Happy New Year Everybody! Is one of your New Year’s Resolutions to be more organized? I have to say that next to getting in shape, I think getting organized is a very popular wish for the new year! So, if you are looking to get yourself more organized this year, here are a few tips that I find can be very helpful!
1. Get yourself some new supplies: I recently went to Target to get myself a bunch of new office and organization supplies for the New Year. I think getting new notebooks and pens is a very easy way to get yourself excited for the task of organizing so that you will be more likely to stick to it! I would make sure to pick up an agenda, cute pens & pencils, some sticky notes, as well as any bins, file folders or other accessories to wrangle you daily tasks! It doesn’t have to be an expensive trip, but I believe that the act of buying these things signifies a metamorphosis that from now on you will be organized!
2. Develop your own system of organization: What organization means to you and what it means to me are most likely very different things. You have an idea in your head of what organized looks like to you and that’s your goal! So, you need to decide on a system to organize yourself that fits your goals and also the way you work. You can devise a system in which all new tasks are entered into a to-do list in an agenda, so that as you get things done you check off the items and add new items as they come in, or you could use a physical inbox where you organize tasks and papers, or you could use an app on your smartphone to keep track of everything! The possibilities are endless, but the point is, you need to find a system and stick to it!
3. Put new tasks into your organization system first and then go back and take care of the past: I think one of the big issues people have when they start to get organized is that they think they need to organize all the old items sitting on their to-do list first. What ends up happening though is that many people find the old “stuff” too overwhelming because they can’t see any progress for their new “stuff”. I say to start your new organizational process with today forward, making sure everything from this point on is organized, then once you feel like things are under control with the here and now, you can then go back to old items and incorporate those into your new system as well.
4. If you have a hiccup, don’t fret, just reset: Another major issue that prevents people from staying organized is that when they have an issue or they stop using their system for a little while, they give up on it as thought the system as failed! The truth is, even the most organized person in the world has breakdowns in their organization system and routine. People get lazy for a little bit or they assume they can go it without their system for this project or these tasks. Just because you do this, doesn’t mean your system has failed, you just need to recognize what brought you back to that point and get back on the horse and keep going. Organizational systems are never perfect, people are never perfect, forgive yourself and get back into your system if organization is truly a goal for you!
5. Continue to tweak: Like I said above, organizational systems are not perfect, they require effort on your part to make them work and to fix little bumps in the road and even major bumps in the road. As you come across issues, think about how you can fix them and implement those changes into your routine. And guess what? You may eventually find that the system you put in place in the beginning of the year is not the same as the system you end up with by the summer or even by the end of the year, and that’s okay! It’s okay to change, it doesn’t mean you’re not good at organizing, it just means that people grow and their systems need to grow with them!
So, is getting organized one of your New Year’s Resolutions? Do you have any other tips or tricks that you find useful that may help others trying to get organized? Please share your tips in the comments!
Since today is New Year’s Eve, I thought it would be a perfect time for me to reflect on the success and growth of this blog in the last year! This morning I woke up to an email from WordPress that linked me to a Stat’s page for the site that gave me all sorts of fun details about my top posts, my commenters, visitors and site views!
Now, although these posts were my most viewed, I, of course, have my own list of favorite posts! These are the posts that were some of the most fun for me to brainstorm and put together. Some took a lot of time behind the scenes in terms of photographing, organizing materials, and/or Photoshop skills, but in the end these are posts I am very proud I was able to bring to fruition!
The final items I wanted to include in this post were the articles I wrote outside of this blog! You may not have even been aware that I have been writing elsewhere this year, so I thought this would be a good time to review and link those posts, as they are all extensions of Strange & Charmed in one way or another!
The first site where I was able to publish a few articles this year was Levo League! You may have seen me mention them a time or two before, but Levo is a great website that I discovered last year, and this year I was given the opportunity to join their arsenal of amazing contributors with these two articles!
