This could be a long one so how about I start by offering you two of my favorite things.  A cup of delicious Earl Grey Vanilla tea (so good!) in my fancy Regis and Kelly mug (I saw the show LIVE in October!).  Sit back and relax and off we go :)

This morning we woke up to a glorious hoar frost (I live in Alberta, Canada).  It’s absolutely stunning to see.  All the trees glistening in the beautiful sunshine.  Gosh it never gets old to me.

closer

and closer

When you first come to my door you’ll be greeted by my new sparkly wreath (are you sensing my love for the sparkly yet?).  I hung it up using the coolest product.  The Zip ‘n Hang.  Flexible lines go over the corners of your door and hold up to 20 lbs with the wreath hook attachment.  No hassles closing the door makes me a happy girl :)

As you enter you’ll see one of my favorite Christmas decorations…my stuffed snowman hanging on the banister railing.  He’s so cute!

Are you getting hungry?  Perhaps you’d like a snack?  These Mini Cherry Cheesecakes are to die for.  And if you know I’m making it, you know it’s got to be easy :)

I purged so many Christmas decorations this year and really tried to only keep my absolute favorite things.  One of those is our village scene which we absolutely love when it’s all lit up.

Time for another treat.  How about some yummy Butter Tarts?

Whenever I visit someone’s home at Christmas I always gravitate to the Christmas tree to look at their ornaments.  Each tree is so unique and tells a story all by itself.  It fascinates me.  I like to call our tree a Hallmark tree because we buy the kids a new ornament each year and they are taking over the tree!  (my kids are 14.5, 12 and 6).  I still get to sneak a few of my homemade ornaments on though in amongst all the others.

We’ve used the same popcorn strands on our tree for years.  We just seal them up real good and bring them out year after year.

And our newest ornament from our trip to Siesta Key, Florida this year:

Definitely time for another munchie.  This time I’ll serve up some “can’t eat just one” Chocolate Pretzel Bites:

Our lovely angel tree topper was made for us by my mother in law.

Each year I purchase a couple of things that really say Christmas to me.  It starts with these awesome smelling cinnamon scented pinecones from Walmart.  I love the way they smell up the whole house :)

The other is a Poinsetta that I get through a school fundraiser.  Can you believe that this Poinsetta only cost me $20.00, it’s huge!

Oh speaking of plants, I forgot to show you what my hubbie picked up for outside our house this year.

Because nothing says Christmas like a light up palm tree :)

Totally cracks me up!

My youngest son got the Star Wars count down calendar this year and thinks it’s the best thing going!  What tour of homes would be complete without seeing this…lol.

The rest of us however enjoy lighting our advent candle ring each night to count down the days (this picture was taken last year).  I purchased it a year ago from Ann Voskamp of A Holy Experience.  Her teenage son makes them (although I’m not sure if he still does).  So peaceful.

Finally I want to share my nativity scene with you because after all Jesus is the reason for the season!

Well I think it must be time for me to go.  I’m getting sad doggy eyes from my sweet girl who is waiting patiently to play.

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit!!!

I hope you and your family have a beautiful and delightful Christmas!!

Linking up to:

2011 Christmas Home Tours ~ @ The Inspired Room

2011 Christmas Tour of Homes ~ @ Nesting Place

Kelly’s Korner

2011 Christmas Home Tour is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

What a whirlwind of a trip!  I can’t believe how much we were able to pack into a two day trip.  Whew.  I want to say thank you so much to all of you who left me comments with things to see and do.  Also thank you to the gal who told me we needed tickets to get into the 9/11 memorials (I had no idea!).  The 9/11 online memorial site is quite booked ahead but thankfully we were able to get tickets and visit the site with a tour company instead.

Also a big thank you shout out to the ladies who guest posted for me while I was away.  You are all awesome and I so appreciate it!!!

Okay so like I did with my trip to Florida, here, in no particular order, is a list of some of the highlights of my trip and a few other things that fascinated me :)

1.  Considering how many people live in such a small space, I absolutely could not get over how clean the streets were.

2.  What fascinated me even more was trying to figure out how those streets stayed so clean because I never saw anyone picking up garbage.  I’m guessing there aren’t that many litter bugs, impressive.

3.  I also never once saw any panhandlers.

4.  The architecture in the city is absolutely incredible.  I couldn’t get over how old many of the buildings are and what unbelievable character they have.

