Hello hello friends.. it’s time for March Family Favorites! In April! And not even the beginning of April, but mid April. So we’ll call this post my March/April Family Favorites. There are no rules around here.. clearly. :) These monthly picture dumps of all of the things we are loving are some of my favorite posts! They are as random as it gets so I suppose it just adds to their random charm when I’m two weeks late sharing them.
That’s what I’m telling myself anyway. ;)
Today (as I’m writing this) it’s April 10th and the anniversary of the day I almost lost my life. An awful scary day that I’ll never forget, but also in some ways it was the best day. It was also the day I survived. Now I get to celebrate this day each year that I’m still here.. raising my kids and writing random blog posts and enjoying every minute of my life (even the tough minutes) and remembering how precious it all is. I look like a total dork in the picture above, but I was so happy to start my new birthday tradition in March of donating blood and silently thanking those who did the same so that I could be here today. March highlight for me!
(affiliate links used)
For my birthday this year I got new dishes. The dishes we were using before these were from my wedding over 20 years ago. We were due. :) I looked at so many options and finally decided on ordering 2 of this Cambria 16 piece dinner set in the color “stone.”
Then I also ordered these larger soup bowls because they will be perfect for soups and pasta.
I’m excited to finally have a full set of grown up every day dishes! So many of our other dishes were chipped and worn out after years of use. I’m also equally excited to re-organize my kitchen cupboards with the new dishes. But you probably already knew that. Pictures coming soon. :)
Ok.. you guys know me and my obsession with frozen microwaveable food. ;) But honestly.. these Healthy Choice Grilled Basil Chicken meals are SO good! My new favorite! Perfect for lunch or dinner on days I’m feeding the kids different things at different times because of their activities. (And only 230 calories!) Find them at your grocery store and try them and let me know what you think!
This is another fast frozen family favorite (say that 4 times fast!). Sorry.. nothing but brutal honesty around here. Sometimes we cook.
And sometimes we don’t. :)
This might be my favorite of ALL the favorites you guys! We have a little phone charging station on our nightstand in our bedroom for overnight, but I wanted something in my office that all of us could use for a quick phone re-charge during the day. I ordered this Multi Device Charging Station and am in love! It charges 5 devices all at once and keeps things so nice and tidy! I love the short cords. It came with three apple cords and two USB cords so I also bought this 5 pack of apple cords because that’s what we all need for our devices. My kids love this too! We all have a charging spot when we aren’t using phones and sometimes on weekends when I announce a little “technology break” for family time this spot works great to hold everything. (My kids LOVE it when I do that btw.. insert eye roll.)
Typical after school scene. Kole is looking as thrilled as ever to be doing his homework. Ha.
Another recent favorite.. my new Battery Organizer Storage Case! I had a few drawers in my laundry room that were driving me crazy with loose batteries all over. I needed to consolidate them so I started looking on-line and found this on Amazon and love it!
It holds so many batteries and all different sizes. It also has a battery tester. Not sure if I’ll ever use that but nice to have!
I just love that it keeps things nice and organized in one spot so that if we need a battery for a toy or flashlight if the power goes out.. we’re set.
Ellie took some for all of her hoodies too! A great deal on a set of really nice hangers.
I know I shared this before but this Shouldered Clear Glass Vase is so beautiful and looks good with such a variety of flowers. Hands down a favorite for Spring!
This Madewell Modern Tie front Tee was a favorite last Spring that I still love and wear so I was thrilled when it came out again this year in this pretty lilac color! I’ve been wearing it this week in Maui.. it’s so cute.
El’s latest obsession has rubbed off on me and Addison and now we all 3 worship these elastics! My girls inherited my super thick hair and regular elastics just don’t cut it. We’ve tried so many options and never found anything that really worked great for pony tails and buns until these Grab and Go Ponytail Holders came into our lives! They come in sets of 15 in lots of colors and styles and we take them with us everywhere. They work SO well and are really comfortable. Perfect gift for Easter baskets if you have girls! And try them yourself too.. I don’t use anything else now! I especially love the way they hold my hair back when I exercise.
Of course.. my new bench is a March favorite. :) So happy to have this spot in my home decorated!
Coming from someone who HATES to iron this steamer is a dream! I recently bought my same Pintuck Duvet Cover for the bed in my master bedroom (replacing the old one because after a couple of years it was looking more brown than white!). I used my steamer to get the wrinkles out and it was so easy to use! (I had just started steaming the top in this pic.) I’m sold! And may never use my iron again.
I can think of worse things. :)
Here’s a pic of what it looks like on my bed.
