Hello friends! I hope you’re all having a good week so far! And that you enjoyed Easter weekend. I can’t believe it’s already Thursday.. where did this week go? I feel a little silly saying it has felt busy but it kind of has.. just a different kind of busy! I feel like we are really getting into a rhythm and routine with this whole stay at home gig. This is a sad and hard time in general, but there are definitely aspects of it that I will miss when it’s all behind us. I’m trying to focus on the positive which is getting to spend more time with my family. This was our Easter dinner table this year. Cozy and simple with just the five of us. :)
I’ve had a lot of questions about sources after sharing my table on IG and most of the exact items I used have sold out, but I found almost identical options and linked them all above! Aren’t these similar pink scalloped plates cute!? I love them paired with gingham plates for Spring and Summer dining. We had such a nice day together as a family. I’ve always dreamed about church in pj’s and finally got my wish. ;)
Now my table is back to normal and ready for Spring! I thought I’d share a quick design tip with you because it’s something I find myself repeating all the time! Especially in my kitchen. It’s a simple combo of pairing a vase with flowers next to a wooden bowl (often with fruit!). Nothing revolutionary but I repeat this ALL the time and it always looks good! I love a pretty vase next to a wooden bowl and fruit is easy, inexpensive (and practical!) decor.
This is my cute new Target vase! Loving it in my kitchen right now next to.. wait for it.. a wooden bowl full of fruit! :) These hydrangeas are real (white hydrangeas are my favorite flower so I snatch them up at the grocery store when they have pretty options!) but I also have these faux hydrangeas in my bedroom and they are a great option if you don’t want to have to keep replacing them.
No fruit this time but I’ve done basically the same thing here in my family room. Vase, flowers, wooden tray. Beads are a great option in bowls/trays in the living and family room! These are some of my favorite decor beads..
I love pairing this small dough bowl with tall clear vases. And fruit! Green apples are so fun for this time of year and my kids love them. :)
More clear vases paired with a wooden tray. Ok.. you get the picture! I do this combo all the time. Easy decorating that always works. A happy little design tip to cheer up our kitchens while we are all hanging out in them so much!
Speaking of happy things in the kitchen.. I just got this beautiful marble tray and love it with a little plant and salt & pepper shakers!
I ordered it in January and totally forgot I had ordered it.. ha! Not sure why it was delayed so long but as soon as I saw it in person I got on-line and ordered the large size too (on sale!). SO beautiful. I love it in my kitchen but think it would also be beautiful in a bathroom. Now I’m going to try to forget I ordered it because that was so fun getting happy unexpected mail. ;)
I’ll be back soon with some fun organizing progress going on around here! In the meantime.. stay safe, stay healthy, wear your mask and buy some fruit.
Happy Saturday everyone! It is Saturday right? I don’t know.. feels an awful lot like Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday did. ;) I’m popping in quickly today to answer a few questions I’ve been getting and to share some favorites from my home that are on sale this weekend! First up.. my new mudroom rug! I shared some different things about this room in IG stories and got so many questions about this rug. It reminded me I never shared it with all of you! I’ve had it for months and absolutely love it!
It’s the Mumbai Woven Rug from McGee & Co. Aside from the obvious fact that I adore stripes of any kind, I also love how durable this rug has been. We track the most dirt through this room (especially lately with all of our walks in mud from the rain!). My kids wipe their shoes on it and it really hides the dirt well. It comes in larger sizes and I would absolutely recommend it!
I actually bought it because it worked so well with these cute baskets I put on my wall at the beginning of the year. Perfect match! I already had the cute little stripe doormat in front of my dutch door so now I’m over striping in this room and might need to move the mat to the outside, but whatever. Rolling with it for now!
When I shared some pics of our porch in my kids’ Spring Fashion post Thursday I had lots of questions coming in about my rugs and lemon trees! My porch isn’t styled yet, but I started it by pulling out the navy stripe rug I had on my porch last Spring/Summer. I LOVE this rug because it’s plastic! It doesn’t look like it, but it is and it’s SO easy to keep clean. You can sweep dirt off easily or just spray it down with a hose and it looks brand new again! The hello mat is another long time favorite. I’ve wanted some real lemon trees on my porch for years but couldn’t plant them because they need sun and my porch is shaded all day so I did the next best thing and bought faux lemon trees. So cute. They were from McGee and Co. last year and sold out but PB has some that are almost identical here (and on sale!). I still need to find baskets for them and plant some other flowers.
After my kids’ Spring Fashion post yesterday I had lots of questions coming in about this Let’s Stay Home sign. There are so many cute versions of this! Most of them are from Etsy and you can see them all here if you want something similar for your home. I’ve always loved signs about being HOME and they mean even more to me now.
At Anthro this weekend all of their tops and jewelry are 30% off including this beautiful Philippa Blouse I recently bought. I picked up a few other fun tops tonight that I’ll share at the end of this post with other favorites I loved! SO many cute tops on sale.. I had a hard time picking which few to get! Also Anthro monogram necklaces are my favorite and I order them all the time for special, personalized gifts for family/friends.
In other news, I went on a little trip down memory lane the other night going through past Easter pictures. I still have my girls’ watermelon pj’s I gave them this year! My favorites. :)
This is still one of my all time favorite pictures. They were waiting for the egg hunt to start and I remember Ad resting her little head on El’s shoulder and El putting her arm around her little sister. I snapped this pic quickly and then got a huge lump in my throat.
It was Kole’s first Easter egg hunt!
The girls kept trying to get him to pick up eggs but he just wanted to pull the grass out of his basket. :)
My babies! I remember this year like it was last week.
They are growing up on me. Sharing last year’s Easter Sunday picture to wish you all a happy Easter because I have a feeling this year we’ll be in sweats on the couch. :) It will be different this year for all of us for sure, but hopefully just as special. Thank you for sticking with me for so many Easters throughout the years. It means so much! I love you all and pray that you will all be comforted and safe at home with loved ones this year while we celebrate our Savior.
