Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here!

In like a lion…out like a Lamb.. we’ll see!! It is the middle of March….The clocks have changed… and in just a few more days Spring will officially be here!

With Spring… comes Spring Cleaning!! Now I know that is not the same as “Organizing”… but the two really do go hand in hand with one another. Whether you are organizing or cleaning – start one room at a time… one task at a time… and don’t let it overwhelm you!

Now when it comes to cleaning there are a few different ways that you can attack it…. Start by room or by task….You could pick the Kitchen and just do all the cleaning for that room at one time, or you could choose the task – say Dusting. Go through the house and do all the dusting at one time.

Below is a room by room list of Spring Cleaning items to tackle!! Now open up those windows – let the cool breeze in and help air out your house… and don’t forget to have fun!!

Entry (Including hallways) 
Dusting: wipe down crown molding, window trim, cabinet trim, wipe down cabinets, cabinet doors, and cabinet hardware, and base trim.
Glass-Clean all windows, Doors and Glass Cabinets.
Linens-Wash linens (Curtains, etc)
Surfaces-Wipe down all surfaces (Walls, Wall Switches, Countertops, etc.).
Floors-Sweep/vacuum and mop floor.

Kitchen
Dusting: wipe down crown molding, window trim, cabinet trim, wipe down cabinets, cabinet doors, and cabinet hardware, and base trim.
Glass-Clean all windows, Doors and Glass Cabinets.
Linens-Wash linens (Towels, wash cloths, curtains, etc)
Appliances-Clean all Appliances (Microwave, Dishwasher, Stove/Oven, Refrigerator).
Surfaces-Wipe down all surfaces (Walls, Wall Switches, Countertops, etc.).
Floors-Sweep/vacuum and mop floor.
Toss out any old or expired food items in cabinets and fridge/freezer

Living Spaces (Dining Room, Living Room, Family Room, Den, etc)
Dusting: wipe down crown molding, window trim, cabinet trim, wipe down cabinets, cabinet doors, and cabinet hardware and Base trim.
Glass-Clean all windows, Doors and Glass Cabinets.
Soft Surfaces-Vacuum Seating arrangements and rugs
Linens-Wash Linens (blankets, throws, Curtains, etc)
Surfaces-Wipe down all surfaces (Walls, Wall Switches, etc.).
Floors-Sweep/vacuum and mop flooring.

Bathroom
Dusting: wipe down crown molding, Grab bars, towel bars, cabinet trim, wipe down cabinets, cabinet doors, and cabinet hardware, and base trim, etc.
Glass-Clean all Mirrors, windows, Doors and Glass Cabinets.
Accessories-Clean toilet, sink, tub, etc.
Linens-Wash linens (Towels, wash cloths, shower curtain, curtains, etc)
Surfaces-Wipe down all surfaces (Walls, Wall Switches, Countertops, etc.).
Floors-Sweep/vacuum and mop floor.

Bedrooms
Dusting: wipe down crown molding, window trim, Base trim.
Glass-Clean all windows, mirrors, glass doors, etc.
Soft Surfaces-Vacuum Seating arrangements and rugs
Linens-Wash Linens (blankets, throws, Curtains, etc)
Clothes-Tidy up closets and drawers (fold/hang clothes, etc)
Surfaces-Wipe down all surfaces (Walls, Wall Switches, etc.).
Floors-Sweep/vacuum/mop flooring.

Keep in mind – this is a very broad list… It will get your house spick and span… but if you want to go a little deeper…try adding these items to your spring cleaning list:

Entry (Including hallways)
If you have an Entry Closet – go through it, empty it out and sort the items.
Apply specialty products to your flooring (if you have hard wood-polish, if you have porcelain or tile-check your grout, etc.)

Kitchen
Clean sink, faucet, garbage disposal
Set oven to “self clean”
Apply specialty products to your flooring (if you have hard wood-polish, if you have porcelain or tile-check your grout, etc.)

Living Spaces (Dining Room, Living Room, Family Room, Den, etc)
Clean window blinds/curtains
Shampoo rug/polish hardwood floors
Move heavy furniture and clean under it.

Bathroom
Check the expiration dates on items and toss what is expired.
Clean your showerhead
check your grout

Bedrooms
Go through your clothes- donate/purge items that no longer fit/you don’t like.
Flip your mattress.
Shampoo rug/polish hardwood floors
Move heavy furniture and clean under it.

