Thankfulness ~ A Lesson From Mom

We all have those days (I've wrote about them before) where life as a busy mom of 3 (& now the crazy dog) can just seem over the top exhausting! Well, yesterday was one of those days that was not only exhausting, it was loud, messy & chaotic ... & my own mother came to the rescue!

On a day when I would normally have been too busy to notice, I stopped in my tracks to pay particular attention to what an amazing mom she was to come and help me for 3 days.

A gift of love, and act of kindness & grace she dropped what she was doing in her own life to come and dedicate 100% of her time and attention to mine.

She took on my messes as if they were her own, she stepped in to help with the "micro details" of my mommy life that had crept up on me as I met a client deadline the night before.

She seamlessly finished the laundry, made dinner for the children, walked the dog (in the rain), hung up clothes, took out the trash cans and cleaned up the kitchen.

She said good night to me like she always did when I was a little girl and I stopped to notice what an amazing woman she is. I felt five ~ safe & warm in her care ~ but looked in the mirror & reality set in. We are both older (much older) and the years ahead of us that we have to spend together are narrowing.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for all that I have & all that I have had the opportunity to learn, love and cherish through the example of my wonderful mother.

May you take the time this Thanksgiving to notice ~ and thank ~ those you love & cherish.

I love you, mom.
L

Purple Martin & Co. "Holiday Gift Pick!" ~ Recycled Glass Vases From Organica Deluxe!

An online (& Charlotte, NC) find ~ ORGANICA DELUXE (as seen in magazines!) has taken organic style to a whole new level! www.organicadeluxe.com

I just LOVE it when I can accessorize my office space with something "practical" AND "beautiful" ... having it be an "organic" product takes it into the next stratosphere for me!

My next holiday gift pick is a collection of 100% recycled glass vases. They are not only gorgeous (especially when the light shines through them), but they are also very practical for holding small desktop items that are generally stored in much less attractive ways.

I use mine (see photo) to store colored pencils, thumbtacks, paper clips, and binder clips! I LOVE how they look on my desk and am even more impressed with the fact that they are "recycled" and good for our earth.

These vases make GREAT gifts for the holidays and at $12 apiece they are a big bang for your dollar! They come in 5 different colors ~ Red, Green, Orange, Blue & Pink ~ and 2 sizes - tall bud vase and short wider necked vase. For the holiday season the Red & Green colored vases will be a BIG hit!

Another creative use for these great "green gifts" is to give them as teacher presents!

I have come up with the following GREAT gift ideas (please copy them if you like!)

1. Fill one short vase for the art teacher with an assortment of paint brushes & tie with a handwritten note from my child

2. Fill one tall vase with #2 pencils for the "math teacher" and tie with a poem written by my child (she LOVES math)

3. Fill one tall or short vase with binder clips for the school secretary

4. Fill one with colored pencils & tie with a bow & special note

5. Fill one with a couple of inexpensive thumb drives for the computer lab teacher (she is sure to love this one!)

6. Fill a red or green one with your favorite holiday candy (candy canes, M&M's Hershey's kisses) & garnish with a pretty bow!

The best part about all of these ideas it that the vase will double as an actual "vase" when your child brings you teacher a small bunch of flowers from the yard throughout the year.

The note I created for my vases to give as gifts reads:
"This beautiful bottle is made of 100% recycled glass & has many wonderful uses.

Sit it upon your desk as a pretty way to organize small items such as paperclips, thumbtacks, binder clips or pencils.

It also doubles as a beautiful vase for each time I bring you a flower to school for the great job you do teaching me each day.

Or you can take it home & use it as a dispenser for olive oil, balsamic vinegar or dish soap as a pretty accent to your countertop.

Thank you for being a special teacher to me ~ Love, E"

Isn't this the best gift that keeps on giving?

Pretty, Practical, Thoughtful & Good for the Earth! What could be better?!

Order online at www.organicadeluxe.com OR if you live in Charlotte, shop at the Poole Shop where Organica Deluxe has set up a "pop up shop" for the holidays!

Ready for a "Practical Holiday Season?" Join us for our Holiday Event on December 1st!

I'm definitely ready for a practical Holiday Season! One where I give gifts that have a purpose, serve a need, or fill a void that someone would not want to purchase for themselves. One that does NOT add to the clutter or increase the noise factor of my already crazy home of 5 (plus the dog).

In celebration of a "Simpler Holiday Season" The Purple Martin & Co is partnering with Simplicity (the PREMIER home organizing business in Charlotte) and Simplify (a home organization products business) to help you have a "practical & simple holiday."

Come Join us on December 1st for our first "Shop & Learn Event!"
Date: December 1st
Time: 7:00pm
Place: 3513 Keithcastle Court 28210

Carson Tate, owner of Simplicity will present her strategies for having a simple & practical holiday!

Laurie Martin, owner of Simplify will present her favorite storage solutions for taming all of those precious holiday decorations & memories.

Lori Martin, owner of The Purple Martin & Co, will present her favorite ways to keep your "information" organized for the holiday seson (meals, event planning, shopping & more!).

Come and share drinks and appetizers with these 3 fantastic women and take home a few "free tips!" on how to make your holiday "simpler."

We will have giveaways from our favorite local businesses who also offer products that simplify our life!