*This post is sponsored by Nordstrom and affiliate links are used
Is anyone else ready for the sun right about now!? We definitely are at our house! We’ve had so much rain the past two months. Every time the sun finally peaks out for a day I notice my mood improves immensely! I’m so excited to be partnering with Nordstrom today to share some fun ideas for kids’ Spring fashion! It’s my favorite season to shop for new clothes for my kids. So many bright colors and fun patterns that remind me of happy times in warm weather with family and friends. I know that is in our future and I need the reminder right now!
Nordstrom is having a HUGE Spring sale (up to 50% off!) and the selection for kids’ clothes is honestly the best I’ve seen. I got these two so many cute things! *If it helps with sizes I buy 10-12 for Kole (he’s 10 years old so a bit large with room to grow) and Addison (even though she’s 13) also wears size 10-12. She’s the shortest student at her middle school and is now wearing the same size as her brother who is 4 years younger. (Sorry Ad.. when you feel mad at me for passing on the short gene remember that you like your thick hair.. we can’t win them all.) ;) First let’s talk swim suits! I’ve learned to get new suits for my kids in April because by May/June when it’s really warming up most of the cute suits in their sizes are sold out. Addison tried this suit on in my closet and my jaw dropped. We both fell in LOVE! The pattern, the flattering fit.. it’s seriously our favorite swim suit she has ever worn. I wish I would have taken a pic of the back because it’s just as cute as the front. Kole’s suit ran a little big on him (an 8 would have been perfect in this one) but it will work this summer and be perfect for next summer. Love this rash guard too!
There we go.. that’s the warm weather smile and laugh I was looking for. :)
What do you know.. Kole’s hair matches his swim suit. *Thanks again Kenny. I owe you a fun surprise that you’ll love just as much as I’ve loved Kole’s hair.
Same happy 4th grader. Same rash guard. Same blue hair. Different swim shorts. :) These shorts were a perfect fit!
This is a pic of Kole a couple of years ago wearing this All Day Unity Rashguard. It’s a long time favorite of ours and also fits great. I buy him a new one just like it every year!
This floral cap sleeve suit is another favorite Ad and I loved! These two are so ready for the sun. They’ve been getting in the pool since February even though the water has been freezing! I always have to hurry and turn on the hot tub before their lips turn blue. :)
Isn’t the back cute!? The swimsuits at Nordstrom are adorable this year! Here is a round-up of my favorites. So hard to pick just one!
You can’t have a cute suit without a cute cover-up! This red sheer ruffle cover-up is darling! Lightweight and feminine and perfect to throw on over a suit. Ad loves it. :) Havaiana Flip Flops are also long time favorites.
These are the fun Spring sandals Addison and I picked out for her this year. Both so cute! Here are a few other cute options for girls. So adorable this year!
Now on to the clothes! This blue floral romper is too much fun for Spring/Summer. Such a comfortable cute fit and perfect to go out or for lazy days relaxing at home.
When I put this outfit together in our on-line cart Ad wasn’t so sure. She said “mom.. I don’t know if I love that.. it looks like something you would wear.” Ha. It does! I have a thing for army green and I was secretly hoping the Eagle Rock graphic tee would run big and accidentally end up in my closet. :) But then she tried it on. And guess what outfit she absolutely loves!? So much she has decided it’s a contender for her first day of high school in the Fall.
These shorts are so flattering and the tee can be worn multiple ways. It’s a little long and she had it tied with jean shorts yesterday – darling! We had a nice chat about how she needs to trust her mother’s instinct ALWAYS about EVERYTHING. Choices, boys, school, clothes. Mom knows best.
These cute cargo pants are another mom favorite that Ad now loves too. :) Really flattering! The Nike top can be dressed up or worn with a sports bra and leggings to exercise. It comes in a hot pink too and Ad has both. Really cute top you can wear lots of ways!
Love this cozy knit jumpsuit! I knew it would be perfect for lounging at home this Spring and then cute to wear out about about. As soon as it’s ok to be out and about.
Me and my mini. Gaining muscles by the hour! Not really but it’s fun to pretend. :) I’ve been a tad obsessed with Nike lately! I’ve loved my crop fleece sweatshirt so much that when I came across this similar crop hoodie for Ad I couldn’t pass it up! So cute and it has been perfect for all of our evening family walks when it’s cool outside.
On a walk yesterday and Kole is wearing those same shorts in white. He was cracking me up with his umbrella! There was a small chance of rain and he wanted to be prepared. Ha. Did you notice Kenny has a friend on his shoulder again? :)
So is this black tee! And this knot tank Ad is wearing is darling. I said “smile” and got this instead. Pretty much sums these two up! (Sorry for the double jointed gene Ad. The bad news is it comes with knee issues and strange looking “straight” arms.. the good news is it’s the reason you’re so crazy flexible. We can’t win them all.) ;)
Last beautiful Spring top for this post.. isn’t it darling!? These jean shorts are so cute too. They run a little small – we could have sized up to a 14 in them so I’d go up a size in these! (I’ll share more porch details soon when it’s done.. just starting to spruce it up for Spring!)
Proud of this sweet girl. And her sister. Who sadly has grown out of kids’ clothes! We were just about to chop Ad’s hair for a fun change right before the stay home order. It’s getting so long!
So for being quarantined with these two monkeys hasn’t been too bad! They each get along so well with Ellie, but Ad and Kole can be best friends or mortal enemies depending on the time of day. I was a little worried about them spending so much time together. Let me re-phrase that. I was a little worried about my sanity with them having to spend so much time together! While we’ve certainly had our moments, for the most part they have been getting along so well and we’ve all been having a lot of fun together. I know it’s not easy for my kids right now. They are all 3 really missing their friends! But we are making the most of it and really enjoying this slower pace. With plenty of time to take pictures for mom! Ad was thrilled about this post and happy to be in pictures because she loves the clothes! Kole I had to bribe with a little iPad time, but he was a good sport. ;)
That’s a wrap! I wore these two right out. ;)
I hope this post gave you some fun ideas for kids’ Spring clothes this year! Such a great selection at Nordstrom and their recent sales have been crazy good. I love shopping for our whole family at Nordstrom because you just can’t beat the service and quality. I’ve also been so impressed with all they are doing to help sew masks and give back during this difficult time. Proud to partner with them!
Enjoy the rest of your day! We have rain in our forecast again but we’re hoping to sneak in a walk.
