Planning Around Chaos

Life is full of twists and turns.  You can try and be as in control as possible but there will always be a curve-ball or two.

My grandfather passed away this morning (rest in peace Papa- I love you so much) and I am of course dropping everything to fly home to NY to be with my family. Besides the obvious disruption that traveling causes in life, my brain is completely elsewhere and I am emotionally devastated. So it is times like these I am so thankful I inherited my mother’s organizational genes to try to keep everything else in life afloat. I thought it would be an appropriate day to mention how I keep my blogging (and life) organized, especially when the curve-balls happen.

I don’t think there would still be a blog if I didn’t have an amazing planner/notebook to keep my scattered thoughts in one place.  I would have given up by now! I always feel great when I have my blog posts and projects planned out for the coming days/week. It makes the administrative and planning aspects of blogging a million times easier. And somehow my techie, nerdy brain still prefers an old fashioned written planner to using my iPhone or something.

When I first started looking for the perfect planner, I was disappointed in everything I saw.  Too big, not enough space to write, too structured, not structured enough. I thought about a DIY planner but thought I would make one last run to Staples before I gave up on existing planners (I wanted to jump right into blog planning!).  That’s when I saw the Staples Arc customizable notebooks that allowed me to create exactly what I wanted!  I got a small but sturdy pink leather exterior, colored tabs, weekly/monthly agenda paper, lined paper, and list making paper. I can keep a running collection of to-do lists and ideas as well as move, add, or remove things to my heart’s content.  I have been using it for months and I am still as in love with it as the day I bought it!

The best part?  The whole system with all of the paper packs was substantially cheaper then a mediocre planner in the agenda section thanks to a 50% leather notebooks sale.  I got everything for about $20. In case you were wondering, I wasn’t paid to write this article by Staples… I just genuinely love this notebook. It works for me and I would recommend it to anyone.

Good blogging requires good planning… especially when life pushes you out of your routine. It is nice to know I can focus on what’s important right now because my blogging has been preplanned and all of my ideas are in one place while my brain is scattered. The blog can just be a fun distraction when I need it for the next few days.

How do you all keep your blog organized? I am always looking for good organizational ideas! And as always, thanks for reading.

P.S. The backyard is back under control but we no longer have any grass. I guess we have some yard work to do next weekend.

His & Hers Writing Desks

Yippppeeeee!!! New desks!  Even though our original plans didn’t pan out, I am so much happier with our revised solution.  The living room is so much more open! :)

After much research, we decided to order these desks online from wayfair.com.  All of the other desks we saw were $200-$500 a piece so when I saw these cute writing desks for $122.99 a pop, it was a no-brainer!  Plus, I had a coupon code so I was able to knock off another 10%!  The website also didn’t charge tax or shipping so (drumroll please)…Two solid wood desks for $221.38! BOOM!

They were super easy to put together (just put on the legs and hutch) and fit PERFECTLY in the space.  I am pretty great with the measuring tape when I actually measure (unlike here)!  We have about a quarter inch on either side… snug as a rug!

We aren’t in love with the “honey pine” since it is a bit more orange-y than the rest of the light wood in the apartment but it is certainly tolerable for now (and considering we would have had to pay a million more dollars to get something in a preferred wood tone).  Someday we may go at them with a sander and some paint brushes but until then, our short-term plan is to add new hardware.  We also need to figure out the cord situation, readjust/change the art on the wall behind the desks (okay for those of you who recognize the current “art”…. here it is if you must), and get some new chairs since the ones in the picture are from the kitchen.

 

And lastly, for those of you who are counting: 2 new year’s resolutions down, 3 to go!

1. ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE! – Ok, so I do this every year but it is so important! When Walker moved in we found a place to put everything and have ignored it since. But in the next few weeks we will be getting a detached garage space (YIPPEE FINALLY!) and can stash some of our stuff in the extra storage. Sounds like a good excuse to do some weeding out of the excess and give us some breathing room.

2. CREATE A NEW DUAL WORKSPACE – Currently both of our computers are sitting on a desk I originally bought for myself that I Frankenstein-ed to accommodate both of us. However, there is no room to move or work… just barely enough room to click. So we have started some beginning plans on creating a new dual workspace that will actually meet our needs.

3. UPGRADE THE TUNES – We have been talking about getting a record player for the living room because we both LOVE listening to music. Walker even has a mini record collection started so we have some great stuff to listen to when we actually take the plunge. We anticipate a little extra space once we get the garage space and new desk so we hope to make it work sooner rather than later.

4. KITCHEN LOVE – The living room and bedroom have been slowly transformed to merge our styles since Walker moved in. However, with the exception of an additional calendar and some art, the kitchen looks exactly the same. I think he and I need to put our heads together and see what we want to do with this room.

5. BATHROOM SOS – Other than towels, curtains, and a bathmat, I have yet to do anything with the bathroom. This is the year to start!

Backyard Cemetery Update

Okay, so I got home from work yesterday and the grave in our backyard had grown deep enough to fit two bodies (why do we have a grave in our backyard? Read more here!).  The good news is that he found the sewer pipe so the hole is unlikely to get bigger.  The bad news is that if you have more than two dead bodies to hide, you are out of luck.Update: Wow. Okay I was wrong… I forgot they had an entire second half of the yard to destroy this afternoon.  This “little inconvenience” had better come with a landscaper to help clean up.