C is for Creating a Coffee Center!

Coffee...it is practically essential to life! Who agrees?!

I did used to be a barista, sometimes I break out my skillz ;)

After moving to Europe I have an even greater appreciation for coffee. Coffee here is very good, so since I was lucky enough to have a Nespresso Coffee Machine in my house I decided to create a whole coffee center. This has worked out really well when guests come because they don't have to guess where everything is!

As you can see I have the coffee machine (if you don't have one of these seriously look into it, they are the best, and Nespresso makes the tastiest coffee!)

Next to it I have my milk frother and warmer. I don't use the frother that came with the machine because, honestly, it is a pain and this one is more self-explanatory for the guests.

The three-tiered shelf is a gem I found at HEMA just after we moved here...on clearance from Eater for €5! Score! Since there is a bolt on the bottom I put one of my awesome placemats from Ikea under it.

I stocked the shelves with mugs on the bottom.

The middle has coffee capsules-I try to put out a small selection of everything we have-and two types of sugar: regular sugar and coconut palm sugar. 

The top shelf holds a no calorie sweetner, chocolate and cinnamon shakers, and little stirring spoons.

Next to the shelf I do keep straws since the kiddo drinks iced coffee, but we just ran out!

This is a really great way to display your coffee center and when coupled with the Breakfast Center I posted yesterday shows great hospitality to your guests so they can feel more independent and at home in your home!

Weekly Dose: Culture Shock-Week 2

Here we are our second full week in Amsterdam. So hard to believe 14 days has already flown by! We've had so many unique experiences I feel like I could bust trying to share them. I am enjoying my runs and exploring my new neighbourhood. I seriously cannot take enough pictures! I have to slow down & dole stuff out other wise I think my instagram friends might start to get a little mad lol

This week I wanted to tell y'all about something that will probably...well, hopefully...crack you up, make you laugh at me, and probably say, "wow that woman is an idiot!" But, this was a major, major point of contention to me when trying to settle into our new home. I was prevented from doing laundry, cooking, and being warm! haha What the heck could this be?! Appliances!!! We had the doggone worst time figuring out our appliances.

The first appliance was the cook top.

I walked in and was super excited because we have a gas cook top. Over the years I've become very accustomed to gas and don't like cooking with electricity nearly as much. Well, the first time I decide to cook something I quickly realized there is no spot to "ignite" the flame!

So, when you turn the dial the only thing that comes out is gas. Apparently, this has to be done the "old fashioned" way and you have to light it using a match or lighter. Thanks to the wonderfully supportive cooking group I belong to on Facebook and there amazing advice we went and got a nice long bbq lighter and haven't had any incidents. But the first two times were absolutely terrifying!

Side note, there are no YouTube videos for being successful at this...maybe I should make one???

Next we are still in the kitchen, we have a convection microwave oven.

This truly puts the "oven" in microwave oven. However, be warned if you have one that does a simultaneous use of the convection part and microwave part you can't use any metal otherwise-BOOM-fire! I don't know from experience but I heard about it in a YouTube video. ;)

Third would be the dryer.

I am sure by the time I got to this the property manager was ready to throttle me. I'd already asked him a million and one questions and this just piled it on no doubt. But, we have what is called a "condenser dryer". This is a unique piece. They are commonly used in Europe so they don't have to run all the hoses and piping and whatnot. It is a really cool concept...until you think the dryer doesn't work anymore.

So, basically what the condenser dryer does is tumbles the clothes around evaporating the water off of them, the water then collects in a tub.

Great idea, however, when said tub gets full you must empty it or the dryer won't dry. This is where the issue arises. I once had to empty the container the water collects in 3 times in one drying cycle. That made me not a happy camper. But, then I remembered how lucky I was to actually have a dryer and I quickly changed my tune ;)

Finally, the heat....or lack there of. I am used to the US where we have central heat & air pretty much everywhere. There are some places in California & even Vancouver that supposedly don't have central heat & air but by the time we got to those places everywhere we looked at central heat & air. Here however, no. Which is fine the weather seems mild in the spring so far. However, some days have been very chilly and we had to turn on the heat. I semi-figured it out the first day, however we learned it does have a central control as well. So basically, once you get the main control where you want it you can leave it there then  each heater unit has a knob on it. You turn it to the plus to let out heat, or the minus to take away heat. Great concept but two things: 1) it takes a while to kick in and heat up, 2) once it is heated up you quickly swelter as if you were standing on the sun dressed in ski gear.