Wonder why our original duvet cover was starting to look dirty? Hmmm.. one of life’s mysteries I may never solve. ;)
Also TORY BURCH is having their Spring Event (YEA!!) – 30% off with code SPRING. See my favorites from TB below. I’m having a hard time picking which item to order out of the items I’m sharing (letting myself get one purse OR one pair of shoes during the sale) so if you have a favorite let me know. :)
Last recent favorite! My cute Kole played the part of the sun in his 3rd grade play all about the planets.
The morning of his play my girls had off of school because it was a teacher work day so they woke up early to see their brother’s play. A family event! This little guy has sat through SO many dance performances and plays his sisters have been in so it was fun to all be there to support him. He was so funny and the play was darling.
So for my birthday Kole gave me his card and said “mom.. there’s a joke in your birthday card.. see if you can find it.”
Happy Sunday friends! We made it to Maui! Our week 3 Spring Break destination this year. ;) Maui has been our Spring Break destination a lot of years and I know I’ve promised you all a Maui tips post. I am determined to make that happen (working on it this week!) so if you have questions you want answered in that post let me know! (I snapped this pic quick with my phone today straight off of the plane when we arrived at our resort. What’s not to love about Maui!?)
I’ll also share some of the cute Spring/Summer clothes I got for the trip. I’m so excited about the cute things I’m finding for Spring this year! I mentioned in IG stories last week that I had been trying on swimsuits for our trip (which of course inspired an abundance of morning jogs and stair climbing.. ha) and I had a lot of requests to share my favorites that are out this year. I’m sharing them below along with a round up of my favorite cover-ups and straw bags! I was going to share these favorites along with the items I bought after our trip but all of the cute things are selling out so fast! I know some of you are still in cold weather and not thinking about swim suits yet, but I’ve found that you have to be on top of swim wear every year or you aren’t left with many options. I used to put swim suit shopping off as long as possible for obvious reasons. Never a fun try on session for me! But then after waiting too long to shop I would have slim options which made it an even harder try on session. Then when I would finally find something cute, it was only available in one size.. that wasn’t mine. :) Lesson learned! Now I just face the music and get my swimsuit figured out early! I also snag a cute cover-up or two while I’m at it. Then it’s time to hit the pool, have fun with the kids and stop worrying about how I look in everything.
That’s my goal this year. :)
(affiliate links used)
I love the look and style of every swim suit below. For my body type I’ve found 3 brands that work especially well.. Robin Piconne (I have 3 suits similar to this one and absolutely love them!), La Blanca, and Chelsea28 (I’m in love with this Scallop Bikini and this One Piece suit..they both fit so well!) Below are other favorite suits I found this year along with some fun cover-ups and straw bags! I’ll have us all beach ready in no time.
Anyone want to meet me at the stairs? Or we can pretend we did them and just meet for lunch instead. :)
I hope this round-up post gave you some fun ideas! I’ll be back with more to share soon! For now I need some sleep. It was a long travel day and I have no doubt a certain little boy will be up at the crack of dawn pulling me out of bed to hit the beach.
Oh this is a happy day. I can finally say that my front entry is complete! I say finally because for the last five years that we’ve been living in our new home I have been hunting for the perfect bench for my front entry and it’s finally here!
To be honest my new navy bench is not exactly what I pictured and a little modern for my taste with its tall straight sides. But I’ll take it! And celebrate the fact that I’m done with my never ending hunt for a bench for this spot.
Two reasons I’ve struggled to find a bench for this entry: 1) I knew I wanted a navy bench. That narrowed the search pretty quickly right off the bat. :) 2) I had to find something narrow. Most benches are a lot deeper than this bench and would have come out too far past my front door. It was a narrow spot to work with! I had the color and style in my head and the exact dimensions I needed and NOTHING I found fit the bill.
Except this one. :) It’s the Adela Shelter Banquette from Horchow and when I first saw it on-line I decided it was so close! The perfect color and size, but too modern for me. But I kept going back to look at it and after a few weeks it sort of grew on me! Then one Saturday I went to look at it again and it was marked down on sale. I decided it was a sign and I was meant to buy it! I think also knowing that if I didn’t jump on it I would most likely be looking for the “perfect” bench for another 5 years helped close the deal. I asked Kenny if I could pull the trigger and he was like “for the love.. please just buy something and have it done and stop talking about finding a bench for that spot!”
Ha! My strategy that I didn’t even know was a strategy. I patted myself on the back for that one and plan to use it in the future. I call it the “talk about it enough that you drive your husband crazy and get exactly what you want” strategy. Look for my book coming out with details next Spring.
