Picture This!

It's Wednesday and I'm still working on my clean sweep.  Each day I've committed to spending fifteen minutes working on some small portion of my bedroom.  Maybe on Saturday I will reveal what I've been able to accomplish - I hope along with the accomplishments of some of you other brave souls.  A handful of you posted encouraging words or sent emails with suggestion for things I might try.  Thank you for not writing off me... or my bedroom.

Today we'll move on to Andrea's Tip #2.  Family Pictures.  We briefly touched on this topic yesterday, but today we'll go into a little more depth.  Here's what Andrea has to say...

"Update or add family pictures to your space.   This really personalizes your home, makes others feel welcome and makes you feel good too.  You do not need to worry about matching all the frames (unless you want that look)  -this way you can buy frames when they are on sale or use ones you already have."

A few more thoughts about pictures:

• Tallest to smallest: Whether they're on a table or a shelf, arrange the largest photos at the back and the smallest ones in front.  Photos, unlike many other collectibles, can sustain a little crowding.
  
• One display per room: Determine where a grouping of photos will fit and place one grouping only in each room so as not to dilute their impact.
  
• Rearview photos: Avoid displaying photos on a coffee table or other surface in the middle of the room since the backs will always be visible.
  
• Photos with books: Photographs and books can coexist in a bookcase if you keep them well-organized, and on separate shelves.  In a small, three -or four-shelf bookcase, arrange the books on the top and the bottom with the photos in the middle.  In larger or wall-to-wall units, arrange alternating bays with books and photos for a clean, librarylike look.
  
• Black and white with color: Except for you purists, family photos in color or black-and-white can be grouped together on a tabletop.  But there's a strong visual appeal in keeping old black-and-white or sepia-tone photos in one area and contemporary color photos in another.

I found these three complementary frames on sale at Bombay Company (before they went out of business) This week's activity has finally motivated me to fill them.  According to Andrea, three of anything makes for a nice grouping.

Also, believe it or not... I taught Andrea a trick during one of her visits to my house.  According to her industry policies, she is not physically allowed to hang my pictures.  In other words, I have to be the one to drive nails into the wall.  I didn't want to waste my money (or her time) hanging my own pictures, when all I really wanted was the benefit of her expertise in clustering a group of framed family pictures on a big blank wall.  I used white paper and painters tape to hold their places until Andrea was gone and I could do it on my own.

Consider doing this as you work to rearrange art and pictures in your house or apartment.  

It could work with mirrors too!

What fun or creative idea you have for dealing with pictures?  

Katie or Sue, maybe you will take a second to talk about the great gallery of photos in your basement!  I love it.

Signing off until tomorrow...

Note to Self

Oh the pressure.

Yesterday I casually mention we were going to spend the week experimenting with decorating tips from my unpretentious decorator friend, Andrea, and immediately tales of people moving in, moving out, and getting organized are shared. I'm thrilled our timing is so perfect and will count on all of you to help make sure my content is up to snuff.

In a way today's post is dedicated to Peggy. More than once Peggy has commented that reading Highlowaha is a little like having a life coach. I love that. Truth is there are at least 100 websites you could probably visit to get real expert advice on home decorating. We can't compete on content alone - especially since I've already admitted to being void of the decorating gene.

But here's how we can compete. What we can't provide in original home-decorating-content we can make up for in being a supportive yet challenging community.

Here's what I propose. For the next few days I will share a tip or suggestion, followed by a 15-minute application challenge. You read the tip and then apply it to a corner of your home. Come back later in the day (or the next day) and tell us how it went. We'll coach each other through the process and maybe by the end of the week we'll each have something to show for it. In fact, consider taking a before and after picture and maybe I will post them on Saturday.

Fifteen minutes. No more.

Here we go...

Andrea's Tip #1: Declutter

Create a notebook with a page per room and make a specific list of every area you want to declutter or improve. Break it into areas that can be tackled in 15-30 minute segments. For example - top right drawer or upper closet shelf. Then devote 15-30 minutes a day (no more) to tackle each item on the list and then cross it off. We all like crossing off items on lists! This way you do not have to wait for an entire day (that never comes) to declutter the whole house.

To me, "A page per room" is the most important part of her advice. A page per room means that your list can grown and change. It implies this is not a one-time deal and that you will be adding on (and crossing off ) your list for a long time to come.

Commit today to getting your notebook and, if nothing else, labeling each page a different room in your house or apartment. Then brainstorm - stream of consciousness things you would like to do in order to spruce up your space.

I'll start by sharing a page out of my notebook. Master bedroom. Bed: get new pillows, new throw pillows, and a comforter to fit our new king sized bed; get new night stands and lamps; find end table and lamp for couch area; hang pictures; consider an area rug and a some kind of window treatment for bedroom window; deal with bookshelf; find better space for trunk of blankets.