Kole has his umbrella ready so we should be set. ;)
The time has come! (The walrus said.. to talk of many things.. of shoes and ships and sealing wax..) Sorry! Alice in Wonderland has been on repeat at our house. Thank goodness for Disney Plus these days. Let’s try this again.
The time has come! Time to finally share my organized bathroom drawers with you all! (Much better the second time around.) ;) Oh my word.. this project took on a life of its own as you can see from the picture above. I decided to just “straighten one drawer” one afternoon and before I knew it I had pulled everything out of every single drawer in my bathroom. Kenny walked in and was like.. “um.. what just happened!?” ha.
Things always get worse before they get better at my house. :) I do have a basic method to my madness when I organize. I pull everything out and get rid of as much as I can (anything at all that I’m not using/loving.) Then I categorize things in like piles. Next I put them back in the drawer semi organized and this gives me an idea of what type of organizer (if any!) would work best.
I definitely wanted some dividers for these drawers! I did some research and decided to use the Linus Shallow Drawer Organizers from the Container Store for my bathroom drawers (LOVE THEM). Based off of the items I wanted in each drawer I sketched out a few drawer configurations. I know. I’m such a nerd! Stuff like this seriously makes me giddy. I sketched out something I thought would work for each drawer, but then picked up a few extra containers in certain sizes so that I could switch things around if I wanted to when I was putting everything back.
A little planning goes a long way! I was so in my happy place with this project. :)
Ahhh. Nice and clean again! Let’s look inside those drawers! *For those of you who are interested I’ve also linked all of my favorite make-up and beauty products below and best timing because Nordstrom is having a one day sale on all things beauty! Woot woot! I’ll be stocking up on favorites listed below. :)
The top left is a small drawer that holds all of my make-up. I don’t have a lot! My make-up routine is pretty simple. I love trying new products (and do often!) but I tend to always come back to my long time favorites. This drawer also holds my contacts, glasses and some elastics.
The drawer below holds some often used items like hair spray, deodorant and wash cloths. I love using drawer dividers to separate things like this! Simple organizing but it’s so effective. I didn’t photograph the drawer below this one because it just holds one curling wand I only use once in a while.
Then we have this nicely organized cupboard below my sink I recently shared! It holds extras and larger items.
The top middle drawer holds brushes and all of my night-time routine stuff. Tooth paste/brush, face cleansers and moisturizers. I love having everything I need for my night time routine all in one place! (*Quick tip! I always take off my make-up, wash my face and put on my skin products right after I put Kole to bed around 9:00. Then I sit down for the night and watch TV/work and go to bed late. If I wait to take off my make-up right before I go to bed I’m always too tired and lazy to do my whole skin routine. I made myself do it right after I put Kole to bed for months even though I didn’t want to so that it would become a habit and now I don’t even have to think about it!)
This middle drawer is where I keep all of my extras! We shop at Costco so I always have extras on hand. I used the Linus DEEP drawer organizers for this drawer. (You can buy the starter kit OR select the pieces you want and make your own configuration like I did.) Notice I have more elastics in this drawer.. they’re in every drawer! Elastics and Cherry Ice Chapstick are in drawers throughout my whole house. And in my purse. And in my car. ha. I also keep a small notepad in this drawer because I ALWAYS think of little things I need to remember when I’m getting ready for bed and I like to jot them down on paper. I just prefer paper over my phone for reminders and to-dos. Sidenote: if you haven’t used Tinkle razors before they are game changers for getting rid of unwanted facial hair!
In the middle bottom drawer I used the Linus Clear Storage bins. (Two large and one narrow fit perfectly!) On the left I have small samples I want to try. Extras like soap, deodorant, mascara and face masks are in the middle and then Q-tips on the right. And a phone charger! I always listen to podcasts when I get ready in the morning and like to charge my phone so I don’t run it out for the day before 10 am. :)
These three middle drawers were such a mess before! I’m LOVING the way they look now and they’ve been so easy to keep clean! Every single thing now has a place to go! The first week they were like this I kept opening them just to stare inside.
Angels sang. More than once. :)
I gave our side cabinets a quick clean out and donated old towels.
I like to keep our towels folded together in sets because I always have two matching bath towels and hand towels out. Easy to grab a clean set when I’m washing others!
In the baskets on the bottom I keep wash cloths I use when I clean. (You can find some of my favorite towels on my SHOP MY FAVORITES page.)
Best feeling having everything in this space so organized! Kenny’s drawers are the 3 on the far right. They are clean and organized too but I didn’t take pics because they are kind of boring and this post is already a book. ;)
I was on such a roll I decided to give my vanity drawers a quick re-fresh too.
And more make-up bags in the bottom. (This little laundry bag comes in so handy when I travel!)
My top two drawers hold more travel supplies. These are very shallow drawers so I tried these expandable make-up organizers and they fit perfectly! I love the way they expand to fit your drawer.
Happy April everyone! Spring is finally here! Looks like it will be a Spring spent at home but I’m ok with that. I did a huge brain dump today on my April to-do list (I have cute monthly to-do lists in my printable library!) and wrote down ALL THE THINGS I want to accomplish this month. The situation we are all in is hard, but I’m going to do my best to enjoy the positive sides of it. More time with my family and more time to get to those things I always want to do and never have time for! I’m determined to have my garage and closet ORGANIZED and DONE by the end of April. As well as 10,000 a few other projects in-between too. My list might be just a tad too ambitious but I’m going to give it my best shot. :)
I also started thinking about Easter because it’s next weekend! Ahh! It snuck up so quickly this year didn’t it!? My kids have been great about staying home but there have definitely been some hard moments with fun things they were looking forward to being canceled and of course not being able to see their friends. (Face time used to drive me crazy but now I’m beyond grateful for it!) I’m going to try to make Easter as special as I can with a small at home church service, some fun family activities, a nice dinner (ahh.. send help!) and fun Easter surprises to wake up to.
This was our living room last year on Easter Sunday. If you look close you can see a lot of colorful eggs hidden in this space! The Easter bunny always scatters plastic eggs full of candy (and a few special eggs that hold money) in our living room and then my kids’ baskets are always sitting out on the coffee table.