The second place you can find me on the web, outside of Strange & Charmed, is GeeksterLabs! GeeksterLabs is a website I have been following for years that focuses on all types of consumer technology. This summer I joined the team as a feature contributor, writing about fun and quirky ways to make the most of technology! Since I have written a steady stream of articles for them, I have included the direct link to my author page here, so you can check out all the articles I have written!
Overall, I would say that 2013 has been an amazing year for this blog! I have seen growth month after month and I hope that trend continues into 2014! So, let me know what you’re favorite posts were from Strange & Charmed in 2013 and the types of articles you hope to see more of in 2014! Happy New Year Everyone!
One of the most exciting parts about planning my wedding was decided on a wedding cake because when you make your appointment with your bakery they actually let you taste all different flavors of cakes and icing! Our wedding cake ended up being two layers, the bottom was a lemon cake with a citrus icing that was amazing and the top was a traditional red velvet which is my husband favorite!
As you may already know, there is something of a wedding tradition that you save the top tier of your wedding cake for your 1st anniversary! For a long time, I thought this was a totally gross tradition, that was, until I did it myself! I was completely surprised when I defrosted mine because it actually tasted so good! Granted, it didn’t taste like a freshly baked cake, rather, it tasted like a cake that has been left in a refrigerator for a day or two! It’s so crazy to think that it didn’t spoil over the year, but I will have to attribute that to how it was stored. So, I thought I would share with you guys the proper way to store that top tier of your wedding cake and then how to prepare it for your 1st year anniversary so that your cake stays as yummy as possible!
After you get married, it’s really important that you deal with the top layer of your cake as soon as possible to ensure freshness for the year in storage. I suggest getting the cake prepped and in the freezer within the first 12 hours after your wedding! First, you need to cover your cake in plastic wrap, at least 2 layers to make sure every inch is covered and that the plastic is closely fitted to your cake. Make sure to remove any air bubbles or tighten any looser spots of plastic because the less air you have trapped in your cake at the time of freezing, the better for the life of your cake! Next, wrap your cake up in aluminum foil, enough to generously cover it! Then pop it in the back of your freezer! I left mine in the back corner of my freezer so that it would stay out-of-the-way and consistently cold for the year. Leaving your cake too close to the front of your freezer may cause the temp to vary as you open and close your freezer. The defrost instructions are super simple. Once your anniversary comes around, all you need to do is take the cake out of the freezer, remove the aluminum so that only the plastic remains and leave it in your refrigerator to thaw for 2 days! I took a sharpie and wrote my defrosting instructions on the top of the aluminum foil of the cake so I wouldn’t forget what to do a year later! Like I said, my cake defrosted beautifully and tasted delicious, so I hope these instructions help any of you in this situation!
Did you end up saving the top layer of your wedding cake? How did it taste after a year in the freezer? Do you think this is a fun tradition or a gross one? Let us know in the comments!
This year Halloween falls on a Thursday night, so unless you’re a college student or really into the holiday, you will most likely be celebrating at home! Don’t let your adult responsibilities get you down, there is plenty of haunted fun to be had even if you aren’t planning on partying it up! Here are five Frightfully Fun activities for Halloween Night!
1. Have a Monster Movie Fest
There is really nothing better than watching scary movies on Halloween! Some of my favorite Halloween classics are Hocus Pocus, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Sleepy Hollow.
2. Listen to The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe as read by Christopher Walken via YouTube
Yes, this really exists and its pretty incredible. If you are a major Christopher Walken fan like I am, you will surely appreciate his eerie narration to one of literatures classic haunting tales.
3. Read H.P. Lovecraft Stories by candle light
Lovecraft is considered one of the great masters of horror, so if you prefer the pace of a good novel instead of a classic film, try one of his spine chilling tales. Make sure to ready by candle light for an extra creepy effect!
4. Dress up as your favorite Ghoul and hand out halloween candy
What’s the next best thing to trick or treating? Handing out the candy, of course! It’s the perfect excuse to dress up for Halloween and the trick or treaters love the unexpected surprise when you open your door!