That pretty much sums up my Easter decor this year. I know.. you’re all so impressed. I’m taking Pinterest by storm with this one.
If you have more energy for Easter decor than I apparently do this year (or are in charge of Easter dinner) there are a few fun ideas in this Easter Tablescape post. I hung my eggs on my faux flowers for a centerpiece. I would actually love to put together a new Easter tablescape this year, but I still need to finish decorating my dining room!
I had it decked for the holidays, but after the Christmas decor was put away I was left with a blank slate that I’m still working on. I ordered this Sunken Treasure Canvas to go over my navy table..
(SO gorgeous!) and am patiently waiting for it to come. I’ve had my eye on it for a long time!
For now I’m celebrating my new bench! I added this favorite throw to it after I took these pics and it looks so good! Makes me want to order another one but it would be my 3rd. Ha. Seriously.. it’s the throw that looks good everywhere! I’m also debating this textured blush throw as another option. One piece of furniture/decor at a time and at one point I’m going to have this house completely decorated!
Just in time to pick a room and start all over again. ;)
I was taking pics of this space when Addison got home from school. A friend brought her home (I have quite the carpool situation worked out this year so that I can get my kids home from their 3 different schools every day). She walked in the front door, tossed her dirty backpack, binder and water bottle on my brand new bench, sat down and gave me this look. Rough day at middle school Ad? I snapped a quick pic and said “well.. my new bench is officially broken in.”
Spring Porch Update! (and favorite Spring dresses)
Happy Wednesday everyone! We are mid week on Spring Break #2 at our house. 3 kids in 3 different schools = 3 separate Spring Breaks and let me tell you.. productivity is at an all time LOW around here. You should all be very impressed that this post is even happening right now. I sure am. ;) I’ve actually been loving some time with each of my kids home and it has felt like summer thanks to some surprisingly hot weather the past 2 days. Makes me excited for things to come! The sunshine and warm temps inspired a little porch re-fresh! I cleaned and swept my porch and then found the cutest new outdoor rug. I still love my black and white striped rug but was ready for a change.
(Lots of fun sources and options are at the end of this post! Affiliate links used.)
Of course still stripes though.. I’m not ready for a change that wild and crazy. Ha. :)
I found this cute rug on Amazon and it’s plastic! I was a little skeptical ordering it, but was so happy when it arrived! Really nice quality and it will be so easy to keep clean. I added my hello mat and knew I needed a pop of yellow flowers. I looked all over for the perfect flowers and after not finding what I wanted I decided I would go to the nursery and then plant some in pots myself. Two days later I was shopping for groceries and these pretty yellow plants were in front of my local grocery store! In pots and everything. SCORE.
(Sorry babe.. I forgot dinner.. cute yellow plants took up all of the room in my grocery cart and sort of distracted me..)
Another fun score? This Daisy Cotton Shirtdress. So cute for Spring! I’m in love and it was just marked 40% off!
Here’s a closer look. The puff sleeves are my favorite! It runs a little long so I’m wearing a size 2 petite (I’m 5’3 and 1/2.. don’t forget the half). The regular 2 about went to my ankles. ;) I’ll link shoes and accessories below (I found SO many cute similar purses and shoes and earrings!) I’ve been doing some on-line shopping to get ready for a fun upcoming trip and can’t believe all of the cute new things out for Spring. (Btw.. this dress is part of Julia’s Gal Meets Glam dress collection and I love everything she does! Really simple, modest, flattering dresses.)
I got this cute Promenade dress from Anthropologie and it looks like the green is sold out, but it also comes in a pretty blue! So comfortable and green is one of my favorite colors to wear every Spring.
These Orchid Earrings I mentioned in my Floral Favorites post are so good you guys! I’m in love! They are lightweight and so pretty. The perfect pop of pink with almost every outfit!
While we’re talking green dresses from Anthro.. this Nova Knit Dress is another long time favorite dress of mine that’s back in stock! Comfy and casual.. and green. I’m nothing if not predictable. :) I love pulling this out every Spring.
Another fun dress I’m loving that I also shared earlier in my Floral Favorites post is this Flutter Sleeve Dress. This dress is a little out of my comfort zone because I tend to gravitate toward solid colors, but I just love how feminine and pretty it is for this time of year! Sorry the lighting is so bad! I was wearing it to an evening event when I snapped these 2 pics.
I love the way it’s short in the front and long in the back.. really slimming from the side too!
Nothing like a new dress and a new front porch rug to welcome Spring is there!?