Then there is always one more surprise that is hidden somewhere in the house. Each of the kids’ surprises are hidden in a different spot and they each have their own clues that lead them to their gift. My kids LOVE our traditional Easter treasure hunt each year. It’s way more about the hunt than the actual surprise! Ad said to me last week.. “mom.. can you let the Easter bunny know that even though El and I are teens we aren’t getting too old for the treasure hunt?” Ha. :) I told her I’d make sure he got the news. Guess the Easter Bunny better get moving!
Last year I got some questions about what I put in my kids’ baskets now that they are getting older. Always candy of course (so I can eat half of it). For my girls I add some small things like nail polish, lip gloss, earrings or a necklace, a Starbucks gift card, phone chargers, pens, notepads, etc. For Kole I’ll add things like markers, small toys, a stuffed animal, flip flops, a book or a card game, a hat, small legos, etc.
If you are looking for more fun ideas for kids for Easter I’ve rounded up some of my favorites below! Then below the Easter ideas I’m sharing my favorites from the new Target line by Studio McGee! Ahhh! It’s seriously SO good and you can order it all on-line starting today! So many fun things for your home at Target prices. I also rounded up a few Madewell favorites because they are having a big sale right now and you all know how I feel about Madewell. (Please put your hand over your heart.) Studio McGee at Target AND a Madewell sale? Sounds like a happy Easter for mom too! :)
1 – Bashful Bunny Stuffed Animal – these bunnies are the softest! I always give them as baby gifts and my kids each have one. Perfect for Easter.
3 – Waterproof Phone Pouch – Getting these for my teens and I’m excited to have one too! So nice to have your phone protected during summer activities.
7 – Skyjo – I ordered this for our family because people love it in the reviews. Looking for a few new family games for this month at home!
8 – Hydro Flask – Long time favorites that would make a fun Easter surprise.
9 – Garden Party Notebooks – Cutest notebook! I’ll take all 3 please! You can never have too many notebooks. :)
10 – Inflatable Splash Sprinkler – How perfect is this splash sprinkler!? It would entertain kids for hours in the backyard! Perfect for a month of staying at home.
11 – Ahi Boys Flip Flops – Flip flops are another Eater staple at our house and these are CUTE for boys.
12 – Marble Run – Kole got this for Christmas and we just pulled it out yesterday! Perfect time to build it for him to play with.
13 – Cornhole Toss Game – This is another fun game my kids love. I’m sure we’ll be pulling this out often in the backyard this month too!
14 – Mac Lipgloss – My favorite. This mini size is perfect for teen girls’ Easter baskets!
15 – Karaoke Microphone – This looks like a fun way to keep the kids’ entertained too. And my husband. He never passes up a chance to do some Karaoke.
16 – Wave Rider Ride-On – My kids are too big for this but if you have a little one.. ahh! I’m dying at how cute and fun this is for summer!
17 – Ahi Girls Flip Flops – Cutest flip flops for girls! My favorite are the Cheetah print or the pink dots!
19 – Mesh Beach Bag – This beach bag looks so perfect. Large, fits ALL the things, one that you won’t mind getting sandy and dirty. I think I’m getting it for myself. :)
20 – Spill & Splash Seaway Water Table – My kids all would have LOVED this when they were younger. I used to fill up buckets and bowls with water in our backyard and they would be entertained for hours playing with their little toys in the water. Perfect if you need to entertain little kids at home this month!
I hope that gave you a few fun ideas for kids! Now for the Studio Mcgee Target line. I honesty love everything in this collection, but below are my #1 picks and things I’m looking at for my home!
SO good right!? I’m seriously so excited about this collection.
And here are a few fun things I am loving on sale at Madewell right now. These prices were too good not to share!
Happy weekend everyone! Come back tomorrow for some fun organizing. :)
My baby boy turned 10 Monday! So we threw a huge party for him! The invite list was crazy! So many people we couldn’t fit them all in the house. So we sent them all home and decided to just invite his mom and dad and sisters. And Peaches. Our pet lizard. Because who needs party guests when you can invite a lizard? ;)
I heard from so many of you after sharing Kole’s birthday on IG that you remember when he was born! Some of you have been with me for the long haul and have been reading for years. 10 years for some of you and you remember pics like this one.
And this one.
And a personal favorite. This one. :) This is what happens when you are raised by 3 girls!
It honestly means the world to me that many of you have been with me so long. Once you’ve been reading for over a year consider yourself family. I’ll invite you all to Kole’s next birthday party!
Unless we’re all still quarantined.
Which is why his guest of honor this year was Addison’s lizard. Ha. ;)
I snapped this with my phone the morning of his birthday right after his 4th grade class sang happy birthday to him on zoom. So sweet of them! He is living his best life going to school every day in his beloved robe. He begged me to not make him shower and do his hair the morning of his birthday and I thought.. why not? Live it up buddy! We threw on a hat and his first day of being a 10 year old was off to a great start. :)
Of course after that I had to get a little creative since we couldn’t throw a fun party with friends for him like we did last year. We got to work decorating our table and Kenny made a cake.
Ad wrote the sweetest poster – 10 things she loves about Kole. Number 4, 5 and 9 are my personal favorites. “You are one of the best dancers I know – moves like Jagger!” (Kole’s favorite song). “You have style! I love your blue hair and robe!” (ha!) and “You are the best godfather to Peaches.”
Then I scoured Pinterest to find a fun gift for him. He is at that age that is a little tricky. Growing out of toys but not really into teen things yet. He loves food so I had considered getting several gift cards to food places and then I found this darling gift idea and they have the printable and everything! (Thanks girls!) I bought gift cards to all of his favorite places and just attached them with colorful clothespins I had at the house. Such a simple and fun idea and Kole loved it!
Then we played a fun game. I wanted to share it here because my kids had so much fun playing this. It would be fun for a Friday night family tradition during this quarantine when we are all home together so much more. You buy a lot of candy (like I said.. kids love this) and every item is different. This is what I bought because this is the stuff my kids love. There was a Recess too but that was eaten before I could take this pic. ;) Then you need 2 dice.