5.  I can’t find the right words to describe how moving seeing the 9/11 memorials in person was.  The magnitude of standing in the very spot where so many lost their lives was too much.  I am so thankful that they will be remembered forever with these stunning memorials dedicated to them in such a grand manner.  The pools are absolutely majestic and I simply can’t imagine a more beautiful and thoughtful tribute.

6.  The new One World Trade Center is only half way built and yet will be 1,776 feet when complete.  Wow!

7.  We found people in the city to be very friendly.  I can only imagine how annoying tourists can be but not once did anyone make me feel like a pain for asking directions.

8.  There are a LOT of taxi’s in NYC (one cab driver told us over 13,000!) and they are all yellow.  I thought that meant they were all owned by the same company but it turns out that isn’t true.  They are privately owned and operated and from what we learned it’s not cheap for the privilege to do so either.

9.  When driving in a taxi in NYC let me recommend you don’t look.  Wow, is it ever scary…they move fast and the way they dart in and out of traffic…yikes!  I don’t think I could ever get use to something like that.

10.  I was surprised that taxi fares seemed to be not nearly as expensive as they are in the city here in Canada.

11.  I let my girlfriend hail all the cabs, I was a scaredy cat.

12.  Tripping and falling in the middle of Times Square is just as embarrassing as it sounds.  Ouch.

13.  Radio City Music Hall is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.  We purchased last minute tickets at the booth in Times Square and watched the Cirque De Soleil show Zarkana, which really isn’t my cup of tea but still spectacular nonetheless.

14.  Waking up early to stand in the stand-by line for the Regis and Kelly show was absolutely worth it.  I was # 9 in line and they only let 11 from the stand-by line in on that particular day.  Talk about cutting it close!  I was beyond excited to be sitting in the studio of a show I’ve watched everyday for 20 years, so surreal!!   And you have no idea how thrilled I am with my Regis and Kelly mug and apron souvenirs!! :)

15.  I was surprised by how I clammed up in the studio.  Regis and Kelly talk to the audience during commercial breaks and I didn’t say a word.  What’s with that???  Obviously I was in a state of shock…I’m never one to be at a loss for words!

16.  Seeing my black and white head shot on the wall at the Opensky offices was really special.  What an amazing group of people and it made me so happy to finally meet them in person after almost two years of working together.

Here I am signing my picture:

17.  The table of organizing products put together for me to review and approve made me as giddy as a kid in a candy store.  I’m pretty sure the drool coming out of my mouth wasn’t attractive but I was having way too much fun to care.  I can’t wait to share with you all the items that made the cut.

18.  Our room at the Dream Downtown hotel was by far the trendiest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.  I’m pretty sure it is geared for young 20 somethings though with no cares in the world.  Me, a 40 year old small town mom of three, longed for a tub (there was only a shower) to soak my sore feet in after a long day.

19.  Speaking of sore feet, if you plan on visiting NYC ignore all fashion trends and wear flats.  Trust me when I say that no matter how short you think your walk will be, it will be longer.  If you ignore all logic and wear heels, your feet will swell to ginormous freak like proportions that will make you scream in horror and pain.  So not worth it!!!

20.  I had my very first visit to a Container Store and while there I purchased, are you ready for this?  NOTHING.  Can you believe it?  I’m still in shock about it but it’s costly and my luggage space was limited.  I took lots of pictures though and will do a whole separate post about my experience.

NY truly was a magical place to visit and I’m very thankful to have had the opportunity.

How about you?  Is NY somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit?

Facts and Fascinations About My Trip to New York City is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

image credit: Grufnik

It’s finally happening, next week I’ll be crossing something off my bucket list when I head to New York to visit for the very first time.  I’ll be meeting with all the fabulous folks at Opensky that I’ve worked with for almost two years now.  It will be so nice to put some faces to the voices I’ve spoken with over the phone all this time.   For those that don’t know, this is the company that helps me introduce and sell to you each week all my favorite organizing finds.  We’ll be working on finding even more fantastic products to share with you.  A lot of work goes on behind the scenes before I ever introduce a product to my readers.  My criteria is tough and I’m very particular and thankfully for every terrible product out there, there are that many more good ones.  I’m also going to do my best to plead beg ask nicely about what we can do to add Canadian shipping to the mix.  I hear you loud and clear on this one and I’ll see what I can do.

So have I told you what a terrible traveler I am and how something almost always goes wrong for me?  Oh wait, yes I did.  Mishaps like that happen to me ALL THE TIME whenever I travel!  Thank goodness for great girlfriends that are jumping to my rescue.  Girlfriends on this side that are going to make sure I don’t go looking like the country bumpkin that I am and then others that are flying in to meet me there to make sure I don’t get stuck cowering in a corner somewhere.  It takes a village people, it takes a village.

