… and the silence shall be broken …

The blog has been rather quiet as of late while I’ve been collecting, organizing, and publishing some super sweet and totally free downloadable goodness for you! Hope you like ’em! Happy Holidays!

Thanks to the fabulous ladies over at Buttoned Up! (and their beautiful new forms!), you can easily put together a wallet-friendly gift-giving budget that’ll keep you smiling into the new year!

Holiday Gifts (1121 downloads)   Holiday Gift Budget (1210 downloads)   Holiday Budget (1237 downloads)

BTW : For those of you too impatient to wait for future posts, you can find the rest of these handy-dandy holiday tools on the downloads page in the resources section of this website.

Stumbled upon some really handy thanksgiving tips at abigslice.com to help you prepare both your home and your turkey for the holidays…

A Big Slice is the enjoyment of life and finding new ways to enrich each moment.

It’s a new take on the old phrase, “grab a big slice of life.” Clare Aslaksen and Ted Field share a love of family and friends but noticed, as the years went by, that “special connection” began to lose it’s defining character. So, how do you recapture these essential components of your life? Clare and Ted believe one way is by enriching your life through entertaining.

By opening your home and your kitchen, you open your heart. Hosting can become a potion for the soul, and a great memory can be as simple as sharing a glass of wine. Throughout the themed sections of their website, Clare and Ted serve as helping hands that gently guide the nervous host toward the perfect evening.

“Life’s A Banquet… why not grab A Big Slice?”

Will you be hosting your first Thanksgiving Dinner? Or, will you be entertaining a few less or a few more guests than usual? Maybe you need some help planning a more traditional or an alternatively unique Thanksgiving Day menu? No matter your challenge, you must check out this totally cool tool over at bonappetit.com…!!

* * * Update: Stephanie’s store is now Family Traditions! * * *

Like it or not, Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

My dear friend, Stephanie, owner of Dream Dinners in Lexington (Kentucky) is offering a great deal on a fabulous Thanksgiving spread—enough turkey and side dishes to feed 12 to 15 people! So, if you’re anything like me and prefer not to spend hours toiling away in the kitchen, you should definitely give Stephanie a call… she’ll “hook you up”!

If, on the other hand, you actually enjoy spending time in the kitchen preparing a traditional Thanksgiving feast for extended family and friends, you’ll find these tools helpful—Martha Stewart’s Thanksgiving Planner (4960 downloads) and Real Simple’s Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation (6673 downloads) .

Courtesy of Lorie Marrero, creator of The Clutter Diet, owner of Living Order:

Homeostasis is a medical term that refers to the tendency of the human body to seek and maintain balance. What is your house’s “HOME-eostasis?” What is that balanced condition of your home to which you would always like to return?

Your house’s homeostasis results from preventing clutter, reducing the clutter you have to a manageable and acceptable level, and consistently maintaining your home with systems and routines. It’s a state of balance and readiness—the kind of feeling you have when you’ve just straightened up the house for company to come over for dinner. It’s a state of satisfaction, pride, and comfort. Homeostasis is your definition of success!

We are not talking about perfection, as we’ve often emphasized. Homeostasis is a flexible state that adjusts to transitional times and periods of less or more activity in your lives. The definition will change as your family and situations change. Your ultimate organizing goal is to know what homeostasis means for your home and have the education, motivation, and support to easily and confidently achieve it when things get out of balance (as they surely will).

Make your list today—take 10-15 minutes to go by each room and note what needs to happen to make you feel balanced and ready. An example: My guest bathroom needs to be clean enough for people to use without my being embarrassed, and have plenty of toilet paper, a fresh hand towel, and soap.

Read the full article »