You all sit in a circle with the candy in the middle and set a timer for 5 minutes (we used my phone). The first person rolls the dice and if you get doubles OR your two dice add up to 7 (so a 5 and a 2 or a 3 and a 4, etc.) you get to take one of the treats. If you don’t get doubles or 7 total you just pass the dice to the next person.
Now.. the fun part! You can choose an item from the middle of the pile OR you can steal something from someone else! That’s what makes the game so fun. You are moving fast (only 5 minutes to get as much candy as you can) and everyone is stealing candy from each other. Kole and Ellie kept taking the Recess from each other. Ad and I were fighting over the gummy bears. Kenny was loving it because nobody wanted the candy he kept choosing. We all got laughing so hard. When the timer goes off you get to keep whatever you have! We ended up putting all the candy back in the middle and playing it a few times just because it was so fun. If you try playing it with your family let me know! Also feel free to share any other fun game suggestions in the comments. I know we can all use ideas like this right now with kids home!
After our game we ate dinner (Kole’s favorite) and then sat down on the couch for Ellie’s gift. She spent the last two weeks working on a slideshow with pictures and videos of Kole growing up. We played it on our big TV and by the end of it I was in tears and we were all laughing (lots of it was clips of him dancing.. he is always cracking us up with his dance moves!). Seriously the sweetest gift ever. I’ve watched it over 10 times! My kids are so funny. They always judge their gifts by “if we can make mom cry.” Apparently it doesn’t take much so if I don’t cry, their gift is a bust. Ha. You could say that Ellie knocked this one out of the park. :)
We had the best night celebrating our sweet 10 year old boy and while I know it was hard for him not having a traditional party with all of his friends, he was such a good sport and told me later that he loved his birthday party and could I please put his gift cards somewhere safe so that the sisters don’t get them. I always have to suppress a laugh when he refers to them as “the sisters.”
Ok.. TOTALLY switching gears. Because why not? We are living in a time where clearly anything goes so I’m rolling with it. ;) I’ve been organizing up a storm (as you all know) and am finally ready to share my bathroom drawers with you all.. but first! A quick clean out of under my bathroom sink. I tackled this space early this year and shared it on IG stories but never got around to posting it here. Things were such a hot mess in this cupboard.
I pulled everything out on my large rug and made three piles – KEEP, TRASH, GIVE TO MY GIRLS.
Before long I was making major progress.
Then much quicker than I thought I was done! This was all trash to recycle! Products that were gone or packaging I just hadn’t tossed.
And the AFTER! SO much better right!? I gave my girls some products I knew I’d never use (they love trying new things) and then after scrubbing out my cupboard I put back all of my tried and true go-to’s. This honestly only took 20 minutes and I couldn’t believe I had put it off for so long! Just getting started is always the hardest part isn’t it?
While everyone else is stocking up on toilet paper I’m stocking up on my MOROCCANOIL hair products! Ha. #truestory
Feels so good to have that messy cupboard nice and clean! I know I’ll keep it that way now. Once I’ve really organized something I work hard to put things back where they go. When I have no system set up all bets are off and things get messy quickly. Anyone else like that? I’ll be back soon to share the rest of these drawers!
Take care everyone. Stay healthy and safe! I’m heading out on our evening family walk. Something I look forward to every day.
Happy Sunday! Having a good weekend so far? I spent a few hours working on my garage today. Man.. did I ever open a can of worms on that little whim! If you need me next week I’ll be organizing tools, bikes, sports equipment and camping gear. It’ll be a party for sure. I know you’re all dying to join me. ;) Today I’m taking a mini break to talk about Spring sandals! I need a distraction from the heaviness of this virus and (because my day in the garage wore me out) I need a break from my obsessive organizing. Spring sandals are a very happy distraction! I’ve always loved having a March birthday for lots of reasons but one of them is that it’s the month when all of the fun Spring clothes and sandals come out. The two sandals above were a little birthday present to me from me and I love both pairs! The Sam Edelman slides are so comfy and perfect for every day running around. I also love the buckle and they come in lots of fun colors/patterns. The Noor Espadrille sandals are honestly perfection. Also very comfortable and just the perfect wedge that will go with anything and everything. Trust me.. you can’t go wrong with either!
Of course things are looking a little more casual around here these days. A cute camo tee is about as dressed up as I’ve been the past two weeks! Good thing my comfy new slides work with pjs and sweats too. :) (Other fun camo options here!)
I’ve rounded up all of my favorite Spring sandals below. Seriously so many fun options this year and a lot of them are on sale right now! Most of them come in a variety of colors/patterns.
Looking forward happy days ahead filled with loved ones, togetherness and ALL the cute shoes. :)
Time for another round of 15 minute organizing! My house is going to be so KonMari-ed by the end of this stay at home phase! I can’t figure out why my family isn’t as excited about it as I am. I keep telling them it’s magic! The magic of tidying up. Someday I’ll see some joint enthusiasm. Someday. ;)
I’m working on some bigger projects, but thought I’d share a few quick wins with you all today. If you’re home but feeling like time is still tight because now everyone else is home too try to carve out just 10-15 minutes a day to organize something. You’ll be amazed at the progress you can make and having something organized is an instant upper! This is a time when we can all use a little something to boost our moods. Exercise and cleaning a drawer are my go-tos. :)
First step is to put on your stay at home organizing clothes. Leggings – check. Cute and comfy tee – check. Favorite house shoes – check. Now we can organize!
Ok.. I know this isn’t an awful “before.” But this drawer has been organized before. The problem was that I had so many items in it that when everything was clean this drawer was hard to close! I actually took this picture after I had taken some stuff out.
After! So much better! I vacuumed out all of the crumbs and only put back the items I use every week. Some items I never use I tossed.
Then the rest of the items I don’t use as often I corralled in this gray tray in the drawer below my ovens. To the right I store all of our grill/BBQ items but I had extra room in this drawer so now it’s also holding kitchen items I need but don’t use as much. Things like the ice cream scoop, potato masher, rolling pin. I only need those items once in a while so it’s nice to have them out of the way and not taking up space in the drawer I’m in and out of 5 times a day! Mom.. I’m sure you’re happy to see that I kept the rolling pin for you since you bought it to use when you’re visiting. You and I both know that baby isn’t getting used otherwise. ;)
Before of another drawer that wasn’t awful but I had a hard time closing when all the dish towels were inside. I vacuumed out the crumbs and tossed old towels. Many were missing from this pic because they were in the wash! I had too many. (These are my favorite dish cloths/towels by the way!)