5. Rock out to a custom Halloween mixtape
Nothing can put you in that Halloween Spirit like music, so make your own playlist to set the mood for a spooky Halloween at home! Some of my fav’s are The Monster Mash, I Put a Spell on You, and Witchcraft!
Happy Halloween Everyone! How will you be spending your night? Let me know in the comments!
A few weeks ago I tweeted out that I was interested in creating some free printables for Strange & Charmed and after the popularity of my free calendar, I decided that it was time to release some more! This time I have created a line of planning pages that you can use for meetings, notes, project planning and even career planning! I have created a few different layouts to suit a variety of preferences and needs. I hope you enjoy what I have created and as always, if you like these free printables, make sure to leave a comment or send a tweet to @MissTrenchcoat so I know you are enjoying them! If these go over well, I may have a few more things in the works as well for those of you who loves printables as much as I do!
Included in this set are, (2) Note taking page styles for project planning and note taking, (1) Dream Job tracking page, (1) Small steps to success goal tracker, and (1) Multiple Goal Tracker.
One of the things I have been working on for the blog is free printables. I love printables because they are like instant office supplies, so I thought the first item I would create and release to you should be a nice clean calendar for the balance of the year! I love full page calendars and I have been using these as the editorial calendar for my blog. I especially love the notes sections that I included on the right sidebar of the calendar, goals this month, books to read, blogs to follow, and places to visit! That way you can keep track of suggestions and recommendations you hear from friends and colleagues. I hope you enjoy these, and please, if you download them and like them, please make sure to share the link to this post via your social media feeds! Sharing my work helps me to continue to help you with free items like this that I have worked hard to create for my readers!
In order to help me stay more organized and focused on my blog and creating great content for my readers, I recently put together a “Blog Binder.” Basically, I bought a three-ring binder and filled it with things to help me keep track of my blog post ideas, editorial calendar and any and all inspiration I have for my blog!
First, I started off by finding a binder that was a physical representation of my blog. I know that sounds a but silly, but I really needed this binder to look like my blog so I chose one that was a nice modern print that I found interesting and of course the color scheme for the binder was in line with the teal and grey of my blog! I also adorned the binder with a binder strap from the Martha Stewart for Staples collection. It, of course, is a teal/aqua color!
Next, I filled the binder with tabbed sections. For this, I used my Martha Stewart large tabs, again from Staples! I knew I only needed a few sections so I broke them down into three important ones; Current Month (for my editorial Calendar), Inspiration, and Articles.
The first page of my binder is my Manifesto for my blog. Once I typed it out, I used Adobe InDesign to format a page that incorporated the look and feel of my blog. So much nicer than just printing out a statement with no life or color to it!
The next page is a mini inspiration board that defines my Target Audience. It’s important for me to keep my ideal reader in mind so that I consistently write for her. For example, my target reader is a female working professional, is interested in technology and loves good design! When it comes to my blog and my expectations, its important for me to always keep in mind that my blog isn’t for everyone, it’s for a very specific type of person. If some people don’t like my blog, that’s okay, if they aren’t my target reader I can’t expect them to like what I am writing!
Next comes my editorial calendar. I have a few months planned out in advance so I keep the Current Month tab on the active month. These calendar pages were also created using InDesign to match the look and feel of my blog. See a pattern here? It’s important, for me at least, that I keep a consistent image so that I don’t clutter up or confuse my brand. I will be releasing these calendar pages in the next few weeks in case you are interested in using them for yourself.
After the calendars are my inspiration pages. They start off with a page filled with some of my favorite quotes that I pulled from Pinterest. I also have some infographics about productivity to keep me inspired when I feel too lazy to write!
The next section is the tab Articles. Here I have printed out some of my favorite articles that pertain to blogging and/or productivity. Laura Vanderkam’s What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast is one of my favorite articles that I constantly return to when I need an extra push in my day! In this section I am also thinking about adding some of my favorite blog posts that I have written over the years just to show case for myself some of my best written work!