We've quickly learned to pretty much just keep it off. I turn it on in the morning to lift the chill but then it goes off otherwise by the time we crawl in bed no one will be comfortable...no even naked....with a fan...

I will say some of my troubles came from two things: 1) the owner didn't leave us with many of the books on how to use them and 2) the ones we were left with were in Swedish. Not even Dutch so we couldn't ask someone to translate lol But, in my defense: I am doing better than a friend of ours that has been here 2 years...he hasn't used his dryer in all that time because he thought it was "broken" after the first two uses...he is now going to empty the part that collects water ;)

It was fun times these first couple weeks figuring out all the little tricks and getting used to doing things in a new and unique way!

Have you ever had trouble with new appliances? I'd love to hear your stories. Don't let me be alone!

Aloha! Hawaiian Menu Plan Monday!

Aloha! I am writing today from Hawaii! I took last week off from blogging because, well,  I just needed a break-sometimes that happens. 

I arrived in Hawaii last Thirsday night, my best friend of nearly 30 years picked us up from the airport with beautiful lei's...here's a super unflattering picture of us with them...

We have enjoyed several delicious meals with our friends. I've had the enjoyment of watching my god daughter learn to swim and share my love of exercise with her. 

We've enjoyed some quiet days reading in the backyard & getting sun while lying in the hammock. I finished Divergent while here, that is an excellent, fast read. I highly recommend picking it up, if you haven't already. 

Sunday we went to a military resort here in Oahu. It was a really nice resort and the weather was perfect! They have a bar and snacks, a pool and beach access. 

We had a great seat to enjoy Mai Tai's, Lava Flow's....

This girl is enjoying some vitamin d! I'm tanning up quickly and I've been using an SPF 50 daily!

So, since we are staying at my friends house this is what our menu looks like for the week...

Breakfast Options:

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal, eggs, English muffin with pb and bananas, leftovers, I'm sure we will eat out one morning

Lunch Options:

eat out once or twice, leftovers, sandwiches

Dinner Options:

Since we are on vacation we aren't really setting anything in stone....

Pork tenderloin in the crockpot with red potatoes and carrots, chicken tacos, grilled chicken thighs and veggies, spaghetti squash with marinara and bread, and I'm sure we will eat out a few times.

We always have on hand on vacation the supplies for a sundae bar, some cookies and othe treats, we will grab shaved ice this week as well as several other fun and delicious Hawaiian snacks.

What sort of goodies are you munching on this week?

I will be linking up at http://orgjunkie.com , and mommyrunfast.com

Lamp Makeover

I LOVE a good makeover! Knowing this, a few months back my teenager decided she wanted her room made over...in a Moroccan theme. So bright, colorful and lots of DIY projects! I pinned everything I thought would be perfect to accent her room: 

Follow Kate Norris's board Cammi's Room Redo on Pinterest.

As you can see, as time went on she decided she wanted a "cheer" themed room. Not bad because cheerleaders a colorful, just like a Moroccan theme so it has all worked out!

I am all about up-cycling so we tried to use what we had on hand along with our extensive craft collection to make all of her decorations.

First up was this lamp...

Supplies:

• A lamp (mine is a full lamp, I just couldn't get a nice picture with the top of it in there)
• Some Aleen's jewel-it (I found this worked best, it is most like cement)
• A bag full of multi-colored jewels

Process:

1. Make a circle of glue around the base, just a small circle because it dries fairly quickly and you don't want to waste it.
2. Lay down some jewels, like this
   
3. Continue until you have the base covered!

Finished product:

You may be asking, "why didn't she do the top of the lamp?" Well boys and girls, I didn't do the top because that lamp gets really, really warm. I was afraid if I did the top it would get warm, heat the glue and all the gems would fall off! That would be embarrassing right?! 

So, there we have it a cute and simple project! It only took a wee bit over an hour to complete. This was done back in September, it is now March and she still talks about how cute it is! 

