Holiday Survival Guide 2014

Stephanie | September 29, 2014

Hello Fall! Fall has always been one of my favorite times of the year. It marks the beginning of the fun and festive holiday season!
Up north, I always loved when the weather got cooler and the leaves started to change and reveal their beautiful fall colors.
Now living in the south, means I have to step it up to really create the “fall” experience. Yesterday, the kids and I just started decorating the house. I love to see their excited little faces pulling out all of the decorations. My oldest recalls memories from the past associated with each decoration as my youngest listens intently. I love it and they make everything so much more special.

However, this time of year also can get very stressful! The next three months can be a whirlwind of parties, events, visitors, baking, cooking, traveling and at some point we should probably clean and prep our homes for all of these activities! Therefore, I’m so excited to be able to bring you the holiday survival guide for 2014! A group of 6 bloggers will be giving you tips and tricks to make this holiday season the best yet!

How do you keep it all straight? How do you get it all done? And how do you do it without sucking the joy and fun out of the season?

Guess what? We’ve got you covered! We’re going to get you decluttered, organized, cleaned, decorated, and ready for all the holiday fun…without you needing to be committed to the looney bin before New Year’s.

Holiday Survival Guide 2014

It takes quite the team to pull this off, but we’re here for you! We’ll be here every Monday through the end of the year to make sure you’re on track and able to enjoy everything you have planned.

Ready to meet the team?

Sheri from Career Girl Interrupted

Dani from Dani Schnakenberg Studios

Katie & Jairus from KatieMarcum.com

Jessica from Jessie Bee Healthy

Kristen from From Son Up Til Son Down

Stephanie from Sharing A to Z

and our lovely co-host Amanda from It’s a Fabulous Life

Each week we’ll take turns bringing you something awesome to help you stay on track preparing for the major Holidays of the season. Be sure to come back and link up your holiday posts each week so we can share the fun!

This week Dani’s bringing you an adorable packet of October Planning Printables to keep you organized. Don’t forget to check out the awesome to-do list to get you going on having a clean and organized house this season!

Holiday Survival Guide 2014 - October Planning Printables

Click Here to Download

Now, who’s ready to party? Share your awesome Fall/Halloween or Organizing posts with us this week!

Link Party Rules:

Follow all hosts: subscribe, FB, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter…whatever you prefer!
Be sure to link directly to your specific post, NOT your blog’s homepage.
Don’t link and run! Be sure to visit the last couple links before yours and let them know how you found them through #HolidaySurvivalGuide2014!
By linking up, you give all hosts permission to pin and share your projects (with links back to you, of course). We’ll also be sharing the top three clicked through with each following week’s project!
Be sure to follow the Holiday Survival Guide 2014 Pinterest board, too!

Simple Steps to Go Green {Week#4}

Stephanie | September 25, 2014

Welcome to the fourth step in our Simple Steps to Go Green series. For step 1, step 2 and step 3, please click on those highlighted links.

Step 4: Adopt a minimalist mindset and buy only what you need.

If that is a little too extreme for you focus on living an un-cluttered life style. This is not easy for me and is something on which I need to continuously focus. I love to shop as much as the next shop-a-holic, but when I stop to think about the environment (and my pleasantly full home), I can usually skip the purchase. It also helps to ask myself, “Do I really need this product? If so, where am I going to put it?”

Another idea to help in this area is giving items to others. Once we are done using the children’s items we already have, we swap or donate them. My friends and I swap clothes, toys and books. By reusing items, swapping helps to save the environment and to lessen some of our expenses. Anything we don’t swap, gets donated. I have found a charity that I like to support. They even come and pick up your items!

When dealing with food, meal planning helps me to only purchase what is needed. The menus get planned for the week and the food items to make the weeks worth of meals are added to my shopping list. I also keep a “Target list”, which helps me to buy only what is on the list in that lovely store.

What are some tricks you use to only buy what you need?

Simple Steps to Go Green {Week #3}

Stephanie | September 17, 2014

Welcome to the third step in our Simple Steps to Go Green series. If you missed step 1 or 2 (0r would like like little reminder), please click here and here.

Step #3 Get your greens (and other veggies).

-Use your green thumb and bring some plants inside your home. This helps purify the air (and makes your home more beautiful). Also, try growing your own herbs and plants. Growing a garden is one way to ensure you are eating organic produce. However, if you are like me, and don’t have much room for a traditional garden, there are other alternatives. You can grow herbs and plants in pots or hydroponically. Buying the potted herb plants costs about the same as buying the fresh herbs for one time use and you get to use the plants many times. They can also serve as beautiful decorations. One of my favorite plant decorations is the Rosemary tree that Whole Foods sells around the holidays!