I think not. :)
{PORCH SOURCES/FAVORITE OUTDOOR RUGS}
{DRESSES}
{SIMILAR PURSES}
..loving every one of these!
{SIMILAR JEWELRY}
.. also loving pink/gold earrings and layered necklaces these days!
*This post is sponsored by Pottery Barn and affiliate links are used, but as always all product selections and opinions are my own!
Hello hello friends! I’m sharing some organizing favorites from Pottery Barn with you all today! Organizing? Pottery Barn? This post is a favorite and I haven’t even written it yet. :)
Whether we’re going on a trip for Spring Break or planning something fun for the summer I’m always thinking about travel this time of year. I’m excited to share a few of my favorite travel accessories with you! This travel jewelry portfolio has quickly become my best friend. So pretty and it comes in several colors.
But the magic happens on the inside. I love that it has a place for everything! The top snaps are ring rolls but I don’t wear a lot of rings so I use them to hold my wedding ring, bracelets and larger hoop earrings. The next zipper pouch is perfect for other bracelets or my watch.
Then it has a bottom earring holder for smaller earrings/studs.
I put my longer earrings in the long pocket on the left side.
But my favorite part is the far right! I used to put all of my jewelry together in a small make-up bag when I traveled and I hated how my necklaces always got so tangled. This zipper compartment that holds necklaces is so nice and honestly why I bought this! I can stack multiple necklaces in each snap and it keeps them separated. Love that! Then the whole thing folds up nice and flat and is easy to pack.
I also love these cute Lakshmi cosmetic pouches. They are so soft and I love the colors/pattern. Easy to toss in your bag! I use this larger pouch for all of my labeled travel toiletries.
The smaller pouch is perfect for make-up. I always keep my make-up with me in my carry on when I’m on the plane because if there is ever a luggage mix up or delay at least I’ll have my mascara! #priorities
My husband and I also both love this black Tech Portfolio. Perfect to hold the iPad and all other travel accessories.
I like using the top slots for my driver’s license and main credit card when I travel so that they are easy to access. And of course the iPad is ready for my son on the plane when the whole family is traveling. Enjoy Kole. Mom is reading a magazine and then taking a nap. I miss when my kids were babies, but I do not miss traveling with my kids when they were babies. :)
I can’t write an organizing post with items from PB and not talk about baskets. They are my #1 favorite thing organize with! And Pottery Barn baskets are my favorite. I recently bought this set of Moroccan Woven Baskets and love them! You can see two of them in this picture above (one by my chair and the small basket on my shelf).
The large basket is by my fireplace.
The larger two baskets in this set are perfect for blankets and books, but if you have small children they would also be perfect for corralling toys. I had toys stashed in baskets all over my house when my kids were younger! Easy clean-up. :)
I use them to hold our winter accessories! Perfect spot for them because we don’t have much and only use them once or twice a year. The basket above my locker and my husband’s is holding our ski pants. :)
But my favorite baskets for organizing are hands down PB’s Savannah Utility baskets. LOVE these. I have them all over our house! I use the larger size in my bathroom built-ins to hold toiletry items we don’t use as often.
Then I have the smaller size on display on the shelf above my bathtub.
This set is empty but that’s what I love about these baskets. They look great as decor too and work with any color scheme.
I’ve shared this before but they are also the baskets I use in my pantry. :) I used this small size for a while and then upgraded to the Savannah Lidded Baskets because they are deeper (a rectangle fit) and I can fit more food! I just keep the lids off and in a separate cupboard if I ever want to use the the baskets a different way.
Another favorite organizing solution of mine has always been wall organization! Pinboards especially are my favorite and we have them throughout my home and one in each of my kids’ rooms.
I bought these pin boards from Pottery Barn for my pantry soon after we moved into our house and have loved having a place to display my kids’ school/art work, thank you notes, wedding invitations, baby announcements, etc. Having a set place for miscellaneous paper items like this helps keep my kitchen counters and fridge clear and clean!
The PB linen pinboard in my bedroom is another favorite place I display special pictures and cards from my kids. Items like this are so nice to enjoy when they are grouped together and displayed vs. a pile of clutter sitting on the nightstand.
This has nothing to do with organizing but while we’re talking all things Pottery Barn I recently ordered this Shouldered Clear Glass Vase and couldn’t love it more. Aren’t these tulips so beautiful in it!? I keep moving it around my house to different rooms and it looks good in so many spots! I love vases that are narrow at the top like this because they are easier to fill.