You can get as tough and gritty as you need to – it’s all up to you!! Take it a day at a time and you’ll get it done!!

What are your favorite spring cleaning tasks?
Tell me about them!!
I’ll talk to you later!!

Blog Post 19- 6 Steps to Organizing your Home Office by Angela Caddy

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here.

How has your January been? Have you been joining in on GO Month?? It has been a lot of fun!!! One thing that is NOT listed on the Go Month Printable – is organizing your books/library!!

Are you an avid reader??? Do you have a favorite genre? Or do you read anything and everything? 

I think I fell in love with reading in about 4th or 5th grade… Started out with R.L. Stine Fear Street books (I still have a collection of them!!) which were cheesy scary stories… from there – I moved on to Dean Koontz (I collect all his books – in his name – as well as in his other pen names) – again, more scary stories – but for adults instead of tweens.  I also collect Nicholas Sparks books.  I was in 10th or 11th grade when my cousin lent me “Message in a bottle” to read… I tell you – I have NEVER cried so hard from a book or movie or anything in my life.  I bawled.  Seriously!!  

Typically I do not save books.  I like to share them and pass them on.  In my family my grandmother tends to buy books at the local goodwill.  After she reads them she sets them aside… Once she has a good little pile they get passed along either to my mom or to me… and then we pass it on… eventually the bag gets back to gram and she gives them back to goodwill.

I have friends and clients who will collect and keep every book they have ever touched and on the other hand I know some people that do not hold on to any books….  There is a wide divide when it comes to keeping books.

For those that do keep books – storing them, showcasing them, organizing them… there are so many ways to do all of those things…. As always – the trick is finding out which way works best for you (you are going to hear me say that way too many times – FYI).

Are you a visual person? Organizing your books by their visual presentation may be the best way for you to keep track of your books…. How would you visually organize your books? Try:

Hard Cover vs Soft Cover

By Color

By Stacking books

Arrange by height and size

Separate and display your favorite books

Separate books you haven’t read

That is just a few ways that you can organize your books in a way to visually have separation or distinction between the books…. For those of you who are more analytical…. You may want a more systematic approach.  Try:

Organize by Genre or topic

Alphabetically by Title

Alphabetically By Author

Chronological order

Fiction vs nonfiction

There are numerous ways that you can organize your books… try a few out and see what works best for you.  Personally – I…well … I use a couple methods… I separate by Author…. Then I put them in chronological order from that Author.  I do that with the few authors that I collect.  All other books are grouped by Genre… and then I have a few of my favorite books stacked together….. This works for me.  If I am looking for a book I will find it very easily with my method.  You may find this bizarre and prefer to keep your books in color order.  This is also great! There is no wrong way – only the right way for you!!

Well… that’s it for now!! Stay warm and I’ll talk to you later!!

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here.

Happy New Year!!!!  Hope it was a Healthy and Happy one!!

So here we are… a new Year.. a new Month… and a new Day!! What are you going to do to celebrate this fresh start? What will you organize? What resolutions have you made?

Organizing drawers…closets…rooms in my house… for me that is pretty simple… but for some reason – keeping my electronics organized is a WHOLE other ball game!! My phone.. My email… my computer… ipad… It always gets crammed full of things… So I thought what better way to start the year – than starting it with neat and tidy electronics!!!

That is what I will be focusing on this month!!

I was reading an article and it made me laugh… it gave a list of items… Your desktop has a million icons, your document folder is filled to the brim, you can’t find files…and a few more… These are signs that your computer is not organized efficiently

And unfortunately…I could relate to some of these items!! Which got me thinking… I really need to sit down and organize my computer! So here we are!!  (click on the underlined text above to read the Article).   Now it goes a little more in depth with file naming and organizing… but it is a good read!

Let’s do it… let’s organize our Computers!!

First things first… we will Purge!! 

As Elle Woods would say… the Rules of Haircare Organizing are Simple and Finite!!  I am sorry for that… but sometimes you can’t argue with Legally Blonde!!  We will Purge out anything we can!!  We will remove any and all duplicate files that we have.  We will empty out – and by this I mean – temporarily file away and/or throw out unneeded files in – our “download” file folder.  

Next is figuring out a proper way to organize your folders.

Everyone is different.  There is no right or wrong way… just a “right way” for you. You have to find and build a system that works best for you! 

