Erin, Author at The Sunny Side Up Blog

organization2

01.15.13

To-organize list and progress made

Alright friends. You’ve heard it here before. The first step towards having an organized home is making a list. Go through your house room by room and make a list of each space that needs a makeover. I just love a good makeover! Makes me excited just thinking about one! Be specific. Putting it all on paper will help take away some of the overwhelmed feeling. Then just tackle one drawer, cupboard, closet at a time. That’s what I do anyway. :) Here is my “to-organize list” for 2013:

{Touch-up} (these are areas that are already organized but need a 20 minute straightening)

– garage

– pantry

– fridge

– closet – Kenny’s side of course :)

– girls’ closets/drawers

– girls’ bookshelf

{Total makeover}

– create files for each of the kids (transfer kitchen drawer papers)

– clean out kitchen paper drawer

– DVD’s (new system!)

– closet under stairs (box up!)

– Halloween/fall decor (box up!)

– Christmas (box up!)

– re-organize playroom bins

– bookshelf in guest room (box books – make room for toys)

– scrapbook room (box up scrapbook supplies!)

– sort/organize kids’ recent school work (add new folders)

– re-organize Kole’s closet/drawers

– bunk bed storage (box up!)

So! This might not look like a lot, but I have less than a year and I’m well aware that with my current schedule, time is limited. I will be beyond thrilled if I can complete this list before the move. I’ve managed to complete a few of my “touch-up” areas – spaces that are organized but needed a quick clean out. Organized spaces always need a bit of re touching… or they don’t stay organized. :)

Here is what I’ve accomplished so far (nothing revolutionary, but progress is progress, right?)

I took our Christmas decor that I usually store in trunks throughout our house…

and I boxed it all up! It’s ready for its new home. But it will have to chill in the garage for a bit first. :)
I have to add that I already have plans for how I’m going to store all of my holiday decor in the new house and I can’t wait! I think I’m more excited to organize my new house than I am to actually live in it. I know. That’s not right, right? :)

The stuffed animals/dolls moved into the trunks because I’m going to pack up most of the stuff in our closet under the stairs (where they were previously living when not played with). The girls helped sort their toys and even though they refused to part with anything (because each toy is a beloved friend who is real with real feelings – thanks a lot Toy Story) they did agree to sending less played with toys to grandma’s house. That was the only solution I could come up with after debates and tears. (Sorry mom… you were saying you needed a few more stuffed animals right?)

This weekend I bought groceries and did a quick pantry clean out. I didn’t take a recent picture, but aside from different things in the clear containers it looks the same as the picture from my original pantry organization post.

Then I moved onto the fridge…

I pulled all of the food out.

Then I pulled all of the shelves out.

Then I washed everything super clean. That’s the trick.

Don’t just wash things clean. Wash them super clean.

Then I put everything back where it belongs. This is a pretty complicated system.

Am I moving too fast? ;)

I labeled our water bottles.

And I washed and cut up all of the fruits/veggies so that they are ready to eat/serve.

Then I patted myself on the back and went to give Kole a bath and didn’t take any after pics (the ones above are from an earlier post I did on fridge organization). But, like the pantry, it looks pretty similar.

Like I said, nothing major, but at least I’ve checked off a few things on my list! I’m in the middle of boxing up the bookshelf in our guest room and it is a MESS. I can’t find more than 15 minutes at a time to work on it so it might just be a mess for a while. Actually I have quite a few messes going on around here that I’m anxious to tackle. Check out the current state of my scrapbook room (a.k.a Kole’s room):

Christmas wrapping station is still up, I’m going to have to sort though 10 layers just to see my desk, and there is a pile in the corner that is blocking the door so that I can’t even open it all the way.

It’s driving me mad.

But I have to be patient.

