Simplify the Season 2013 has begun with a… BINDER!

You thought I was going to say “with a BANG” didn’t you?!

As we move toward our time to Simplify the Season 2013, I have been pouring over my notebook to guide us along.  There are SIX individualized sections in my notebook: TimeLine, Party Planning, Baking, Portraits/Cards, Wish Lists, List of ME TIME Activities, Family Traditions/Outings. 

TimeLine:  Contains monthly calendars of November-January.  I keep this separate from my planner because it contains ONLY my Simplify the Season plans.  These plans coincide with the weekly blogs you will read through the next few months.

Party Planning: Includes our plans for Thanksgiving Dinner through New Year’s Brunch and any party or family event that we host in between.  This includes guest lists, menus and “Who is Bringing What”.  (Perfect for that cookie decorating party with the little ones or a Mom’s Night In cookie exchange party.)

Baking: This is a great place to house your favorite Christmas goody recipes, the ones that are favorites year after year. 

In the past I had a Portraits/Cards section: This section holds my holiday cards, address book, and photos to insert into cards. (Stamps and a pen are housed in a pencil pouch in the front of my notebook.)  Also, if I receive a card for someone and have not previously known their address, I can Simply tear off their return address from their envelope and put it in this section to correspond with them at a later time. 
I now use an on-line service to send out my holiday cards.  I made the switch last year when I was so so ill for months.  I will continue to use the online service because it is so easy to make my own picture cards and send them directly from their site.  No more stamps, writing addresses out, or extra trips to the post office for me!  This has been a real time and sanity saver!
So this section still holds my list to update when I am away from my computer.  But other than that, it is becoming obsolete for me.  Still I know many of you cherish sending actual cards, so I didn’t want to do away with this section. 

Wish Lists: Every child’s favorite section! This section holds wish lists, budget, store locators, and “crafts for gifts” ideas.  I also keep an envelope marked “Christmas Receipts” in this section. 

List of ME TIME: so that I do not neglect myself during a busy holiday season, I keep a running list of ways to spend my precious alone time.  Watching campy holiday movies, getting a massage, treating my toes nicely, stopping by my favorite antique shops.  It is important to take care of ourselves during this busy, and sometimes stressful, time of year.

Outings/Traditions: Contains a list of area happenings that the family enjoys going to year after year – along with a list of new things we may want to try each year.  I have high hopes that one of these years, we will get to go on that scenic historic holiday trolley ride with hot cocoa!!! 

All wrapped up: This was just a plain green binder.  I recycled some old Christmas wrap that was past it’s prime, so that it would be a little more festive and gave my plain old binder a little bit of pizzazz. 

So there you have it: my Simplify the Season Binder has finally been revealed to you all.  Now let’s get ready to SIMPLIFY YOUR SEASON!

If you are in the Jacksonville/St. Johns area and would like your home better organized (and your season simplified!) and would like the assistance of a professional organizer, e-mail juliebavi@gmail.com  You can also find me on Facebook by clicking HERE or by searching for Organize With Julie.  Stalk me on twitter @juliebavi.

Are you getting ready?

... To Simplify YOUR Season?

The holidays are approaching.  
Stay tuned for how to stay ahead of the game.




If you are in the Jacksonville/St. Johns area and would like your home better organized, would like to keep your sanity during the holiday season, and would like the assistance of a professional organizer, e-mail juliebavi@gmail.com You can also find me on Facebook by clicking HERE or by searching for Organize With Julie. Stalk me on twitter @juliebavi.

Happy Mother’s Day – No I’m Not Late

Mother’s Day Schmother’s Day – That’s how I thought of our most recently celebrated holiday… until this past Sunday.  My son is 8 and this is the first Mother’s Day I have enjoyed.  It was nothing fancy – flower art project from school, hubby picking up grocery store bakery breakfast, and a day spent with my wonderful in-laws making memories – it was a great day!  This was a big change from my first Mother’s Day, 8 years ago, which had been a day that I was excitedly looking forward to experiencing.  However, it was excruciating to me.  As a mom of a 3 month old with a husband who worked until midnight and the additional heartache of being separated from my own Mom, it was not the fairy tale I had dreamed up.  

So for all of you Moms out there, I wish YOU a very happy Mother’s Day – today, tomorrow, and every day hereafter. 
From this day forth:
Know that you are appreciated by your little ones who don’t know that it’s supposed to be a special day all for mom. 
For the ones whose kiddos won’t stop arguing for a single moment any given day. 
For the ones who were dreaming of getting flowers and presents and breakfast in bed –
and instead woke up to a garden of weeds and a houseful to tend to. 
For those who have angel babies in heaven who couldn’t send them the words. 
Happy Mother’s Day to YOU… every day.

