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Empty Nesting

It has been so quiet here that I don’t know what to do with myself! I’m trying to work ahead as much as possible given that my workdays can start at 7 and end at 7, and my life is going to be turned upside down sometime this fall. (This is me speaking from experience!) I have a handful of sponsored posts scheduled for Nov + Dec that I’m trying to tackle now so that I can really embrace some maternity leave this go-around. (Side note: Does anyone know where I can buy eggnog in August?! I might have to just make it from scratch!) 

I’ve been missing my West Coast boy so much and Facetiming with him when I can. Just a few more days until we fly out! I’ve been pulling on my invisible string and embracing our E.T. & Elliott connection while he’s gone. (His Abercrombie Kids shirt has me all excited for fall!)

One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed between life with and without having a child around is the time I’m spending in the kitchen. When it’s just me, cooking is something I love to do to relax and unwind. There’s no rush to get anything on the table because there is no looming bed/bath time routine and Thomas and I can easily wait until dinner is ready to eat.

Even though Mazen is very self-sufficient these days, I still find it overwhelming at times to cook dinner and have it perfectly timed for our family to eat. While I get him to help out sometimes, that in itself is an extra challenge. I think the bottom line is if you have anyone depending on you to eat at a certain time, you must do planning and prep in advance.

Smoothie bowl fun with bananas, yogurt, milk, Vega, and cinnamon topped with turmeric granola.

Sandwich dreams!! All that yellow is a fat heirloom tomato. Plus lots of Seaside cheddar, avocado, a tiny slice of ham, pickle on Cville Crunch bread from Great Harvest.

More of the same the next day plus chips + cherries + arugula.

T and I have kept dinners lighter the past few weeks and have been loving dinner salads. They are heartier than they seem. This one had rotisserie chicken, homemade croutons, goat cheese, green peppers, avocado, greens, and Whole Foods brand lemon basil dressing.

Virgin margarita for adult mocktail hour and dinner making time! I am all about limes right now and squeezed a TON of fresh lime juice into this!

I have also realized that before having a child around I used to spend more time on my house. I’ve been in nesting mode and totally organized the kids’ bathroom.

I bought this teal drawers piece when I moved in, and it provides wonderful bathroom accessory storage space. But the drawers have never been organized well by category. I would sometimes open 5 of them to find what I needed (Bandaids, soccer pre-wrap, washcloths.)

So I labeled each drawer (minus one that is TBD!) with letters. I thought about writing whole words, but the chalk pen I have is fat and I didn’t want it to look sloppy so I just simplified things with a letter. Here’s the easy-to-memorize guide:

W: Washing

M: Mazen

B: Brother

*Blank*

i: iphone things (random, I know, but I needed an upstairs place for this with our office moving)

S: Sports

O: Outdoors (sunscreen, etc)

Everyday items are in the baskets. Also: Note my Birchbox collection. What should I do with them?!

Now: What to organize next?!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I love using birch box boxes for my daughter’s arts and crafts supplies! Markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue sticks, you name it!

    Reply

  4. I love using cute boxes like that for gifts! One year I made a big batch of homemade cookies or granola and package din some cute boxes I had left over.

    Also, major sandwich envy. Need to try that!

    Reply

      • Keep three for yourself and use the rest for gifts. Make sure you put something special and lovely inside of them for those you feel are special and lovely to you. A special scarf, framed photo, or a few mementoes from an occasion you had togetherr. Don’t wait until a holiday or birthday. Do this just because. A special gift in a special box for a special person. It will make you feel so happy and saying goodbye to them won’t be so very hard.

        Reply

  5. Love the new organizer! I miss Maze too and I wasn’t even going to see him over this two week period. He just seems so far away. But so glad KK gave him this wonderful opportunity.

    Reply

  6. I too hated to pass on my Birchbox boxes. However our local charity thrift store was happy to have them to box up jewelry and small items they sold…

    Reply

  10. Come home Mazen! We miss you too! I’ve been on an organising stint this week too after reading up on the Konmari method. Very addictive. Love your teal drawers and the cute labels.

    Reply

  11. I’m glad you listed the ingredients in your sandwich. The yellow tomato looks a bit like cheddar and for a second I was like, “whoa, Kath, that’s a lot of cheese!” 🙂

    Reply

    • Hahaha don’t act so surprised because I’m sure I’ve eaten that much cheese before. It’s my favorite food! :mrgreen:

      Reply

  13. I love so see how other people organize! Whatever you do next, please show us. My fav blog is I hear Ly organizing. Do you read?

    Reply

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