All in good time. :)

Have you started a list yet? Any progress made?

xoxo, Erin

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Christmas

01.11.13

Random December

Ok. I know we are well into January. And who wants to see Christmas pictures in January? But I’m behind. So very behind on posting pictures that mean a lot to me. Pictures that I want to always remember. This blog is a lot of things to me and one of them is what it started out as – my personal family scrapbook. So yes. Christmas pictures in January. Kenny is asleep on the couch and I’m watching one HGTV home improvement show after another. It’s catch up time. :)

We spent a lot of December evenings taking the kids to look at lights and especially loved visiting the San Diego temple. It is always beautiful, but at Christmas time it’s simply breathtaking. We visit several times each December and talk about why we celebrate Christmas. It has become a favorite tradition. Clearly my kids love the nativity. So do “Softie” and “McKena” – the stuffed animals that accompanied us on every trip. :)

Love this picture.

I also love that El is wearing a coat and a skirt. Winter in San Diego!

Don’t love that Kenny was at the bottom of a hill looking up to take this picture, but I don’t have many pics of me with all three of my kids and because of that I cherish this one. When I look at this picture I can’t help but feel incredibly blessed. These three mean the world to me. You were in the mood for a little sap now weren’t you.

Playing around with camera settings trying to get a good picture of the Palm Tree lights.

While juggling a two year old on one hip. :)

Grinch time! We took the girls to the Old Globe Theatre in December to see The Grinch. Such a fun play. We enjoyed it so much that we all decided it needs to be an annual tradition.

One of my Cindy Lou Who’s. :)

Kenny and Ad messing around waiting for the show to start.

Too fun. Fingers crossed next year my little man can join us. Verdict is still out on whether he will be able to hold still or not… hmm.. fingers crossed the year after next my little man can join us. :)

Fun spending time with family over the Christmas break. I didn’t take too many pictures this trip, but I love this one with my mom and sister. Yes. My sister is there. She made me mad so I cropped her out. Ha! Kidding. :) Her decision. We were on our way to lunch with friends. Much needed girl time!

Shopping with my kids and mom a few days before Christmas.

We took turns. One of us shopped while the other one entertained the littles.

Last minute Christmas shopping at its finest!

It was a great December. And now I’m caught up. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Uncategorized

01.10.13

Goals and Windows

Well crap. I’ve gone and blown my New Year resolutions already. You know. The two goals I set every year and never achieve: go to bed earlier and cook more. Since it’s well past midnight and I am still up and since I can see the box from Domino’s pizza still sitting on my counter from dinner I’ve decided my goals need some tweaking. New goals for 2013: never go to bed before midnight and order take out at least once a week. No. At least twice a week. There. Goals I will actually accomplish. :)

I spent my evening sending out e-mails for the new house so now there isn’t much time left to blog. Things with the house have been busy and exciting! I’ll share more soon but since I’m short on time here are just a few pics I took yesterday. We have windows! They are camping out in the garages and are being installed tomorrow. YEA!

We chose double hung windows for the front and sides of the house (grids on the top half only) and the full grids for the back of the house.

Kitchen bay window.

Master bedroom window. I think? It’s late.

French doors.

More French doors.

And transoms for above the french doors. :)

I can’t wait to see them installed. It’s finally going to start looking like a real house!

I’m off to bed and will share more soon. Enjoy your day! And I officially give you all permission to tweak your New Year goals if you so desire. I’m feeling much better about 2013 already.

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie and Addison

01.09.13

Seriously mom?

Another picture??

I have some fun pics of my kids we had taken in the Fall that I need to sort through and post, but out of them all this one has to be my favorite! Oh my word little buddy. The look on your face says it all!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

01.08.13

Organizing in 2012 – a look back

Well! The holiday break has definitely come to an end. My kids went back to school today and like always I had mixed emotions. Bummed that the party is over and the regular routine will ensue – and also ready for the party to be over and for the regular routine to ensue. I love having my kids and Kenny home with me all day but for the love! I couldn’t get anything done! Our house is such a mess. Unpacked bags from traveling, boxes of Christmas decor still out, piles of laundry, new toys all over the place with nowhere to call home. I made a tiny dent today but it’s going to take me a week to get back on top of things. So while I’ve made my new 2013 “to organize” list (which I’ll share soon!) I have yet to actually organize anything. Please tell me I’m not alone. It will make me feel so much better. :)

