Shoe Organization

We have a great little spot off the side of our laundry room where the kids sit and put on their shoes and grab their coats before they head out to the garage to get in the car.  (You can check out the post about the coat rack we made here).  The problem can been seen in this before picture:

And my son is currently at school, so imagine another pair of shoes, a winter coat, and a backpack added to this mess.  Real nice, huh?

After some cleaning, purging, and putting away, here's the AFTER:

Yay!  Much better!  Most of this is thanks to our IKEA trip last weekend.  I had a certain amount of Christmas money to spend, and instead of blowing it all on the sideboard I liked for my coffee bar, I found a side table instead.  I then had enough money leftover to get this great shoe cabinet....

 

and I'm loving it!  It's super thin and doesn't take up much room at all, keeps the shoes up off the floor, and looks pretty cute while doing it!

PS:  Did you see yesterday's post about our latest adoption fundraiser?  I'm hoping a few of you will donate items from your etsy shop or similar store to help bring our son(s) home from Ethiopia!  Please contact me for more details!

Upcoming Fundraiser - Can YOU Help?

Hi all....
Just a quick post to ask for your help with a little something.....our next adoption fundraiser!  I'd like to do something like my friend Lindsey did here, or like The Annessa Family did here.  If you aren't going to click on the links for an explanation, basically people donated stuff and do be given away when donations were received.  The dollar amount donated determined the amount of tickets given, and then numbers were randomly chosen to see who won what.

To make it a successful fundraiser, I'm hoping for some really great donations!  Do you have an etsy shop or work for a DS company?  Would you like to make a donation?  Would someone you know like to make a donation??  Your role would be pretty simple.... provide me with a picture, an approximate prize value, and then be willing to ship the prize to the winner in a timely manner.  In return....I can't give much (since that would defeat the purpose of the fundraiser), but I would clearly put a link to your shop on the post.  Plus you would feel so good inside, knowing you helped to bring our sweetie(s) home!  :)  (If you are new and have no clue what I'm talking about, check out the Adoption posts or the Our Adoption Journey tab at the top!!)

Thank you!  (and never fear, there will be more fun posts coming.....I've been working on my coffee bar!)

Pinterest Love

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest.  I *love* that I can find pretty much anything I want there, get loads of inspiration, and find enough recipes to eat something new for dinner for the rest of my life.  I *hate* my tendency to pin a bunch of things, and then never do anything with them.  Lately I've been trying to be more intentional about actually following through and making some of those DIY projects and/or billions of recipes.

Here's a few of my recent favorite Pinterest finds that I've actually done something with!  (Pictures are from the original posters, unless noted....click the links to check out more of the originals!)  And please, PLEASE, don't pin from this page.  If you see something you want to pin, please go to the original and pin from there.  It only takes 20 seconds longer, and that way the right person gets the credit!!

First up, our Christmas morning breakfast, idea courtesy of Made it on Monday - Christmas tree cinnamon rolls.  I cheated and used frozen bread dough instead of making it from scratch.  The kids loved it!  Here's a pic of how mine turned out...

 

Another recent hit was Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings by BubbleCrumb.  The ultimate comfort food and it was uber-easy - I didn't even have to remember to get chicken out of the freezer to thaw!  (I was out of onions so I skipped them).

And here's one I'm making right now....literally I am typing and cutting an onion.  Yay, multitasking!  Doesn't this Chili's Copycat Salsa from Six Sisters' Stuff look so yummy?

As always, you can follow my Pinterest boards by clicking here.

What have you been pinning?

What the Hey????

So I totally haven't followed through on my hopes of returning to blogdom on a regular basis.  That happens when your computer looks like this:

It's not good, folks.  Most days it doesn't even turn on.  Luckily I do have an iPad (surprise gift from my in-laws, woohoo!!), so I can still check email and facebook, you know- the important things....but unfortunately I can't blog from there.  Most days my laptop won't turn on, but today must be my lucky day because not only did I survive grocery shopping with a toddler, my laptop appears to be semi-working.  Long story short....we're looking for a new laptop.  Thinking about going with a Mac.  Thoughts?

But my computer woes aren't exactly what I was planning to post about today.  Maybe you noticed the link on the picture and that gave you a little hint on what has been going on....I wanted to give a little shout-out to all of you who follow the proper rules & etiquette of sharing pictures and posts.  I LOVE it, I really do, when someone thinks something of mine is good enough to share with others.  It's just super cool and nice, like a virtual pat on the back.  However, when someone takes my images or posts without my permission with the intent of passing them off as their own.....well that's not cool anymore.  This happened yesterday.  Thankfully, there are some really super awesome people out there in blogland who contacted me to let me know this was happening (to me and others, from what I heard).  By the time I received the link, it had already been taken down.  My first thought was, "I guess that's a compliment in a weird sort of way," but then I started thinking about how it takes time to do these projects, and credit really does need to be given where credit is due.  Not only is it nice and polite, but really?  Taking my stuff - my pictures of my stuff - and trying to pass it off as your own and even sell it??  Soooo not cool.

Now listen, we're all friends here, right?  If you are that person, I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe you haven't been taught blog etiquette yet.  But consider yourself schooled and don't do the same thing again.  It's just not nice.

So to reiterate....I really do love it when you share my posts....you can do it anytime you want as long as you include a link back!  You don't even need to get my permission.  I do ask that you refrain from using the photos that include my children.  You don't want the mama bear to come out.