Is this a personal computer or a work computer? Or is it combined? Will you have personal files… Will you separate your business files by project or by client?  Will you keep “like with like” – all digital files together, all family files together, all business files together….These are all things you have to ask yourself when trying to create a system that will work for you.

My computer is both personal and business.  So I have a plethora of folders!! But creating the right folders and keeping them organized is where it gets tricky for me!!

I have read that it is best to have a few large main folders and a ton of subfolders within them, I have also come across the notion of having one folder on your desktop and within that folder having everything else – that way your desktop remains free and clear.  And I won’t lie-there is a big part of me who likes this idea and thinks I will have to try it!!

Another thing to think about is your naming and filing system.  You don’t want to have super long file names, but you also want to make sure they are easy to find.  For my Business files – I name everything with a date first.  2022-01-03_File Name.  This works for me and is my preferred method of file names.  You need to find which way works best for you!

But…. You need to be consistent with the file naming!!  Don’t change up the way you enter it…don’t forget to put a 0 in front of your single digit month.  These are silly little things but can make a big difference when you are trying to search for something!

Something you may be forgetting about… that you really should take advantage of…. is your Taskbar! Make good use of it! Pin the items you use the most.  Keep your most used folders pinned there for easy access!

The MOST important thing to do… and the one thing that I am …. Horrible at remembering to do…. Backup your computer!!!  Seriously… I don’t know why I haven’t learned by now… There have been a few occasions when my hard drive crapped the bed and I lost everything… I had some things in the cloud and some things in other places so I was (thank god) able to scrounge around and find things… but it was a pain in the butt and no one wants to spend time doing that!! Backup your computer!!!!! Can’t say it too many times!

Lastly – after you have combed through your files and they are in a pristine and organized manner… empty out your trash – or if you are nervous about it, wait a week.  See if you find yourself looking for something that you accidentally tossed.  After a week or two – if you don’t find yourself digging through the trash – get rid of it!

You can use these steps for your phone, tablet/ipad, etc…. 

How do you keep your computer organized? Do you have any tips or tricks you would like to share?? Let us know!!

Well… that’s it for now!! Stay warm and I’ll talk to you later!!

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here.

Are you all ready for Christmas?? Are your presents all wrapped and ready to go? Ya – me neither!!  This year I am a little less organized… a little less prepared… oh well…it happens!! No reason to stress! I will get everything wrapped… and everything will still turn out great!!

January is almost here – and with January comes “GO Month”!!!

Which is perfect for me since I am feeling a little un-organized and out of sorts!! What is GO Month you ask!?!? Why it’s Get Organized Month!! LOL.  Yes, I am serious! NAPO (National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals) initiated this as a way to help inform and educate non organizing professionals on ways to help organize their homes and lives as well as increase their productivity.  Seriously- think about it – I did a post earlier about the domino effects of organizing – and it really is legit.  When you are organized you are often: Happier, Healthier, and Productive.

GO Month is celebrated all month long!! I use the term “celebrated” loosely 🙂 

So I thought….I would create a monthly chart of small Projects/things for you to tackle during the month of January to keep up with GO Month!! We can call it the January Organizing Challenge! Who’s with me?!?!?!

8×11 January Go Month by Angela Caddy

Each day of the month you can do one small project to help get your home and mind organized.  I plan to join along with Social Media posts as I tackle the daily projects and I hope you will join in! Tag me in your posts and add the hashtags!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, and a Healthy and Happy New year!!
Stay warm and I’ll talk to you later!!

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here.

How is the Holiday Season treating you???

We watched Bad Moms Christmas the other night. You know, there are crazy shenanigans happening and the 3 moms are talking about how stressed out everything is/will be… and it got me thinking…. Does everyone have stressed out Christmases?  It is a genuine question. I feel like overall – the month of December is not too stressful for me, and it boggles my mind a bit that people are going to freak out over the holidays. Now I am not perfect …and I don’t always have all my shit together all the time….but I like to enjoy my Christmas… not let it drive me batty!!

What do I do to keep Christmas stress free? 

I start things early…
Shopping…planning…. you name it… I start anything I can early!!!

I start thinking about Christmas before Thanksgiving is here. I start shopping as early as possible.. There are times when it is summer time and I see something that I think my mom will like-what do I do???  I bought it and saved it for Christmas.  I buy little things here and there – throughout the year – Stocking stuffers, or odds and ends that I think the kids will like. 