Put everything back inside nice and neat. It won’t stay looking this perfect for long since El is in charge of folding all towels and she doesn’t appreciate neatness the same way I do.. ha. But that’s ok. It just feels good to have only favorites and to have the drawer vacuumed out. I don’t know how we accumulate so many crumbs in random kitchen drawers around here but we do! I’m always wondering if my kids just stand over them and eat crackers when I’m not looking.
Not too hard to imagine!
For the life of me I haven’t been able to keep this container drawer clean. I finally matched all of the lids to the containers (said good-bye to pieces that didn’t have a match) and came up with a better system.
Now THIS I can keep organized! I’m obsessed with these clear expandable deep drawer dividers! Perfect to separate containers from their lids and so much easier for me to find what I need.
Cute Ad just snapped this pic of me finishing up my top kitchen cabinets.
I finally cleaned out this cupboard above my ovens! Forgot to take a before pic. I designed this cupboard when we built our house with dividers to hold all of my baking sheets. It was so stuff full of things I don’t use anymore! Nice to have just the essentials and I added some of my larger cutting boards on the right. (And you can see to the side of this pic our hall molding is up! I’ll share more pics on the blog soon!)
This entire corner of my kitchen is finally clean and organized!
Organized pantry, recipes and what I’ve been wearing
*affiliate links used
*Peaches (Ad’s long begged for Bearded Dragon) loves our walks.. ha! Kenny’s shoulder is her favorite place to hang out and she especially loves lounging there in the sun. This picture from yesterday made me laugh. :)
Hello hello! How is the quarantine going? Are you holding up? Going crazy yet? I have to say that I didn’t miss all of our usual activities and running around over the weekend. My kids are missing it! But so far I’m not. I’m grateful that they have so many fun opportunities to explore their talents and make friends, but from the mom (aka chauffeur) point of view it was heavenly having two full days with nothing on our agenda! We all slept in, had breakfast, did some chores and I organized a few drawers. Then we just hung out – watched movies, went on a walk, made dinner. The kids spent some time doing their own thing and Kenny and I went on a drive. So nice. I feel like the best way most of us can help and do our part during this crazy time is by just laying low and not being around other people. So that’s what we’re doing. While I’m so sad about the situation our world is facing the sliver lining is definitely being able to slow down and have more time with our families.
I’m trying to stick to a loose schedule/routine at home as much as possible. My kids are all doing school on-line (shout out to all of the amazing teachers working over time to keep things going right now!) and Kenny and I both work so we are all getting up and getting ready and having breakfast like we usually do. Then we all split up into different rooms! It’s kind of funny. The girls are both working at their own desks in their bedrooms, Kenny is in his home office, Kole has totally taken over our office/craft room where I usually work (his whole 4th grade class is on zoom talking so nobody else can really work there) and I take my laptop and rotate from my dining room table to the couch to the kids’ work stations when they need my help. We’re practicing social distancing every morning in our own home.. ha. After school/work we have some down time and then the kids do their chores (if you missed my Zone cleaning system you can check it out and get the printable here) and I get some house work and organizing done. Then we all go on a family walk before dinner. If your kids aren’t doing some sort of on-line school I would still try to have them engaged in learning actives in the am. There are so many great websites on-line and workbooks that can help. My long time blog friend Megan has a great list here that might be helpful to you if you need some good resources! Sticking close to a somewhat “normal” schedule is good for kids and I need the structure too. Flexible structure is always my favorite. :)
Of course I’ve been organizing up a storm and it feels amazing! I snapped a few quick pics with my phone of my pantry. My pantry and fridge were the first to get a good clean out with everyone home. I keep this space pretty organized so I didn’t have to do much other than vacuum out the baskets and drawers and toss some expired items. I also washed some of my OXO containers that were getting dirty and re-filled them.
Another thing I also did that felt so good was going through all of our canned goods! This pic is from my older pantry post but I wanted to mention my favorite organizer for cans because some of you asked about it in IG stories. It’s this Expand a Shelf and my favorite is the MEGA size. It’s so nice! I use it for all sorts of things and it will expand to fit whatever size you need.
In other exciting news.. lately I’ve been on a green bean kick! I don’t know why but they are tasting so good to me cooked with just some olive oil and salt and pepper. My kids have been teasing me for making them so much and I’m the only one who wants to eat them.
I usually follow them up with something from this pantry drawer so don’t go thinking I’ve gone completely healthy or anything. If we’re going to be quarantined at home I’m going to need my favorite treats. :) If you want to get on my good side any of the above will do. Of course you can never go wrong with popcorn either. Or purple skittles. Oh my word.. that’s what’s missing from my stash! Purple skittles! I knew something was missing and it just came to me writing this. Ha.
K – isn’t this picture hilarious!? Oh my word.. so bad. It’s from a post I wrote in 2009! I had to share it though because I made this the other night and remembered how good it was. So easy to make and it’s a good way to get kids to eat broccoli. I forgot to include it in the recipe post above but it’s called Tri Color Pasta and you can find the recipe for it here. Ignore the awful picture and trust me when I say this meal is so good! The pork sausage gives it such a great flavor. It’s an OLD post but while the picture is awful the commentary is top notch. If you read to the end you’ll see that I’m not only a skilled chef but I also know legal jargon better than my husband. Get ready to be impressed. ;)
Want to know what I’m making AROUND the clock these days? Kole’s “4 plate.” I can’t believe the amount of food a 9 year old boy can consume in a day! It’s a bit maddening and might be what drives me right over the edge during our stay at home time. Anyone else feel like they are making nonstop snacks? Or snack plates? Anyone else put toothpicks in banana slices for your kids? If not you should. They are just more fun to eat that way. :)
I got some cute new things to wear earlier in the month and my Nike crop hoodies like this one have become fast favorites! I’m wearing a lot of leggings because we are walking every day (sometimes twice a day!) and it’s still cool outside so these crop hoodies are perfect for layering.
