Never Lose Your Keys again!

Ahhhhh! Where are my keys!!! 

Racing around the house begins... This was a common scenario for me before meeting my husband. I am not a hook person... So key hooks never helped me... I would always just stash them on the counter, the table, the couch and lose them.

But then my husband read a revolutionary book The House that Cleans Itself... honestly this book has almost killed our relationship because he is absolutely gung ho about it and its just too organized for me... but I pick up one thing I really like. Change the house as much as you can first...then change yourself.

She talks about if you’re not a hook person, don’t try to use hooks because they won’t work for you. So instead we instituted the key basket! I have a small container in our launch station where I keep my keys and my phone. It is amazing!! In the two years since we’ve done this I think I’ve lost my keys 1x .

Are you someone who struggles with losing their keys? Try a key basket... my key problem has forever been solved! (except when I stay with my parents they only have hooks. ahhh!)

How do you keep track of your keys?

5 tips for a Successful Photo booth

3, 2, 1 Smile! 

Photo Booths have become the new norm at weddings. They bring a festive air, capturing photos of the guests in a unique way.

However I just saw a unique twist on the traditional photo booth that takes the cake! It was a western wedding and my uncle created an exquisite backdrop. It looked like the inside of the barn... chipping wooden boards, with horse gear hanging on it. The guest were then equipped with cowboy hats, ropes etc

However it wasn’t a booth... It was just a background... so all the guest could see the people as they did their photos! This allowed all the guest to participate and have a laugh as they watched people dress up and pose.

Instead of the quick snap of 4 pictures... It took one 4x6 that printed the bride and grooms name across the top with a pretty emblem. Very beautiful!

5 tips for a successful photo booth

#1 Try creating a themed background - This way it can be specific for your wedding, and everyone can share the laughs as people get ready

#2 Ask the photographer about putting your names at the top of the photos

#3 Ask your main photographer to take a few photos of people surrounding the photo booth... One of my favorite pictures of the bride was a huge laugh as she watched people taking their picture.

#4 Set it up inside the hall - The Photo Booth will attract a lot of attention. If you don’t want everyone hanging outside, put the photo booth inside the hall.

#5 Smile - A laugh and a smile make everyday better! Especially, at a wedding!

(I hoped to have more pictures but my harddrive crashed and I'm working on recovering photos... and redoing my entire backing up system)

What are your favorite ideas for photo booths?

How to plant a garden in 10 Minutes...

My plants are dry and wilting

Surely they will die

Not yet in ground

I must ask... why?

Bought with great intentions

Lot of manure too

My garden’s still not planted

Whatever will I do

I have 10 short minutes

Before we go to bed

Out to the garden I race

Though planting I sped

Dirt in my nails

Mud on my jeans

I’m a success

I’ve planted all my greens

I have diligently worked on my garden for the last 3 years... digging up most of my front yard. But this year, having a 6 month son and working full time... it was not happening! I was really trying... I posted last week about How to grow the Perfect Tomato! I dug up the whole garden, bought manure, and just needed to bring up some compost from the back. I just never found the time to finish and plant things.

So finally before bed, I went and threw all my plants in the ground. We’ll see how things go. I figured they were going to die on the porch or I’d give them a shot in the uneven, un-perfect ground.

I think sometimes in life we are waiting for things to be perfect and they may never be. 

I had to choose an imperfect garden or no garden at all. Although at first I was embarrassed that it didn't look nearly as nice as last year, it is an accomplishment to have some garden vs no garden at all!

5 moments this week where I chose to live today vs waiting for things to be perfect.

#1 Choosing to plant my garden even though I truly only had about 10 minutes!

#2 Appreciating how I look in my photos, instead of picking them apart.

#3 Laughing while my son helped with dinner! We chose white rice instead of brown... it takes 10 minutes vs 50 :)

#4 Smiling as I walked into the rain! Choosing to appreciate the puddles, and reminiscing of when I was a kid and rain was my favorite!

#5 The power went out at work today. Yes, 99% of what I do is on the computer... However I seized the moment to invite a group of student workers into my office (with a window) for an office purge, going through old papers to shred, reorganize etc. And so they weren't jealous of people standing around we also rocked out to Taylor Swift!

What project are you waiting to start because you’re not sure if you can do it perfectly?

Trash Treasures - Finding the Perfect Picnic Table

Screech! It’s big garbage day and I just found the perfect picnic table...

Ok not the perfect picnic table, there is a board missing off the top, and the bench on one side is gone too... but I can see that this will be a treasure.

One problem, I’m late getting off work and I can’t fit it in the trunk of my car. After awkward attempts of trying to make it fit and causing a traffic jam, I decided to stash it in my friend’s backyard who happens to live close by.