Now here’s the exciting part about New York for me.  I kind of feel like I’ve already been there even though I haven’t.  I owe it all to Regis and Kelly.  I’ve watched that show every day since 1992.  In other words, a long time.  It’s my happy place, I absolutely love love love it .  New York fascinates me because of them and all the shows they’ve done in and around NY outside of their studio.  I don’t have tickets to the show but you’d better believe I’ll be waking up bright and early to hit their standby line.  I’m going to try really hard to behave too and not budge in line but I’m not making any promises! :)

For those who live in NY or have been there to visit, what would you suggest is an absolute must see?  Any advice for me?

New York, New York! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

You see here in my new community, garage sales happen late Friday afternoons, which I love and look forward to week after week.  Why?  Because I’ve got a standing date with my middle son (11) who absolutely loves to hit the garage sales each week (he’s always on the hunt for cheap Yu-Gi-Oh cards).  Since my other two kids couldn’t care less about garage sales, it’s become our thing to do, just the two of us.  I love spending one on one time with my kids and this has been such a great way to hang out with my boy.

Oh how I’ve enjoyed our Friday nights together even if it does mean I end up buying a few things that were just too good of a deal to pass up.  The entire DVD series of Golden Girls that I purchased for $30.00 was a steal and I took one look at them and knew I had to have them.  I grew up in the eighties what more can I say and the theme song?  Only the best there ever was.  Seriously there is just something about this song that puts an instant smile on my face and makes me start singing at the top of my lungs.  My family especially loves when I do that :)

For the most part though I’ve been pretty controlled at garage sales I must say.  Of course I always keep my eyes open for things to help me organize.  Two of my favorite finds this summer were only $2.00 a piece!!

First you know how I love my Pampered Chef Turnabout for my kitchen utensils.  Well when I found one on sale recently for $2.00 I snatched that thing up so fast and high tailed it out of there yelling “start the car, start the car!”  Yes I’m a total dork like that.  I use this one as my son’s art caddy.  LOVE it!

Second was this simple Closet Maid shelving unit, also for $2.00.  I’m always on the look out for these as they are the BEST for inside closets, I think every one of my closets has a least one :)  My daughter also uses one for a nightstand.  Not sure yet where I’ll use this one but I can assure you it will be put to good use.

So how do you feel about going to garage sales?  Love em or hate em or somewhere in between?  Did you find any great deals this summer?

Garage Sale Organizing Finds is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

However our trip didn’t start out so great.  In fact just three hours before we were due to fly out we nearly had to cancel the whole thing.  I’m wondering if it’s even possible for travel not to be chaotic because seriously I wouldn’t know.   It seems when I fly anywhere chaos follows and this most recent trip was no exception.

We all arrived at the airport at 5:00 am last week.  My kids were flying on their own to Toronto to stay with their grandparents for two weeks.  My hubby and I were then set to fly out two hours after them on a different airline to Florida.   The problem started when the Air Canada ticket agent took one look at my kids, asked their ages and then promptly told me that there was no way my 5 year old would be allowed to fly without an escort over 16 (my daughter is only 14).

Umm, come again?

At no time was I ever told this during the booking of the tickets.  I didn’t even have the option to pay to have him accompanied by a flight attendant because apparently all accompanied minors have to be over eight so my older two could go but not my youngest.  That so wasn’t going to work.  Since my kids had flown by themselves the year before with West Jet (another Cdn airline) without any hassles I really hadn’t anticipated this at all.  What I didn’t realize (because no one ever told me) was that the two airlines have two totally different policies regarding children flying alone.

So here we were early early in the morning (and I am so not a morning person) being told we would not be able to get the kids to Ontario which meant no way for my husband and I to get on our own flight to Florida.  Talk about stress!  I was so close to tears as were my kids.  They had been looking forward to this trip for months, counting the days down on the calendar when they would get to see their grandparents and cousins again.

Deep breath.

Think, think, think.

That’s when we pulled an Amazing Race.  At least that’s what it felt like.  I rushed my family down to the West Jet ticket counter and prayed we would be able to book them on a flight within the next hour or two.   I have never booked a ticket so last minute before but they had space on a flight leaving at 8:00, the same time as my flight was scheduled to leave.  Thank you God!!

They allowed me to usher the kids through security and take them right to their gate.  I had to leave them there to wait on their own for about an hour and a half but they did absolutely fine…yay for Nintendo DS!