Before I embark on a complete organizing frenzy this week I decided to write a quick round up post that includes most of my organized spaces from 2012. I know most of you have seen these posts before, but I need to do this for myself to remind me that #1 – Most of my 2012 list was checked off and completed and #2 – it took me a whole year to do it. Pace yourself Erin. Rome wasn’t built in a day…

I haven’t taken a recent pic of this list from last January, but aside from Kole’s room/closet everything has been checked off. It helps so much to have a list! Even though sometimes I stray away from it and come up with new spaces to organize, the list gives me direction and helps me focus in on what our main problem areas are.

Hopefully by sharing some of my organized spaces from 2012 it will inspire us all to kick it in gear this year and see what we can accomplish! (Que the Rocky music in the background…)

Ahh.. the pantry. Technically this makeover happened in 2011 but it was towards the end of that year so I’m including it in the round up anyway because it makes me happy. This set up has worked so well for us. Our pantry doesn’t always look this picture perfect, but it really is easy to keep organized because the baskets conceal so much and everything has a defined place. That happens because I don’t mix things up in the kitchen that often. Maybe that’s the secret to an organized pantry? You have to be a boring cook.

{January}

In January I found a solution for our crazy amount of stuffed animals (that my girls refuse to part with) and I shared my time management binder (recently updated to a time management notepad). I also got the kids’ bath toys, hair accessories and cupboards under control.

{February}

In February we talked about jewelry solutions and I shared how I organize mine. I also shared how I store cords and cards. Then I ended the month by finally tackling our laundry room cabinets.

{March}

In March I cleaned out and organized the girls’ bookshelf and organized all of my bathroom drawers.
(**sidenote – the bookshelf is currently a mess thanks to my 2 year old sidekick, but I’m happy to report that the bathroom drawers are nice and in tact! One out of two for the month of March – I’ll take it!)

{April}

In April I moved from the bathroom drawers to under the bathroom sink. I also finally organized our master closet. That was a time consuming project and one I was so happy to have checked off of my list!

{May/June/July}

Over the summer I posted about some of my favorite organizers. I also created a craft cupboard in our kitchen to organize our craft supplies/school work. I have to say that this is one of my favorite spaces ever. My girls use this cupboard every single day. I’ve hardly touched it myself and it still looks like this! That is the sign of a true well organized space. One that the kids can easily use and keep clean themselves. So many of my spaces look great for a week or two but without my constant straightening go back to being a mess. That’s when it’s time to re-evaluate what is and isn’t working and come up with something better. This craft cupboard is better. :)

{August}

In August I shared some tips for organizing travel with kids and I finally came up with a solution for our morning outfit drama. It was needed and way overdue!

{September}

In September I tackled Addison’s closet and sorted/organized the girls clothes. (I do this 3-4 times a year so that it never takes too long.)

{October}

In October I went a little crazy with Martha Stewart office supplies and re-organized my home decor inspiration pics, my built-in binder, and all of our recipes.

Things heated up with our new house in Nov/Dec so there wasn’t much time for organizing, but here are two more of my 2012 solutions that have really helped me stay organized…

My magazine rack that is always stuffed full of good reads. Love this.

And my favorite green file box/folders that I use to organize my kids school work until that magical day when I have time to scrapbook again.

Even though I’m sharing a lot of spaces today, this really is SO doable when you break things up and just do a little here and there. Tackle one or two spots a month. That is my goal for 2013. I don’t have an hour or two at a time in my schedule right now so 15 minutes a day will have to do. Eventually progress will be made and your home/life (because the two are very much correlated) will run more smoothly. I’m ready to start now.

Que Rocky music in the background…

or any other music you like.

But Rocky is playing in my head.

Bring it on. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Kole

01.04.13

Love language

The two of us have our own.