Simplify, Simplicity & The Purple Martin & Co. Products & gift cards will be available for purchase (free giftwrap available).

We hope you will join us for this fun event!

Deck Your Halls With Organization & Style

The Holidays are here and can be overwhelming before “decking of the halls” even officially begins! One of the most stressful parts of the holiday season is the additional amount of “information” we are responsible for on top of our daily routine.

We pile additional shopping lists, decorating ideas, holiday card lists, gift ideas, additional meal preparation, party planning, event hosting, travel arrangements, preparation for house guests and much more on top of our daily work-life balance. All of this can feel like piling another “full time job” on top of our existing “full time job” and we simply don’t have the additional hours in the day to keep up.

Keeping track of all of this additional information in an organized manner is THE KEY to maintaining a sense of “peace and calm” in this season of “hustle and bustle.” One way to keep all of this extra information pulled together is in a “Holiday Planning Handbook.”

The Purple Martin & Co., founded by Lori Martin, has created a holiday planning handbook to meet all of your holiday “information management” needs. These handbooks can be customized to meet your specific planning needs or you can pick from a menu of “common holiday planning tabs” to include in your planner. These handbooks are decorated with gorgeous specialty paper and personalized with a name or monogram of your choice. To tame all of that holiday planning “paper” the handbooks include multiple types of pockets, sheet protectors & photo pages to keep your information & ideas contained.

After all, it is impossible to stay on budget or keep track of what we have already done in our holiday planning, let alone remember whom we have already purchased gifts for, if we don’t keep our holiday information organized.

A plan of action before each holiday season does take some effort, but organizing your “plans & ideas” in a “Holiday Planning Handbook” will have the payoff of a much smoother season, a well balanced budget and the ability to know where you left off for next year!

What’s in Lori’s personal “Holiday Planning Handbook?” ~ (Yours can be customized to meet your specific planning needs) …

• A family needs assessment
• A detailed budget (groceries, family gifts, teacher gifts, neighbors & friends)
• A detailed gift list (I shop for impact, think local & stay In budget)
• Meal plans for family gatherings are established weeks ahead of time to give myself time to shop the sales (& clip those coupons)
• A pre-planned grocery list
• Contacts for my holiday card list
• Magazine clippings for gift & decorating ideas
• A record of all receipts to accurately track against my budget. Receipts are also important for exchanges, broken items, missing parts, etc.
• A gift log so I can avoid repeats next year & add to collections I have started for my children & godchildren
• A section for Christmas morning to store user manuals for the “new gifts & toys”
• Packing lists for holiday travel
• I also savor the memories by keeping one holiday card I have sent throughout the years plus one photo of the children with Santa and store it in my binder to cherish for years to come.

Holiday Planning Handbooks start at $40. For your “Holiday Planning Handbook” contact Lori Martin with The Purple Martin & Co. at (704) 724-9108 or thepurplemartin@bellsouth.net.

Holiday Gift Pick #2 ~ Stylish Semikolon Magazine File

My 2nd Gift Pick for this holiday season is the super cool SemiKolon magazine file!

Very stylish, practical & perfect for housing your "family handbook" or other "mommy papers" these magazine files come in a variety of colors and make a fantastic gift! They even have a spot for you to label the contents (personalize them with your giftee's monogram for that special touch)

Shop at papertwist.com or swing by their Charlotte store behind SouthPark Mall. Sasha & Laura are the store owners and are fabulous to work with!

I purchased 2 from these wonderful ladies and intended to give them as gifts .... I couldn't part with them so I'm headed back to buy more. Mine are currently housing my "take out menu handbook" & "holiday handbook!" I keep them beside my pc so these items are close at hand.

A Purple Martin "Holiday Pick" ~ # 1 Semikolon Letter Tray

So, what is on my "list to give" this holiday season? Item number one is incredibly practical, yet SO stylish. Who wouldn't want a stylish way to tame their mommy paper! When my children's bookbags are emptied at the end of each school day, my kids know that the contents of their folders need to be placed in their individual letter trays. I also have one for my "mommy mail" until I have a chance to sort through it at the end of the day.

Before us moms have a chance to sort through all of our paper (the chaos of dinner, bath & bedtime always comes first), it needs a resting place until we can sort through it and put it away in its proper place.

My mommy paper paper temporairly resides in these adorable letter trays from Semikolon! They are very resasonably priced ( < $15) and can be found at
www.shoppapertwist.com. I have 3 ~ lime, pink & orange .... a splash of color on my desk makes paperwork SO much more fun!

Mom Tip ~ What to Do with the Kid's "Fall Artwork?"

Mom Tip ~ No idea what to do with all of the "fall art" making its way home from school? I like to laminate the "fall art" by using placemat sized laminating sheets. We are sure to laminate a piece of "art" from each child and they get to use them at the dinner table! My kids get a kick out of that! They also make great (and economical!) gifts for grandparents!

Another favorite solution is to actually WEAR the "colored macaroni necklace!" I paired mine with a white t-shirt & a pair of stylish jeans! Wear with some fun flats to dress it up a bit. My kids are SUPER proud & when I wore mine today I got so many compliments! Just be sure to store it in a cardboard jewelery box ~ they are fragile.

Also, Happy Fall!