So serious am I about motivating you to work along with me, I am actually going to share pictures of our bedroom. Sharing these pictures ranks right up there with last year's Reaching for 5,000 campaign, when I was fighting tooth and nail not to have to post a picture of me wearing a bathing suit. Our bedroom is the one room in the house most people never see, so it's easy to make it the most neglected. Take a look and you'll see that's an understatement.

My purse and work schedule will prevent me from tending to our entire room this week, but I will identify a portion of it to work along with you. Tune in tomorrow to find out more.

Now tell me.... what small space will you commit to working on this week?

Signing off until tomorrow...

Spring for a Decorator

Hunker down.  It's going to be a fun and long week of hanging out with yours truly.  Cheryl, Heather, and Katie are getting time off for good behavior.

Richard and I spent Saturday night at our friend's apartment.  His building is the the oldest apartment building in Dallas and is chock full of quaint nooks and crannies.  My favorite was the 16" book ledge that trimmed the entire dining room.  Steve had the shelf filled with interesting books about art, antique decanters, eclectic book ends, and all sorts of other notable curiosities.

In short... Steve was born with the decorating gene.

I was not.

I aspire to live in a cozy home that is well appointed.  I dream of nicely displayed art on my walls, well placed furniture, window treatments more imaginative than vertical blinds, and just-right accessories (but not too many.  I don't like clutter).  They say Libras appreciate aesthetically pleasing things and of me it is true.  My problem is my skill set doesn't match my aspirations and rather than do something about it I am paralyzed by my own sense of perfectionism. 

Then I met Andrea.

Andrea is an unpretentious, no-nonsense interior decorator who tells it like it is.  She spoke at a mom's luncheon I attended about a year ago.  The topic had something to do with organizational tips and with every minute she spoke I liked her more.  The icing on the cake was at the very end, when in 90 seconds she demystified every life-ling, grandiose belief I had about interior designers.

Frankly, I thought interior designers were only for rich people and we're not rich.  I imagined that by calling an interior designer I was entering a covenant from which I could never escape.  I thought by letting an interior designer in my house all sorts of expensive products would be thrust upon me and thousands of dollars later I'd be searching for new and creative ways to dodge her phone calls until finally she'd get the hint and cut me loose.

Knowledge is power.  Here's what I know now.  Andrea charges $85.00 per consultation.  She's been to my house twice since last year.  Both times I met her at the door with a legal pad full of specific questions and three hours later pictures are hung, furniture is rearranged, wall colors have been selected and suggestions (not high pressure edicts) have been made about future improvements.

Andrea is my friend and maybe by the end of this week she will be yours too.  This week - the first full week of April - I thought we would delve into some home improvements.  Andrea has supplied me with a short list of decorating tips which I intend to pass along to you this week.  Each day we'll tackle a suggestion and see what we have by Friday.

Are you ready for some spring cleaning and home improvements?  Have you already started or do you consider guilt-free clutter the silver lining to winter months?  Tell us!

Fun announcement:  Spring cleaning doesn't, by the way, have to be reserved exclusively for our homes.  Sometimes the most rewarding spring cleaning we can do is on our own person.  Check out some spring cleaning Katie did this past weekend!  Newcomers will be interested in knowing Katie (co-author and loyal reader) has the greatest, curliest, thickest hair.  Now it's just 9 inches shorter!!!!!!!  It looks great, Katie!

Check back for the next five days when, in a clean sweep, I will present an decorating idea a day!

Signing off until tomorrow...  

 

  

Sharing Your Story

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here ready to start another day with you!

Today I would like to take some time to honor someone I consider to be an American legend, and someone who I feel can have a great impact on many of us. Today is Maya Angelou's birthday. While I would not call myself one of her biggest fans or say that I have read the majority of the pieces she has written, I do know that she stands for a strong message. I know that she has strong themes of identity, race, family, and personal growth in her writings, and for many of us, these are the themes of our lives.

Back in June of last year, we spent a day on the blog trying to find our connections with one another. One of the strongest connections that we found was our desire to write and be published. I believe there were over 15 of us that day that all stated we have a life goal to get published. When I think of my desire to write something worthy of being published, I look to writers such as Maya Angelou who take a strong stand for what they feel is important and write about it. I think each of us has a story to share, and I know for many of us on the blog, we want to share that story.

Having said all of that- it leads me to wonder where each of you is in the writing process. I figured we could share what is is that we want to write about and have published. I'll get us started! For the past 5 years of my life (4 years of undergraduate study + 1 year of graduate study), I have sent my high, low, and aha to Claudia every Sunday. It started out as a requirement for the class I was taking with her, but it continued as my way to reflect on my experience each week. 5 years later, we have hundreds of my highs, lows, and ahas. Now that I am studying student development theory as part of my graduate work, I understand what I was experiencing as it relates to development theory. I would like to take all of these reflections and partner them together with some of these theories to create a book for my field on the development of a college student. Hopefully one day I will make this dream come true.