Sorry if this is a grumpy post.  I have one of those hacking coughs....(the kind where you cough until you gag and almost throw up, and also you pee a little because it just hasn't been the same down there since birthing children), and it's just been one of those days.

Home Coffee Bar

So yesterday I mentioned that we are now the proud owners of a Keurig!  One drawback is that to have the Keurig and the K-cup carousel sitting out.....it takes up a lot of room on my already-too-small counters.  So I've been toying with the idea of adding a coffee bar in our kitchen.  Of course I headed to Pinterest for inspiration, and when I typed in "home coffee bar," this delightful picture kept coming up, from {the vintage wren}.

Adorable!  We have an entire wall that is empty, so the spot is taken care of, but I need to find the cute buffet/sideboard/whatever you want to call it.  I have checked several places already, but I'm still searching.  It needs to be counter-height, so my toddler doesn't decide to make herself a cup of coffee, and not too deep (16-18 inches would be about perfect, max of about 20").  I contemplated a simple table, but I really would rather have something with more storage, since I'm incredibly lacking in that department!  Oh yeah, I don't want to spend an arm and a leg, since somewhere down the line our kitchen is getting remodeled.  (Somewhere waaaayyyy down the line, that is).

Here's a few pics I've seen online that I'm currently enjoying....

Sorry for the blurriness, but it's cute, right?  Price isn't too bad at $149.99 from JC Penneys.  I like the red, but have you seen my kitchen?  Mostly blue (ick) cabinets, a few cabinets that the paint has been removed, a white island.....I'm not sure that adding one more color is the best option!

I really like this one from Ikea, but at $350, it's more than I really wanted to spend.  On the plus side, it's white and very neutral looking....I'm thinking that once we no longer need it in the kitchen, we can use it somewhere else.

Of course, Pottery Barn has a multitude of drool-worthy buffets, but unless the sideboard-fairy drops one off on my front porch, I won't be getting one of those anytime soon!  Here's a few that I am particularly fond of....

I'm excited to find something I love.....I will probably be off to a few thrift stores this week, but I am hoping to find something SOON so I can reclaim my kitchen counters!  Thankful that I have some Christmas money to play with!  Any ideas?

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Disclaimer:  This is probably going to be the most materialistic post I have ever written.  I'm generally not a materialistic person, but I am loving some of my Christmas presents so much, I just had to share :)

My Keurig....I have debated about one of these for a loooooonnnnngggg time.  I loved the concept, especially because I love random flavored coffee, chai, etc, and my hubby is typically not a fan.  He just likes the regular stuff.  And the convenience!  How easy is it to just stick the little cup in the machine and press brew?!  But, the downsides were that the K-cups can be expensive, and when you have a large crowd of people, it might not end up being as convenient as just brewing a big pot of coffee.  Long story short, we got one for Christmas and I am LOVING it.  Turns out when I registered it online, I received a coupon code for "Buy 2 boxes of K-cups, get 2 free.....plus free shipping!"  My deal-loving self rejoiced over this :)  We also received a "My K-Cup" so we can continue buying our "Orphan Coffee" ($5 from each bag supports our adoption) and using it in our machine.  If you have been debating too, I say go for it!  We have this model, with 5 different cup sizes, so Jon can even brew a travel mug full of coffee before work in the morning.

These slippers.

I am totally a slipper person.  Wear them all the time at home.  Wish I could wear them all the time outside the home.  These are from Loft.  Incredibly comfortable and might cute!  Seems like they run a size small, unless my feet are growing.  Contemplating scouring the stores to find back-up pairs for when these wear out.

Another favorite is my new necklace.....hand-stamped Africa charm with a heart over Ethiopia.  I've been searching Etsy but can't find a picture.  When I find it again, I will be sure to feature it. I love wearing it as a constant reminder of my little Ethiopian(s).  Thanks, Mom!

Finally, I'll count these although I'm putting them away until our son(s) come home.

Cute right?  Much cuter in person.  And unwrinkled.  These are from Thirty-One Gifts old kid's line.  I wish they still had a kids line......alas it evidently wasn't popular enough.  The good news is, I was able to score these from the Thirty-One Outlet sale after Christmas.  It's still going on now.....check it out here if you want!  Only possible downside - shipping is a flat rate of $10, so if you only want one or two things, it's best split with a friend!  (Sale ends Friday at midnight PST!!......this is my consultant link, so if you already have a consultant, please contact them for their info.)

What were your favorite (materialistic) things from Christmas?  :)

Christmas Time is Here.....and Gone!

What happened?  I blinked and not only is Christmas over, but it's 2012?!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Our was busy with lots of family get togethers and traveling, but it was a very blessed time being with the ones we love.

Here's my two loves in front of the Christmas tree.....yes, C tends to be in pajamas an awful lot.

One of my favorite traditions is that each year when we decorate the tree, the kids each get a new ornament representing their favorite things, or something from that year.  This year, J got a Lego Star Wars Darth Vader (who would have guessed?), and C's was the Little Mermaid.  We also had a special ornament on our tree representing our littlest love/s in Ethiopia.  Although we don't know him/them yet, they hold a special place in our heats and can't wait for the day when we can celebrate Christmas with them in our family.

Ethiopian Cross

One of my goals for the New Year is to become a more active blogger again.....I have a few more posts in the works ..... as long as my children cooperate, they might even come today!  :)