Next I have also included this adorable teal chevron wire bound notebook. Its filled with lined pages and is three hole punched so it attached nicely to my binder. I use these pages to just list out post ideas and items I want to keep track of.
The final section is filled with squared planner paper. Since I have been getting more into the graphic design elements of blogging and designing printable calendars and planning pages, I use this section to sketch out ideas that I will then create using Adobe CS6 software. This image shows a rough idea for a planner page I would like to release as a printable for my readers in the near future.
So that is it! I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into my Blogging Binder! I hope this gave you some ideas of how you too can organize your blogs or any large and ongoing projects in your life!
Do you have a blog? What sort of organizational methods do you use to keep yourself on track? Have you seen an improvement in the quality of your work since you have started using an official organizer like this?
Late summer is one of my favorite times of year. For a long time it meant back to school for me, which I loved, but now it means back to work after a summer filled with vacation days and long lunches outside in the sunny weather. This is also the time of year when I feel a burst of energy to get myself reorganized, and I don’t know if its because academic planners are just everywhere this time of year, but its the perfect time to check up on your planner and calendar system that you may have set in place at the start of the new year or to implement one if you are not currently using a reliable system!
When it comes to using a calendar and planner system, the biggest choice you have these days is to choose digital or paper. Each system has their own benefits and drawbacks, but your habits and needs will ultimately affect how useful one type of system is over the other.
iPad or other Digital Calendar System
Pro’s: iPads really excel as personal planner and calendar systems because of the variety of applications you can use to get yourself organized. While there are plenty of apps for individual note taking and calendar optimization, there are also plenty of all in one apps that can keep you organized throughout your day. IPad’s are also great because normally within the apps you can choose to view your information in a variety of ways, like in daily, weekly or monthly formats. If you need flexibility in your daily life in order to get things done, an iPad may give you everything you need.
Con’s: While iPad’s make great planners because of their array of apps, they are still sometimes cumbersome to use. Many people find input via iPad difficult and slow. Since the iPad also needs to be charged in order to function, your planner system is completely dependent on your ability to keep it charged or have access to an electrical socket. Now, of course there are many portable charging systems you can purchase for your iPad if you work in the field or out of an office, it is still more cumbersome than a traditional paper planner.
Pro’s: One of the best things about a Filofax organizer is that they are nearly infinitely customizable. There are a multitude of planner pages, calendar views and notepads you can use with a Filofax that it makes finding your ideal system a breeze. You can also use a Filofax to store additional papers, sticky notes, and business cards so that you can keep important information close by. Since your dealing with paper and pen/pencil, you never have to worry about being without your notes or calendar, no matter how long you are away from your office. As long as your Filofax is by your side, you can keep yourself organized and on task!
Con’s: Although Filofax organizers have a variety of formats for calendars, notes and to-dos, once you have written in a to do item or scheduled a meeting its permanently there and if you need to change or update information, you often need to erase and rewrite it over again. The flexibility of editing information is much more difficult with paper planners and once you are set with your “view” (daily, weekly, monthly, etc) you cannot easily convert to a new one without purchasing more inserts and rewriting all your information over again.
So, what sort of calendar system do you use? What apps do you keep on your iPad or iPhone to keep you organized? Are you a paper planner person? Which planner system do you use?
On a recent trip to T.J. Maxx I picked up this beautiful high backed winged settee in a gorgeous heather grey fabric. Although I didn’t have a space for the settee in mind when I bought it (it was one of those, I have to own this no matter what moments) by the time I had gotten it home I had thought of a handful of different uses for it. In case you are not familiar with the term settee, it is an upholstered chair with a back and arms that seats more than one. A traditional settee is something of a love seat sofa, but not as deep as a traditional sofa, they are more of a double wide arm chair! Now, because a settee is relatively small there is really no room in a house that couldn’t fit one! I, however, have boiled it down to five simple and elegant ways to style a settee with a few images courtesy of Pinterest to help me make my point!
