Hello world!

I’m glad you stopped by! I’m  going to post a new blog entry once a week with the eventual goal of posting twice each week.

The vision I have for the blog is to share little life hacks that I have found and incorporated into my life that save time, save money, make life easier, more organized and add JOY. A part of my joy is cooking and crafting so that will be included too. Hopefully, there will be something of interest to you in each entry.

I would like to share a little bit about myself so that when you stop here it will be like a conversation you’re having with me over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. I have 5 adult children who live in the area, 3 dogs (yes, I said, 3!), and 1 cat. We, my “pack” and I, live in a small village in Western New York. For all of you who hear New York and think New York City, I am all the way across the state and live on the shores of Lake Erie. It is a beautiful place to live. We usually have hard winters and more than our share of snow (think near Buffalo here) but the Spring, Summer and Fall are amazing! I am even that kind of person that doesn’t mind the Winter! There are a few of us you know.

Having a large family, a home and a career has led me to look for ideas, strategies, and the like to keep my life manageable and with as little stress as possible. This blog is about that search and the things I have found along the way.

There are those of us who thrive on organization and others who strive to be organized. In either case, organization tips are usually of interest no matter where you fall on the spectrum. I have found that if you want more organization in your kitchen and don’t want to spend a lot of time getting there, the simple answer is to cut back on your stuff. That’s right! Eliminate stuff = less to take care of (think less to put away, less to wash, etc.). If you never use more than one frying pan at a time, cut back to one small and one larger one. If you live by yourself and only have company occasionally, limit yourself to four of everything – four plates, four bowls, four glasses, four coffee mugs, four forks…. Well, you get the idea. Less is better in this case. An extremist might just have two of each item. I was being conservative. This approach encourages you to wash your dishes more often. I mean, if you need a knife and you have used 4, better get the dish soap out! It also allows you to have more space for what you do have and immediately things look less cluttered! WIN!!

 

This idea can be carried throughout your home. Just last year I decided I didn’t need four sets of sheets and pillowcases for my bed and various odds and ends of linens. I could get by with two complete sets! It was an epiphany since linen closet space is at a premium in my home. Now, technically, you could get by with one set. You would just have to wash it and put it back on but that is a little too austere for me. With two sets I can remake my bed and not wait for the weekly wash to be done. As an aside,  I purchased two new sheet sets and made them ones that feel good with designs that make me happy!

Let’s stray from the organizing topic to a new cake technique that is on trend. It is called the “naked cake”.  As a long time baker of cakes for weddings, birthdays, and all that jazz, I was taken in by the thought of a cake with less icing. A cake where you actually could see the cake through the layer of icing. Who would have thought! Anyway, I was asked to make a small cake for a wedding reception and I asked if I could do a “naked cake”. The bride agreed and off I went. The cake was a three layer white cake with vanilla butter cream frosting. Admittedly, I used less of the frosting on the exterior of the cake but I did make sure there was plenty in between the layers for the frosting lovers. I used burlap ribbon and silk flowers to decorate the cake and everyone thought it was beautiful. I will share a picture below. Due to the use of the burlap ribbon you don’t see much of the cake showing through the icing but I think you will still get the idea. It was also so much easier and less stressful when I didn’t have to worry about the cake showing through the frosting!

 

Today I leave you with a little “warm fuzzy” in the form of the leader of the pack, Duffy. If this doesn’t make you smile I will be surprised.