After watching some neat videos online about how you can grow veggies from seeds, the kids and I have enjoyed starting avocado plants from their seeds. We are still waiting for them to produce fruit, but they are growing beautifully.

-Compost. I think this is such a wonderful idea (but I have yet to convince my husband of this).

-Purchase organic produce whenever possible. Eating your fruits and veggies is a great way to stay healthy, but with all of the pesticides and chemicals used today, I try to purchase organic produce. I know this can be expensive (I get reminded of this often). However, the EWG has produced a list of the cleanest and dirtiest fruits and veggies to help with this objective. As of 2014, apples, strawberries and grapes are the three “dirtiest” fruits and veggies. Unfortunately, they are the most popular among children, too!

By purchasing organic, you not only are providing cleaner produce for your families, you are helping the environment as the pesticides used also get into the soil and water. When you purchase organic, you are voting with your dollars!

Once the food is purchased, if it starts to go bad, you can freeze it (and it works really well for smoothies). Another way I save money while buying organic is to buy frozen fruits and vegetables.

How do you save money while going green and eating your greens? I’d love to hear from you!

Thank you and best wishes,

Stephanie

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Simple Steps to Go Green {Week #2}

Stephanie | September 9, 2014

Welcome to the second step in our Simple Steps to Go Green series. If you missed step 1 or would like a reminder, please read this post.

*This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases made through affiliate links help support this blog’s mission at no additional cost to you. Please see my disclosure policy for more information. Thank you for your support!

Step #2 Make your home less toxic.

Indoor pollutants come from all sorts of chemicals we use to make our lives easier – paints, carpets, furniture, household cleaners, and personal care products, to name a few. Below are some examples of ways to make your home the sanctuary it should be.

The simple action of removing your shoes before entering the home can help prevent bringing all the gross stuff on the bottom of your shoes into your house. Your shoes have dirt, germs, and tons of other junk on them, so why would you want to bring all of that into your home when it is easily preventable?

Another way to make your home less toxic is by having plants in your home. Plants can help to purify the air inside the home.

Reduce/limit VOCs: Most air fresheners contain VOCS. If you are going to paint, please choose low VOC paint.

Consider organic cotton bedding, which isn’t treated with chemicals.

Another way is by using green cleaners (including laundry detergent). Your home should be a safe environment, not one full of toxins. Some scary examples:

-Over 90% of poison exposures happen at home.

-Common chlorine bleach is the #1 household chemical involved in poisoning.

-The average US home generates more than 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year (the EPA designates toilet cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, oven cleaners, and bleach as hazardous waste).

Cleaners are one of the leading causes of toxins in the home. This is especially true regarding children and pets.

Thankfully, going “green” is becoming more popular. As a result, there are many more “green” choices available and they have become much more effective.

My favorite green cleaners are from Shaklee. To learn more about my favorite non-toxic cleaning products, please read my prior post.

Now through the end of September, Shaklee is offering free shipping and free membership (over a $39 value) on the Get Clean package. As always, Shaklee has their 100% money-back guarantee, so there is no risk to try them! Please contact me with any questions or to assist with ordering and/or click this link to start shopping!

Thank you and best wishes,

Stephanie

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This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase through my link. Thank you for supporting my blog and small business! (Please review the disclosure tab at the top for the full disclosure.)

Get Clean

Stephanie | September 7, 2014

We all want a clean home, especially if little ones reside there. We clean the floors and tables, so our children don’t get any dirt or germs on their hands. But do you really know what is in your cleaners? Here are some startling facts:

-Over 90% of poison exposures happen at home.

-Common chlorine bleach is the #1 household chemical involved in poisoning.

-Organic pollutants, found in many common cleaners and air fresheners, are found at levels 2 to 5 times higher inside your home than out.

-A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning shower walls could inhale three times the “acute one-hour exposure limit” for glycol ether-containing products set by the California Office for Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

-Common cleaners give off fumes that can potentially increase the risk of kids developing asthma, the most common chronic childhood disease.

-1 in 13 school-aged children has asthma. Rates in children under five have increased more than 160% from 1980-1994.

-Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants. Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more water, eat more food, and breathe more air than adults. The implication of this is that children will have substantially heavier exposures than adults to any toxicants that are present in water, food, or air.

-If your home is anything like the average U.S. home, you generate more than 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year (the EPA designates toilet cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, oven cleaners, and bleach as hazardous waste).

Your home should be the safest, healthiest, cleanest place in the whole world. So, let’s make our homes healthy and let’s get clean. To do so:

Check out what is in the cleaners you are using.

Want to see how your cleaners rate? Go to http://www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/ingredients.htm

Some chemical ingredients to look out for:

-Sodium hydroxide

-Hydrochloric acid

-Ammonia

-Sulfuric acid

Get rid of the nasty stuff in your home following local waste collection service guidelines.
Find safer choices.

The brand I use and trust is Shaklee. Here are few reasons why:

-For more than 50 years, Shaklee has created products that improve the health of the people and the planet.

-In 1960, Shaklee introduced Basic-H®, one of the first biodegradable, nontoxic cleaners.

-Basic-H was selected as an official Earth Day product and has been used on Jacques Cousteau’s ships, in the Biosphere 2 Project, and by many other environmental groups.

-The Get Clean kit was featured on Oprah as one of her favorite things.

-Get clean products are super concentrated, saving you money – ounce for ounce! You would have to spend more than $3,400 on conventional, ready-to-use products from major name brands to get the same amount of clean you’ll find in the Get Clean Starter Kit, which is under $110.

-It is safe, powerful, green and smart. Get Clean is formulated without volatile organic cleaning compounds. So, you save money without dirtying the earth or you.

-Get clean is tough on dirt. It outperforms or matches 15 national brands.

-Get clean is safe for you, your family and the earth.

-Save Green and save the Environment. When you buy the Get Clean Starter Kit versus conventional, ready-to-use cleaners, 108 pounds of packaging waste stays out of landfills and 248 pounds of greenhouse gas is eliminated.

-Shaklee has a 100% money-back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose except dirt and a whole lot of toxins.

Now is an excellent time to try Get Clean. For the month of September, Shaklee is offering free membership and free shipping on a Get Clean Starter kit. Please contact me for more information and/or visit http://stephfritz.myshaklee.com/us/en/shop/healthyhome/kit

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Simple Steps to Go Green {Week #1}

Stephanie | September 1, 2014

One of my passions is health and wellness. I love reading and learning tips and tricks about becoming healthier. Another passion is helping others. Putting the two together, I came up with a “simple step” series to address several areas of life near and dear to my heart (and hopefully yours, too).

Unfortunately, habits can be hard to change, so let’s take it slow and steady. Each week we will focus on a new step. Even if you have already discovered the step for the week, maybe focusing on it will help bring a newfound awareness. My hope is that you enjoy and learn something from this exercise and that we can all grow and evolve together.

Step #1: Reduce, reuse, and recycle.

This phrase is mentioned a lot, but have you really stopped to think about all of the ways you can make an impact utilizing these three simple words? Recycling each week is one obvious way, but what about becoming more conscious of reusing items. For example, instead of just recycling your sheets of paper, first try to use the back of the paper for notes, children’s drawings or grocery lists. Then, recycle it.

When possible utilize reusable containers. Some easy examples are for packing lunches, snacks and leftovers. If you do use plastic sandwich bags, try washing them out for another use. Try to think of various ways to re-purpose items. Some examples are: to save glass jars for rice or bean holders; to save plastic containers to corral toys; to donate games/toys/clothes and other unnecessary items to friends or charities. Another idea is to reduce paper towel and napkin usage. Fabric napkins aren’t just for fancy restaurants and microfiber cloths, rags or sponges are great paper towel substitutes. There are so many ways we can make less garbage if we just take a moment to stop and really think about it.

We can also try to reduce our usage of water and electricity. Shutting off lights and the TV when not in the room are easy things to do immediately (and they can save you money, too). Unplug appliances you don’t use often. Use excess water for plants and shut off water when brushing teeth.

These ideas can also be a fun job for your little ones. After my son’s school talked about recycling, he thought it was hysterical to point out when I left a light or appliance on and he was so excited to help me put items in the recycling bin.

Lastly, focus on reducing the amount of unnecessary things brought into you home. For me (and with whining children), it helps to think about where an item is going to go at home. If there isn’t an easily defined “home” for the new item, then it probably isn’t needed. Additionally, children grow so fast (and their preferences change so fast). Keeping that in mind, how many shirts/toys/etc. do they really need?