Happy weekend everyone!

xoxo, Erin

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Christmas

01.03.13

Christmas card displays

I love Christmas cards. Who doesn’t!? They make the happiest mail. Seeing so many pictures of people I love always puts a smile on my face. So much so that I never take my cards down right after Christmas. They usually linger until at least February or March.

I used to tape all of our cards on and around the pantry door in our kitchen.

Then last year I painted an old frame aqua and used it to display some of my cards.

I started taping the rest of my cards to the wall next to the frame, but I was having a hard time getting them to stick on the wall so I never got all of them hung and I had to take them down early. I was so bummed!

So this year I was prepared! I bought painters tape (a suggestion from a few sweet readers!) and went to work. I hung some of my cards on the wall and woke up the next morning to this —

SO disappointing! Kole and I just shook our heads.
I guess painters tape wasn’t the solution. At least not for my crazy wall.

I didn’t have many options left.

So I taped my cards to the front door. And good old scotch tape did the trick! Not one card has fallen. When I ran out of room on the door I started taping them to the wall next to the door and those are staying put too. I’m not sure why. But I’m not going to question it. Kole and I just smile and call it a Christmas miracle.

The last two years I have hung our past Christmas cards on our stair banister, but this year when I started hanging the garland, my two year old sidekick had other plans. Pulling everything down was just too much fun for my little buddy so once again I was forced to mix things up. Flexibility has become my middle name ever since a certain someone arrived on the scene. :)

So our past holiday cards found a new home in my beloved aqua frame.

And they were reindeer approved.

I’m thinking my door of cards will stay put for a while.

I’m kind of loving it!

At least until February or March.

Or maybe as long as the tape holds.

Or until a certain two year old sidekick (and his creative partners in crime) decide on something different.

What would I do without their help?

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

01.02.13

Time to organize!

It’s 2013! WOOT WOOT! Happy New Year everyone! I hope you’ve all been enjoying the past week! I took a mini computer break to spend time with my family. We have been traveling. And partying. And eating. Oh my word have I been eating! Tis the season, right? The season for barely squeezing into your jeans. And for then setting goals to once again fit into said jeans. I always have mixed feelings when January comes rolling around. On one hand I’m sad that Christmas is over. December goes by way too fast for me and when it all ends I typically find myself in a post party funk. BUT. The good news is that January brings along a cure for that funk. My marvelous go-to cure/drug/instant upper.

Time to organize!

Today I started working on my 2013 organizing list! This year will be a bit different for me since some of what I’m organizing will be going straight into boxes. Our new house won’t be done until late summer/early fall but I’m already anticipating just how crazy moving is going to be. My goal is to get a jump start by de-cluttering and simplifying as much as possible. Anyone else ready to de-clutter and simplify? Aren’t those fun words? I think I’ll say them again. De-clutter and simplify. Are you with me!? Who’s with me!? Let’s do this! (Clearly too much football today. Along with too much food. Did I mention I’ve been eating too much food?)

I’ve rounded up a few past posts that might be helpful for those of you who have decided that 2013 is the year you are going to get organized…

{ORGANIZING CHRISTMAS DECOR – 2012}

{MY TIPS FOR GETTING AND STAYING ORGANIZED}

{LINKS TO ALL OF MY ORGANIZED SPACES}

I hope they help! I’ll be sharing my list for the new year soon and of course, lots of details about how I’m organizing my life and home this year. I think I’m coming out of my post December funk already.

Happy New Year everyone! 2013 is going to be a great one.

xoxo, Erin

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Christmas

12.27.12

Christmas decor 2012

Popping in to say hello and share some pics of our Christmas decor this year. I starting working on this post on Christmas Eve while Kenny, Kole and my dad were all taking Christmas Eve naps. :) But then the girls and I turned on It’s a Wonderful Life and the house smelled so good (combination of my candle and my mom’s cooking) that I was forced to close my computer and savor the day. And now I’m posting Christmas decor pics after Christmas. But I can live with that. Hope you can too. :)

I didn’t have a lot of time to be creative this month so my Christmas decor is very similar to last years.