I shared a picture on Instagram tonight and a lot of people mentioned putting a penny in the bottom of the vase to keep the tulips standing straight! Such a great tip! I’m excited to try it. But I have to say that I always love it when tulips start to droop and spill over the sides of the vase. Perfect imperfection. :) I’m obsessed with bright pink at the moment and have sprinkled these raspberry faux peonies all over my home too.
I’m ready for Spring! Sunshine on my face, flowers throughout my home, and of course.. LOTS of organizing.
Bring it on. :)
{PB ORGANIZING FAVORITES} *all of these items are on sale right now!
Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! We lucked out with perfect party weather and Kole’s 9th birthday party was a hit! When I asked him what he wanted for a birthday party this year he said he really wanted everyone to come over to our house to jump and could we please get a bouncy house.
So that’s exactly what we did. :) This boy of mine still loves to jump which makes me happy because I know our bouncy house days are numbered!
He didn’t want a specific party theme like Star Wars or anything so we decided to just decorate everything with the colors that were in the bouncy house he picked out. This colorful castle was the winner because it had a slide. :)
Pops of blue, yellow, red and green!
We had an extra table so we just used it for gifts. We always have our kids open gifts later after the party which I love because we can take our time and I can jot down info. for thank you cards. Funny to remember how different that is from when I was young and half of the party was all about opening presents! How do you do it with your kids? I don’t think I’ve been to a party where gifts were opened in years! I’m wondering if that’s a San Diego thing or just the way everyone does it now?
We set out three tables for food.. a blue table, a red table..
and a yellow table. Then we used the opposite colors of plates on each to stand out. I loved that my yellow and red flowers all started blooming so pretty just in time for the party and I had blue pillows on the lounge chairs! Not planned to coordinate with the party decor, but I’ll take it. :)
I can’t take all of the credit for this cute party. My darling friend Vanessa was a huge help! She is a close friend of mine and I hired her this year as an “assistant.” I’ve mentioned before that my 3 kids are in 3 different schools this year and we have a hectic after school schedule every day. My husband’s job keeps him busy so it didn’t take long for me to see heading into this school year that if I wanted to keep my blog alive and be the kind of mom I want to be I was going to need some help. Or give up sleep completely. I can go on about 5 hours a night but giving up more than that just wasn’t an option. ;) She was so excited to work with me and it has been a blast! Every week is different and it’s usually just a few hours here and there but I’ve loved having her help with things like taking pics I need to be in (so nice to not have to wait for the weekend when Kenny is home!), some of the administrative blog stuff that I get buried in, or last week.. party planning and then heading to the store to get ALL things colorful for Kole’s party. Plus it’s just more fun to do things like this with a friend. :) I laughed that we both showed up in green and yellow coordinating with the party decor. Kenny showed up in camo.. he obviously didn’t get the memo. Ha.
I’ve never been a huge fan of goodie bags after a party. We all do it – I’ve given them out after my kids’ parties for years, but I sometimes feel like they are a waste of money because the kids chew the gum and maybe use the pencil, but a lot of times they just get trashed! So we decided to give each of the kids a ball when they left (you can see them in a cooler off to the left of this table.) Kole is always bouncing a ball around so it seemed like a fun and practical gift for this age for about the same price as a goodie bag. The kids played with them at the party and then each got to pick one to take home after! A fun party favor and it worked with the colorful polka dot theme we had going on.
Vanessa painted simple crate boxes and then we used gumballs in a mason jar with a polka dot ribbon and colorful balloons as table centerpieces. She also found this cute dog that all of the kids signed with a pen for my party boy to keep and remember who came to his party. :)
Then I about broke my neck hanging colorful lanterns from the back porch light over the food table. But priorities.
I can’t believe my baby is 9!
Costco run for all of the food! Flowers were for me. :)
Vanessa also painted the cute KOLE letters and then I put a picture of him in a frame on top of another crate. We got pizza and then I just served easy snacks. We also added gum balls in cute bowls everywhere because.. why not? :)
All finished setting up!
I love this smile. It’s his fake smile that says “humor mom for 5 more minutes with these stupid pictures and then I get to finally have fun with my friends.” I know that smile well because his dad does it all the time too.
They’ll thank me someday. I just know it.
We also added a cute banner up on the balcony! With painters tape. But you already knew that.
Every time I share pics of our yard I get questions about our umbrellas. They are the older model of these Cantilever Umbrellas and I honestly can’t say enough good things about them. A splurge but they are worth every penny! So easy to adjust to the sun and they’ve held up great. (I’ll link to backyard sources and similar items below.)