My husband and I then rushed down to the International area of the airport, through customs, through security and on to our flight!

We made it, the kids made it and it all worked out in the end.  Well except of course for the extra $3000.00 it cost me to rebook with another airline.  Still not sure how we will pay for that but I’m going to be writing a letter to AC asking them to cover the cost.  Updated to add:  They did!!  So thankful to Air Canada for doing the right thing!!!

So despite that small (ha!) little hiccup we did go on to have a fantastic time.  It was so nice to see the ocean again.  In BC we use to live right on the coast so I have been missing it that is for sure now that we live in Alberta.

So here, in no particular order, is a list of some of the highlights of our trip and a few other things that fascinate me.  It really takes so little :)

1.  Traveling is not my friend.  Relaxing on the beach however is.  Too bad the two have to go hand in hand.

2.  McDonalds in the US sell delicious Smoothies.  I have no idea why they don’t sell them in Canada.

3.  It fascinates me that ocean water can be so warm.

4.  In Florida u-turns are legal, how cool is that?

5.  Shell seeking should be a professional sport.  It’s so much fun and totally addicting!

6.  I loved checking out Ross, Marshalls and Target but boy was it hard to restrain myself from buying up the stores.

7.  Target has the biggest display of 3M Command hooks I’ve ever seen.

8.  They also have a huge selection of organizing stuff…the drool coming out of my mouth was just embarrassing.

9.  United charges you $25.00 per checked bag which means so many people just getting by with carry-on bags.  BUT there are limits for a reason people, stop holding up the line trying to shove your four oversized bags into the overhead bins.

10.  Lounging around reading just didn’t get old for me.  I thought it would.

11.  As much as I love swimming in the ocean, salt water makes me gag.

12.  There is something so romantic about watching gorgeous sunsets with your honey.

13.  I wore every single thing I packed which makes the $25.00 I had to spend to check my bag totally worth it!

14.  I am a sucker for souvenir/gift shops.  I’m pretty sure I checked out every single one :)

15.  I was thrilled to find a Siesta Key ball cap to fit my ginormous head.  No easy feat let me tell you.

16.  It is just so wrong that you cannot buy Ketchup chips in the US.  You really are missing out.

17.  The Hub in the Siesta Key village makes the BEST margaritas.  Yum!

18.  98 degrees is HOT, thank God for air conditioning and cold showers.

19.  Yahtzee to Go came in handy on rainy afternoons.  I especially love it when I win.  Yahtzee!

20.  I loved Siesta Key so much I’d go back in a heartbeat, even with all the traveling chaos!

What fascinated you this past week?

Facts and Fascinations About My Trip to Florida is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

First, let’s start with the invitation.

Etsy really came to my aid for this party.  The invitation printable above was purchased from Lora Lang Designs for $12.50.  All I had to do was supply my information and then print out the number I needed.  So easy!  Here’s a picture of the Etsy sample.

Next I had to think about decorations.  The invitation helped me decide on my pink/black color theme and I continued with these colors throughout the decor.

I also purchased this adorable banner printable below from M. Bradley Designs on Etsy.  Again all I had to do was print, cut and tie them all together with some black ribbon.  Anyone can do it!

I hung the banner above my food station.

I also made these easy tissue paper pom-poms from Martha Stewart that really added some fun to the tables and countertops.  Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can!!

The second banner you see in the above picture was a FREE printable I found online from a site called Catch My Party.  So cute!

For food you can see the adorable Pink Lemonade Cupcakes my daughter made for me.  They were so good.  I purchased the sweet dress printable cupcake toppers and matching printable floral cupcake wrappers from Etsy as well.  Gotta love Etsy!!

My food station was a small second table set up in my dining room.  I made a few things but also asked each guest to bring a small appetizer to share.

As you can see no party is complete without my favorite ketchup chips :)

A sign for the table made for me by my daughter:

My mini crockpot (seriously how cute is that!) was perfect for yummy Hot Crab Dip.

Beside the food station, I set up a beverage station so guests could help themselves.  Easier all around.  I purchased my beverage server from Costco for $17.00…sweet!

The Strawberry Spritzer I made was absolutely delicious and was only three ingredients!!  I also had a few other things on hand for variety.

After everyone got to the party I started with a game of Spoons.  This is one of my very favorite games to play and I knew it would be a great ice breaker.  It definitely was!  We played six people at a time and the “loser” of each round was replaced by someone new until we were down to two.  Such fun!