Stockings were hung on my hutch again. Safely out of my little buddy’s reach. :)

I just tossed up white pitchers and some greenery – things I had on hand.

I also added some of my glass bottles and jugs.

The only new purchase was this fun little reindeer I found for a steal at Home Goods.

I think he is simply charming and the two of us have become fast friends.

Love seeing my kiddos’ stockings all lined up.

The girls left the sweetest little notes in each of them for Santa and Mrs. Claus. :)

Last year I decided to try out a more winter-y look with my mantel and stuck with a silver and aqua theme. But I didn’t love the greenery with the blue and I felt like it was missing something. RED.

So this year I switched things around a bit and added a red wreath. I found this wreath at Michaels for 4 bucks! It adds the perfect pop of red I was looking for. I love inexpensive wreaths like this because then I don’t feel guilty buying a new one each year. It’s so fun to mix things up!

After I hung my wreath I asked Kenny if it would look better with a red ribbon holding it up instead of a silver ribbon and without even looking up from his laptop he answered “that’s out of my skill set.”

My babe. What would I do without him.

I tossed a few red, aqua and silver ornaments in my apothecary jars.

And added a little bling to reindeer #2 I picked up at Home Goods. Because I was having too much fun with the reindeer on my hutch to stop there.

I think he looks regal.
He is so happy in his new home.

I had a few leftover ornaments so I tossed them in mason jars and added them to a few random spots around the house.

Same winter-y frames from last year. (Scrapbook paper project here.)

And I hung the same silver/aqua ornaments from our dining room light fixture.

(decor from 2010)

You’ll notice I had things on the floor and on low counters and tables.

A sure sign of the “pre-Kole era” as we like to call it. :)

This year tables stayed wiped clean. I also swapped out my Merry Christmas quote for my red bird.

Because change is a good thing.

And then I called it a day and my 2012 Christmas decor was complete!

Oh! Except for my pantry door holding all of our past pics on Santa’s lap. So fun to see how much my babies have grown each year. This year there was hardly room on Santa’s lap!

But I will keep taking them to sit on Santa’s lap.

As long as I possibly can.

xoxo, Erin

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Christmas

12.26.12

Merry Christmas!

Santa came! :)

So much love and excitement.

We had a wonderful Christmas.

Wishing the same to you and yours!

xoxo,

Erin

xoxo, Erin

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Christmas

12.20.12

Time Management Notepad

Wow. Christmas is in less than a week! Are you ready? I’m not. No matter how hard I try to avoid scrambling during the last week of December, I’m always scrambling during the last week of December. Oh well. I guess it wouldn’t be Christmas without a bit of that “harried/stressed gotta find a way to fit everything in” feeling. :) Because this has been an especially busy December for us with added new house meetings I have had to work really hard to stay organized and on top of things. Usually I use my time management binder each day to help me organize my life. (Time management binder post here.)

I still love my binder. It is where I completely DUMP my brain each day. But once the month of December hit I could tell I needed to simplify things. So I made a drastic change. My Time Management Binder became My Time Management Notepad. Ok. Maybe not so drastic after all. :) But I’ve been surprised at how much better this notepad has served my needs this month.

I don’t have time for any of the “extra” stuff right now (home projects, scrapbooking, etc.) so I kept things simple by buying a 5 subject notepad and dividing it into the four main areas I need to focus on each day.

I placed my favorite Martha Stewart home office dividers on each of the notepad folders…

and labeled them TO-DO’s, NEW HOUSE, BLOG, CHRISTMAS. Obviously these tabs would be different for everyone, but the idea is to break your to-do’s down into 3 or 4 basic categories. What I like about the notepad vs. the binder is that #1 – there aren’t as many categories (like I said, I needed to simplify) #2 – there is more paper and with the spiral binding it’s easier to use to take notes. I am taking a lot of notes these days. Like the binder, there is a pocket folder for each section to hold loose papers.