Oh yeah.. friends are starting to arrive. It’s party time. :)
This party was so easy after set up because the kids just jumped and swam and played in the yard!
I didn’t take as many pics when all of the kids were here because I was monitoring the pool, bounce house and trampoline making sure everyone was safe. Boys stress me out! Their “play” always feels like a broken limb will happen at any moment.
Happy Birthday Kole! You’ve got great friends who love you so much.
Happy Weekend everyone! This will be a quick post because it’s late and I still have a few things to get ready for Kole’s birthday party tomorrow! Sometimes it’s so difficult getting things done when the kids are awake isn’t it!? I just had to give up on trying earlier today and then get everyone in bed so I could focus (Kenny too.. he fell asleep on the couch.. ha). At 10 pm I was finally able to start checking things off of my to-do list! Getting more sleep is a major goal for me this year. Actually achieving that goal feels about as realistic as getting things done when the kids are awake.
;)
Starting with old favorites! I’m sharing 2 past posts that I hope will be helpful to read for the first time.. or the second. :) How I organize my jewelry AND tips on what to toss and what to save when it comes to ALL the papers kids bring home from school.
What do these 2 posts have to do with each other? Absolutely nothing. I just like them both. :)
For new favorites this week I’m so excited about the Serena & Lily Spring Design Event! You guys! Eekkk! I’ve been waiting for this sale! Right now through Monday Serena & Lily has 20% off of EVERYTHING in their store! I love S&L but their products are pricey so I aways wait for sales like this to shop for my home. I ordered some new pillows for my living room and can’t wait to get them here! (Especially excited about this one.)
A couple of favorites in my home from S&L are my guest room bed and my Malibu Chandelier. To be honest I sometimes want to move them into my own bedroom I love them so much! I’m linking some favorite S&L products below! I love pretty much everything in their store. If you are shopping the sale on-line be sure to use the code INSPO to get the sale price when you check out.
Ok.. back to my balloons. :) I’ll share some peeks of Kole’s party on IG stories if you want to pop in and see what we’re up to! I can’t believe that by the end of this month my baby will be 9! This S&L sale came at a dangerous time. Retail therapy is always my go to when I’m sad about my kids getting older. SOS! Ha.
Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week so far! It is POURING rain right now as I type this but our week started off with warm temps and sunshine. Just a taste of Spring and it felt so good! We are throwing a birthday party for Kole this weekend in our backyard so I’m hoping that we get our Spring weather back for the weekend. If not I’ll be coming up with a way to keep twentyish 9 year olds entertained inside my house. So fun right? Prayers would be appreciated. ;)
I’ve been on a hunt for new shoes for Spring/Summer and seriously you guys.. I’m in love with all of the fun sandals that are popping up this year! There are so many cute and comfortable slide options. Perfect shoes for the park, the pool, the beach, running errands or chasing kids! You can dress them up with a skirt or keep them casual with cut-offs. If you like a sandal with a heel this cute wedge was so popular last year and they have it back in lots of new colors (I just ordered them in navy!). I’m really torn on which slides to order and just can’t choose between all of the fun options below. These are my 9 favorite sandals that are under $90! Great deals on CUTE shoes and every pair comes in a variety of color options. Bring on the sun! I’m so ready for painted toes, comfy sandals and warm cars. (Isn’t it the best feeling getting into a warm car when you’ve been in a cold building? My favorite.) :)
p.s. Let me know what you think of a new 9 under $90 series! I’m kind of excited about it. Maybe a post like this every week or two? I have SO many fun ideas and good deals on favorite things to share!
(All sandals are linked below! Affiliate links are used.)
(*For newcomers (hello and welcome!) I designed this office when we built our house and the dutch door and table were both custom made. The counters are all quartz (Caeserstone – Organic White). The room is 15 1/2 by 12 feet and you can download my house paint colors here. All other office sources will be shared at the end of the post! Affiliate links used.)
I’m back! Back with the rest of my office organization. I know you’ve all been on pins and needles just waiting for part 2. ;)
Make sure to check out how I organized the first half of my office if you missed it! Today we’re moving on to the cupboards and drawers on the right side of the room so settle in with some popcorn (or another preferred snack although I highly recommend popcorn) and here we go!
We ended the first part of the tour with this cupboard of half finished projects that I finally got organized and under control.
Here’s a look inside this section of lower cupboards and drawers..