I try to plan it out…
I like to start getting an idea of what we will be doing for Christmas at least a month (or more) before Christmas is actually here….. When will we see family? Do we have any Christmas parties to attend? If so-when?  This gets the ball rolling and allows me to start making a game plan and allows me to get an idea of when I will be decorating, baking, getting the tree…etc.  This year we will be visiting the fellows family on Sunday (in NJ) and then after the new year we will be driving to PA to visit my family (my family decided to push our Christmas get together for after the holidays to make traveling easier for everyone).  This means that I do not need to focus on having my family’s gifts and everything wrapped until after Christmas.  Planning…..its key!!

I try to follow a schedule…
The weekend after thanksgiving I start taking down the fall decorations. It is during this time that I clean and dust everything (if you know me- you know I HATE dusting lol) and get ready to start putting up the Christmas decorations!

During the first week of December I start putting up my winter (these decorations stay up December, January, and February) and Christmas decorations (These are only up for the Month of December – no tree yet – but the other decor goes up). 

And I really do mean the whole week…. I don’t rush it…. After work on Monday I started.. I put on Love Actually and got to work… Wednesday I watched the Grinch (classic Grinch) while I decorated some more….. Tonight I will probably watch Rudolf… I don’t pack it all into a weekend or a short time because I want to enjoy this time – not worry and stress about it. This really is one of my favorite tasks of the Holidays and I like to bask in it!!

The first weekend of December I usually bake some cookies… At this time I make a double or triple batch and freeze the excess dough…This way – throughout the rest of the month – all I have to do is grab the dough and bake.. I don’t have to worry if I have enough chocolate chips or butter – it is ALREADY done for me!

During the first weekend of December I also start wrapping… all those little odds and ends of gifts I got – I wrap them… and each weekend leading up to Christmas – I wrap a few more!  This way when Christmas eve is here – I am not pulling out my hair and staying up till 2 am wrapping gifts!

2 to 3 weekends before Christmas we go get the tree… and I give myself the weekend to get it up and decorated.. again – I do not like to rush this as decorating is my favorite!!

Roll with the Punches….
You have to be willing to roll with the punches and go with the flow… Nothing is ever “perfect”, be it during the Holidays or everyday life… You know it’s going to be hektic and a bit crazy and that is ok…  Easier said than done sometimes…. But try not to worry about things that are out of your control!!

Say No to things that are not important
During this time it is good to remember that you don’t have to do everything that everyone else does…. Just because you saw it on Pinterest doesn’t mean that you have to follow suit… Remember.. There is Pinterest Perfect and Perfect for you – find your perfect!!

Is your “perfect” baking cookies with the kids…. Or relaxing on the couch watching Hallmark movies??  What are your favorite things to do this time of year? Focus on that! Not what you think everyone else THINKS you should be doing.  Do you despise making Christmas cookies? Then pass on it… buy some from the store or specialty market and instead of wasting time doing something you don’t enjoy – focus that time on your family, focus on the things you enjoy and on the things that make this time of year special.

Prepare for next year!!
When you put away decorations this year – Pay attention to how you put them away.  Christmas tree decorations and lights should stay together, if you have a mantle that you decorate with stockings and the like – keep them together… 

Just like when you organize your house – keep “like with like” (and be sure to label your totes clearly!!). This will make things easier on you next year!! 

Homework to think about…

1.  ask each of your family members what their favorite part of the Holidays is… That way – for next year – You’ll know what to focus on and won’t sweat the rest of it!
2. Think about giving back… The holidays are ending, you and your family have a bunch of new things.. What about your old things? I know I am not the most graceful speaker/writer sometimes – but bare with me… You have just been given some amazing things right? And let’s be real – you’re an adult – and you probably have a ton of stuff already crammed into your house? Why not take some time to donate some of your …less used items…. It’s good to give and it makes some room for your new gifts….Why not donate them somewhere that they will get used and loved by someone else?? How many teddy bears does your child need? Can you teach them about the spirit of giving…. Food for thought.

Stay warm, and I’ll talk to you later!

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here.

I hope you all are enjoying the Fall weather and are cozied up in sweaters and cups of hot cocoa!! I know I am!! We just got a new Keurig recently and I had to go out and buy flavor syrups for it, so now I can add raspberry or salted caramel to my hot cocoa and it tastes better than the cocoa I get from Wawa!! I am excited about this – can you tell?!?!