1. Style a settee as luxe piece of office furniture.
2. Style a settee as an entranceway statement piece.
3. Style a settee as a dining room table bench or booth seat.
4. Style a settee as an elegant addition to the foot of a bed.
5. Style a settee as an upscale powder room seat.
So, you may be wondering, how then did I end up styling my settee? Well, after careful consideration I decided to do this!
Yep! My beautiful settee is now a bench seat for my dining table! I cannot be more thrilled about it! I have always been a fan of upholstered booth seating in the dining area and this was such a perfect fit for my apartment. I really like the way that the high back of the settee breaks up my great room into a clear living room and dining room area. Of course, the settee is all mine at the dining table and I have taken to bringing out my laptop and sitting at the dining table to write and surf the internet because I enjoy the piece so much!
I hope you enjoyed this post! As I said before the images I found came from Pinterest and you can find the exact links I used by heading over to my Pinterest page and taking a peak at my board called “Spaces.” There are even a few more examples that I pinned but did not use for this post in case you need some more ideas for how to style your settee!
If you have noticed that your Mac isn’t running as quickly as it once did, don’t panic! It is completely normal for your computer to begin to slow down within a few years of purchase, mostly due to normal day to day build up. There are many things that can cause system lag and likewise, many ways to remedy the situation. Although there are software applications you can buy to help you speed up your Mac, I suggest trying some free options before jumping to software support and spending money. So, I have compiled a list of 10 things you can do to speed up your Mac. I suggest trying all of these for the best results, and since these are all free options, you have nothing to loose!
1. Keep your computer clean. It may not seem like an important step in speeding up your computer, but a tidy computer is a faster computer! This is especially crucial if you are using a mac laptop because dirt and dust can make their way into your computer through your keyboard and build up over time, dampening critical air circulation. Make it a regular habit to clean your computer from time to time with dedicated screen and case cleaners. Also, using products like condensed air to force out excess dust from under your keyboard may help to release any particles that may be building up under there. Also, make it a rule not to eat by your computer. I know so many of us are used to eating and working, but its just not good for your machine to be so close to crumbs, especially food crumbs! So, make sure to keep your laptop clean, and try to prevent crumbs from sneaking in through your keys to keep your machine running at top speed!
2. Keep your computer elevated. Again, if you are using a laptop this is another critical factor in the performance of your machine. Airflow is such a determining factor in the performance of your laptop and can be a major reason your laptop isn’t as snappy as it once was. Now, this doesn’t mean you necessarily need to run out and buy one of those stands for your laptop and an external keyboard, but it means you should always use your laptop on a clean hard surface, minimizing the time it spends sitting on fabric like sofa’s, beds or carpeting. Fabric can be a problem because it usually contains a good amount of dust particles and the fan on your laptop will end up sucking that in like a vacuum and inhibiting the flow of air in your laptop. You can help to increase air flow to your laptop, not only by sitting it on a hard surface, but also by propping up the back of the machine with objects like erasers or books. The goal is to give air the space to move around your computer which will keep your device cool and free of dirt and dust.
3. Keep a clean desktop. You may not know it, but the number of icons you have sitting on your computers desktop actually contributes to the speed of your computer. I try to only have my “Macintosh HD” startup disk on my desktop so that I have as few items as possible for my machine to render upon startup. So, go through any items you have on your desktop, file them away properly and see the speed of your machine increase.
4. Clean up your hard drive. Make sure to keep an eye on your hard drive space by right clicking your “Macintosh HD” icon and selecting “Get Info.” From this menu you can see how much space you have available on your machine. If you are running low on space (less than a quarter of your original drive space remaining) I suggest you go through your computer and remove excess files. You can move anything you don’t need to the trash (make sure to empty the trash when your done!) or you can move files off your computer and onto an external hard drive. If you are not sure what is taking up space on your mac you can always download the free application Disk Inventory X. This simple to use software can help you identify what applications and files are taking up the most space on your computer and you may be surprised that your precious hard drive space is being eaten up in the most unusual ways! If applications are your culprit, you will need download the free application, AppCleaner that helps you safely remove unused or unneeded applications and there associated files.