Ok. Before you decide that I’m a crazy hoarder let me tell you that this putting together this cupboard is quite possibly the smartest thing I’ve ever done to save my sanity and time. These are toys/gifts for kids. Some of them are gifts my own kids have received for birthdays and I’ve stashed them in here for a rainy day. Some are gifts I’ve bought. A couple of years ago both of my girls were participating in “secret sister” gift exchanges. Ad for volleyball and El for dance. Every time Ad had a volleyball game or El had a dance competition we were shopping for a little gift for a friend on the team. Add that to the 3-6 birthday parties my 3 school-aged kids were going to each month and I felt like I was constantly having to shop for gifts. I finally realized what a time suck it was becoming for me and got on-line and ordered a bunch of small gifts/toys. Then I went to the grocery store and stocked up on candy, small gift cards, cute gift bags and tissue. I put all of the wrapping supplies in our wrapping cupboard and all of the gifts in this cupboard and from then on every time one of the kids needed a gift for someone I told them to head to the office, pick something out and wrap it up! LIFE SAVER.
To be honest we now politely decline some of the “secret friend” activities (my kids don’t mind at all!) and we only attend birthday parties for close friends. It was just getting to be too much between the 3 kids and now that my girls are older and both so busy our family time on the weekend has to be prioritized or it doesn’t happen!
But when the kids DO need a gift.. we are ready. ;)
This top drawer used to hold files for all of my “inspiration” pages that I had torn out of magazines. Decorating, organizing, home design. I had a lot of torn out magazine pages! After the holidays I dumped everything from this drawer out on to my floor and was planning on going through them to categorize/organize/file them all, but then I decided that I really didn’t need them anymore. How often was I looking at my torn out magazine pages for inspiration? They had been sitting in this drawer untouched for years. Time to simplify! And recycle. So this drawer is currently empty. :)
Below the empty drawer is what’s left of my six years of teaching Elementary School. I’ve recycled SO many things over the years and this is all I’m still hanging onto. I’ve used a lot of my teaching materials with all 3 of my kids and these are things I still use or might use in the future with Kole. He has always loved and played with the sack puppets. :)
Time for the cute little cubbies above the computer! When I was designing this office I sketched out these 5 little drawers above the computer mostly to break things up and add some interest. I didn’t really need them for storage and knew that drawers at that height weren’t practical anyway. I just liked the way they looked.
So I decided to make the three middle “drawers” one pull down cubby and then have just one drawer on each side. The side drawers are empty.
In the middle cubby I have these three baskets that hold computer screen cleaners, putty I use when I decorate, felt I use under furniture, and then of course.. more painters tape. :)
The cupboards above the little drawers hold books! I’ve gone through our crazy book stash multiple times and just can’t part with these yet. Although it looks like we have two copies of Wonder (not sure how that happened) so I might need to Marie Kondo this book situation yet again. ;)
Below the computer are two drawers full of organized school supplies.
One thing I allow myself to hoard just a tad. Along with cute notepads.
And kids’ extra birthday gifts.
And throw pillows.
And peep toe booties.
Alright alright.. so I’m an organized hoarder. Always room for improvement right?
When I’m ready and want to. ;)
Honestly though.. these types of drawers just make my day! If I’m feeling down I can just open a drawer of perfectly lined up paperclips and bam. Instant pick me up.
On to the next little section of cupboards! These open cupboards at the top used to be a hot mess! Kind of a dumping ground for all the things. I cleaned them out and got rid of everything I wasn’t loving/using and now they are almost empty. I have NO plans to fill them up anytime soon.
The wooden crates below I’ve shared before. They hold more school supplies (told you they are a weakness!), command strips for hanging pictures, and camera manuals/computer programs I still use from time to time.
The lower drawers hold paper files. Important papers for each of my kids and then things like medical forms, receipts, etc. I still want to hang on to for a while.
They also hold some of my older sentimental keepsakes.
Getting our paper under control was a HUGE project that I tackled last summer and I wrote a post all about it HERE if you missed it. All of our finance/tax papers are in my husband’s office and I need to organize them better at some point but that involves his help which is why it hasn’t happened yet. For some reason he doesn’t get as excited as I do about spending a weekend sorting, categorizing and organizing paper.
He’s a mystery to me.
;)
Next to the paper files is the drawer that holds my camera equipment/label maker drawer. The only thing missing when I took this pic was my main Canon camera. Because I was using it to take the pictures. :)
The drawer underneath my camera holds our printer. Nice to have it tucked out of the way!
Moving along to the tall cabinet on the right! I shared this cabinet years ago because it was one of the first spaces I organized in our new home when we moved in.
My building books/notes/paint samples are on the top with paper and all of our craft supplies underneath.