Now, what about you? What do you want to write about? Have you gotten started? What plans do you have in place already?

Before signing off for the day and in sticking with our theme of sharing one new idea every day, I would like to share some tips I have received over time as I've shared my goal of getting published with others. One mentor once told me to make sure I keep a notebook next to the head of my bed every night to write down any middle of the night ideas I have. He told me it was important that I write at least one thing in this notebook every day to keep the ideas flowing. He also suggested that this notebook only be used for the ideas related to my book. This way, all the thoughts would be centralized in one location instead of having them spread all over the place. Another mentor once shared a set of Top 10 Tips for Writing Like a Pro. Check out this website for the tips: Top 10 Tips.

If you don't have a desire to write and be published, do you know anyone that does? What have you done to encourage them in this pursuit? I once sent a care package to the person I hope to write my book with that included red pens, motivational quotes about writing, a notebook to be jotting down ideas, etc. Is there something you could be doing to encourage this person to share their story?

Signing off until Monday...

A Heartfelt Thank You

Good Morning! Heather here on Free For All Friday, TGIF!

As shared by Claudia and Katie, it is so good to be back and able to share with you the creative moments that life brings each day.

Yesterday served to remind me just how important it is to say "thank you" to the people in your life who make a difference. Not just because it makes you feel good to say thank you but because you never know how special you may make someone feel by doing something relatively easy.

I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of a thank you yesterday evening that made a

major impact on me and I'd like to share it with you.

As most of you know I am new to Texas. Bal, Lily and I relocated from Kentucky last July when I accepted a job working at UT-Arlington. As exciting as it always is to take a new job and move somewhere new a part of you is always sad about the unfinished business you leave behind at your last job. For those of us in higher education that typically means the students who haven't yet graduated. For me I had to leave one particular student who I worked with very closely from the time she was a freshman...Cassie P.

While Cassie and I have stayed in touch this year through facebook, phone calls and of course highlowaha we knew the minute I no longer had an office on campus it would be harder to really "be there" for Cassie.

Last night I got home from a long day in the office to get the mail out of my mailbox. I reached in to find several junk mail items and one envelope from Bellarmine University. Intrigued as to what it might be I opened it to find one of the most special thank you gifts I have ever received. It turns out that Bellarmine is engaging the Class of 2009 in their Senior Gift Campaign and they asked seniors to donate to the campaign and let them know that they could give their gift in honor of someone who made a difference in their time at Bellarmine and Cassie had chosen to make a gift in honor of me. Now I don't know if Cassie realizes the impact that her kind act had on me (she will when she reads this) but this simple act of honoring me in this way provided a reaffirmation to me that I'm in the right line of work, I do make a difference, and Cassie values our relationship. All that from a form letter mailed by the Bellarmine University Development Office.

So here's my challenge to you today on Free For All Friday. With Administrative Assistant's Day coming up on the horizon (April 22nd to be exact), let's work together as a highlowaha community to think of meaningful, heartfelt ways to say "thank you" to the people who make our jobs or lives that so much easier. Let's be honest in saying that even if you don't personally have an administrative assistant that you work with everyone's life is impacted by an administrative assistant either positively or negatively so taking time to thank the ones who make a positive impact is important and may just let them know that THEY are in the right line of work, do make a difference, and that YOU value their relationship.

So let's have it highlowaha...give me your best, most creative, most heartfelt ways to tell an Administrative Assistant in your life (either the one you work with or the one you talk to at your doctor's office, kid's school, etc...) thank you.

Signing off Until Tomorrow...

What Did the Jelly Say To the Peanut Butter?

Answer: Stick with me and we'll go places!

Cookie Cutter Challenge announcement at the end...

Good morning, Highlowaha! It's Katie here ready to celebrate National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day with you! As someone who loves peanut butter- I have to say they certainly have gone places together and I am excited to share in this holiday with each of you. I also love that yesterday with Claudia we talked cookies and cookie cutters, and today we are talking PB &J! That's my kind of week if you ask me!

Before we begin our celebration of this national day, I feel it is important to understand the history of how PB & J sandwiches gained their fame in this country. For this history, I did a bit of quick google researching and this is what I found...

"Historians didn’t make reference to the sandwich until the 1940s. In fact, the first mention of the sandwich came during World War II, when peanut butter and jelly sandwiches became part of the US military rations.While soldiers enjoyed them abroad, word got out here at home about the concoction and with limited supplies of meats and milks Americans adopted the sandwich as a low-cost meal."

