How OCD are you?

With this extra time on my hands this week, I have created a list of things "to do" that is roughly one mile long. One of them is to organize the guest room closet. Currently, it is a disaster. Tomorrow, this is what I would like it to look like:

(the cute clothes wouldn't hurt either).

Any organizing tips? Are you good at this sort of thing? I'm pretty good at keeping things neat and in their place, but I'm no wizard and it's especially tough to make organization look this stylish for me. Would love any tips you have to offer for my venture into Spring cleaning and organizing.

Apartment Therapy had a great tip on using umbrella stands for odd pieces like yoga mats. I liked that one.

(photo via The Container Store).

Beautiful day for 'blading

Today, in honor of only having to work 1 day this week (and only a half day at that!), my really fun friend Kimmy and I went rollerblading. It's not often I wear a sweater blading, but the windchill kicked up the cold a notch! It ended up being a beautiful day, perfect for rollerblading on the beach. Can't wait to do it again!

Do you rollerblade? Or skate? Or maybe ice skate? Ice skating is fun, but I think I'm more of a bike path kind of girl.

Green thumbs

I find it semi-embarrassing to tell you that I am pretty much incapable of keeping a plant alive and healthy. I mean, maybe if you paid me, I would be able to come over and water your plants while you were out of town. But there is no way I have the ability to keep a plant of my very own alive without serious incentive or constant reminder. I guess this is ok. I mean, not everyone is a "green thumb". But I can scientifically say that this trait does not run in families. My mom is a fabulous green thumb. She even tries to come over and save the plants that I have relentlessly neglected. Which is strange, because otherwise, I am a very caring a thoughtful person. Just apparently not to things that don't speak or have a pulse.

So that's it. Any tips on how to be better at it? Remember, tips for a hopeless person who probably won't do them... I just wish I could be one of those people with a beautiful garden! At least I can handle flowers, those are expected to die after a few days. How morbid, right!?

Anyway, are you a 'green thumb'?? I hope so, there should be more splendid people like you in the world to keep apartments green and homes smelling like Christmas year round! :)

(They say succulents are easy to keep, maybe I could handle that? The above picture is via picable).

Sunday Morning Coffee

Are you a coffee drinker? Well, let me tell you, I am! And with this whole pregnancy thing, I've really had to take an inventory and scale back on my caffeine intake. My girl friend, with an equally amorous relationship with coffee as myself, asked me "how do you do it!?" (limit my coffee intake that is, as if that is the most difficult point in pregnancy- which, let me say, she wasn't far off). I told her, it's amazing what you learn to sacrifice when you have to. But all that to say, I'm still having my doctor approved cup a day. I will not give that up! Moderation.

So in tribute to my beloved beverage. What's your favorite coffee shop? Or coffee drink? I'd have to say, mine is a medium, nonfat, vanilla latte from Peet's. Yes.

Other good places to grab a good cup of coffee in L.A.:
Urth Caffe, for an insanely delicious Spanish latte.
Groundwork, for the strongest ice coffee you'll ever have!
Diners... (don't they usually have the best anyway?)

(photo via Small Kitchen College).

Bethenny

Do you ever watch Bethenny Ever After on Bravo? I have to say that it is one of my guilty, or maybe even not so guilty, pleasures. I'm not big on reality shows, but she cracks me up, and it's nice to see a career driven woman on TV. I think she probably is too hard on herself for wanting to do it all/ have it all, because really, who wouldn't want it all? I just don't think I could do it all without a lazy weekend thrown around in there very often.

Dad-isms

Lately I've been quoting my dad a lot. It's strange, I've had a hard time posting about my dad on public forums like Facebook and the like, but I think I consider this place more private and personal in some way- although I hope more people end up reading this than any of my silly status updates.

I wanted to talk about my dad today for a few reasons. One, he was the best dad in the whole world. And two, I'm trying to find a way to honor him on this very sad day for me, the one that marks the day he passed away 7 years ago.

So I thought I'd share his humor with you. Since I think that was one of the best parts of him. My dad knew how to make people laugh without trying, but it's funny how the silly things are the things you remember. Like how he used to say to me, "You're a good kid, but who likes goats?", or whenever I said "I'm thirsty", he'd say "I'm Friday". And when he really had to pee, he'd say his back teeth were floating! That one is particularly gross, huh? He never got tired of those. They still make me chuckle.

I think those sayings will always be my 'dad-isms' if you will. Does your mom or dad have funny little sayings like that? Or is there something funny about them that just makes them "them"? My mom still talks about how she remembers how much her dad hated sticky things, and as kids, her sister would run around threatening to smear her syrupy hands on him! Isn't that the best? The silly things always seem to be the best. So here's to you, dad. Miss you.

(photo of my mom, me, and my dad at an LMU basketball game)

Announcement!

Ah hem...
We're pregnant!! I wanted to have some smooth and creative way to make such an amazing announcement, but I have found that I am pretty much only able to blurt it out! I'm just about 14 weeks now, and let me say, I'm over the moon and in shock at the same time, if that's possible.

I do this thing where I call the baby whatever fruit it corresponds to in the prenatal size charts for that given week (it's kind of random, but cool). So this week it's going to be my little lemon! (last week it was our little peach). I can hardly believe it. It's so exciting. My father-in-law asked if we felt "ready", and I said no! But I think we will be by the time the little pumpkin arrives, that's why we have 6 more months to prepare, right?

So, here's to life, and making more of it. Cheers!!!

(photo via The Bump).