start the organizing...

As the holidays are fast approaching it's time to get this new house up to snuff before guests start arriving. I'm starting with the basic of basics- the refrigerator....

First I gathered my supplies...
*rags and paper towels
*glass cleaner
*label maker
*label tape
*permanent marker
*stickers (optional)
*ruler
*grip liner
*scissors
*grocery list
... and my tea (must have caffeine)....

Next I removed all of this...

Then I cleaned the whole inside of with the glass cleaner. I threw out any food that was expired, spoiled, or food we bought but no one liked it. I ended up removing...

*8 fast food ketsup packets
*old apricot preserves
*5 cucumbers
*1 serving of orange juice
*old ricotta cheese
*2 mandarin oranges
*applesauce jar with 1 serving left (my daughter had a snack while I cleaned!)
*large bag of kale

I began returning items to the top shelf. The hubby's beer stayed right just where it was. I moved the lazy susan to the top shelf because I'm short I can never see what's in the back up top. This way I can just spin to see what's hiding up there. This also left me with just enough room for one bottle of white wine. You know- just in case...

Oh, and if you look on the very left you will see the popcorn. I keep the special cup with the popcorn and label it with how much popcorn and how much oil. This way I don't have to drag out the instructions out when popping popcorn. So much easier. I highly suggest this if you have any thing similar. I also love the type of baking soda that hangs on the side of the refrigerator with a built in replacement indicator. They are more expensive than the plain box, but this frees up shelf space and eliminates any guessing as to when it was placed in the refrigerator. Because, some how I always would forget to write the date on my baking soda box.

The leftovers were labeled with contents and date prepared and then grouped in one area. This eliminates searching all the way to the back of the refrigerator looking for last nights pizza.

The fruit, veggie and pantry drawers were measured for grip liner. The liner keeps your food from rolling around when you open the drawer. My children care not that gentle when opening (more like slamming) the drawers.

Finally, the doors. I decant all liquids that I can. My pitchers fit better in the doors. I also try to save those rubber mesh sleeves to put around the glass containers. This eliminates the noise of them clanking together every time someone opens the door.

The finished product...

Guidelines...
*decant all beverages less than half full
*label everything (I even use stickers since my youngest child still cannot read.)
*use a grocery list to jot down items that need replaced

So do you like? Can you tell I was always obsessed withe seeing celeb refrigerator's on Mtv's Cribs? Still miss that show. Anyway, do you have an organized refrigerator or one that needs a little help? Send me photos or questions. Let's make all our refrigerators look as good as the ones on Cribs.


Next time....
the freezer and maybe the pantry.

.....make new friends, but keep the old....

This weekend while hubs and I were snuggling up on the couch, he turned on the fireplace because, "there's a chill in the air." I look over at my 80 year old husband "with a chill" and realize he's wearing a polo and shorts. Whereas, I'm sporting a tank top and capris. No wonder we're chilly, it's October and we're dressed for July. But you'll have to excuse us, less than a year ago we moved from Ohio to Virginia. So at the moment we are a tad climately challenged. Now geographically the southern most point of Ohio is more south than where we currently live, but everybody north thinks we went south. And I suppose to their credit we did cross the Mason-Dixon line.

Relocating to a new state where you know NO ONE is an adventure, but not like you'd see on a half hour sitcom or even a two hour movie. This adventure is not for the faint at heart. It makes you late to the new doctor's office because you got lost getting there, forgetting to pay the gas bill because you thought you set it up online but apparently didn't (which does not go over well with the CPA hubby), spending over an hour at the grocery store for 15 items or less because you can't find anything, finding out skinks (lizards) are normal around here after almost stepping on one ... Are you getting the picture yet?

Amid these moving debacles, we have had the unwelcome experience of an earthquake and Hurricane Irene. I debate telling you the story of how I thought there was something wrong with my car and didn't realize we were having an earthquake. But really, I moved to the east coast not the west. And honestly we don't really get that many hurricanes- the locals assure me.

Finally after seven choatic months we finally have friends, meet all our neighbors, have favorite restaurants, know which baristas make a better latte, a good beautician, no longer look over my shoulder when making a u turn (illegal in Ohio) and haven't gotten lost in quite a while or even turned the GPS on.

So while all this has been at times frightening, I wouldn't change it for the world. My children  have gained a sense of pride that is very well deserved. I see it in their eyes and in my mirror, too.

beginning this thing called blogging

Well, I started this day sooo tired but now energized after running to catch the my duaghter's kindergarten bus, tennis in & now starting this blog is giving me nervous energy. 


While I was waking up this morning I heard someone on tv say that in order to be successful in life you need to do things that are out of your comfort zone. Starting this blog is definitely way out of my comfort zone. Not really sure what I will be posting. My goal is to post every weekday. I have lots of interests that I could focus on; thrifting, organizing, my two kids, sewing, & decorating. 


I think to begin I want to share my daughter's drawing. She drew this yesterday of the elf on the shelf. He's to the right of her and she mixed in numerous Trader Joe stickers for good measure.

Now the elf on the shelf doesn't come until the day after Thanksgiving so she's about 6 weeks early.
 But she has hope. I am going to channel that spirit of hope to help me figure out what to do when I grow up. Because, why not?