With that in mind, I would like to say that while I am not glad they had limited supplies for food during the war, I am glad that this amazing concoction was created! In the spirit of the day, I decided to also look around on the web to find a new recipe with PB & J that is a variation to the traditional sandwich. I found some PB & J bars that I think I may try to make today. I will share the recipe with you in hopes that you will find the time to make them and celebrate today, too!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup grape jelly
1 2/3 cups peanut butter chips

1. Heat oven to 375F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.
2. Stir together flour, sugar and baking powder; cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in beaten egg until blended.
3. Reserve half of the mixture; press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Stir jelly slightly; spread evenly over crust. Sprinkle 1 cup peanut butter chips over jelly. Stir remaining 2/3 cup of the peanut butter chips into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over top.
4. Bake in heated 375F oven 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Looking for other ways to celebrate this great holiday? How about posting in the comment section and sharing with us your favorite way to eat a PB & J sandwich? For me, it is extra crunchy peanut butter, strawberry jelly, wheat bread toasted, and cut into fours. I can remember being a kid and asking my mom to cut it into fours for me, and I still do it to this day as a 22 year old who brings her lunch to work with her! I'll never be too old for a PB & J sandwich!

Are you allergic to peanuts and you can't join us in the stories of PB & J sandwiches? How about just playing the song below, singing along, and letting the kids dance along to it! It's a hit with the 20-somethings, so I'm sure your kids will love it!

Cookie Cutter Challenge: The winning cookie cutter from yesterday's post is the porcupine. However, as a small disclaimer: if Fancy Flours does not have 2 of the porcupine cookie cutters in stock, then we will default to the 2nd chosen cookie cutter which is the tow truck. In the off chance that they don't have two of those in stock either, we will go with choice number 3 which is the stegosaurus cookie cutter.

Signing off until tomorrow...

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Claudia here welcoming you back after a long, intense month of celebrating women, celebrating creative ideas, and celebrating women with creative ideas. What a month it's been!

Before putting the FINAL punctuation mark on our March Madness, two final announcements... Congratulations Lindsay! Your name was drawn as winner of the second deck of, "Women Who Ride The Trail of Truth" cards. Maybe you and your friends can put them to good use at your next, "I Love Food Club" meeting. Second. The recipients of the women you voted most deserving of the award "Woman Who Take the Cake" received their cakes yesterday. Having said that... Good-bye March and...

Hello April!

I think Heather, Katie, and Cheryl would join me in saying we are excited to return to the free-wheeling format we are used to. New day, new topic. No two topics connected, unless of course we get a wild hair and want to create a theme week. So what's in store for today?

Cookies.

Those of you new to the scene might not know 2008 was the year I learned how to pipe and flood cookies. I love this skill. I think I should be able to add it to my resume. You know, Claudia K. Beeny, Ph.D., Master Piper and Flooder. A sugar cookie is just a sugar cookie until you learn how to pipe and flood. Learn this skill and all of a sudden a sugar cookie turns into a million-dollar looking gift, suitable for the your most deserving teachers, neighbors, and colleagues.

"I'm Watching You" Halloween Cookies

"Luck-o-the Irish" Leprachaun Cookies

"SWAK" Valentiene Cookies

Then I had an idea. Introduce you to my all time favorite cookie cutter website - FancyFlour.com - the place dreams are made of. Here at the home of over 600 cookie cutters, the sky is the limit on creativity. There is not a person or occasion for which Fancy Flours does not have a cookie cutter. Need a cookie cutter in the shape of a wrench? Fancy Flours has it. Motorcycle? Got it. Helicopter? Check. Hockey stick, beaver, bathing suit, or chicken leg? Got it. Got it. Got it. And, got it.

But the introduction to Fancy Flours is just the beginning.

Then I had another idea. Challenge you to challenge me. So here's how it will go once a month for the next year. Each month we'll pick an occasion to celebrate. This month? Earth Day (April 22). Each month you will also be invited to browse the Fancy Flour website for the most outrageous, most unseemly, most ridiculous cookie cutter you can find. My challenge? Use the winning cookie cutter (determined by most votes or random drawing) to bake, decorate, package, and deliver a treat that connects your cookie with my holiday. For example, should we have started last month I might have been challenged to connect St. Patrick's Day to the Ostrich cookie cutter.

It gets better. It turns out Fancy Flours liked our idea too. They're playing along. Each month Fancy Flours will send us two of the winning cookie cutters. One is for me to use in the challenge and the other will go to a lucky reader.

Ready to play?

It's easy. Simply (1) click on this link to the site then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on cookie cutters. (2) Pick your jaw up off the floor and then select the one you think will pose the greatest challenge. (3) Make a post in the comment section letting us know which one you picked. Like the one someone else picked out? Cast a second vote for theirs. Thursday morning we will announce the winner. Now let's cook up some fun...
http://www.fancyflours.com/site/cookie-cutters.html

It's good to be back.

Signing off until tomorrow...