This cute crop fleece sweatshirt is another favorite! They are so warm and comfortable but not hot. Perfect for Spring weather. You can of course show off your abs if that’s your thing, but his mom of three prefers a tank under them. ;)
These Marshall Jogger Pants are another favorite find. So cute and comfortable! You all know how I feel about joggers. Couldn’t love them more. This pair you can dress down with a simple top like I’ve been wearing around the house lately.
Of course a favorite graphic tee is always a good thing when you’re homebound. Due to recent circumstances I’ve been rotating between this one and my Good Vibes tee. Not today Coronavirus! Just not today.
Quick visit from these two while I was taking this pic. Feeling so grateful for our health and safety right now and I’m thinking about all of you. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay home and stay sane!
*And yes.. Kole has blue hair. That’s starting to look green. I can’t even. You can thank his dad for that one. Some battles just aren’t worth fighting. I’m not feeling sad about him being stuck at home while that lovely color grows right out. Then I’ll chop it off myself if I have too.
You guys! How are you all doing!? What a crazy turn of events. I celebrated my birthday a week ago last Wednesday (had a great day with family and friends) and then on Thursday it felt like the world flipped upside down. I hope you’re all safe and healthy and are surviving our recent events. You have all been in my thoughts and prayers this week. This is such a unique time with a lot of uncertainty and at our house we are just taking it one day at a time! I took a couple of days off of my computer and social media to just be with my family and get some things set up at home over the weekend. I felt like I needed to be fully present with my kids. Kids watch their parents to see how to respond to stressful situations like this so I’m trying to stay calm and carry on! What we are all going through is hard and my heart breaks for those who are really struggling right now. We will all face challenges in the upcoming weeks, but I’m trying to focus on the upside to this situation. I often struggle with how busy we are in general so I’m using this time to recenter, regroup and enjoy a slower pace! Less rush and more time for family. I’m also looking forward to more time for home projects! When everything started shutting down a few days ago I sent my family a text to lighten the mood and said “so let me get this straight.. I’m supposed to stock up on favorite foods, stop driving my kids to 10 million activities and just stay home in my pjs where I can decorate and organize all day? I’m going to be living my best life!” Ha. Always a sliver lining. ;)
A big challenge a lot of us are facing is having our kids out of school (for who knows how long!). Because of that I thought it would be a good time to share my Zone chore system with you all! I often get asked how I keep my house so clean and while it certainly isn’t always clean, we have definitely learned how to stay on top of the basics. I credit that to our routines! I have a cleaning routine and so do my kids and our routines are how we keep the house looking mostly clean most of the time. :)
I’ll share more on my cleaning routine soon. My zone cleaning routine is how I make sure my kids are helping. They have always had to pitch in with chores, but I started this particular system with my kids right after the holidays in January and it has been working so well for us! (Pic from January of Kole working in the mudroom.) I was going to share this earlier in the year, but I wanted a printable for you all that you could type on and customize to meet your own needs and I wasn’t sure how to do that. I enjoy the tech side of blogging about as much as I love cooking a casserole. ;) A good friend helped me out so now I have a printable for you that I hope you LOVE!
This printable is pretty easy and straightforward. I type in the things my kids are responsible for daily and they check items off each day when they’re done. I usually don’t have “exercise” on this list, but added that this week because now that my kids aren’t in school and doing extra curricular activities I want to make sure they are getting outside for some fresh air and exercise. We’ve had a lot of rain lately so the treadmill has been a backup!
My kids’ daily items are all the same other than one item for each child. Kole is in change of trash, Ellie is in charge of folding and putting away all towels and Addison is in charge of helping me with Kole. She has become a little tutor for him with his saxophone practice, play practice and homework. So helpful!
One item on their daily list is to clean their ZONE. You can set this up however you want! I picked the main hotspots in our home that are often messy (kitchen, mudroom, family room, and office). I wanted 3 zones so that my 3 kids could rotate them each week, but you could put 2 kids on one zone a week OR they could all do all the zones.. however it works for your family! I put our family room and office together as one zone because those two areas don’t usually take as long to clean.
My kids know what they need to do in each zone but this printable helps as a good reminder! They each have one zone (area) that they are responsible for all week. When they were in school they would just clean their zone once in the afternoon when they had time. Now that we are home more I’ll have them help me keep that space clean throughout the day. Some things only need to be done once a week (like vacuuming the family room rug) so I let my kids pick what day during their week they want to do that. Part of cleaning our office is organizing their wall file once a week and part of cleaning the mudroom is organizing their own locker. They also vacuum out all of the shoe drawers once a week. (That’s what Kole was doing in the picture above!) It has been so nice to have those things done weekly and now their own mudroom lockers get cleaned out every 3 weeks so I don’t have to do a huge clean out as often!
I also give my kids an allowance each week for helping with all of this. Obviously it’s totally up to you how you handle that with your kids! For years I didn’t pay my kids for helping out around the house. They have always had to pitch in and help just to help but I felt like I needed to start doing an allowance system last year because my teen girls were constantly asking for money to “see a show with friends, go to the mall, get nails done, etc.” I wanted them to learn the value of money and to have to prioritize what was most important. It has been a really good thing! They are much quicker to spend my money vs. spending their own. ;)
I hope that all made sense! If you have any other questions ask me in the comments! You can get your own Zone Chore Chart HERE. When you download it it will come as a blank PDF like the sheet above that you can type on and totally customize! It will also come with a set of instructions that will help if you have any problems getting it to work. You might have to download the fonts I used, but I promise it’s not too tricky. If I can do it anyone can do it. ;) You can also just have your kids fill it out with a pen if that’s easier!
If the zone cleaning chart is a little too much for your kids you might want to consider using my Daily Expectation chart! I have one version with a behavior/reward section for little kids and one for older kids that is just a list of tasks. It comes in this fun color copy or in black and white. We use these every summer and love them! Well.. I love them. Whenever I pull my charts out I get a few eye rolls and Ellie usually mutters “tragic” under her breath, but then they get over it and get their chores done. So like I said.. I love them! ;)
I also have fun calendar pages for each month this year. You can use them so many different ways. Maybe write a fun activity to do together each day. Let the kids come up with fun ideas and write them all down and that in itself should kill a little time! ;)
I have monthly to-do pages too and I’m going to have Kole use one of these to list fun activities he can do when he’s bored. No doubt we’ll be referring to that list often!
