Sustainable & Creative Living
Packing your child’s lunchbox every day can feel like a daily puzzle—finding the right balance between nutrition, convenience, and things your kids will actually eat. A well-stocked lunchbox keeps your child energized, focused, and happy throughout the school day. Here is a list of our favorite Back to School Lunch Box Essentials. We use this stuff daily and think every parent should keep most, if not all, of it in their kitchen.
Organizing any part of our living or work areas can feel overwhelming. Keeping our office or home office organized usually feels more stressful because no one wants important tasks or paperwork to fall through the cracks. The purpose of being organized is to be able to find the things we need when we need them and then, hopefully, be more productive. I don’t know about you, but when I can get more things done with less stress, I’m able to spend time with the people I care about while enjoying life more. It also feels good to have a neat and attractive workspace. If this sounds good to you, check out my go-to 10 Office Organization Ideas and keep your office organized and clutter-free.
You can make all kinds of fun things with a Cricut machine and, if you’re the slightest bit crafty, they’re a must-have. You can start with just a machine and the essential tools and build your collection over time. I’ve rounded up some of my favorite Cricut essentials in case you’ve got someone on your holiday shopping list in need of some must-have Cricut tools and some just plain fun ones too. [Read more…]
Everyone’s time is valuable to them and no one I know wants to waste theirs. Right? So, we’re always trying to make the most of our 24 hours-making lists, multitasking, organizing, and problem solving. Me [Read more…]
If you have kids, I’m sure you have or have had a bean bag chair in your home at one point or another. If you’re like me, you’ve probably tried and failed a few times when refilling bean bag chairs or ottomans. And then finally given up and just Amazon Primed a new one after the huge mess you just created all over the floor. Well, if you’re tired of replacing your bean bag chairs and ottomans every year, check out the easiest and fastest way to [Read more…]
If you’re like me and most of the women I know, you’ve got a lot going on all the time! With so much going on, it isn’t always easy to focus on the task at hand, even with the best of intentions. Because of this, I’m always looking for tips and tricks to help me be more focused and, in turn, more productive. These 5 ways to increase the power of focus are simple practices that have helped me sharpen this skill.
I’m always amazed when I hear about the impractical, silly, or downright thoughtless gifts some of my friends have received. I’m talking about the same restaurant gift card 5 years in a row for people who rarely eat out. Or beautiful pierced earrings for a woman without pierced ears. Or the loud musical instrument for a child whose parents clearly disapproved of the “gift”! Those are the kind of gifts that leave a person wondering “What were they (the gift giver) thinking?” The thing is, they probably weren’t thinking. It doesn’t mean they’re a bad person, they probably just haven’t practiced how to be a thoughtful gift giver. And who’s gonna tell them they’re gifts are [Read more…]
What do you do when you’re having a stressful day? Where do you go? What do you want?
Lately, I’ve been noticing energy everywhere I go. When I walk into a house or a room I notice it – the positive or negative vibes from people or a space. Sometimes there are really calm and relaxing energies and other times I’ve encountered negative energies. It’s hard when you find yourself in a place with negative vibes because you just want to get away from it. It creates a sense of uneasiness or even stress. [Read more…]
DIY Toilet Cleaning Pods are the latest cleaning pod I’ve started making. I absolutely love using DIY pods for other home cleaning tasks (see my post here for DIY laundry pods and DIY dishwashing pods), but using them for toilet cleaning is especially satisfying because this is one of my least favorite chores.
All of my DIY pods are easy, quick, and cost-efficient, but with only 3 ingredients these DIY Toilet Cleaning Pods are the simplest and most economical of all.
My 2-and-half-year-old son has gone through stages of loving bath time and hating bath time and now loving it again. When he was an infant, bath time was new to him and he was still discovering the whole water and bubble situation. Now, he knows bathtime signifies the end of play time which ultimately leads to bedtime. So sometimes getting him to the bath is tough. Sometimes it takes bribing and trickery. Other times it takes throwing him over my shoulder and hauling him upstairs. Either way, I was tired of the begging and pleading so I got a little inventive in my trickery and got him to remember how much fun bath time can be. [Read more…]
Last week, I cut my hair for the first time since August 2015. My stylist cut 12 inches off and I do not miss that hair for a second. I don’t cut my hair very often and it grows pretty fast so I’m not very attached to it. Which is odd for me because I am usually attached to everything.
My big problem with letting things go is that I tend to assign a sentimental value to a lot of things. Or I feel like I’m going to need it and can find a way to use it. On top of not letting stuff go easily, I also really love shopping.
I’m the kind of person who likes to have a plan. More importantly, I like things to go as planned! I imagine most people probably do too. Of course, I know this isn’t always reality. Owning and running a service business for almost 30 years—not to mention raising 3 kids—has definitely taught me this.
Still, every time I start my next big project I get a low-level gnawing feeling that maybe my plans won’t go as planned. I never let that feeling stop me from moving forward. I’d never get anywhere if I did, but I’m trying to be more comfortable these days with the uncertainty that comes with the unknown of new projects and new stages in life.
Using too many paper towels around the house is my biggest vice when it comes to lowering my carbon footprint. Every time I swear I’m going to do better, I end up slipping back into my old bad habit. Then I give up for a while and concentrate on other eco-friendly practices that, for me, seem easier to adopt.
I don’t really know why the paper towel habit has been so hard to kick. Years ago I practiced eco-friendly habits like using cloth napkins and canvas grocery bags before it became popular. Then owning and running a business along with raising three kids consumed all my physical and mental energy and those practices got put aside. While I’ve gotten back to my old eco-friendly practices, this paper towel thing has been, I like said, a hard habit to break.