And for those of you whose husbands are not deployed, for the ones with men and kiddos who make the effort, and even succeed, with lavishing mom on this special day – know that you are especially blessed.  Happy Mother’s Day to you as well.

If you are in the Jacksonville/St. Johns area and would like your home better organized, and would like the assistance of a professional organizer, e-mail juliebavi@gmail.com You can also find me on Facebook by clicking HERE or by searching for Organize With Julie. Stalk me on twitter @juliebavi.

Technorati Tags: Mom,organizing,we care,the stuff of life

Warning: FUN weekend ahead!

What an exciting weekend ahead for us here at Organize With Julie! 

On Saturday evening we are honored to present a bucket of fun organizing supplies and services at the 1st ever Keystone Academy "Cocktails for Keystone" Gala.  We are going to have so much fun dressing up and attending The Ponte Vedra Plantation Clubhouse for this event.  Donations from the gala event will go toward building a playground for the children of The Keystone Academy and Keystone Behavioral Pediatrics.  Tickets will still be available at the door for only $75. 

 

On Sunday, you will find us  walking for the Heal! Zoo Walk at the Jacksonville Zoo.  My family will be there with Team Keystone.  Not only does Heal! raise awareness for autism in our community, they also fund programs and camps in the area.  With a high in the low 70's, it is going to be a great day at the zoo!  Come join us!  If you aren't able to join us by registering here, feel free to donate to Team Keystone. 

What are you doing this weekend?

If you are in the Jacksonville/St. Johns area and would like your home better organized, and would like the assistance of a professional organizer, e-mail juliebavi@gmail.com  You can also find me on Facebook by clicking HERE or by searching for Organize With Julie.  Stalk me on twitter @juliebavi.

Technorati Tags: Heal!,Autism,Keystone,Jax Zoo,Jacksonville,Organizing

Reminder for Tax time!

The deadline for receiving W-2 forms in order to do your taxes (or have them done) has passed. It is time to gather all of your receipts, 1099s, and other documents. Start compiling them now instead of waiting until the last minute. Put documentation together in a box or folder. Call now and make your appointment with your tax adviser. Making this appointment now serves a two-fold purpose. First, now you have a personal deadline for getting all of your forms together. Second, you will have no excuse for stressful procrastination. Wouldn’t relieving any of the frantic tax rush be a positive move?  I think it would feel much less… ummm… taxing. 

Technorati Tags: organizing,taxes,procrastination

GO MONTH 2013

Greetings!  We're halfway through the first month of a new year.  Don't you just love packing up the Christmas decor, sending the kids back to school, and getting life back to "normal"?  I have been a purging and organizing fool around my house.  The bug has finally bit me to let go of things I was holding onto.  I used some of the same excuses you do "I have the space for it" or the ever popular "I may need that someday".  It's easy to justify holding onto stuff sometimes.  You know what's an even better feeling though?  Letting go of stuff!  Freeing your space and your mind of the clutter.  Letting someone else benefit from the things you pass on to them.  What could a professional organizer possibly have to purge?  Art supplies, books, outgrown workbooks, coloring books (where did all of these coloring books come from in the first place?!) - donated to the school.  Pantry items - to the local food bank.  Toys and clothes - to the consignment sale or handed down to friends. Magazines and catalogs - into the recycle bin.  Each week is like a new treasure hunt to see what I can purge next.

So tell me: What's cluttering up your house and mind?  What do you need to purge from your home and life?  Do you need some help along the way?  That's what I'm here for!

If you are in the Jacksonville/St. Johns area and would like your home better organized (or you want some help Simplifying YOUR Season), and would like the assistance of a professional organizer, e-mail juliebavi@gmail.com  You can also find me on Facebook by clicking HERE or by searching for Organize With Julie.  Stalk me on twitter @juliebavi.

Merry Christmas!

My A#1, favorite thing about Christmas is the REASON we celebrate.  Most importantly that I can share it with you.  The true meaning of Christmas is celebrating Christ’s birth, so I would like to wish you a Blessedly Simplified Season for Christmas by sharing Scripture from Luke 2:8-20.
⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest,
      and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.


May you find time to ponder things in your heart this season as Mary did on that very first Christmas.  

If you are in the Jacksonville/St. Johns area and would like your home better organized (or you want some help Simplifying YOUR Season), and would like the assistance of a professional organizer, e-mail juliebavi@gmail.com  You can also find me on Facebook by clicking HERE or by searching for Organize With Julie.  Stalk me on twitter @juliebavi.