simplify your life

The #1 Shortcut To a More Organized Home

A More Organized Home: is this your New Year's resolution? The experts' take on how to get one all boils down to one word. Read here to learn what it is.

Organized Home. Hah. How many of us have grand plans (especially around January 1) of Getting Organized This Year? E.g., This is the year I’ll FINALLY get organized! This is the year I’ll FINALLY have a Clean Home! Which, for me, inevitably leads to: This is the year I’ll FINALLY have a More Organized Home!

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Best Concierge Medicine Providers in San Diego for In-Home Medical Care

If you're a busy working parent in an area with few walk-in clinics, these tips for finding the best concierge medicine providers are crucial.

Once upon a time, my late father was an old-fashioned country doctor – the kind who made house calls. That world has all but vanished from the U.S. scene in 21st-century medical care. Whether you have access to decent medical care around the clock varies wildly from one region to another, and even across different

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Minimalist Family Homes: Incorporating Minimalism With a Family

Yes, it's possible to live a minimalist lifestyle with a family - and a minimalist family home can actually make your life easier! Here's how.

Raise your hand if day-to-day life often seems overwhelming. Raising kids in the 21st century is not for the faint of heart. Wouldn’t it be great if there were an easy button to make things simpler? If you can relate to this, maybe this summer is the time to try minimalism with a family. A great

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Minimalism for Parents: Can Minimalism and Parenthood Coexist?

Does the idea of minimalism for parents seem impossible? Minimalism and parenthood CAN coexist, with conscious effort; these tips will get you started.

Minimalism for Parents 101: Your Get-Started Guide When expecting their first child, many people envision happy scenes of simple bliss. Then reality hits home. Yes, babies are cute – but they’re also messy, on so many levels. And they keep you awake almost round the clock. And they come with so much STUFF. Is minimalism

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My Top Packing-To-Move Hacks

Packing to move is never fun or easy. But these packing-to-move hacks should help make the process as painless as possible. (Really!)

Moving is one of the most stressful experiences people can undergo. There’s just something unnatural about packing up everything we own, and locking the door to our former home for good. But the actual packing process has got to be my least favorite part. My recent post about streamlining this process through advance planning really

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The Ultimate Bullet Journal Gift List

Need the perfect bullet journal gift ideas for that BuJo fan on your holiday list (or maybe for yourself?). This list has you covered!

Do you have someone who loves bullet journaling on your holiday gift list? Have you been thinking about starting your own Bullet Journal? Or are you a hardcore BuJo fan already? This bullet journal gift list covers all those bases and then some! I’m about to start my third year of Bullet Journaling. For all

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When Vacation Ends: Tips for Readjustment

Readjusting to "normal life" after a trip is hard. If you find it hard to jump back in to your normal routine when vacation ends, give these hacks a try.

Who dreads returning home when vacation ends? It’s not just that you’re no longer away from all the stresses and cares of daily life. Readjusting to daily life can be a major challenge – especially if you’re a mama. We’ve just returned from the first of several family trips this summer, and I’m already struggling

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How To Start A Bullet Journal, Step By Step (The Easy Way!)

Want to start a bullet journal, but not sure how? This step-by-step beginner's guide to starting a bullet journal will help you overcome your mental blocks and get going!

Simple Bullet Journaling Ideas To Help You Get Started Maybe you’ve thought about starting a bullet journal before, but don’t know where to start. Or maybe you’ve wanted to try bullet journaling, but you’re intimidated by all the beautiful bullet journal pages on Pinterest. If you’re afraid to start a bullet journal because you fear

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How Bullet Journaling Has Made Me A Better Parent

I’m now just over two months into my bullet journaling experiment. For those of you who’ve thought about bullet journaling – either to become more efficient and organized, or to help you juggle your competing to-do’s – yes, it’s made a huge difference in those areas. But I’m also surprised to discover another upside: Bullet journaling has unquestionably made

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Ten Things to Purge From Your Garage NOW

10 things to purge from your garage NOW

Spring is nearly here, as my children keep reminding me. Time for some spring cleaning. Or making good on those New Year’s resolutions to clear out the clutter. Either way, here are ten things to purge from your garage NOW. If you don’t have a “garage,” substitute “attic” or “basement” or “junk closet” – wherever you stuff things

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Baby in a Small Space: Five Hacks to Save Room (and Money!)

It’s a fact of life. As the crowded image above suggests, baby gear takes up a LOT of space. So how do you manage a baby in a SMALL space? We were facing this prospect when I was pregnant with Kimmie, and my husband and I were still living in his bachelor pad. We finally

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On (Not) Being Responsible for Everything

If you’re a mama who’s continued to hold down a high-powered position post-parenthood, without dropping balls on the job or at home too often, my hat is off to you. Parenthood has a way of thrusting a whole new level of being responsible onto unsuspecting grownups (holy cow, did they just let us walk out

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Holiday Hacks: Ten Tips to Make Your Life Easier This December

Do you need a few good holiday hacks? I know I do. Barely a week in, my December is already bursting at the seams. My to-do lists keep getting longer, and some things (like this post) never get done until weeks later than I’d planned. What’s on your plate this month? Too many kids’ concerts,

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My New Favorite Kitchen Tool: Our Immersion Blender

Do you like smoothies, shakes, etc. but don’t have the storage space for a full-sized blender? (Or, alternately, do you detest taking apart all the pieces afterward to wash them by hand?) Do you wish you could make your own baby food from scratch, but don’t have the time? (Or, do you already do this

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Mindful Decluttering: 5 Tips on Decluttering Your Home

Is decluttering on your new year's list? These five mindful downsizing tips will help you get all areas of your life back under control, once and for all.

How’d you do on your New Year’s resolutions last year? My New Year’s goal for last year is still an ongoing effort, but remembering to use the Calm Mommy voice when I want my kids to cooperate is becoming more second-nature. My goals for this year center around being more mindful each day, saving myself

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Less Is More: Three Ways We’re Cutting Back and Living Better This Holiday Season

Even though the first week of December was rainy and dreary in our neck of the woods, the girls and I have had a super start to our month. Part of the credit goes to the fact that I’ve made some very conscious decisions to simplify our lives, both for the holiday season and beyond.

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