Once Halloween is over everything else seems to just zoom past!! It is November!!! Already!!! Ya know time is flying by and Thanksgiving is almost here! Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Have you settled on a menu? Do you go Black Friday shopping, and if so – do you have your shopping list/must haves straightened out?

I have never been a big Black Friday shopping – I don’t like the crowds – or the horror stories of people ripping items from each other’s hands… no thank you, I will pass!! In all reality – I do not know if those horror stories are actually true – But I don’t want to find out lol.

That being said… with all the shopping and eating and craziness during the holidays… Do you ever just stop and take the time to think about the past year and what has happened during it – the good and the bad? A lot of people “give thanks” at Thanksgiving, you know what I am talking about, you see it in cheesy lifetime movies…the scenes of family and friends, together, sitting around their table and taking the time to share with each other what they are thankful for – their health, their family.. Etc. Does your family do this? How often do you give thanks and appreciate what you have in your life?

I like to think that I am thankful all year long, that I show gratitude often… But it makes me wonder – is it enough? I like to think I always tell friends/family/and total strangers that I appreciate them and/or something they have done…. But is there anything else we can do this time of year?? Well why not take some time to Give.

I know this is the season to give thanks… and presents… but instead of spending money – is there anything else you can give?

November 30th is all about a Day of Giving… Taking the time to give of yourself to others. Your time, your patience, your heart…. So many ways to help give. Donate some clothes or canned goods to a shelter, donate your time at a soup kitchen.

Just some food for thought… I hope everyone has a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!!
Stay warm, and I’ll talk to you later!

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here. 

Today we are going to talk about cleaning out your fridge… Sounds like fun right??  Well… as it turns out-next month hosts a day… November 15th and that day happens to be National Clean out your Fridge day!  I swear they have a day for everything!  

But figure – it makes sense that they would host it right before the holidays! Now is the time to do a full clean out on that fridge!! Purge and clean!!! Don’t get me wrong – I clean out my fridge weekly (Clean it out Wednesday night as that is the night the garbage goes out!!), I toss any uneaten leftovers, I wipe down any spills that I see…but that is about it… I am not always the best at checking expiration dates (I swear this trait runs in my family!!!)… but if I see something not looking right I will toss it.

So let’s do this!!! Let’s open up our fridge and see what we have inside shall we?!?!?!!  Just like my post about the 8 steps of Organizing…. What was step 1?? Pick a space and stick with it – That is what we are going to do…go shelf by shelf, one at a time… 

We will begin with the Purge!!!
Start by throwing out any expired food you see.  Toss out anything that you will not use before it is expired-better yet, if you know of a family or friend who would use it-ask them if they want it (some may think this sounds weird – but my friends and family are close and will share pretty much everything lol).  If you have unopened items that you never got around to using – but most likely won’t ever use – look into donating it to a food bank.

Do this for EACH shelf, drawer, rack, etc in your refrigerator AND your freezer!! Then move on to the next phase….Cleaning!  Ya – this part is not exactly super fun.. But once your fridge is cleaned and organized you will feel so much more happy!! Ok – wipe everything down… your drawers, your shelves, etc… scrape that gunk that is in the back corner that you didn’t know had spilled.. Clean it up good so we can move onto the fun stuff!!

We are spick and span clean and now its time to Organize!!! Hold up – don’t go putting things right back where they were.. Believe it or not, but some thought needs to go into the organizing order of operations!! 

There are so many tiktok videos of beautifully organized and color organized refrigerators out there… but one thing I have noticed.. They don’t always take into consideration where they are putting items/vs how pretty it looks.  Yes… where you put items really does matter!! And I am not just talking about veggies and fruit in the crisper drawers.

Think about it in Zones… your fridge has a few of them… 

Zone 1 – The Door: this is obviously not the coldest place in the fridge as it gets blasts of warm air anytime the door opens.  This is where you want to store condiments.  Soda.  Juice.  Butter.  Items with preservatives go here… things that will not spoil quickly.  I know that there is an egg compartment in the door, but please… use it for your butter and DO NOT store your eggs here!!  Your milk does not want to be stored in the drawer either.  You may drink a lot of it and use it up fast – but tell me.. What sounds better to you… a glass of cold-ish milk or an ice cold glass of milk??? Exactly.

Zone 2 – The Top Shelf.  This is also one of the warmer spots in your fridge (with the door as the warmest).  This is where your leftovers should be kept.  This is where foods that have already been, OR do not need to be, cooked should be placed.   The temperature in this area tends to hold steady.  

