Your Life. Organized.

Girls Weekend 2007

You may remember that last October I blogged about my Girls' Weekend trip to the North Georgia mountains where we scrapped, ate and drank for a long weekend. It was such fun, and today I'm leaving today for another one...  only this year we'll be in a different location somewhere in the Chattanooga, TN area. Woohoo I can't wait! The impending Scrapfest 2007 reminded me that I wanted to tell you about this organizing tool I stumbled upon a few months back. It's called The Clip It Up. I'll be sure to try to get one to review for my feature, The Check-Out Line.

PS: If you don't hear from me this weekend, it means our mountain cabin has no Internet connectivity. Ack! What's a girl to do?? If that's the case, stay tuned to find out how I survived without it!

Highlights from the West Coast

 

After a lot of business travel this year, (and more to come - yay!) Christmas Boy and I spent ten fabulous days on the west coast with some of our dearest friends!

We spent the first three days in Seattle visiting friends. We me their baby for the first time, we went to the Puyallup Fair, did a little shooting at the indoor range, and just hung out. The other seven days we spent in the San Francisco Bay Area and wine country. Yay!

My first lunch in San Francisco was with -- you guessed it -- Monica Ricci!
She was in town and so was her mom, so the three of us ventured to The Ferry Building and had a delicious lunch of Italian sandwiches from Mastrelli's and chatted while walking along the water. The next day I had lunch with Christmas Boy and a friend of ours at A16, and one night we ate at a really yummy place called A Cote with three friends. Ummmm, did I mention we ate??

After three days in San Francisco, we headed north to Sonoma County's beautiful wine country where we tasted many wines at individual wineries, but we also were able to taste from six different wineries in one location at Family Wineries Dry Creek Valley. This is also where we met Shaun, the World's Most Fun Wine Guy. The Family Wineries place is pretty cool because you get to taste wines from several places without driving to them all. They are: Lago di Merlo, Collier Falls, Duxoup (yes that is indeed pronounced DUCK SOUP), Forth, Dashe (it's a monkey riding a fish, I know) and Meitz.

As for the rest of the wine country weekend, we ate, we hung out watching African Queen, we ate, we went on a hot air balloon ride over wine country, and I spent several glorious hours at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa. During our wine country weekend, we dined at The Girl and The Fig, which was exceptional, as was our server, Derek. Check out all the pictures in the sidebar photo album! Fun fun fun!

Quote of the Week: Boldness

Each Wednesday, I share with you a quote that inspires me, in the hope that it will also inspire you. This week's quote comes from Goethe, who said:

"Each indecision brings its own delays and days are lost lamenting over lost days... What you can do or think you can do, begin it. For boldness has magic, power, and genius in it."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749-1832
German Poet, Novelist and Scientist

 

Columbus Dispatch Discusses Home Organization and Beazer

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Kevin Kidder, who was writing an article for the Columbus Dispatch. Upon my return home from San Francisco, I discovered the Columbus Dispatch had indeed  published Kevin's article. It talks about how homes are changing in response to our changing lifestyles and organization is a big part of that, and we discussed some of the innovations that I've helped Beazer incorporate into their new home designs. You can read the article here.

The Check-Out Line: LobotoME Product Line

Welcome to The Check-Out Line, where I review products that are designed to make your life easier. I give you my opinion and my opinion only. You decide for yourself. You can see past product reviews here. This week, I'm reviewing the LobotoME line of products.

At first blush, the LobotoME product line seems like just another paper-based listing and task management system. However, once you meet the products up close and personal, you’ll see that they’re a little different.

There’s no shortage of paper-based organizing products out there to help you do everything from managing your time to keeping track of your kids’ chores and your grocery shopping. I’ve owned PDAs before, but I’m still a big fan of paper because a) it’s simple, b) it’s inexpensive and c) it’s flexible. You can capture every little niggling thing lurking inside your head quickly, without needing electricity.

From the hip, retro design and trendy color scheme to the quirky elements incorporated into the products, (for example, “Breathe” is one of the items on the PackMe travel list) LobotoME is, relatively speaking, a Gwen Stefani among so many Celine Dions. Not that there’s anything wrong with Celine...

Quote of the Week: Attitude

Each Wednesday, I share with you a quote that inspires me, in the hope that it will also inspire you. This week's quote comes from Katherine Mansfield, a New Zealand fiction writer.

"Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. Life would undergo a change of appearance because we ourselves had undergone a change of attitude."

Katherine Mansfield
1888-1923, Writer

Sideroad Featuring My Article on Email Management

The Sideroad has seen fit to feature my articles, along with all the other great content from various experts. You can learn about everything from weight loss to productivity, to real estate, health and fitness, and much more. All articles are contributed by subject matter experts, so you know you're getting good info. The article featured right now is about email management, so if you're looking for info about almost anything in life, stop by The Sideroad and see what you can pick up!

Organizing an Inexpensive Date Night

My BFFs, Vicky and Jen are featuring a blog about creative date night ideas on a shoestring. Stop by and see my ideas, as well as ideas from several other experts. Check it out and share your best ideas for inexpensive date night ideas in the comment section. I can't wait to hear your ideas!

Quote of the Week: Visions Manifest

Each week, I share with you a quote that inspires me, in the hope that it will also inspire you. This week's quote comes from Andrew Carnegie, Scottish Industrialist and American captain of industry. Carnegie said:

"Any idea that is held in the mind that is either feared or revered will, begin at once to clothe itself in the most convenient and appropriate physical forms available."

Andrew Carnegie
1835-1919, Industrialist

Never Forget

Si vis pacem, para bellum. May the innocent who perished be remembered in the hearts and minds of Americans forever and may the evildoers burn in an everlasting hell.

As a nation, we must never, ever forget what was done to us, to our way of life, to our American Dream. Never forget.