I’m not a big New Year’s resolution person, but after the chaos of Christmas clutter, I am really big on organizing and freeing up space. I find when my house is cluttered, my mind feels the same. I feel distracted by the need to clean, rather than do other fun things, like spending time with my family. Here’s a few things I do to keep things organized and free of clutter.

This post is dedicated to Taylor and Katelyn, two wonderful women with whom I work and were kind enough to ask about my blog. I hope this helps Katelyn and other moms out there who are looking for Elf ideas because seriously, who ever thought adding something else to the holidays was a good idea!?

Besides my love of baking, I love painting and crafting. That includes watercolor painting and making all manner of decorations for the holidays. After living in the city for years, and not having room for my supplies, I put that part of myself away for a bit. This post is to share what we’ve been doing more recently. I hope to update it regularly with new artwork and crafts to see what you think. 

As you can tell from my other blog posts, I love baking. So holiday baking is one of my favorite activities. I get to really experiment and bust out new recipes too. Finding great recipes is tricky. There are so many blogs out there, it can be overwhelming. So this post is really designed to help you take the work out of it, because I’ve tried all these recipes with success.

P and I started baking together 6 years ago. It’s been a great way to spend time together, bake good snacks, and even learn math and science!

Let’s be honest. Turkey doesn’t taste like much. Okay, I expect some hate here. I didn’t say I don’t like turkey. In fact, I love it but let’s be honest, like a lot of pasta and most tofu, turkey is a delivery system for better tasting stuff, like gravy and cranberry sauce. If you don’t cook it right, turkey is a gamey, dry-ass bird with no flavor. I feel like there are two methods: dry-brining/basting, or brining.

Not only because I use a wheelchair, but also because I want to use more environmentally friendly products (not always, but I’m trying), I have developed a few cleaning hacks, tips and tricks over the years that others might find useful.

Dolores is a “ghost” I created a few years ago to continue building our outdoor Halloween decor. When I decided to make a second Dolores or Dolores V2, I figured I would name her another old fashioned name, like Gwendolyn or Gertrude. Alas, my 8 year old had an opinion, and decided we should name her Zolores. The rest is, as they say, history.

I fully admit I love makeup products. After many years of being a diehard Sephora fan, COVID, which kept me away from big malls, led me to hitting the Target for some products. Here’s a collection of hits and a few misses over the last year.

I just received an email notification from National Grid, our electricity provider, that our electric bill is about to jump over last year’s winter bill by 63%. SIXTY-THREE F’N PERCENT. Here’s a few immediate things, and a few long-term things you can do to lower your monthly electric bill. Some are obvious, some might be things you haven’t thought of yet.

Anyone who knows me, or is one of our neighbors, knows my husband and I LOVE Halloween. Using the word “love” here. Even before we had a kiddo to celebrate with us, we had parties, decorating, visited Salem, MA and generally enjoyed Halloween. Now, with a kid, it’s even more fun. With the addition of getting costumes, trick or treating, giving out candy in a great trick or treat neighborhood, and “booing” which I didn’t know was a thing until 2020, it’s such a blast! 

I love changing out my summer pillow covers for something with a fall theme, busting out my warm throw blankets for cool nights with the windows open, remaking the bed with my warmer winter linens, and giving my mantle a fall makeover.

I’m in New England, and like nearly all New Englanders, I love fall. Though I am always sad to say goodbye to the beautiful long, hot days of summer, the suddenly crisp cool air is something I get excited about. Not only is it an opportunity to decorate a bit, which I love, it’s an opportunity to get the house, indoors and outdoors, ready for winter.

Due to my disability, an over-the-counter/out-of the box item is almost never an option. You’ll understand more as I explain a few products I absolutely love as a person with a disability, but that I think anyone who isn’t disabled will love too.

I wrote this in the months after having my son nearly 7 years ago.

It’s Mother’s Day. I am about to get sappy folks, so strap in.

There are lots of things to consider for your garden. A top priority should be its seasonality.

Who knew we’d be here again discussing more weird shit, but when renovating a 1960s ranch that was primarily used as a rental for more than a dozen years, weird shit happens.

This is the first in a series of posts about the kitchen because between a blown budget right at the start, the pandemic, and just weird stuff cropping up in an old house, it took us over a year to finish this kitchen.

Holidays are tough. We try to follow some guidelines that help us pick gifts for our little guy, and maybe they’ll help you too.