5. Reset Safari. If you are having an issue with the speed of Safari especially, you may need to Reset Safari to clean out its cache. From the Safari Menu, select “Reset Safari” and a box should appear with checked boxes asking which items to reset. I suggest resetting everything, but check the list and make sure there isn’t anything you don’t want reset because the reset will basically wipe all stored information (but not your bookmarks). Things like your downloads file, the autofill forms for websites, and stored passwords for sites will all be wiped. You may be a little nervous to do this, so before you take this action, I suggest visiting any important websites to figure out what your usernames and passwords are for each (because after the reset they won’t autofill again until after you have revisited and reentered your information). If you have a computer that is a few years old, you would be surprised to see how many websites Safari has been storing information for, even ones you haven’t visited in years! This action can take a few minutes, depending on the amount of information you have stored, so don’t worry if you see the beach ball pop up, or if Safari has a little lag once it reboots! That will go away momentarily.
6. Make sure your software is up to date. Apple is frequently sending our Mac’s software updates for everything from iTunes, to Safari to Mail! If you don’t have your Mac set to automatically check for updates, you may need to go in and manually check every once in a while to make sure your computer is running on the most up to date software! From your Apple menu, select “Check for Software Updates” and let your computer scan for any new updates. You will need to be connected to the internet to do this, so make sure you are connected via Wifi or cable.
7. Close out of applications. This may seem like a simple solution, but you would be surprised at the amount of people who do not realize that they have not properly closed out of applications. With a Mac, you can “X” out of an application, but the application may still be running in the background. To check this, take a look at your dock and see if any applications have a little glowing light under neath them. If they do, that means they are still running. To close any applications you don’t need running at the time, right click the icon and select “Quit”. If the application doesn’t quit within a minute or so, you may need to try again and select “Force Quit” as sometimes applications time out while they are running and stop responding to normal commands. Don’t worry if you have to use “Force Quit,” it will not damage your computer or the application.
8. Unplug any peripheral devices you aren’t using. This is a common problem with desktop Mac’s that are stationary. Often times, because we don’t move our computer around, it tends to have lot of extras plugged into it, even when those extras are not in use. Things like printers, external hard drives, card readers and usb thumb drives can all slow down your Mac’s performance. So, unless you are using the peripheral device, unplug it so it doesn’t weigh down the performance of your computer.
9. Restart your Mac. Sometimes temporary lags in performance can be stopped with a simple restart. It is recommended that you first close out of all your applications before attempting the restart. Once you have quit out of everything, you can proceed to “Restart” from the “Apple” menu. If you get an option in the dialog box to “Open Windows upon restart” make sure that box is unchecked so that you get a clean reboot.
10. Shut down your computer. Although Macs do not need to be Restarted or Shut down in between uses, if it has been a while since you last shut down your computer, you may want to give your Mac a rest with a Shut Down. From the “Apple” menu, select the “Shut Down” option and once your computer has shut down completely, give it some time to rest before starting it back up. I recommend running the shut down sequence in the evening before you go to bed, and then giving your computer a quick cleaning while its off. Make sure to leave it on a hard, dry surface, and keep it unplugged if it is a laptop.
If you have trouble or are unable to complete any of these tips, I suggest reaching out to Apple directly for assistance. If you do complete these tips and still see a good deal of system slowdowns and lag, reach out to Apple via the AppleCare hotline or your local Apple retailer to get further information on diagnostics that can check to see if you are having a major system issue that is causing the lag. Lag can sometimes be a warning sign of disk failure, so always keep your files backed up just to be on the safe side!