Here is how I’ve organized the Christmas section of my notepad this year. And yes, I realize that while my notepad has helped me organize for Christmas, I wasn’t organized enough to get this post done at the beginning of the month to help you! (SO SORRY!) I’m hoping this gives you some ideas for next December. Never to early to start planning ahead. :)

I used the pocket to hold random magazine clippings of toy ideas for the kids. I’ve also used it to hold receipts. I hang on to all of my Christmas shopping receipts so that if we need to do an exchange/return after the holiday we have the receipt ready to go. It’s nice to have them all in one place.

On the paper inside the Christmas section I’ve written LOTS of things:

– Friends to add to our Christmas card list this year and addresses that have changed.
– What I’ve bought for each of the kids and where I have it stashed. Without this I would totally forget where I have things hidden. I’ve had to get so creative because we are tight on space and my girls are SNEAKY.
– A list of extended family. Gift ideas and what I’ve already bought each of them. **You can see why I couldn’t share these pages on my blog. :)
– A list of friends/neighbors I am giving gifts to and what I’m giving each of them. I check each person off after their gift has been delivered.
– Grocery list for Christmas Eve/Day dinner. My mom is coming to our house this year for Christmas so we will have real meals! YEA!
– Random Christmas to-do’s including traditions/activities I want to for sure remember to do with my kids (make our Pretzel Hugs, visit Christmas Card Lane, etc.)

The Christmas section of this binder has been so helpful for me this month. Each year after December I write down a list of things I want to do better/change for next year and I’ll include that in this section too. That way next year I can glance through my notes (hopefully early Fall) and get a jump start on a few things. So that next year will be the year I don’t have that “harried/stressed gotta find a way to fit everything in” feeling. :)

The New House section has also been a huge help for me this month. I keep random magazine clippings and notes that I need in the folder. Plus I love having the notebook to take with me to the house. It’s so easy to use for jotting down notes.

These are a few things I’ve been working on this week. See why my blog posting has slowed down a bit? :) Every day there are decisions that need to be made which always involve research and a lot of phone calls and e-mails. Having it all in front of me in my notepad has really helped me stay on top of things. Nothing makes me happier than pulling out a page of house notes and tossing it knowing those decisions are behind me! I think this system would work great if you are doing any re-modeling or re-decorating too.

The BLOG section of my notebook is where I jot down ideas for blog posts and a sad attempt of a posting schedule that I never really follow. :)

The TO-DO section in the front of my notebook is for all of those random day to day things that come up. It’s my go to list each day to keep my schedule straight. I try to only write down things I HAVE to get done that day. There are so many things I’d love to do, but writing too many things down always overwhelms me and then I never get that satisfying feeling of checking everything off of my list. One of my best time management tips if you are struggling to stay on top of your life is to determine what your priorities are and be ruthless about trimming unnecessary stuff. I have had a hard lesson in that this year! Along with that, only write down your must do’s each day. Be specific and realistic. If you keep your list short you are more likely to actually accomplish it. If there’s extra time you can always do more. Ok. Maybe that was more than one time management tip. You know how I feel about this topic. :)

The only part of my binder that was lacking was my section to keep sticky notes for my “to-buy” lists.

So I added them on the inside of the front cover of my notebook. When I’m running to Target I grab the Target list and toss it in my purse. My love affair with sticky notes lives on.

So as you can see, this is very similar to my binder. I just took out the extra stuff that wasn’t a priority and added things that are a priority in my life right now. This would obviously look different for each of you, but the idea is the same. Having a place to dump your brain and organize your thoughts makes a world of difference.

Now if I could just get my handy little notepad to wrap all of my Christmas presents for me….

xoxo, Erin

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Christmas

12.18.12

Dear Santa

This is one of several “drafts” of El’s Christmas letter to Santa. Her top two wish list items keep changing (Santa has learned to hold off on toy making for this child!). Her top two items change, but wish #3 stays the same. For “everyone in the hole univers to have a wonderfull christmas and a happy new year.”

That is my wish this year too sweet Ellie.

And p.s. Santa loves you too.

xoxo, Erin

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