Zone 3 – Middle shelf.  This shelf stays pretty cold (typically you will get colder as you go down each shelf). This is the area where you want to store your dairy.  Your milk, cheeses, eggs can all be placed here!

Zone 4 – Bottom shelf.  This is typically the coldest part of the fridge. This is where you want to store your raw meat and your fish.   I have a designated bin in my fridge and in this bowl goes frozen meat that is being thawed.  If for some reason there is a hole or puncture to the frozen packaging – any spills or leaks of thawed meat juice is contained in the bin and allows for easy clean up and no contamination!!

Zone 5 – The Crisper Drawer – Where you keep your Fruits and Veggies.  Now you don’t want to put all fruit in one drawer and all veggies in another drawer.  Your fruit and veggies can be combined – what you want to look out for is the amount of ethelyne each produces – that is what you want to combine by….keep high ethylene producing produce away from other produce that does not produce as much.  This gas will promote faster ripening (and over ripening!!).

There we go – that wasn’t so bad was it?!?! Just think, now you have so much room to store leftover stuffing and pumpkin pie!!!!

What is your favorite Thanksgiving Leftover??

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here. 

So… it’s October!!

I figured it would be fun to talk about Halloween instead of organizing… who can think of organizing when you can be busy thinking about what your halloween costume is going to be… what kind of candy you need to buy…. How are you going to hang that spider from the ceiling?!?! Right??  I know it is silly.. But I love Halloween… I don’t go all out like some people do… but I have a few spiders and skulls laying around my house… 

Once October hits I throw up my Halloweenie decorations and start buying candy on a weekly basis.. I also sit and watch all the silly and scary halloween movies I can find.  October happens to be “Halloween Safety Month”  which – I didn’t realize they had such a thing, and at the same time it does not surprise me.  I read about numerous “safety” recommendations and thought the world might be going a bit overboard with things… think: reflective costumes, fire-retardant costumes, and masks that you can see in… and the only thing I can think of is how my costumes were always hand made and used from things we have around the house…. Aside from a few things we needed to purchase to tie it all together… I remember the masks that you couldn’t breathe in or see out of…and, well… we’ll just say things were A LOT different back then than they are now!!!  

As far as Halloween Trick or Treating safety goes… I think a lot of it is common sense… Go in groups, Don’t walk in the middle of the road (it’s dark out there!), stay away from sketchy looking houses (again-go in groups-less likely to have a whole group abducted then just one right?!?!),  Have a check in time set up to see or talk to your kids and find out where they are and who they are with, if you’re driving around on Halloween – keep your eyes on the road-remember kids don’t always pay attention and tend to run out into streets (don’t run over a ghost or goblin!!)

If you aren’t trick or treating – and you plan on handing out candy instead… Well, now is the time to clean up your front porch/stoop (this might entail a little bit of organizing!!).  Turn on an outdoor light if needed….Trim back any hedges, sweep away any rubble and rock… make it easy for everyone to access your front door!

I know some people will leave a bowl outside for everyone to take what they want – well that is not my style.. I love seeing everyone (kids and adults) in their costumes!! I always make sure to have my bowl by the door ready to give out the candy!! Unfortunately, we do not get many trick or treaters up our way!

So now, please tell me about your Halloween traditions! 

What were your favorite costumes?? As a kid and as an adult?? As a kid – my favorite costume was a gypsy that my mom set up… I had an old jean dress of hers with some sort of top over it… We used my guinea pig clear plastic travel ball (which we cleaned first) and covered it in tin foil to be my magic ball…. As an adult…  I reuse costumes… and kind of rotate them… Peggy Bundy has always been my favorite!!!

Lastly – what is your favorite Halloween Candy?? I have a poll below for you to vote on your favorite!! If your favorite isn’t listed please comment and tell me what it is along with your favorite Halloween costume/tradition!!

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here. 

Sunday October 3rd kicks off “Get Organized Week” aka GO Week!!  Not to be confused with Get Organized Month -which is held in January (which is sponsored by NAPO). Go Week has been around since the early 90’s!  It is a week-long event to help everyone stay organized (Sunday Oct 3-Saturday Oct 9th)!! Why am I just learning that this is a thing? That’s another “new thing” for me that I learned this week!!! (Sidebar/Sidetrack  – the other new thing I learned this week –  I just posted on Tiktok about it – I love the Doors (band) and now that we are getting into the halloweenie spirit I like to watch movies to put me in the mood – So I watched Death Becomes Her… and saw a clip when Bruce Willis falls in the pool – well they have Jim Morrison standing there about to get in the pool… How did I never notice that it was supposed to be Jim standing there?!?! I was dumb founded!). 