Those are some ideas to hopefully get you thinking about how you can be “greener”. They may seem like very simple steps with insignificant impact, but as Dr. Suess so wonderfully said in The Lorax, ““Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

In what ways do you help to make Mother Nature happy? I would love for you to share your ideas, too!

If you enjoyed this post, please read Week 2, Week3 and Week 4.

Thank you and best wishes,
Stephanie

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Pantry organization with the De-clutter Challenge

Stephanie | September 1, 2014

I love to shop and have a hard time parting with things. As a result, controlling clutter is a constant struggle. So, the 91 day de-clutter challenge on Mary Organizes, has me very excited. During the challenge, each week you focus on one room or area and each day you focus on a new task. So, it isn’t too overwhelming.

The focus of this week was the kitchen and pantry. As my pantry became more organized, a simple, but now glaringly obvious realization occurred: if it remained better organized, then duplicate or similar items wouldn’t be bought at the grocery store. Additionally, meal and snack prep would me easier as each item had an area and items were much more visible. Saving time and money has me motivated to keep it organized.

This is the finished project.

The steady progress of my de-cluttering effort is so exciting and I can’t wait to de-clutter more. Do you need to de-clutter, too? If so, check out MaryOrganizes.com and the 91 day challenge.

How has reducing clutter simplified your life?

Items seen in post:

OXO Good Grips turntable (I got mine on Amazon)

31 Your way Cube

31 Hang-Up Home organizer

White bins are from Target and Walmart

Vitamins and Supplements

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Timesaving bulletproof coffee

Stephanie | August 12, 2014

Have you jumped on the bulletproof coffee craze? You know, where you put coconut oil and a few other things in your coffee and blend it? Well, I tried it and it was a little too much work for my morning madness. So, I came up with my “timesaver” version.

First, make the coffee as usual.

Second, add a little coconut oil (We like Nutiva*)

Third, blend with a handheld steam free milk frother. If you don’t have one, just make sure the coffee is hot and stir until the coconut oil melts.

If you want to get real fancy, you could add cinnamon, nutmeg or any other spice that makes you happy.

Viola! Enjoy!

*I am not getting paid to recommend Nutiva. They don’t even know who I am. We just really love it!

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My current favorites from Trader Joe’s

Stephanie | August 12, 2014

Recently a Trader Joe’s opened close to our home. My children love going to push the little shopping carts, to sample new treats and to find the strawberry (to get a lollipop). There are so many unique items there, I was unsure what to try first.

Some of the treats we have been enjoying are:

1. TJ’s greek and organic yogurt

2. TJ’s hummus
3. Havarti cheese

4. Keifer and coconut water

5. Desserts: Lemon or Coconut cookies; lemon pound cake; spooktaclar peanut butter. (These are an occasional treat and not the healthiest of choices).

6. Veggie & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips
7. Organic 85% dark chocolate bars

What to pack for Italy

Stephanie | August 9, 2014

Ciao, Italia. Just saying those words makes me happy. Recently, we were blessed with an opportunity to go to Italy. In July, we went to Florence, Siena and Rome. It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

However, I had no idea what to pack! I scoured our itinerary and the internet for clues and would love to share what I learned with you.

Seven essentials to bring to Italy

1. Pack at least two pairs of comfy shoes. Depending on the time of year you go, may determine what type of shoes you need. In the hot summer, sandals are a must. Walking on the cobblestone roads and narrow sidewalks calls for flats or very low platforms/heals. If you don’t need to be dressy, sneakers will work great. You walk a lot! You may also want to bring bandaids and/or blister bandaids – although their pharmacias carry them.

2. Bring an adaptor and/or converter.

3. If you stay in an authentic Italian hotel (not a chain) you will most likely not be given a washcloth. If this is essential, pack a few of your own.

4. For longer hair, pack hair ties, barrettes or something to keep your hair back. I found it very hard to use my flatiron (hello burning smell), so I just gave up and went au natural. If you would like to dry your hair, I would bring a hair dryer or call the hotel to make sure they can provide one.

5. Bring clothes that don’t need ironed. We were told that it was a security risk to have irons in the room and were charged 18 Lira to have clothes ironed.

6. If you have early tours, a travel alarm clock might be helpful to you. For whatever reason, we couldn’t get our cell phones to sync to the correct time (have I mentioned we aren’t the most tech savvy people)

7. Bring your camera (with extra memory) and your sense of adventure!

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