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Three Summer Vacation Hacks to be More Organized: How to Pack Smart, Move In, & Return Happy
Happy Summer, Friend! I hope you get to go somewhere fun in the next couple months. Even if it’s not tropical or bougie, just getting out of your normal routine is great for your sanity. Throw in some yummy restaurants and forced family bonding, and you’ll definitely be coming back as a happier version of yourself. I mean, as long as your airline doesn’t lose your luggage, you don’t win a lifetime supply of mosquito bites, and nobody barfs on day two. That would obviously put a damper on the whole point of dropping hard-earned pesos on a getaway. Moving along…. Here are three hacks for preparing, living, and returning…
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7 of My Favorite Amazon Products to Organize Your Home, Car, and Backyard
Ready to get organized before summer? As a slightly Type-A woman with an organizing business, I can tell you firsthand… the products you use to get yourself organized matter. From your kitchen, closet, and car, to your bathroom and backyard… I gotcha covered with some of my favorite products. The reviews are in, and these organizers take the cake! Kitchen LOPASA Ziplock Bag Organizer for Drawers or Wall Oh my gosh… where has this been all my life? In your drawer or attached to your pantry wall, this bamboo beauty keeps all your plastic bags organized in one spot. Need something larger to hold your plastic wrap and tinfoil, too? Take…
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8 Simple Things We Can All Declutter and Donate Before Spring Cleaning Our Homes This Year
Lest you think I’ve mastered decluttering in my own home, let me assure you… it’s an ongoing battle. I mostly write these things to hold myself accountable, but I’m stoked you’re coming along with me today. This of course is not a complete list of what could be decluttered before spring cleaning. It’s just a nudge to help you start. And clearly, to help me start again too since I found more things I could easily part with! So here are my eight things to declutter instead of cleaning around them. Spring cleaning can happen next month. First, let’s work on getting rid of these…. 1. Outdated Electronics From VHS…
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Leaves Turning 80: New Season, Old Skin, and an Organized Dental Office
My before-and-after title works better if you’re a Wheel of Fortune fan, I know. Lucky for me, my dad is a lifer. I grew up with the sound of an audience clapping and the tick, tick, ticking wheel coming from my parents’ room… Every. Single. Week night. The memory sits permanently nestled in my hippocampus with no plans of vacating the premises. Like, ever. Faithful as a sunset, the 7:00 show always caused a tug in my soul. Do homework or solve a puzzle with my dad? I didn’t love the show, per se, but the before-and-after category always sucked me in. See what I’m doing here? Turning leaves, Vanna…
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Spring Decluttering with an Organizing Pro: 20 Items You Can Quickly Donate or Toss This Weekend
It’s no secret—I looove me some organized spaces. That doesn’t mean every square inch of my house is organized, but I’m working on it. Disaster areas usually elevate stress and organized spaces usually usher in peace. But sometimes getting started is so overwhelming some people don’t even know where to begin. Been there? After decluttering and organizing different spaces for years, a friend and I decided to turn our love for order into a business. What we’ve learned after being in our clients’ closets, kids’ rooms, pantries, garages, offices, laundry rooms, and linen closets could fill a book. But here are the top declutterable things we consistently see. You’re sitting…
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Creating an Organized New Year: The 3 Best Places in Your Home & How to Start
If you’re assuming this post is all about turning your whole house upside down and starting over, you can exhale now. This isn’t for the expert organizer, the detailed filer who never has a paper out of place, or the housekeeper who scrubs with a magnifying glass and Q-tips. And all the normal people said amen. But… it is definitely not too early to think about spring cleaning. I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s wondered, Wow… it would be so much easier to clean around less stuff. Let’s back this train up though. First of all… Feliz Año Nuevo! I realize new beginnings aren’t everyone’s cup of chai, but…
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Quickly Saving Drowning Memories, One Wet Photo at a Time
Last November my teenagers bought me AirPods for my birthday. Spending so much of their own money to get me pieces of fancy technology made me feel loved. But I’m not a fancy girl. I have an old phone, our TV feels ridiculously large, I don’t own a watch (much less a smart one), and if it were up to me, Alexa would be kicked to the curb. But I have a husband who loves that stuff and two teens who work and volunteer in tech. So of course they all want me to jump on the bandwagon, and AirPods were one way to get me there. On a sunny…
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Goin’ to the Marketplace to OfferUp Stuff: Tips for Selling Good Junk Online
“How much for this?” “Ten dollars. It’s real silver.” “Will you take two?” Garage sale offers like this always made me want to blurt, “Two what? Two goats? Two crates of eggs? Two dozen avocados? No. I said ten. Not ten shillings, not ten pesos, ten dollars.” “How about five?” And ‘round and ‘round we’d go, politely arguing in English or Spanish until said shopper talked me down against my will because I was afraid I wouldn’t get another offer but then I got mad that I caved because I could’ve gotten more on eBay or at a pawn shop but I don’t have time for that because I have…
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Donate This, Not That: Tips to Donate with Dignity
I know… I’ve had good intentions that went awry too. I’ve donated things I probably should’ve thrown in the trash. I felt guilty about the blatant waste though, so I passed it on for someone else to hopefully benefit from. Trouble is, if an item falls into that category, it’s probably going to end up costing the recipient more time than it’s worth. I never truly understood this principle till I moved to a 3rd-world country. Pretty sure the ministries in Mexico get more donations from the U.S. than any other nation, but after living there for 12 years, I’m not confident the helpful handouts outweighed the inconvenient/annoying ones. For…
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Simple Steps to Finally Get Rid of Those Boxes
This one might strike a nerve, amigos. Or three. But since I can’t see you and you can’t reach me… we gonna get down the nitty-gritty of our containers. Yes, those containers. His, hers, mine and yours. The cardboard boxes… the plastic bins… the forgotten… the ignored… all of it. So here’s the question on the awkward table between us: If God impressed upon your heart a move—across town, across the country, to another country—how soon could you pack up and get out? I don’t want to be known for my stuff. But if I’m in a constant state of avoiding piles, adding more boxes to the rafters and…