Do you upcycle?? What is your favorite upcycled project you've completed?

Organization: Cleaning Power Hour

Tuesday has come 'round and I am ready for Friday already. Anyone else?

Today will be a fairly quick read, which is good since this is getting published much later than I'd like!

Today we are discussing what I like to call the "Cleaning Power Hour". I can't take all the credit for this idea. It came to me when I was doing some training to get my Beachbody Business up and running. It was suggested that we do a "Power Hour" or "Power Half Hour" where we take 30 minutes to an hour a couple of times a day to just work on our business. I said to myself this is genius! I am awesome under pressure so to get those dreaded weekly chores done I should create a "Cleaning Power Hour"!

So, I sat down and listed what chores are important to me to get done at least one time per week:

• Sweep
• Mop
• Dust (living room/dining room/bedrooms)
• Clean windows/mirrors
• Clean tubs
• Wash sheets

After this I said to myself ok, I have the list but I am terrible at remembering. When I was in high school I used to tell myself gosh it would be awesome if I had a device that would ring when I had something to do to remind me...then I said, "Oh snap, I do actually have that device now!" So, out pops the iPad.

I didn't buy any special apps as all the "routine" apps I've ever bought have been a let down. So I just used the "Reminders" app. It has great scheduling features and I can keep my lists separate.

See it down there...Monday Power Hour! I have lots to remember to do....and apparently never finished Christmas shopping for the teenager! hahahaha...moving on....

I then just added all my items line by line and put what time I wanted them due by. So every 10 minutes I get a ding that tells me to move to a new task. The 10 minute windows I have found are very accurate, if you do the chores every week. If you don't then they can take much longer. Which is why I like the cleaning power hour, one hour to complete 6 dreaded chores that, aside from sweeping & spot mopping I don't have to worry about for 6 more days?! YIPEE!

How do you schedule your cleaning? Do you use any cool apps for it?

September Blogging Challenge: Chores

Todays, prompt is your favorite and least favorite chores.....*sigh* I hate chores period really. I mean, let's be honest they stink. They are the few items in your life that never go away. They are always there, haunting you, taunting you needing to be done. There are daily ones, weekly ones, monthly ones, and yearly ones. They are always there, but, I suppose if you wanted to look at this positively you could see them as constants. They are always there for you, you can count on them needing to be done, I suppose if you have no other order, chores are the one thing you can bank on. So, we'll look at it more positively. Chores are our buddies, always needing tending to, they love us! ;)

So, my favorite chore I'd have to say is.....

Img Credit

Yup, making the bed is my favorite. I just love how after you make it your room looks all beautiful and serene. There are lots of pillows on the bed, and it just looks fit for royalty. I also love how tight the sheets are when you go to crawl into it in the evening, it's like you cared enough to tuck yourself in, makes me feel very princess like with all my pillows and a nicely made bed. Makes me feel like I cared enough about my husband and myself to go the extra mile. Here's a graphic about making the perfect bed: 

Img Credit

Here are 5 great reasons to make your bed every day:

1. Maintain order-I know if this gets done the rest of my room will remain clean and orderly.
2. Teaches responsibility-I had to make my bed everyday from a young age, I know there are certain things you just have to do.
3. Pride-it shows I care about my home and my room. Makes me happy to keep my door open and let anyone see how I care for my personal belongings. 
4. Thankfulness-There are many people who don't have a bed to care for, I am thankful I do and want to care for it in that manner.
5. Energy-if my bed is unmade that lets me know it's okay to crawl back in, I tend toward laziness and if I don't make the bed, I will probably not accomplish anything.

So, that was a long drawn out explanation on my favorite chore, but I was inspired! I didn't realize I loved making the bed so much and all the benefits it had for me! 

My least favorite chore is definitely...

Img Credit

Img Credit

Img Credit

A few funnies about the dishes. I get a bit of help from my wonderful husband and daughter when it comes to the dishes because they know just how much I dislike them. They make my hands dry, they are dirty, plus they are never ending! We try to be as "no waste" as possible so I don't buy plastics and we try and keep track of our glasses so we aren't using a hundred of them and I try to reuse my breakfast plate for lunch when possible, but somehow they still multiply. Maybe I need to get my dishes condoms. LOL! 

