Winging it!

Saturday, March 26th, 2016 Homeowner insurance........... If you own a home or condo, you have (or should have) homeowner insurance. However, what I find when I talk to people about their homeowner insurance is that they typically don't even look at their policy. It renews year after year, the mortgage company generally pays for the policy, which means that the homeowner doesn't think it really affects them directly. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. Every year your policy keeps increasing in premium, your mortgage company in turn will keep raising your escrow to accommodate that payment. So even though the mortgage company sends the check to the insurance company, you, the homeowner, are sending the money to the mortgage company to begin with. Your homeowner premium directly affects how much your mortgage payment is. So what exactly does your homeowner policy cover? Here are a few of things about your policy that you need to know. 1. The dwelling

This was my former office. For some reason I didn't think to take a before picture of my new office until the first coat of paint was on the walls. However, the color matched this one. It's sort of a pinkish-mauve color in my opinion, but all the men seem to think it's a brownish color - so I now call it taupe. Let's just say it wasn't my favorite color and I think being in an office you love is an important part of maximizing your productivity. (By the way, this is my new co-workers office now, though he's already making his own changes to it. I took this picture after I had moved all of my things out and before he moved in.) And Ta-Da... my new office after we painted and hung pictures.  I'm thinking I will eventually replace that gold framed mirror with one I like better or maybe I'll paint it black.  Now my office is almost double the size of what you can see in these pictures - but the other side currently has some boxes and thing

Sunday, March 20, 2016 The first day of Spring! And 37 degrees this morning. Really? As predicted last Sunday, I had a hectic week. However, because of my new organization strategies, I was able to keep up with everything I needed to and ended Friday feeling pretty great with all I accomplished through the week. I left my office right on time at 4:30 pm. I had Bunco on Friday night which is always a great way to end the week. Talking, laughing, drinking wine, and of course playing Bunco (sometimes.) I am so happy with how my organization is progressing. It's not a perfect science yet, but it's definitely keeping me on track and helping me get things done. I'm finding that my evenings are beginning to become my own again. I can spend them with my husband, family, and friends and not feel guilty because I didn't get something done. It's amazing what a little organization can do for you. Especially because I feel so much more put together. At one of my networkin

Sunday, March 13, 2016 This week I focused on organization in my business and personal life. At home, we're all using the Cozi App to sync our calendars, so that we all know what the other is doing. I am really liking this app and love that I can access it online as well as my phone. On my clothing calendar, I was getting behind in writing down my outfits. I would think "Oh, I'll remember what I wore tomorrow" - but then it was 2 or 3 days later and I didn't remember. I started thinking that it would be easier to take a picture of myself each day, but I didn't want to have a phone full of selfies. I gave this a lot of thought and decided to search for a calendar app that would allow me to put a picture on it each day and guess what? I found one! The app is called Journey and it connects to your Google account. I guess you could use this journal in any way that you want, but for me it's my fashion journal. I take a picture of myself and attach it to the

Saturday, March 12, 2016 Last weekend we painted my daughter's bedroom. She's a 21 years old Junior at George Mason University, who works part time and lives at home. She bought the paint, new furniture, and new accessories for her room, and we helped her paint. She's actually been buying things a little at a time for about 6 months, since she picked out what her new colors would be and designed it all in her mind. I just wanted to show the pictures of her room before and after. It's amazing the difference a coat of paint makes.   BEFORE  AFTER We painted three walls a light gray and one wall a mint green to match that little blanket on her bed. Her accessorizing color is that orangish color. The little side table next to her bed is one that I bought at the Salvation Army and painted at an Annie Sloan paint workshop (it's orangish). The picture on the wall, she painted herself. She bought the bed at Ikea, the bedding at Burlington, the rug at

Sunday, March 6th, 2016 I believe that one of the biggest secrets to success in business, is being organized. If you fail to plan, you can plan to fail! If you're not organized, you will find yourself trying to do many things and not getting very many of them done. I worked at my last office for almost 11 years. For 9 of those years I had one job. For the last 2 years, I had a different job. It took time at each job to figure out a schedule that worked and made sure that I completed everything I needed to. At my new office I am responsible for both of those previous jobs combined. So what I need to figure out is how to maintain both jobs on a schedule and get everything done. One of the networking groups I attend talked about organization this past week. I think you really have to plan well and stick to your plan. Set timers and use that time specifically on what you have planned. I find that I jump from task to task as my phone rings, things pop up on my computer or into my