Goodbye 2011

Is is just me or has 2011 flown by?!  

What an incredible year it has been...

1. Bought my beloved CR-V that helps me 

load up tons of organizing products for my clients.

2. Visited Austin for the first time to surprise my 

best friend for her birthday.

3. Got engaged!!!

4. Worked with more clients this year than ever before

and was so inspired by their hard work.

5. Took my fiance to Europe and ate a ridiculous amount of

chocolate and french fries.

6. Traveled to Washington DC three times to visit with my future family.

7. Hosted some fun parties for my lovely friends... 

and was shocked when they surprised us with our own celebrations.

8. Spent way to much time on wedding blogs and Etsy.

9. Danced in my living room with my Wii videos.

10. Held my nephew for the first time who then gave me a big ol' burp!  

Phew!  This year has been filled with love and laughter, challenges and obstacles.  

Thank you for reading my little blog and supporting me and my nutty obsessions.

Here's to 2012 being the best year yet!

xo

~Leah

(photo credit: RIVA)

Hello everyone!  

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Washington DC visiting family and celebrating the holidays.  

It was such a fun trip, and not too chilly.  Yay! 

Festive decorations at the White House

Adorable name cards for our interfaith family

Our stockings stuffed with goodies!

Cozy Wine Glass Slippers

We spent the last five days snuggling with our new nephew, eating delicious food (and lots of sweets!), and exploring the city.  It was a great trip, but I always try to make some notes about what worked and didn't work.  Remember my Thanksgiving Wrap Up?  

Well, here's my Holiday Wrap Up: 

1. When traveling across the country with gifts, try not to buy bulky items that are hard to pack.

2. The gift totes I bought from Michael's worked perfectly for fast and easy wrapping.

3. Uggs are great for traveling to cold weather locations and so easy to slip on and off at security.

4. Make notes about gifts right away so that I don't forget anything when writing my thank you's.

5. Bring more travel space bags for sweatshirts and other bulky items in my suitcase.

Now that the holidays are coming to an end, I have lots of clients who are looking to streamline their gift wrap stash and re-work their decor storage.  I would encourage all of you to evaluate these areas now, so that next year you can spend less time dealing with holiday messes and more time eating holiday cupcakes... I mean spending time with family.  :-)

~Leah 

(photo credit: smswigart)

Gratitude

This morning I woke up feeling so much gratitude.  

I have so many things to be thankful for... 

 

San Diego sunrise

 My amazing fiance who gives me undying support and encouragement every single day. 

(and also makes me giggle!)

Our beautiful home- and this gorgeous city!

My incredible friends who completely spoil me and who are always there when I need to talk, cry, or better yet go out and dance.  :-)

Lovely clients who open up their homes and trust me to help them sift through their stuff.  

The most adorable nieces in the world who continue to amaze me with their wit and unconditional love.  And our newest little nephew who makes the best faces!

And this week, I am grateful for a "normal" turkey instead of the poor amputee that we had two years ago... we certainly learned our lesson when we after we tried to have Thanksgiving in January (Why not?!) and there were NO turkeys anywhere!  

 

Last but not least, I am grateful to YOU, my readers who indulge me in talking about my nerdy hobbies and organizing obsessions.  

Thank you for letting me be me. 

~Leah

(photo credit: Jim Nix)

Busy, busy

Hello!!!  I am so sorry for my absence lately...

I have been busy working with some lovely clients, 

one of them being my incredible grandmother.

The gate to my grandmother's personal vineyard

We spent a few days going through her memorabilia and photos together.  

It was truly amazing to see all the things she has kept, including her war rationing booklet,

love letters from my grandfather when they were in their 20's, and original photos of our 

large Italian family.  We also giggled and reminisced... 

Some cool things I got to take home

Three generations... my great-great grandfather is in the middle

I was so glad that I could spend that time with her and assist her with some of her most 

treasured possessions.  I sometimes have to pinch myself that this is what I get paid to do!!

And now I am home and ready to share many more organizing stories 

and confessions with all of you. 

Please, catch me up on what you have been up to! 

~Leah

Confession

BUSTED: At my family reunion, being completely OCD!

I had a wonderful time visiting with my grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins this weekend.  It was so fun to just hang out and catch up.  

 

But, I was very quickly put in my place!  Who knew that my labeled file folders for the weekend's activities and my obsession with the new pull-out drawers in my aunt's kitchen would be so hilarious to my relatives?!  My dear aunt said to me, "Well, at least someone in this family is anal-retentive!"  

It's a good thing that my family loves me unconditionally!  

~Leah