the same thing. I guess it’s a matter of where our priorities are!
Here’s a short list of things we’ve been cutting back on:
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