But, I will say when they are done, I feel like a million bucks! I do love a glistening kitchen!

What are your fave and least fave chores?!

Menu Plan Monday #19

Happy Monday!!! Ready to start the week off, right? I am! I am kid-free this week so I am going to be working on projects and getting the freezer and pantry stocked with homemade snacks and stuff for back to school! So....let's get to the Monday duty....

Org Junkie

Breakfast

Monday: Raw Buckwheat Porridge with fresh beet juice

Tuesday: Bon Chaz (tasty new coffee shop I've been wanting to try)

Wednesday: Raw Buckwheat Porridge with fresh beet juice

Thursday: Big Ass Pancake with Nut Butter

Friday: Cereal with Banana's

Saturday: Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Croissants with fruit salad

Sunday: Cereal with banana's and sausage

Lunch

Monday: Strawberry Chicken Salad with Simple Honey Dressing (this salad uses up leftover chicken from our dinner Sunday night and in the dressing I'll sub Champagne Vinegar for the white wine vinegar)
Tuesday: Same as Monday
Wednesday: Trying out a new food truck that only serves fresh, local ingredients in their food.
Thursday: Tuna Melts on Zucchini "buns" with the "meat" of the zucchini on the sides
Friday: Ham Sandwich kebabs with side salad (I'll probably make a few and go see the hubby for lunch)
Saturday: We'll just to a light spread of snacks: popcorn, ham, fruit, nuts
Sunday: Grilled Cheese, chips, fruit/veggies/salad, sort of whatever is leftover

Dinner

Monday: Flying Pig in Yaletown with friends.
Tuesday: Skirt Steak Fajita's with tequila marinade, peppers, and corn
Wednesday: Twice bakes potatoes with Green Beans and Corn (yes, my Mr. Loves corn lol)
Thursday: Paleo chicken fingers with home fries and squash
Friday: New Restaurant Friday
Saturday: Spagheti with Salad and Garlic bread
Sunday: Whole chicken with corn, squash, salad, and garlic bread

Snacks

• Fruit/cheese, fresh juice, nut butter & chia seed jam on pecans, no bake oatmeal bites, hard boiled eggs and squash/avocado, popcorn(scroll down for the recipe)

Dessert

• Chocolate Chip Cookies (My fave recipe is from the Betty Crocker cookbook) 
• Cosmic Brownies

Goodies to fix and freeze for back to school:

• Granola Cereal
• Granola Clusters
• Instant Oatmeal & toppers
• Popsicles
• Zucchini-Banana Muffins
• Sweet Cinnamon Cereal
• Cocoa Puffs

So, that's it for my week. Should be a busy one and full of delicious food. I am so looking forward to the Flying Pig, they have a delicious garlic bread...that may be my entire meal (don't judge :P) and the tequila marinated fajitas. What are you most looking forward to eating?

My Vacation...so far...

Hello!

I keep saying my posts have been sporadic because I am on vacation. Yes, vacation for just under an entire month is what it winds up being! Yes, I am 100% spoiled thanks to my great parents and awesome hubby.

So, we left July 5th. Hubby came with the kiddo and I for the first week so he could see his parents as well. Here's a little photo dump: 

On the plane ready to go and acting goofy!

View from the plane a little while before we landed at our final destination. Not sure what city it is, but loved the view!

Delicious Peanut Butter Chocolate shake from Johnny Angels. 100% decadence. Complete review to come.

Me and my honey at Johnny Angels. We were listening to some pretty fab karaoke.

Breakfast at Mom's. Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Protein Shake.

The Pier I grew up frequenting. Love this place!

Hard to see, but that is a sea turtle nest our shadow's are looming over!

A watermelon cake! Watermelon is inside...'twas difficult to make the frosting stick, but I got it eventually.

Storm moving in.

The kiddo, me, and my mom at the ocean for a walk.

All you need is love! <3 p="">

Surfin'!

Delicious local place. Working on an extensive review. Totally amazing!

Strawberry Lemonade slush at the Farmer's Market.

Farmer's Market at the St. Augustine Pier.