Anyways – So here we are – This starts the busy time.  We just had a birthday-the fellows oldest just turned 17, his youngest is about to be 14, I will be…. Hush your mouth!!! But I will be turning another year older…Christmas shopping will begin soon (I start early and buy little stuff here and there throughout the year-but now comes the times for christmas lists and the heavy hitters), Halloween and trick or treating will be here … then you go to bed and wake up and it’s time for Thanksgiving and then you blink and it’s Christmas…. So… let’s get ready for all that! Let’s get organized and prepared for all the fun that is in store for the next few months….

So – being that this coming week is GO Week I have a few small projects for you to attack… to help you be organized and on your toes for the holidays ahead and the new year to follow!!  These small projects.. Well.. they are things that you don’t normally think about… they just get tossed to the side because it’s stuff that you think really isn’t too important…But…when you need something from them… you are usually scrambling trying to find the info/item.  These are mostly quick projects that won’t take too long.  I have 7 listed – one for each day of GO Week!!  

1. Organize your contact list.
   Yes it is a silly thing and it may not be the most exciting… but make sure you have up to date addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, etc for your friends and family. And – if you don’t already do this – give your contact list a boost by adding notes by the contacts – things they are into, possible gift ideas for future reference! This will help out when the time comes for gift giving and card sending!

2. Organize Christmas wrapping and tags.
   Go through all of your gift bags, wrapping paper, and tags.  Take an inventory of what you have and how much.  If you can – hold out till after the holidays to buy any new items (things will go on sale and be cheaper and then you’ll be ready for the next year), if you have to buy stuff-don’t go overboard – just get what you need and wait till after the holidays so you can restock while its on sale!!

3. Organize your holiday decor!
   Hear me out -You don’t have to get nitty gritty with this (unless you want to of course), for now – just macro organizing…. This is me assuming that you already have everything organized into separate containers for the holidays… Now is when you take the time to just pull out those containers… maybe pop the lid off and take a peek inside.  Make sure that the label and content match….lastly.. Like with like…make sure all the Christmas boxes are together, all the Easter containers are stored together..etc Now – when you put them back in their storage locations – put them back in a way that makes it easy for you to grab what you need when you need it… Just think – when December comes and you have to pull out the decorations they will be all ready for you and you will be glad you did this!!
4. Organize (and clean) your refrigerator.
   Seriously!! The holidays are just around the corner!!!! Empty this baby out!!! You need to make room in here for all the yummy leftovers and pumpkin pies and stuffing.. And I can go on and on.  Clean it out – it will make you feel better!!

5. Organize your Baking Pantry.
   Again – Seriously… (OK – Seriously I have been watching too much of Grey’s Anatomy-this is my first time binge watching it and they say Seriously A LOT!!) If you do a lot of cooking and baking for the Holidays you will want this purged, organized and want to have a good understanding of what baking essentials you have on hand – and what you need to buy for the upcoming festivities!!

6. Organize your Food Storage containers.
   Will you be hosting any Holiday Dinners this year?  Well – even if you aren’t – take the time to go through your food storage containers.  Make sure they all have lids and that the lids close properly.  Depending on how much space – store them with the lids on or with them off.  Toss away containers that are cracking.  And Don’t forget to set some aside for friends and family to take leftovers home with them after your gathering!!

7. Organize your planner/calendar/to do list.
   Everybody needs to have a good grasp of the days, weeks, and months this time of year.  Make note of what days the holidays land, When kids will be out of school, what days you have off from work, When trick or treating is, when you are celebrating with family outside your home.  Plan out when you will start your holiday baking.  When will you finish up your Christmas shopping? When will you start wrapping presents?  All things to just jot down and ya know – kind of get a grasp on things because… well, if you thought this year went by fast… well the next few months will fly by in the blink of an eye!!

So there you go – a week’s worth of projects that: 

1. A) won’t take an enormous amount of time. 
2. B) will help you out in the long run.  
3. C) are small and won’t overwhelm you.

These projects are not exactly glamorous, but by tackling these projects it will allow you to make the most of your time when the holidays do arrive!!

What are some goals or “to do’s” that you set for yourself before the holidays?