Monday, August 9, 2010

New Favorite Things


I am completely obsessed with this puppy. Absolutely my new favorite thing!

Sadly, it is sold out right now online. However, I picked mine up in store, so it could be worth a try looking there.

I use it for more than just Starbucks drinks. I can take it to the local coffee-shop and since it says how much it holds on the bottom (a cool 20 oz) they just charge me for a 20 oz drink but make it in my cup! Reusable and fabulous. Or, I just put my own iced coffee, tea, heck even lemonade in it. LOVE.


Wednesday, August 4, 2010

How to Simplify Your To Do List OR Get Some Stuff Done

Are you still waiting with baited breath since this post? So sorry about that. I don't know what baited breath is exactly, but it doesn't sound like a nice way to wait. oops.

Anyway, my gift from the lovely Miss B and Chronicle Books finally came! I was delighted to come home from a failure of a day of errands and trying to find running shoes to find this little package inside my door.


(I was quite eager to open it...can you tell by the ripped cardboard ala a 5 year old on Christmas morning?)


TADA! This wonderful freebie is the newest goodie from the incredibly crafty Mary Kate McDevitt. I've decided we should be bffs. She did, after all, create a wonderful way to organize my life! (Or yours!) What do you give a lady after she does a thing like that? That's right, your undying friendship. Decided. If you don't want to take my word for it, please go visit her adorable Etsy shop. Then come back and tell me I was right. Go ahead. I'll wait.

...

All set? Great. Now that we've cleared that up, take a look at this puppy.



I mean, with motivational phrases like that, how can you NOT help but get things done? You know how terrible I am about making lists, but this wonderful bunch of paper simplifies it down. Only two things to accomplish today? Why yes, I think I will. Throw in cute illustrations and motivational phrases? Don't mind if I do.

I mean, it's already working...check out my list for today.


See? Already done!

If you are as in love with this baby as I am, head on over to the Pre-Order page on Chronicle Books! Just think of what a great present this would be...especially for those folks who are a little less organized. You know, those friends you have who don't always want to get stuff done. Now you can help them get some stuff done. Or yourself. ahem. ;)

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Packing

Alright, so this packing thing...I'm quite the expert at it by now. After all, I have moved ump-teen times in the last 7 years. (College and then changing jobs after College helped to raise this number) I'm about to do it again.

ugh.

To be totally fair, the insane woman in me just loves organizing all of my stuff for a move. Heck, I made a post-it labeling system and stacked boxes based upon their weight and shape to easily pack them into one of those fancy pants moving company boxes. You know the ones. I tell you this to assure you that my over-thinking is well and working when moving is a-foot.

BUT, I also dread it. There is just SO F-ING MUCH to consider. gasp!, you say to yourself, after all this spewing about how much she thinks, how could she possibly DISLIKE an opportunity to think more. Allow me to make my case. There is just so much stuff. Really. And I get rid of a lot of stuff every time I move. I don't want to forget anything and I need to think about the best possible way to pack it all. Plus, there is the planning of however you are getting to where you are moving. Do we push to make the drive in one day? Relax and take it in two? Where do we want to stop? Have I remembered everything I needed to complete to prep the apartment I'm moving into? Utilities? That damn cable and internet? (note to current resident: please please please tell the cable company you are moving) You get the idea. I'm sure many of you have done this before. I'm certainly not the first person.

This is just the perfect example of when my over-thinking is overwhelming for even me. Which is precisely why I want to figure out just what makes my thinking so very crazy. Why do I need to do this?

In this instance, I worry that I'll forget something. If I forget something, the world might fall apart. Well, my world. Yes, I said it. And NOT knowing that I have thought of everything, I literally get a pain in my stomach. That ache that drops the bottom of your stomach, reminding you where your center of gravity seems to rest. It can make you feel sick, it can be the little reminder that you love someone, or it can be where you want to leave your dinner on a roller coaster (sometimes all the same thing...). But yeah, that. I feel it when I worry I missed something or could have done more. It's a fear really. So, this time, my thinking is a protection. I keeps me from feeling like I'm going to fall off that edge, unprepared and without my parachute.

Lesson learned: I should try to appreciate my thinking and roll with it a bit more. All those webs of lists and reminders should weave together to make a nice, light-weight cloth for a parachute. :)

Monday, August 2, 2010


Dear Leah,

Thanks for posting something that makes me laugh. every. single. day.

Your sense for finding the delightful and irreverent in the sometimes disgusting provides a gentle reminder to just let shit go.

OR

As my friend Anthony would say: CTFO (chill the f*** out)

best, a