Organizing with Style

 I love the minimalist look of this office space. If my desk is ever this clean I will be shocked.

With so many hats to juggle in my daily life I have come to realize that organization is key. The more organized I am the more efficiently I can work and the more stuff on my to-do list actually gets done. So I was super excited when I went to Staples this past weekend and found the newly launched Martha Stewart Office line.

I love Martha Stewart and I am not afraid to admit it. My friends and family often refer to me as 'Martha Stewart' and I can never really tell if it is a compliment or a snark, but in my opinion Martha is a genius. She teamed up with Avery (another brand I love) to create a whole line of tools to organize your home and business office. I had a hard time not buying absolutely everything, but I took a few minutes to evaluate each product and chose the things that I thought I would really, honestly use.

I ended up with the Dry Erase Weekly Planner which is an oversized weekly planner that sticks right onto your wall (or your fridge or wherever you want it). You can re-position it and it uses a dry-erase marker so you just wipe it off at the end of the week to start over. I love the idea of the monthly planners that go on the top of your desk but I don't have the desk space for it, so this is the perfect solution. I also got a blank Dry Erase decal with a pretty ornate frame that will be perfect for writing notes or inspirational quotes.

I also got two File Pockets that adhere to the wall as well. I have been wanting to get rid of my ugly, black plastic tiered filing tray for a while. It just gets cluttered up with junk I don't want to take the time to put away and then my bills and receipts pile up in a separate stack on top of my desk. I am hoping that by eliminating the tray and giving myself an out of the way place to stash those bills and receipts that I will be more motivated to keep the top of my desk clear of clutter.

They have a limited selection of the new line on the Staples website, but supposedly there will be more available online soon.

The other amazingly gorgeous organizational tool I bought for myself is the Emily Ley Simplified Planner. I have tried other planners before and was never good at keeping up with it, but I also never really had to use one. With the amount of things I find myself forgetting lately (the brain can only hold so much info) I really need to start doing something. I follow Emily's blog and when she debuted her new planner last week I was practically swooning. Since Emily is a mother and small-business owner herself it promises to be engineered for women just like me. I love the personalized monogram on the front and I, of course, got the teal one.

I am actually giddy with anticipation for it to arrive!

Operation 'Organize' is going on all this week and I plan on posting pics when everything is complete! How are you organizing your new year?

Etsy Crush | My Mom's Knitting

Crocodile Green Special Knitting Handbag by My Mom's Knitting

This morning was my turn to get up with the baby so my husband could sleep in. At 6:40 'the alarm' went off and by 7 I was browsing the front page of Etsy and there, staring me in the face was this gorgeous purse by My Mom's Knitting.

Of course it's green, and you know me and green. This would be the perfect Spring accessory- warm and cozy knit to ward off the chilly Spring air (I am in VT after all), but a nice lush green to remind me of where the season is going. Love that polka dot ribbon too.

Etsy Crush - Emilie Friday's Calligraphy

Steinway Style Calligraphy Return Address Stamp - amililies

I have been lusting after this address stamp for quite some time. What a pretty way to make all of your correspondence just a little more special. If I had only known about this when I was creating my own wedding invitations - it would have saved me a lot of hand cramps!

I am still here, promise.

Has it really been nearly a month since my last blog post? Wow, it certainly hasn't felt like that long to me! I have been busy, to say the least. Lots of people inquiring about wedding invitations, which is awesome! Lots of last minute projects at work to get done before the new year, not so awesome. And of course getting geared up for Christmas! (my personal favorite holiday)

So, hopefully as the holidays wind down I will find myself with lots of spare time to blog away. With the temps getting down into the single digits here already, I won't want to spend much time running around outside anyway.

In the meantime check out a shout-out to all the Vermont Etsy artisans on All Things Simple. Lots of great shops to bookmark!

I Heart Cookies

Following in the Valentine's Day spirit I decided to make some heart-shaped Toasted Coconut Shortbread Cookies from this site (one of my favorites). Mmmmm...they smell delicious! But I am going to be good and limit myself to one. The rest are for my dog sitters (my gracious in-laws) this coming weekend, while hubby and I are away in Rhode Island.

Check out my cute apron too!