This space has worked so well for us and has stayed organized through the years. I straightened the paper for this picture but that’s it! My kids know where everything is and they know where things go when it’s time to clean up. I used to have something similar in a smaller kitchen cupboard in our previous house so think outside of the box if you need a craft set up for your kids and are short on space!
The only difference in this cupboard now compared to 5 years ago when we moved in is that these colorful files used to hold coloring and activity books and now they hold Algebra and Biology books. I miss all things My Little Pony but love this stage with my kids too. :) Circle of life!
Although I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of Algebra. Or Biology. My husband covers all Math/Science homework and I cover all English/Reading/History/creative project based homework. Together we make a pretty smart student.. ha.
So that’s it for all of the organized drawers and cupboards in my office! Those grey boxes on the counter have my girls’ names on them and are a place they can put papers (drawings, stories, etc.) they might want to keep that I file through later to put in their school boxes. (I’ll share their school boxes at some point too! They are still a work in progress.)
We also have the white file organizer on the wall with each of my 3 kids’ names where we set school papers they are currently working on, test notes they are currently studying, etc.
That’s it my friends! How I’ve organized the entire office. I so hope you enjoyed the tour! Regardless of what your office space looks like right now (for years my “office” was in a small closet under our stairs!) I hope this post gives you a few ideas of how you can organize different things and create a space that works well for you and your family.
Having a set location for items that everyone knows about is key!
So is having lots of cute notepads.
And school supplies.
And throw pillows.
And peep toe booties.
But organize them well and get rid of everything else.
Happy weekend everyone! Thank you so much to everyone who sent sweet birthday wishes and participated in the giveaway. Winner is Mary Beth @mbmessner! And Pottery Barn it is. :) Mary Beth I’ll be in touch!
My family and friends made my birthday special with lunch and dinner and I spent the afternoon with Kenny donating blood. A new tradition I’m so excited about! Some of you might remember that a massive blood transfusion saved my life after a scary experience about 10 days after I gave birth to Kole (I wrote more about it the year after it happened here). I decided that every year on my birthday (or during the month of March if I can’t make it happen on my birthday) I’m going to give blood. A little way of saying thanks because I’m so grateful to still be here today. :) I also think we need to continue the birthday giveaway because that was fun! I wish I could send every one of you a $300 gift card!
We closed the restaurant down again this year! Love my friends and birthdays are the best. :)
Sharing a fun new find with you all today! I’m obsessed with these Elsie Rattan bowls from Anthro! Honestly this basket/bowl looks so good everywhere I put it! I’ve been moving it around and finally decided to use it as a fruit bowl. :)
Aren’t the handles so much fun!? I love the style and texture it adds to my kitchen.
I bought both sizes (the fruit bowl is the largest) and I’ll show you what I’m doing with the smaller bowl when I figure that out! It will look great somewhere. :)
I have the small size here. So happy about all of the great faux plant options coming out this Spring because I love having plants in my home but I only have the time and talent to keep one.. maybe two alive. Ha. #truth
Here are a few other new finds I’m loving this weekend:
For my old favorite I’m sharing a post from last year that will help motivate us all to start some spring cleaning! March/April are perfect months to get our homes clean and organized and freshened up for spring so that when the sunshine comes we can all be outside enjoying it!
Happy Friday everyone! Pausing on all things office quickly to share some floral favorites with you today! We’ve had a colder than normal winter here in San Diego with so much rain but today the sunshine came out and it was 70 degrees! It felt amazing and made me so excited for spring and summer. I’m ready to bust out all things floral! I recently bought this cute navy floral top (I already had the white and loved it last spring) and was excited for a day warm enough to finally wear it. The same cute pattern comes in a dress too! I was looking on-line for other fun floral patterns (getting ready for Spring Break) and found so many cute options that I thought I’d share them with you today. The hard part is choosing which items to order.. I want everything in this collage! What’s your favorite? If I could only pick one thing it would be the Coach sandals.. no wait.. the earrings! No.. the watch.. OR the Caitlin Wilson pillows. But I want the dresses too! Floral patterns are too much fun this time of year. Better just get one of each. ;)
I’ll be popping back in quickly this weekend with a new post and to announce the winner of my birthday giveaway so check back! (Thank you for all of the sweet birthday wishes!) More office organization is on its way too. ;)
Happy Friday friends!
xoxo, Erin
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Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! We lucked out with perfect party weather and Kole’s 9th birthday party was a hit! When I asked him what he wanted for a birthday party this year he said he really wanted everyone to come over to our house to jump and could we please get a bouncy house.
