The One Where I Skip The Hyped Blog Planners.

Well hello Spring Weather, nice of you to finally join us.

It has felt like forever, but the warmer temps have finally decided to grace the sweet state of Pennsylvania. I don't know about where you live, but everyone here is embracing this 70-80 degree weather that we have been having the past couple days. Windows are open. Birds are chirping. Kids are out playing. And it feels  good my dears, real good. After what seemed like a never ending winter and a groundhog that decided to play a cruel joke on us, the weather is here and I desperately praying that it stays.

It's sad to say but the winter converts me into complete bum status. With the sun setting at 4 p.m. and nothing but quality TV on, my butt was parked on my couch way more than it was at a gym. But that is all a changin'. With the warmer weather here, I suddenly have the urge to be super productive and to get projects done that have been held off for the winter. They're a gaggle of things I'd like to accomplish (post coming soon)  and being the list maker that I like to think I am, I needed a new planner to set me off on the right foot.

A year or so ago Erin Condren planners were all the rave and I will admit that I was one of the many to hop on the trend. With a Plum District coupon and a extra discount I ordered one of the puppies faster than you can say blogger bandwagon. It arrived and I really did love it but then reality set in and I honestly got barely any use out of it. Sure it was pretty and had alot of awesome and extra features but it was bulky and was not something I could easily carry around with me. When I was looking into getting a  new planner, I considered trying them out one last time but the $50 price tag was a big turnoff.

So I turned to another blog fave, Maybooks. I've heard a handful of bloggers rave and review about these and I was quite impressed with all the design options they had and the significantly lower price but I was still hesitant.  After some blogging vs. reality thinking, I asked myself, did I really want these planners because I loved the product or was I just hopping on the blogger bandwagon because OMGeveryoneelsehasone.

It was the latter.
I didn't need some fancy schmancy planner, all it's really needed for is for me to write all the shit I need to do down, keep blog ideas, and create dreaded meal plans. And I found the perfect planner for myself and gasp...Walmart. For $7. Hollllllllaaa

Just what I need and for a fraction of the price. I'd consider it a win.
I think we all in some way get sucked into a blogger trends that seem pretty awesome at the time but aren't always what we need and it's time to start refocusing on getting the best bang for my buck whether it's blog approved or not.

What bloggers trends have you been sucked into?!?

Pans, Paint, & Pups

It's a busy little weekend here at the Little Home and since B is hands deep in paint as I'm in batter, I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into how our weekend is panning out. 

What are you foxy ladies doing this weekend?!?

I'm loving the sun and the pretty light that's flooding our house right now, but it will be short lived.

Seems Mother Nature didn't get the memo that Spring has freakin' sprung. 

Working Away Our Weekend...

...On the house, that is. 

Since my BIL and sister will be moving out from next door to us in the near future, they decided to take down the pool this month and put up a fence that would separate our two yards again. 

They messed around with us telling us they were going to put in something shitty but my BIL pulled through and gave us the privacy fence that we wanted. Not that it's 'oh so private' since you can see over it from our deck, but atleast we won't have to see everything our creepy (yes, I'm prejudging, what of it) new neighbors will do.

  

And if you follow me on Instagram (lwlh) you got a play by play of this little project...

They'll be more details and better pictures of this one soon, but we're still finishing up trim work and a little something something that I've been dying to put in our new house. 

Now please excuse me while I go paint the town errr house. 

**Bee tee dubs, I was highly disappointed that Big Man and I painting our first room was not more Ghost like in the experience. Somehow I had it in my head that we were going to be all Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze during the pottery scene in Ghost and things were going to be all messy and sweaty and sexy and Big Man was going to gently hold my hand with every brush stroke and roller glide while Unchained Melody played in the background softly

Ohhhh, myyy lovvvve, my darling
I've hungered... for.... your touch
A long, lonely time

And time.... goes by.... so slowlyyyy
And time... can do.... sooooo much
Are you.... still mineeeeee?!?

I NEEEEEEEDDDD YOOOUUURRRR LOOOVVVVEEEEE!!!

Yeah, well that didn't happen. 

FAILLLLLLLLLL

I was the only messy, sweaty thing happening in that space.
Womp. Womp.

A List A Mile Long...

The time is quickly starting to tick down to when we move into our new Little Home.
Two weeks and two days to be exact.

And the lists are creeping up everytime I turn around.

- What to pack/throw away/donate?
- Changing all our utility information
- How to pack the house
- Who's helping us move?

So on and so forth.

But the list that is in constant talk with Big Man and myself is our discussions of all our impending renovations.
You see, though it is a 'new to us' house, it is far from new and is in desperate need of some updating and really needs the touches to make us feel like the house is really ours.

Since this is a big purchase for us and we plan on being here for a good couple of years, we want to invest in making the house as comfortable and as much 'us' as we can.

So what's on our Little Home 1.0 Renovation List?!?
Well I'm glad you asked....

- Spackle all the paneling in every room (this is BM's project, I think he's crazy)
- Repaint every room
- Pull up carpet in living room and dining room and put down new flooring
- Refinish oak cabinets in a darker finish.
- Renovate and decorate laundry/mudroom on first floor and bathroom
- Pull up carpeting on stairs and upstairs and put down new carpeting
- New flooring in attic
- Stain the deck
- Power wash the siding
- and probably a bunch of little things here and there that I'm forgetting.

It's sounds like alot and really it is, but I'm excited to take on this big project with the hubs and create our first true Little Home together. I'll probably be eating these words down the road when I'm ass deep in paint and spackle but right now I'm excited to get started.

Hopefully this motto will help us through....

♥ 

Damn You Barney...

'Clean up, clean up....everybody everywhere!

Clean up, clean up....everybody do your share!'

It is a whirlwind here at the Little Home as I scrub, disorganize, and sanitize every little corner and crevice of our dirty little casa. Thank goodness, Mama Dukes is up here and is my right hand gal to get this place spotless. My mom is awesome at alot of things but her main niche is cleaning. Woman can clean her little hiney off. It's not disgusting or anything, but some shizz needs to find a new Little Home that is not here. 

I started this past week and began organizing a few little things here and there...

Like my jewelry box....

Ugh, what a mess. 

I had so much garbage jewelry that I had from my teens and cheap Walmart earring that is was hard to find the actual good stuff. I threw away most of it but kept a few of the good ones around...

Ahhh....much better. 

Everything has a home and I can actually find my good earrings and jewelry. 

I don't wear much  jewelry because of work but I am content with my itty bitty collection. 

Next up was tackling our coat closet in our living room...

Just a hot mess. 

We don't really use this for our guest coats but it Big Man's overflow of all of his jackets and let me tell you, boy has clothes!!! Seriously, more than me. This closet has also become the overflow of our board games, our printer, and seasonal decorations that haven't made their way to the attic. 

After cleaning up Big Man's shizz and putting good use to my new Thirty One totes, I think it's a vast improvement....

Much better, right?!?

I don't feel like such a slob when I go to put friends or families coats away anymore. 

Now you'll have to excuse me as I go and take this house like a tornado. 

Windex be damned.  : ) 

It's A Jungle Out There...

In our house, chores are pretty much evenly divided. 

Chores and even in the same sentence when talking about the husband, yup!!!

This circus don't run by itself and this is a two team operation we have going on and that is the way it works for us. For the most part, I keep up the inside of the house while Big Man handles all things outdoor and car related.   He does help inside the house as well but his priority jobs that he strictly does by himself  are the outdoors such as cutting grass and garbage. 

Boy has been slacking though.

Let's look at Evidence Piece #1: 

We live in row houses and our two direct neighbors on each side are two older people who meticulously keep up with their yard. You can find both of them out there every weekend tending to their grass, picking weeds and watering their flowers. 

That would be our yard on the left (yikes!) and our lovely neighbor E's on the right.

Little Miss E got it going on. Not only does she have gorgeous flowers out back but also out front...

I seriously looked like super stalker out in front of her house with my bulky camera. 

Gorgeous, right?!?

I'm so jealous of her yard but with hopefully moving soon, I don't really want put much effort into prettying it up. With all this rain though and Big Man working longer hours to make up for my time off, our yard has turned in a jungle and I swear I could hear Axl Rose whispering '....we got fun and games...' every time I step out onto our patio. 

Another who is not too fond of her new habitat...

Look at poor Mia, she is literally covered. 

I would get out there and do it myself but with allergies to fresh cut grass, that's a no go. 

If you don't hear from me after today that means that Big Man has decided to inconspicuously kill me and I've been eaten my the snakes that have been probably taken residence in my yard. 

I'll miss you all ; )  

Making Lists Like A Boss.

Since finding out about all the possible time off I may have from my job, my mind has been on overdrive of the things I could get accomplished in that time. I had full intentions of breaking these down into weekend projects over the course of the next few months, in hopes to get everything accomplished by our vacation, but with this time off soon, what better time than the present??

I've been scribbling here and there in my planner trying to decide which days to accomplish what and since I'm more of a morning person, I am going to try to hit the ground running and bust out as much of the organizing as I can at once.

Want a look at what I plan to do?!? 

...So I may have a little time on my hands...

And yes, I did put 'Her Blog' so I could continue with the 'H' theme. 

Anywho....that is what it looks like. 

My main priorities during my time off we'll be to get my house clean and organized, get healthy and stay healthy (an ongoing battle) and to work on my blog and photography skills. I've been dying to get out and explore different areas and to learn how to take better pictures and now I am going to take the time to do it. 

I'm ambitious, but I'm hoping to knock all these off before our vacation, wish me luck. 

Easter Martha, I Am Not.

This is myself and Big Man's first married Easter and it was a good one to say the least. 

Starting from Thursday, when we both took off work for my birthday, it has been a long and enjoyable weekend ever since. I loathe going to work but I just telling myself that there was only X amount of days until this long weekend was upon us. Pathetic right? 

But really, it was such a chill and low key weekend and together with Easter it was full of fun, family, and lots of food and my favorite, chocolate. I can't confirm this but I may or may not have raided some of the kiddos Easter candy. Hmmm. 

This year in attempt to be more crafty, I decided to forgo the traditional Easter baskets and make 'baskets' for them myself. I am no Martha but this is about as crafty as I get son...

I picked up some premade wood bins from Michael's, some Painters pens from Walmart (which are totally awesome, how did I not know about these?) and some paper Easter grass. 

I had Big Man spray paint them white for me and after a little paint here a little paint there, some Easter grass, and toys, eggs, and clothes....wahhhhhh laaaaaaa: 

Nothing to right home about but I was proud of myself and liked the little personalized touch it gave. 

They get a gazillion baskets every year so hopefully this is something they can use after Peter Rabbit packs his shizz and hits the road. 

I went and saw my mom, sister, and nephew Easter morning and then went and celebrated and ate with my other sister and her family. Though this was our first married Easter, we didn't really go all out for each other. Hell, we didn't even get each other cards. We're not really church goers so the religious part of the holiday is not celebrated as much for us as it is for others. 

We tend to focus more on the kids and the light hearted Easter Bunny aspect of it. 

The kids though aren't the only ones who get the goodies...

Our furbabies are spoiled and this would be myself and my sister stuffing Easter eggs for the dogs.

Kids aren't the only ones who get Easter egg hunts in these parts, so do the dogs and as silly as it sounds, they actually enjoy. 

Mia along with my sister's dog Bella, my Dad's dog Jess, and Dang's moms dogs Sadie and Daisy had a little romp around the yard finding Easter eggs...

Spoiled much?!?

The rest of the day was spent lounging around, playing with my niece, cuddling with the hubs, and busting on the boys as we drank some wine. 

It's kinda fun when the girls are tipsy instead of the boys, which I'm sure they would disagree with. 

We got our first married Easter under our belt and now I look forward to many more. 

Wine included. 

Oh Baby.

The blogger in me wants to go into vivid and photo filled detailed of the planning process of my sister's baby shower but since a nosy Nancy reads this blog regularly (hi T!), I cannot do such a thing. 

I am in charge along with my sister's in laws to plan the shower/sprinkle for my oldest sis T.

They've booked the hall and are in charge of the real food, because let's be honest, I can't cook for shit...but I have slyly took the reigns on desserts and decor. You see, I've been planning this for awhile and have been dreaming of the day I can be in charge of hosting a party for someone, let alone the baby shower for my oldest sissy. 

I also didn't know that they wanted to be a part of the planning till last week so I have already began my prep for the special day. 

With tools such as the internet and especially Pinterest, I've been collecting ideas and pictures and  have been assembling a baby shower that I hope my sister will love. Along the lines of Pinterest, I've also decided to get my craft on (if you can call it that) and in hoping to be successful, decided to make a majority of the decor and games. 

After pursuing the aisles of Parrrrty City, Tarjay and Wally World, I was disappointed in the choice of decor so I figured I can come up with some myself. 

Damnnnn....I wish I could show you my ideas but I don't want to ruin it for her. 

But rest assure, I'm putting on my Martha hat and getting to work. 

I want to ask you ladies, what do you like about baby showers?

What would make a good one to you?

What good desserts? Games? Decor?

Share your baby knowledge beezies!! 

Figuring Out My Shizz

Now that we are done with all things Little Weddings, it is now time to get back to all things Little Woman and Little Home. 

Amirite?! 

I thought the best way to get back into this groove of blogging for me was to give a little update on me and all the little things tinkering around in bizarre brain of mine and to give a little shout out to some new followers I've picked up along the way ...hello new friends! 

***

That whole woe is me, I need a change, why the hell does my life suck ass so much feeling I've been going through lately has been a combination of things. 

Between wanting to lose weight, trying to quit smoking, spending time with the hubs while still spending time with the family along with working some mandatory extra hours at my monotonous job, I was about at my wits end with my life. 

Nothing was the one trigger but just the combination that has made me reevaluate alot of things including this blog. Hence, the new attitude. With the feeling of my life spiraling slowly at of control, I needed to take everything by their metaphorical balls and this little beauty has been a ton of help...

None other than my trusty Erin Condren planner. 

In all honesty, I have sucked at writing in this over the past couple months, but I am shaping up. 

I like to be structured person and with my personality I work best when my life and goals revolve around lists and clear cut ideas. I like to label things and do my best work when everything has a home, a job, and an objective. 

Don't believe me...here are my March Goals set in stone for the world to see...

For serious my friends, for serious! 

I'm a woman on a mission and these are goals that I am dedicated to achieving. 

I even got real ambitious and decided to make my Spring Cleaning checklist. 

The Little Home wasn't escaping my death grip. 

Oh no. 

The resolution rut of not being where I want to be in February is over and March is a new month. 

I wanted more out of my life and I am determined to make it happen. 

Scheduling and organization is my friend and I will no longer be afraid to take my life and make the most out of it...

Priorities people, priorities!! :) 

Conquering The Computer Picture Clutter

Since the pictures I take now a days end up on my computer instead of in photo albums, it was time that I faced the music and tackled the beast which is this...

It was insane the amount of pictures that I had downloaded and scattered throughout my desktop with no organization and no clear map of where so and so pictures were. 

I have been just downloading and throwing them any which way it said 'saved'. 

But enough was enough when I would be looking for a picture for a post and spend more time searching for said picture then I would on the actual post. So I took those pictures by there jpg's and organized and filed every single one of them. 

Ahhhh....so much better. 

Everything has a home and the 'My Pictures' folder is no longer the hot mess it used to be. 

As you can see I split everything up into certain categories but I didn't stop there, my friends....nope mama was on a roll. 

I also made sub folders for a couple of the more broader folders...

2010 and 2011 Folders were split up into different points of the year as well as special trips (NYC) and pictures for my Droid. This will make it easier for when I need to go back and reference or grab a certain pic throughout the year. 

Next up was the sub folders to LWLH, ahem...this little ol' blog. 

Of all the folders, this one is probably the most used and the one that needed the most organization. The majority of time that I spend on the laptop is with myself doing blog stuff so it was important that I organize all things related. All my blog design pictures as well as my buttons and banners that are in the extras column are perfectly organized now. I also made sure to have all my Picnik stuff in one stop (thank goodness) and a Project 365 to keep track of my progress. 

There is a crapload of free printables out there and for something that spruces up for decor so easily, you'd be a fool not to use them. I use them and download them so much that I need multiple folders for them , as you can see. 

And since they are great for this...

I have a folder within a folder within a folder for holiday printables. 

Call me crazy, I don't care. 

I obviously am poor person with alot of free time on their hands so let's call a spade a spade ; ) 

In all seriousness, I feel so much better now that everything is prim and pretty and put away. I spend a good amount of time on here and just like in my regular home, when I have a clear space...I have a clear mind. 

This is not the most exciting post but organization is taking over this Little Home and all it's contents. 

Now, I'm curious...do you keep your internet files organized or is yours a hot mess too?!? :)

***
P.S. How do you like the new look?!?
I know I only had the other one for a short time but it was too bright and LOOK AT ME for even me. I love this one so much more and def. plan to keep it for awhile. I think it looks a little more classy. :  )

Dirty Girl...Bedroom Style

Get your minds out of the gutter nasty girls.

We're not talking about the bow-chicka-wow-wow of our bedroom but rather the messy state of which we were currently living in. My mission for Organization 2012 is well underway and the bedroom was the first stop on the ride. 

To be more specific, the closet was organization station #1...

Yeaahhhhhhh....about that. 

Looks like things got out of control in closet a bit. 

I'd love to say that this was a single occurrence but this is how my closet looks more often than not. 

I try to keep up with it but having a messy husband and sharing a closet is not my ideal situation. So Sunday morning I was up bright and early and decided that it was time to pull everything out and organize. 

Pulling everything out, I found quite a few things...

Quite a few handbags...

Lots of pencils and highlighters

A throwback wedding book along with books from college

Undeveloped cameras and throwback pictures (<-- I'll have to post some....wowser, I wasn't always the cutie I am today; ) ) 

In the midst of my cleaning, I did make an extra mess for myself when I picked up my shredder by the lid...

Not a good look, my friends, not a good look. 

Moving along...

A couple hours, a garbage bag, and donation bag later....

It might not look like much has changed but to me, I can def. see the difference. 

Of all things wrangling Big Man's tees and clothes was the most changed and improved. I feel so much better and at peace knowing that everything is folded and color coordinated and in it's place. 

Like Mrs. Momma Bee...I also ROYGBIV my clothes and separate everything into tees, dress shirts, dresses, jeans, etc. 

Ahhh...one down but many more to go.

P.S. We also got new sheets for our bed and they are ahhh-mazing . Those paired with our new fluffy pillows, now makes me feel like I'm sleeping at a resort everytime I hop in bed. Pure bliss. 

Do you just throw your clothes all around like me or do you keep your sleeping quarters immaculate?!?

Christmas Clean Up

I know that for most of you ladies, Christmas was packed up and stored away the day after Christmas. I was on my job too and got my goodies packed away before I rang in the New Year. 

But for those of you lolly-gagging I thought I'd share some helpful tips in the name of organizing our homes and our lives.  

The first thing I did  when disassembling my tree was to sort and organize my ornaments. 

I have a variety of ornaments from glass ones to dollar tree finds and even if they are $1, I still try to keep them in good shape and the thing that has helped me most are these....

This a container that I found after Christmas a couple years ago and that allows you to separate and organize your ornaments. I'm sure you could do the same with your own totes and some cardboard pieces but this was just more convenient at the time.  I highly advise separating and wrapping your breakable glass pieces so they don't smash and break against each other. 

Another way to also separate your ornaments is to do this...

Keep the original packaging it came in. 

If your not too fond about going out and buying containers, than this is your second best option. It keeps all your ornaments packaged in their original boxes and with their original wrapping and will make it easier to distinguish what goes where when it's time to pack it all away.

If there is one thing that I run into problems with year after year though, it is how to control and wrangle all the ribbons and bows from the season. Every other year I just jumbled it up into a ball and threw it in a random plastic bag but this year, I got my head together and used a common little accessory...

Oh hey, bobby pin....your not just for my hair anymore. 

Whenever I finish a roll of ribbon I almost never save the little cardboard cylinder it comes with. So this year when it came time to roll it up, I had to search the Little Home for something to keep it together, at that little bobby pin right there works like a charm. 

I also learned that labeling all my bins with what room or whether they are inside or outside decorations helps alot when it comes to organizing and storing my bins. 

And because I am super OCD about this, I also keep an inventory of all my Christmas Decor and Ornaments...

click to enlarge and copy to save

It may seem a little crazy but it keeps me in order and let's me take stock for when I'm putting them up and taking them down.  :)

Do you organize your holiday decor any certain way?!?