A few of my kitchen "decide onces" I've had a few conversations with a dear friend recently where we recall things we did in high school that are so similar to how we are today (being super organized for example, or loving home decor). We laugh and say, "We've always been the same people!" One example of this is that it can be hard for me to make decisions, especially about relatively inconsequential things, and apparently I've been that way since childhood. A story my mom tells goes like this: one day my mom asked me to pick out a... Read more →

When my kids started the school year in late July, I started my own new chapter of sorts with full days to myself. Now that we're about two months into the school year I'd love to share how I plan and use my weekday work time, and how I think about the kind of energy I need for different types of work. Portfolio of work I think about the work I do as a portfolio with different categories of work. Each type of work and associated tasks requires varying energy levels. For example, to write I prefer to have long,... Read more →

Somewhat similar to Thursday House, Chris and I noticed another phenomenon that seems to indicate how busy we are and how tidy (or untidy) the house is. We call it bedroom corners or just corners. I bet you have something similar in your life. Here's what we noticed: each of us tend to accumulate stuff to be dealt with in the four corners of our bedroom. I accumulate things in the corner near my side of the bed and next to the chair (which is in a corner). Chris accumulates things in the corner next to his side of the... Read more →

We bought a new car this time last year and it's the first time I have ever owned a brand new car. So I'm just a tad passionate about keeping it clean and organized. Let's just say that I love to tell everyone about what I keep in my car door and that vacuuming out the car is my idea of a good time. I'll get into lots of organizing and car cleanliness talk but first, let me tell you a bit about what we're driving and who we're hauling around. We have a 2022 Hybrid Toyota Sienna and we... Read more →

Despite loving to cook and being a very organized person, feeding my family day in and day out continues to feel just short of running as smoothly as I'd like. It's not terrible. We do have some systems in place that work pretty well. And every night we feed everyone, usually with a homemade dinner that is not cereal. So there's a lot to celebrate! But I keep feeling like the whole thing, from meal planning to making a grocery list to shopping and the actual cooking of dinner, could be optimized. As one of my goals for the year,... Read more →

Thank you to the Phoenix airport employee who was so kind to take our photo! Recently I flew with Maeve twice, to and from Minneapolis for our Eau Claire trip. Each flight was about two and a half hours and I was nervous about how it would go. That's a long time to be stuck in a confined area if your toddler is unhappy! I'm happy, and relieved, to report that Maeve was a champ traveler and I truly enjoyed traveling with her. In case anyone else will soon be traveling with a toddler I wanted to share some tips... Read more →

Kids and stains go together like...glitter and literally any surface. There just seems to be a universal law of attraction. And it's not just kids' clothes that get stained. Your clothes too will bear witness to whatever meal or messy crafts have occurred. Babies and toddlers are especially great stain-makers. From diaper blow outs to delightfully smearing a snack over their whole being, we are in a season with lots of laundry stains! I wasn't always great about getting stains out of the boys' clothes when they were little. This time around I've perfected my laundry stain treatment and it's... Read more →

summer fun in 2019 Summer break starts for the boys TODAY and my planning brain has been at work to design our summer. In thinking about our summer I realized that summers feel challenging to me for two reasons: one, my very energetic boys are out of school which means more active parenting and entertaining; and two, it's really, really hot so we're pretty much confined to being indoors (reminder: two very energetic boys) or in a pool. I thrive on structure and routine, and I think kids do too, so I wanted to create a rhythm to our days... Read more →

There's a phenomenon at our house that, despite our best efforts to ward it off, appears most weeks. We call it...Thursday house. Thursday house is dirty dishes at the sink, baskets of laundry waiting to be folded, and the boys in-progress art projects laying across the breakfast table. It's a package that needs to be returned parked on our dresser and looking in the fridge to find few options for packing a school lunch. The boys' dirty clothes are in the bathroom, looking like they stepped right out of them and into the bath, which is exactly what they did.... Read more →

Planning and organization are dear to my heart. I like talking about my own systems and I like hearing about other people's. If you feel the same then I have two fun things for you: this post, which is all about my current calendaring system, and this week's episode of the planning podcast Best Laid Plans featuring yours truly. I've followed Best Laid Plans host Sarah Hart-Unger for years on her Best of Both Worlds podcast with Laura Vanderkam and on her blog, The SHU Box. She launched Best Laid Plans in July of 2020. In the episode this week,... Read more →