Memorial Day definitely sneaked up on me this year, as it does every year. The last Monday in May is just another day off work for some, and for others it may be a weekend add-on day for travel.
I woke up this Memorial Day and consciously asked what this day is for me and my family and here’s what I came up with.
Memorial Day is…..
1. A day to celebrate with family and friends the freedoms that we share because of those who protect them.
An afternoon barbeque turns into tranquil chatter
2. A day to share my favorite grill recipes.
Grilled Herb Flank Steak from The Organized Cook, click here for recipe
3. Time to start wearing my favorite white jeans.
White jeans…. yes, tomorrow! Right now it’s an evening swing with kids in PJ’s. (check out the Las Vegas sunset behind us!)
4. A deadline for planting my Spring garden.
Read “7 Reasons To Grow a Home Garden” here
5. A time to make my #WineWork “To Do” list to catch up old work and clear my calendar for Summer.
Read “Wine Work” here
6. A time to start planning Summer family vacations.
Summer vacation in Carlsbad
7. A reason to have a lemonade stand.
Read “Lemonade Stand, A Family Bucket List” here
Many blessings to you and your family this and every Memorial Day!
Creating a master “to-do” list, scheduling pediatric dental appointments, paying medical bills, filling out field trip permission slips, planning birthday parties, locating the receipt for the dress I need to return, responding to emails and organizing my purse are just a few of the many jobs I include in my “wine work”.
Messy office in much need of “wine work”
What Is “Wine Work”?
A simple iPhone autocorrect is responsible for a new term that I like to use to answer that time-old question, “What are you doing?”, on days that I’m doing my dreaded busy work which never before had a name.
On a recent sluggish weekday morning I was weeding through the pile of paperwork and sticky notes on my desk when I decided to text my friend, Vanessa. You see, on my “to-do” list, was “schedule lunch with Vanessa” because it had been months that my dear friend and I were trying to carve out time to catch up.
“Wine Work” supplies
“What are you doing?”, I inquired on text, hoping we could connect for that long overdue lunch date.
“I’m in sweats doing wine work.” she replied.
Voila! There it was! The perfect name for work that once had no name. Oh how clever that Vanessa can be.
Later, however, I would find out from Vanessa that she’s not sure what she actually typed because she’s never heard of “wine work” and therefor it must have been autocorrected on her iPhone from her original message. Even more brilliant.
I’m not the only woman out there doing wine work today. In fact, countless women across the globe are going through their agendas, purses, cars, mail and emails to prioritize their wine work before picking up a call and trying to answer the question, “What are you doing?”
Some Myths About Wine Work- True or False?
Myth #1: Wine work is not work. FALSE. Wine work is crucial for women, especially moms, who don’t want to live a frantic, hectic, unorganized and uninspiring life. Wine work is the work that we must get done and out of the way in order to allow new and inspiring work into our lives.
Myth #2: You must drink wine while doing wine work. FALSE. Although, I do highly suggest it. A bubbly Prosecco or light rosé is perfectly paired with waiting on hold with your insurance company to check the status of your claim.
Myth #3: You can do wine work with a friend. FALSE. Wine work is best done alone and in sweats… with a messy bun…. and no makeup….. wearing fuzzy socks or Uggs.
Myth #4: You must schedule time to do wine work. FALSE. You’ve got to feel like doing wine work in order to do it effectively. If you don’t feel like getting your wine work done, it will feel like a chore and take forever. You’ll know when the time is right to get your wine work done. The planets and stars will align perfectly to allow you that window of uninterrupted time when you feel most inspired to do it. Trust the universe. It has never let me down.
Some Tips to Doing Wine Work
Light a candle.
Exercise beforehand to get the brain running.
Turn off the television.
“Wine Work” Lunch
Wear comfortable clothes.
Don’t answer the phone to friends who’ll want to gab for a long time.
Do answer the phone to people on your “to do” list.
Keep healthy snacks nearby.
Don’t slow down your adrenals by eating candy or potato chips.
Don’t get sidetracked by surfing the web (darn you Pinterest!).
Reward yourself for a job well done…. with wine, of course.
This post is dedicated to all the ladies out there getting their wine work done today.
It’s Springtime… the perfect time for a garden party. Or, more specifically- a Fairy Garden Birthday Party.
How To Throw A Fairy Garden Birthday Party
Ingredients For A Fairy Garden Birthday Party:
Fairy-Berry Lemonade Punch
Garden Cupcakes
Fairy Talent Games
Gardening Fun
Party Printables
party printables from the TomKat Studio
These party printables came from the TomKat Studio including invitations and adorable party circles that I used for a variety of decorations. I also love party printable designs from BellaGrey Designs.
3 Party Activities for Fairy Garden Birthday Party
Activity #1: Which Fairy Talent Are You?
Which Fairy Talent Are You?
Using the theme of Disney’s Pixie Hollow Fairies, I cut out emblems for each fairy talent: water, garden, light, animal and- of course- tinker talent. I attached each emblem to a paper bag containing an item related to that talent:
Water Talent: glitter water balls from Michael’s
Garden Talent: flower seed packets and small terracotta vase
Light Talent: mini kaleidoscopes
Animal Talent: small resin animals
Tinker Talent: toy tools
I hid the bags around the yard and had the kids hunt for them. Whichever bag they found, decided their fairy talent, similar to how Tinkerbell found her talent in the Disney movie:
Activity #2: Face Painting
If you’re fortunate enough to have an artist in the family to perform slave labor for you, like my oldest daughter, Rayana, a talented and creative individual who loves is forced to help out with my projects, face painting is the perfect activity for a Garden Fairy Birthday Party.
Most of our young fairy guests wanted face paintings like butterflies, bunnies or flowers.
Activity #3: Take A Garden Home
Everyone gets to be a garden fairy today. A flat of flowers from the nursery, a bag of potting soil and individual vases creates a lot of garden fun. Each fairy guest got to pot their own flower to take home.
flower potting
I found these adorable individual vases in the dollar bin at Target and felt like I struck gold- the perfect size, color… and price.
And now for the answer to the most-asked birthday party question, “where did you get your cupcakes?”
Was it our local celebrity baker from “Cupcake Wars”? Nope.
I got the perfect garden-themed cupcakes from Sam’s Club Bakery. I couldn’t have designed them any better myself. They may have only set me back $40, but these cupcakes could share the battlefield with their $100-opponents anytime; plus I got a mini-cake… bonus!
It’s time for mamma to get those “oh-my-God-you’re-seven-already” photos:
Christmas spirit was in the air this weekend at the Spilsbury house with decorating, gift wrapping and our first holiday party. Once the Christmas music CD’s came out of storage and we popped the first one in the surround-sound, it became official- the holiday season is here.
I also ended up with leftover mashed potatoes in my refrigerator, so instead of tossing them, I decided to make some red and green potato cakes (aka: Christmas Potato Cakes) to celebrate our joyeux weekend.
Making potato cakes is simple and not an exact science; you never know how many cups or ounces of mashed potatoes you’ll end up with. Therefore, it’s “a little of this-a little of that” science. You simply add an egg or two to the mashed potatoes along with a half-cup or cup of flour, some seasoning and milk, and voila!… or voici!- potato cakes. If your potato cake batter is too runny, add some flour; and if it’s too thick, add some milk- you get the picture.
Thank goodness I had some red and green bell peppers diced up already to add for our “Christmas Potato Cakes”. Just cook batter in canola oil, flipping once, until crisp on both sides.
Serve alongside some turkey bacon, sausage, eggs, or by themselves- potato cakes taste good with anything.
I hope your Christmas Holiday is off to a great start!
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