So we've had quite a beautiful vacation so far. I am working on reviews of a few restaurants we've been to and fun places to visit while in the Jacksonville/St. Augustine areas of FL. Both area's are cute and unique. I grew up frequenting both areas as they are just an hour from each other. St. Augustine is a quaint little vacation spot, which also happens to be the nation's oldest city. It is famed to be the location where Ponce De Leon thought he found the fountain of youth! But, it is a city full of fun and unique shops, eateries, and other activities. Jacksonville is my hometown. Named for no other than Andrew Jackson, who has several other cities named for him throughout much of the south eastern US. It has a cute, fun little downtown area as well as a fantastic beaches area (as you can see from my Pier pic above). 

While on vacation I've been really working on my photography with my DSLR as well as my iPhone believe it or not! I've used this tutorial to take better iPhone pictures. I also printed a Travel Photo Checklist to follow to get all sorts of fun pictures! During our downtime I am working on making Love Doodle thanks to this inspiration on Pinterest! I'll post once mine is complete!

If you are looking for some more summer fun to be had at home check out my Summer Pinterest board and my Summer Fun board.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far and whether you are doing a big vacation or a staycation you are finding lots of fun and exciting things to keep you occupied!!!

(P.S. if you want follow be on Bloglovin'!)

Best Bathroom Organization Tip

This is my second bathroom organization post. My first one can be found here along with a tutorial for naturally cleaning your make up brushes. I thought when I did that post that I had figured out the perfect storage for under my bathroom sink. But, within just a few days our vanity was just as junked up as can be. It was very, very frustrating. So, I thought on it for a few days and *thought* I may have found the *perfect* solution. I was skeptical and didn't post about it right away as I wanted to see how it worked out. I am happy to report folks that it did indeed work!

After hubby and I get up in the morning and get ready for the day, I am not dealing with mounds of toiletries or make-up being left all over the counter. There is no going back later to put everything away and clean off the counter. It just sort of stays clean! It’s really quite awesome.

This little “makeover” cost me a whopping $2.65 CAD. So those of you in the states will be about $2.14. I walked my little booty to the dollar store and got a couple of divider caddies with a handle in them. I put the Mr.’s toiletries and razors in one and mine in the other. I even went and bought up separate toothpaste so that wasn’t sitting out all the time either. Sounds silly I know, but I really was sick of constantly cleaning off our vanity. It was quickly becoming the bane of my existence. Here are the caddies all packed and ready for the day:

As you can see I have my Dr. Bronner’s based face wash, my lavender coconut oil moisturizer, my exfoliating pads, deodorant, and dental picks on one side. In the smallest compartment I put my floss, toothbrush, and toothpaste and my razor. I do dry my toothbrush off before I put it away. In the last compartment is my Moroccan oil protector for my hair, hairspray, my wide tooth comb, my hairbrush, and a couple of bun picks.

In hubby’s he has on the left side his razor and trimmer and in a small snack size baggie I put all the attachments to his trimmer, this side also keeps his hair gel. In the smallest compartment is his floss, toothbrush, toothpaste (I don’t think he dries his toothbrush prior to putting it away, but I’m taking that one step at a time lol) and for whatever reason he keeps his deodorant in there too. In the last compartment is all of his contact stuff: two small bottles of solution, his current contacts in their case, and his extra contacts.

Here is a final look at the entire underside of the sink:

As you can see our caddies fit perfectly right in front so we can grab them easily and put them away just as easily. On the left I keep all of my sample products I get for traveling in the bottom shoe box, just above that is all of our sun care stuff. In the red and black tackle box is our first aid kit. It’s a little full right now. The bottle of Advil I bought was a bit bigger than I thought so now the box doesn't close all the way. But, at least it is all there and easily accessible. In the back are my spiral rollers and my face steamer (this this is a godsend in the winter). On the bottom right are my everyday use hot rollers. On top of that is my big box of hair crap. I think I am going to make my way over to home depot and do this for my hair irons, but for now this keeps them corralled and in one spot. I also have my hot roller pins in here along with various other hair accessories.

I think the toiletry baskets have been essential to our success in keeping clutter off the vanity. Even the Mr. manages to put the basket away most days, if he doesn't at least its quick to grab and throw under the sink for him because he always puts his toiletries back in the basket.

What is your best bathroom organization tool???