Those that weren’t playing spoons entertained themselves by trying to guess the year on some old pictures of me.  Feel free to have a good laugh at my expense :)  For friends that haven’t known me that long in my new town, I was very impressed with the winner getting 7 out of 12!

My daughter made up cute cards for everyone to mark their guesses.

Here is a FREE printable for you to use if you’d like.

Download free printable Guess the Year Voting Cards

My daughter also made cards for everyone to vote for who they thought came in the ugliest dress.

Another free printable for you:

Download free printable Ugly Dress Party Voting Cards

Now for the ugly dresses!

Here I am in all my ugly dress glory. Seriously you had to feel the polyester awesomeness of this dress to really appreciate the ugliness of this dress. I was HOT and NOT in an ooh la la kind of way if you know what I mean.

There were some really ugly dresses at this party.  Here is just a quick peek:

Old shiny bridesmaid dress:

A lovely floral ensemble.  Again you had to feel this material to appreciate it.

A chilly pepper dress with a giant matching bow.   Yikes!  I thought she’d win for sure.

However the Ugliest Dress Award for 2011 went to this “beautiful” dress below complete with chicken buttons.

Don’t you think every dress needs some chicken buttons…hahaha!

I had made up gift baskets for both the Can You Guess the Year and Ugliest Dress winners.  Both baskets included my book which I thought was a nice touch (ha!) with a whole other slew of fun goodies!  You can see the gift baskets on the table behind me in this picture but unfortunately I forgot to take close up shots.

Everyone had such a great time and many laughs were shared.  A big shout out to my awesome daughter who was such an amazing help to me!!

Let me know if you decide to host your own ugly dress party, I’d love to hear about it!  Have fun!!

40th Birthday Ugly Dress Party!! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

At the time I remember wondering if perhaps I had really gone over the organizing addict edge.

Fast forward to last week when a wonderful friend from BC drove out to visit us.  When I walked into the guest bathroom that she was using and saw what was sitting on the counter I immediately burst out laughing.  She doesn’t travel with a toiletry bag, she travels with a toiletry basket for herself and four kids.

Be still my heart.

It’s such a brilliant idea!  It keeps the counters cleared off and it’s so much easier and quicker to keep track of everyone’s stuff.  Not to mention the fact that she makes me feel completely normal in all my organizing freakness.  Ahh I can’t even begin to tell you how nice it is to have friends like that.  And did you notice, it’s even the same basket!!

Anyone else in the travel with baskets club?  Don’t worry, you can admit it here, you’re in good company :)

Evidence of an Organizing Junkie is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Exhibit A

Um hello?  Is that a pom-pom?  Seriously I don’t make stuff…I’m no craft goddess.  What in the world?  A pom-pom…made by moi?  It can’t be!  It’s absurd and oh so highly addicting all at the same time.  I’m out of control!  What will it be next?  Hmmm, how about a banner and maybe some cupcake toppers?  Have mercy, isn’t anyone going to tell me to drop the scissors so no one gets hurt?  Yikes!

So while I’m off pretending I’m Martha Stewart (which is where I got the idea for the pom-poms in the first place by the way, darn Martha) I’ll leave you with the link to another telephone interview I did last week with the lovely Jackie from It’s a WAHM Life where she blogs about ways to make working from home work for you.  In our call we talked, among other things, about blogging and how I’ve managed to sustain this here blog for just over five years now.  Click on the pink link below.

Laura from Org Junkie {interview}

Things are out of control around here plus another interview! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

I just can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself!

Another thing that amused me this past week was this video clip with Carrie Underwood (who I just love..my word did you see the video of her singing How Great Thou Art?) on Ellen talking about her husband’s stuff.  I love that no one is immune from stuff troubles and compromise :)  Too funny!

Now it’s your turn.  Anything tickle your funny bone lately?

I’m so easily amused is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

For a variety of reasons I now own a different non mini van type vehicle (which I love and am so thankful for) BUT instead of storage galore I’ve got this huge un-functional console in the center of the vehicle with limited storage instead.

Um hello, where the heck are you suppose to put your purse?  So strange!  Gosh who designs these things anyway? :)

Since I’m on a rant….want to know what else drives me nutso?

Labels that don’t stay stuck on my plastic containers!

Bad, bad, bad.  Phooey!  That’s my mission for today…to figure out something else so that this can stop irritating me every time I open my cabinet.  Wish me luck!

So tell me, what are your organizational pet peeves?

Ridiculously limited vehicle storage is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie