Mail Center

What do you do with all your mail? If you are like me you struggle to keep it from piling up on you. It's extra hard for me - I think - because I live in a small apartment that I share with another person who also has their own mail and personal items, and need for personal space. So I can't very well allow each area of my life to take over the apartment. But nor can I force myself to find a way to put every tool/container I need into my small bedroom.  And over the years I have been toying with different filing systems to put in bins in my closet or under my bed, in decorative boxes displayed openly in my room, etc. But all these ideas lend themselves to a format that is always "closed-off" in some manner from me, making it difficult and unappealing to use. Then, I read this really useful and simple system that A Bowl Full of Lemons uses called her "Mobile Command Center."

And it got me thinking of what I could do. I came up with a happy compromise for my situation. A small "mail center" of mine own. I will make mine own small filing system that sits on my desk that wont take up too much room but still allows me to easily file my: incoming bills (that need to be paid), papers to file, my outgoing mail, and storage for stapes, envelopes, and other desk-top items. This special organizer is: The Desktop Station.

I'll post pictures of my mail center and let you know how it's working out for me once I get it up and running!

Let's Get Organized, Organized!

One of the things I love to do with my free time is to organize! I love it even more when I get to organize someone else's place/space/things. But that rarely happens, most people don't like others throwing out and re-arranging their belongings. So for most of my cleaning and systemizing pleasures I have to find it from within, and that's just fine. I will be writing a number of posts about organization tips, lessons and adventures here, especially this month since I learned that January is "National Get Organized Month," according to the National Association of Professional Organizers. I have a special post I am working on about my closet - a big undertaking recently - more on that will come soon. And now I have found the blog, A Bowl Full of Lemons, with which I am completely obsessed! I will undoubtably be posting in the future about what I learn and read from her - the most immediate being my adventures participating in her "get organized challenge." Check back for more to come. 

Quotes

I love quotes. I think no matter how complex life is, it can be broken down into simple moments, sayings, words, feelings, lessons, etc. So I live by quotes. They capture something inside of me ... hmmm maybe the communicator inside me ... as communication is what I choose to focus my profession in.  I must love communicating! 

Today's quote, from TheDailyLove (a handle I love to follow on Twitter) was: 

"Remember, diamonds are made under pressure! Stay calm & say 'bring it on!'" 

What a beautiful way to view being put under pressure. And it's so true. I love this outlook. And I love thinking I can come out of a stressful situation looking even more spectacular!  :) 

Hopefully this is inspirational to you on a stressful day as well! 

Champagne Cupcakes

A few days before New Years when the work week was quiet I will admit I was able to catch some of Oprah. Okay, it's also only because I knew the Georgetown Cupcake girls were going to be on, so I was watching for them. And I was pleasantly surprised with the New Years Eve dish they made. I was expecting a cupcake for sure, but they made more of a production with it. Sparklers and all! 


The cupcake they made was the Strawberry Champagne Sparklers and I decided since I was hosting my friends at my apartment for our New Years pre-going out party I would make these as a special surprise. Since the Georgetown girls were nice enough to share their recipe on Oprah.com I had to take advantage of this opportunity. So I enlisted my younger sister to spend the afternoon baking with me, and here is how our adventures went. 


The cupcakes: These were simple to make. Since most of my friend's don't have a big sweet-tooth I decided to just make the mini-cupcakes. (Plus I don't trust my friends with fire/sparklers inside my apartment.) Recommendation - if you are just going to make the cupcakes you can add a little more of the cut-up strawberries. 


The icing: This is tricky because you want to pick a sweet rose Champagne, so it's good to have an idea of what your options taste like. But I guessed, and picked a moderately priced Italian sparkling Rose and liked my outcome. I came just a little short on confectioner's sugar though and then used the full 1/2 of Champagne. It turned out that it was too much champagne so it never became a creamy, firm texture. It tasted fine, maybe a little too sugary. So be sure to have plenty of confectioner's sugar and go shy on Champagne. Whip this well and add things slowly until you have the perfect balance, would be my recommendation. 


The ganache: Thank goodness I had my sister helping me bake. She knew just how to melt the chocolate. I would never have understood the directions. And she did a great job. Our chocolate came out perfect. But watch the chocolate carefully, any slight variation can turn perfect ganache into a disaster in seconds. Also Nestles semi-sweet chocolate chips work great.  


Just look at these cupcakes. Given the disaster with the icing, it was hard to use, but we did a good job making it work. Aren't these cute? We topped them with strawberries and some that we didn't put ganache on - for crazies that don't like chocolate - I put sprinkles on top to keep them separate. But I realized these cupcakes really need the ganache, it adds so much to the the flavor and breaks up the power of the sugar and Champagne sweetness.  

So we gathered up all the cupcakes and divided it up among friends and family. We gave it among numerous people, some very harsh critics, but everyone loved them! For a first time making them, I have to say we really made yummy cupcakes worth baking and sharing again. (My next time though I will have more visually appealing icing.) 


Here is the recipe on Oprah.com: Georgetown Cupcake's Strawberry Champagne Sparkler Cupcakes 
And now they have listed a low-fat recipe option. 
Here is their segment on Oprah. 

In With The New and Out With The Old

Each Jan. 1st I love to start my new year off reading the "In and Out" list printed in The Washington Post.  But there are always some items I don't understand, so this year I thought I would make my own list. Having never been one for making New Years Resolutions I thought this would be a fun idea.

So here's my list, which incorporates some from the WashPost article and GlobalPost.com that I agree with.

Snowflakes

Every now and then like to paint my toes in a festive manner; for a season or holiday occasion. Since I haven't done it for a while I decided to do it for winter, with a snowflake on my big toe. I think this dates back to when I was young and on a swim team where we would paint our nails before a race. Only now, instead of painting the nails on my hands I keep it to my toes so I'm not showing them off like a little girl anymore. 

Here's a picture. I need to get a real manicure pen or stencil kit so they can look better. But you get the point. It's still a cute idea. And my 10 month old niece loved them! That's enough affirmation for me.  :)