Scarf Swap

Over the past few years, I have become a big fan of scarves.  I'm still trying to figure out various ways to tie them and of course, convincing myself that I don't look like a complete goofball when wearing them!  A few weeks ago, the adorable Meredith at Merry & Bright hosted a scarf swap so I jumped in on the fun and was paired up with Rebecca from I Wanna Be A Domestic Goddess.  All I'm saying about Rebecca is THANK goodness I don't live near her, or I would be as big as a house!  This girl can bake a mean cupcake!!  After chatting back and forth about what we liked, I sent Rebecca two scarves because I just couldn't decide between the two.  I of course forgot to take a picture of what I sent Rebecca, but was sooo excited when I got my happy box in the mail!

OK, is her Ashley Brooke notecard not the cutest?!  And the scarves?? LOVE THEM!  The pink one is fabulous (my fav color) and the buffalo check/plaid one is beyond adorable.  I had a chance to wear the plaid one last week and against my better judgment, I'm posting my first ever self-photo.  Don't laugh (ok, laugh, but not too loud)!  I can not stand to have my picture taken, so taking one of myself was pure torture.

Thanks again to Meredith for hosting the swap, and Rebecca for the fabulous scarves!!

Showing my Life Planner Love!

It's no secret that before having Miss K, I was a bit OCD when it came to organization.  I'm that girl that keeps her shoes in clear plastic, labeled shoe boxes.  My pantry shelves are categorized and our DVD/Blue Rays are in alphabetical order.  And bless all my former students' hearts- you've never seen more organized 8 and 9 year olds.  My files were organized by subject and then by the quarter in which they were taught.  My planner/agenda/calendar was with me at all times. Even once I got my iPhone, I still had to have everything on paper.  I couldn't commit to anything without checking my calendar. In the almost 2 years since leaving the classroom and having Miss K, I have been nothing short of a chicken running around with it's head cut off.  I kid you not.  It didn't help that in the first eight or so months after having Miss K, we sold our house in NC, moved into a corporate apartment for two months then finally moved into Casa de D last summer.  Total chaos, folks.  NOT my style.  As K and I became busier and I started getting involved in more things, the chaos intensified.  For those of you that don't know me in real life, when I feel unorganized or out of control, I become a

lunatic.  More of a lunatic than I already am.  Enter the self-intervention this past summer.

While home in Texas, I was trying to figure out how on Earth I could get a grip on my life. Then it hit me...  You see, I realized that I wasn't treating my new job like it was a real job.  And you know what's funny?  This new job, the job of Miss K's mommy/stay at home wife/mom is one million times harder than any of my eight years of teaching.  No lie.  But for 18 months I hadn't been giving this new job the respect or thoughtful planning that I gave to my old job.  If I would have run my classroom the way I've been running my house and my life- I would have been fired in a heartbeat.  Then as though the blogosphere and twitterverse had been hearing my thoughts, I was introduced to Erin Condren and her AWESOME products, including the Life Planner!  Let me tell you, I am hooked!  Never again will I own any other planner, and I have owned my share. It has been a lifesaver and between that and my Home Organization Binder, I am pleased to say "I'm baaaaack"!  Gone are the feelings of unorganization and total out of controlness (not a word, I know).  My days are planned, my meals are planned, my cleaning is planned, my PLANS are planned! 
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Life Planner, here are a few peeks into mine. 

After MUCH debate, I ordered the taffy stripe in navy and pink! I loved all EC's choices, but this was my fav!! (The marker is covering my last name!)  The front and back covers are a thick lamination and I love the spiral binding on the side.

EC does a great job of including inspirational quotes and sayings throughout the planner, this one is at the front.  You can also see the tabs for each month along the side.

This is at the back of the planner- on the left side is a 2-sided pocket.  I keep my matching note pad in one pocket and use the other pocket for important receipts, etc.  On the right side is a clear pouch that has stamps, business cards, pens, address labels, and the fun freebies that EC sent with my planner!

Here is the monthly view that is the first page of each month and the page that the tab is attached to.  I am a color-coded person; each family member is a different color, and if it pertains to all of us it is a separate color!  We've been busy this month at Casa de D!!! (Notice the fun bookmark in the top right?  EC send you 2 of these to use in your planner!!)

Here are what the weekly pages look like!  I love that there are three separate spaces for each day- morning, day, and evening!  I follow the same color rule on these pages as well.  I write my daily chores in here as well so that I can keep up with what I've done and still need to do. 

There are SOO many more great things that the team at EC have thought of to make this planner perfect!  There's a place for important dates, lined pages for notes, a sheet for important numbers, and these AWESOME color-coded (SQUEE!!!) stickers for various things like birthdays, games, hair appointments, etc! 

Y'all get this- they have so much more than just the Life Planners!  I also ordered new family stationary with return address labels, circle address labels, notepads, and as soon as Big Poppa comes back from California this weekend, we're deciding on and ordering our Christmas cards! (Well, I've already decided, but I guess I'll let him have some say!)  And to top it off, their customer service is hands down, the best! 

*I am in no way being compensated for saying these things about Erin Condren.  I am just a huge fan and want to spread the love! 

School Days

This is our "new" smile!

Today was Miss K's first day at school!  She has been so excited about going to to "skeww" this last week, that's all she's been talking about.  Last Monday night, Big Poppa and I had Parent's Night where we went and met her teachers and got to talk and ask questions sans kiddos.  We used the need of our babysitter that night as an impromptu date night and headed out to dinner at Marlow's Tavern beforehand (culinary swoon).  It was kinda fun and sad to be the parent and not the teacher, but guess who got sucked into being the room mom? Yep, that'd be me!  So, in true room mom fashion, I hit the ever trusty Pintrest to find the cah-u-test gifts for the first day of school!

I think they turned out pretty cute see as how they were soooo easy to make!  Thanks to Pintrest, I now have enough year round teacher gifts to get us to at least middle school!  :) 

I was a little worried about Miss K and school this year because we have her going 3 days.  Last year (for half the year) she went to MMO two days a week and by the end of the year was a total rock star!  We were originally going to keep her in the MMO program she was in again this year since her birthday is Christmas Day and she won't be 2 until then, but through a friend we found an awesome preschool that has a class for 18-23 months.  This is a bit more of a structured program with circle time, music class, etc but is still 9-1 like MMO.  Big Poppa and I went back and forth on whether or not to keep her in just 2 days a week because I'm not ready for her to go 4 days but decided to send her 3 days a week because this momma needs a break.  It's fun because there are only 5 kids in each of her classes and her teachers are the same.  **I'm just going to once again give MAD props to all the single moms out there.  I'm pretty much a single parent about half the month and I can tell you what- by the end of the week when Big Poppa is out of town, I'm about to lose my you -know-what.  It's flippin' hard with no family to help out. (Maga, no pressure to move to the ATL:)  That's why when people ask when we are going to have another one, I instantly start breaking out in hives before they can finish their sentence!

Miss K had an incredible day today and was so cute when I picked her up and she said "Hi, Mommy" like it was no big deal that I had been gone 4 hours.  (Well, really only 3 since I had to wait an hour for a locksmith to come unlock my car because I locked my keys in the car trying to get everything to her classroom in one trip this morning.  One hour and $65 of my life I'll never get back.  Le sigh)
Tomorrow you can bet that I will not be locking my doors when I drop her off!

With her teachers at Open House