Now that the kids are back on track what about a way to help us adults get through this!? I know for me I’ll be using the extra time at home to chip away at projects around the house. My Current Projects printable is a great resource to help break large projects down into smaller steps!
I shared this Home Projects printable at the beginning of the year and love the way it helps me focus on a few things I want to do to each space.
I’ve slowly been chipping away at this list and need to cross a few things off and add some new things I want to tackle!
Looks like now I’m going to have some extra time on my hands to do just that. ;)
I hope these printables are helpful to you! If you use one and love it share it on IG and tag me.. I’d love to see how you are using them!
(If you are already a Sunny Side Up subscriber just enter your info. again to get the printables.. it won’t add you twice! Also, if you sign up and don’t get an e-mail soon after check your junk mail! Once in a while it lands there first.)
I’ll be back soon with some organization progress! Organizing has always been a stress reliever for me and it’s a passion I’m especially grateful for right now. No doubt it is what will single handily keep me sane during this crisis. Hang in there and may the force be with us all!
*Sorry.. Star Wars has been on repeat around here. Gearing up for a long month. ;)
Since we just chatted all things jewelry organization in my last post I thought I’d show you the current state of my master bathroom. I gave it a quick re-fresh for Spring but went through a little trial and error first! ;)
I debated moving my round jute rug to another space and tried putting the long Setta bath mat in front of my tub. Not what I was looking for. Too plain with all of the white in this room and too many straight lines.
Next I tried this Riviera bath mat that I love with a little more shape and design, but it still fell flat in this space. This bathroom is so WHITE.. I needed some color! I was missing the look and texture of my round jute rug in this room so I decided to bring it back and started thinking about how to add a pop of Spring somewhere else. Then I remembered how much I love this flower bath mat in my powder bathroom…
I almost bought the same flower mat for this bathroom but then got looking around and found this adorable floral bath mat and ordered it to try. The second I laid it down I knew! I had found what I was looking for! It brightened up this bathroom so much and pulled out all of the pinks from of my vanity area making them pop even more. I see it right when I walk in my bathroom door and can’t help smiling. SO cute! Bonus that it’s incredibly comfy to step on after a shower.
I put my round jute rug back and am keeping things like this for a while. The pink flower mat was just the pop of Spring I was looking for!
On our bathroom counter I just have a simple tray that holds this vase and some faux greenery. Sponges and cotton balls are in pretty apothecary jars and I use a little decorative cup to hold my most used make-up brushes.
Spring tip: Set aside some time this month to freshen up your bathroom! Organize your bathroom drawers and scrub everything clean. Don’t forget to clean the hair out of your brushes and wash your make-up brushes. If it’s in your budget splurge on a new bathroom mat and a couple of pretty towels. (If it helps to order a few options to try and then make returns later so be it!) If that’s not in your budget, just focus on the cleaning and organizing. Then display some flowers or greenery somewhere in the room – real or faux. (I’m linking favorites below.) Honesty it’s the BEST pick me up this time of year!
We all start each day getting ready in the bathroom. Don’t underestimate the affect this room has on your mood! Create a happy, clean space that will help you start your day feeling uplifted and refreshed and ready to take on the world.
I truly believe a clean, decorated and organized bathroom can do just that. :)
*I can’t thank you all enough for the love and support from my last post. Your kind comments, DM’s and emails mean so much to me (and to my family). Knowing I have so many friends keeping my sister in their thoughts and prayers means the world to me. I teared up reading several messages and wish I could give each one of you a huge hug!
Cancer, politics and the Corona virus.. yuck.. all not so fun topics. I think it’s time we brighten things up and talk about something fun for a change! Like jewelry organization. ;) My bathroom is making me extremely happy at the moment! I cleaned out all of my bathroom drawers and cupboards and gave it a mini re-fresh. I’ll be sharing all of the details starting today with my organized jewelry! If you’ve been with me for a while you know that I keep my jewelry displayed on this built-in vanity I designed when we built the house. I originally designed it as a place for me to sit and get ready, but I have to be honest.. I never sit to get ready! At the moment I’m just using this space for storage but it did come in pretty handy when I had major knee surgery two years ago so I’m grateful it’s there if I ever need to sit. Ha. (So happy that little life event is behind me and I am totally putting off getting surgery on my other knee as long as possible!)
I absolutely love having my jewelry out where I can easily see and access it all. I never had the space to do this in my previous home/apartments so I’m especially grateful I can do this now.
If you are short on space the best advice I can give you for jewelry organization is to go vertical! Use any free wall space you have. There are so many cute wall jewelry organizers you can buy (I’ve linked some fun options below) OR you can do what I did and make something yourself. :) I just bought some cork board from the craft store and ordered fabric to staple around it. Then I had my carpenter make a simple frame and painted it white. Done! So easy. I bought some cute wooden pushpins and hung all of my necklaces including my grandma’s pearls. I love seeing them displayed every day. My most worn necklaces are all my Madewell necklaces and my favorite letter necklaces (I love this one and this one). Also this simple Tanner bar necklace I’ve shared many times before is my every day go to. Looks good with everything!
I bought this gold double bar jewelry stand for my girls for Christmas this year and we’ve all loved it so much I decided I needed one too! It can hold necklaces or bracelets but I’m just using it for bracelets. I don’t have a lot because if I’m not using something I pass it on and only keep the jewelry I love and wear.
I’ve always loved using small decorative bowls to hold my earrings. I switched out the white tray I was using for this beloved brass mirror tray. Then I took a minute to sort through my earrings and only kept favorites. It’s such a nice feeling to not have to sift through lots of earrings only to pull out the same few sets I always wear. Less is always more isn’t it!?
Organized jewelry! That doubles as pretty bathroom decor. Now was I right or was I right? A much better topic. THIS is what we would be discussing on the nightly news if I were president.
;)
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xoxo, Erin
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