Finally on Sunday I set back out to claim my prize. I know it won’t fit in the car... but it is only 3 blocks away so I decided to take my Graco Snuggleride stroller frame and set out. I was peppered with puzzling stares as I proudly walked down the street with my babyless stroller.

Halfway there I am offered a truck by an inquisitive neighbor, I am grateful but decided to press on in my mission. I arrive, load the picnic table, things are going like magic... now I’ve just got to push it three blocks and go to Lowes to replace the boards.

I am applauded on my way back by the same neighbor who offered his truck, but he realizes that its broken and offers me a board. Not only does he end up giving me a board, but measures it, cuts it and replaces fixing both the table and bench seat.

I left to collect my trash treasure and came home with a perfect baby picnic table! My goal is to paint it a cute color... but my son and his friend seem to love it right now!

Have you ever found a trash treasure? Or was there ever a neighbor who helped you achieve a dream?

My multicultural Storybook

I love story books! 

I grew up walking to the library several times a week. I never missed a summer reading program... and when I “grew up” I was the presenter for summer reading programs for countless libraries. 

Obviously I love books...

But when I had my son there was a problem. 

None of the storybooks looked like him. 

Now I am a blonde hair blue eyed girl so there are thousands of books like me, but my husband is biracial his parents being from Germany and Africa, and our son is a mix of both us.

I found Goldilocks, or African safari... but I could not find any storybooks with biracial families. Obviously he can enjoy any book. But as I child I connected with the characters in the stories I read. 

I wanted him to enjoy story books where he could imagine himself as the main character.

So in true mom fashion... I wrote a series of books! The Adventures of Little Scout. They are your typical little kid book with cute rhymes and fun illustrations... except the children are from multicultural families.

I hope to make board books in the future but right now I'm going the eBook route with a downloadable pdf. 

Subscribe now via email and I will email you a FREE copy!

My top five moments this week:

1. My babysitter did a photoshoot with my son while I was at work! Best surprise ever!

2. It was 80 degrees outside so we spent lots of time outdoors.

3. I got a $20 gift card for Shutterfly from a friend! Hurray!

4. Little Charlie broke his first tooth!

You can see his tooth on the bottom right!

5. My ebook is finished!!!! 

Get your FREE copy of my ebook today! 

Subscribe by email and let me know what you think. I would love suggestions.

Brilliant Baby Clothes Organizer

Baby clothes, baby clothes

We’re bursting at the seams

Onsies sweaters

And everything between

Bibs, burp clothes, blankets too

So much to organize what do I do

I put them in draws

But they end up in a heap

Messy house and hormones

I begin to weep

I found the solution in an unlikely place

A new shoe cubby became my saving grace

Everything is sorted and organized

I am now a neat freak much to my surprise (not really but there is hope)

I don’t know about you, but I constantly struggled with how to organize all the baby clothes. It just seemed like there were so many different categories. Long sleeve onsies, short sleeve onsies, full body suits, pants … But my husband came up with a brilliant idea. We had a new shoe cubby that we had receive as a gift, however we hadn’t ever used it. Shoe cubbies just never seem to work for us. So we flipped the cubbie on it’s side and used each individual cubby for a different type of baby clothes, bibs in one, lone sleeve onsies in another etc

It is incredible! Now I always know where the

different things are. And if one cubby is overflowing it gives a good hint that maybe we have too many clothes in that category... for instance our 25+ short sleeve onsies all in the same size :)

How do you organize your baby clothes?

Sound of Music Curtains

In the Sound of Music Maria resourcefully makes the children clothes out of "nothing but some old drapes!" I did just the opposite as I repurposed a household item into my dream curtains. 

So this is a project that had been going on for about a year and a half now. I didn't like the ugly mini blinds we had in the house, but I couldn't find curtains I was in love with, within a reasonable price range. 

Then I went over to my friends house and she has these gorgeous white flowing curtains... I was in love! When she told me her secret I was amazed! She actually bought tablecloths at Crafts 2000, threw them over the curtain rod and walla she has fabulous curtains.

In the spirit of... imitation is the best form of flattery, I promptly went out and bought the same tablecloths. Our houses are pretty different so even though we would have the same curtains I figured that we’d be ok... so, there was just one problem. I don’t really sew, I mean I have a machine and everything and I made my Godson a quilt because that’s what good Godmothers do, and I am ¾ way done on a king size crazy quilt that was supposed to be a wedding gift for my husband. (we were married 2 ½ years ago) But I had been delaying these curtains for well over a year. I just wasn’t quite sure how to sew them.

Finally, I decided it was now or never. I laid them all out on the livingroom floor and began measuring. I decided I would fold them over 11 inches and sew the seam for the curtain rod at 4 inches from top. Shockingly, they turned out really well. Now I have curtains in every room, and I can even open the windows without them blowing down. Life is good! It even inspired me to sew a bunch of adorable bibs for my son... but that’s another story.