Inspiration on a Monday: Organisation

As I attempt to fulfill all of my goals and resolutions for the year there are a few particular bloggers and Instagrammers and other people that are helping me to stay focused and on track.  I thought that I would share some of them with you and hopefully you may find someone new to inspire you too.  I will share one each week.  This week I’m focusing on organisation (as most people are - or their diet - it’s probably pretty equal).


Organisation

I find that I am tending towards minimalism more and more - not to say that my style is minimalist but my tendency to keep things “just in case” is starting to fade away.  I now am pretty ruthless when it comes to decluttering and will even throw out (donate) things that have emotional attachments.  It is so much less stressful when you have less stuff.  For example, I don’t have to pull out 20 mixing bowls, have four chopping boards fall over, move the gigantic olive oil I buy and then slide the plastic jugs over to get to the steamer basket anymore - much less frustrating.

The people keeping me on the straight and narrow at the moment are Coco from lightbyCoco,  Carrie from CarrieLeighAnna and FlyLady

Coco lives in San Francisco in a studio and doesn’t even have a bed (it took me awhile to figure that
one out)!  Her husband is also a minimalist and they have systems in place that allow them to spend time at home efficiently and happily without a whole lot of stuff.  Her videos also are great because she does tours of her whole home (which is tiny but you don’t realise it until the moment you see it) and it really does demonstrate how little you need to live comfortably.


Find Coco on Instagram
Coco's blog here
Coco on YouTube

Carrie is a SAHM who recently moved to Kentucky from somewhere (can’t remember) and she is also into being a minimalist but also into living naturally.  Since reading and listening to her I have begun to not use shampoo and will not spend anymore money on toiletries and half the things I buy probably.  There is also an extremely personal side to this blog which I like because even though Carrie looks pulled together and organised - she shares her issues with infertility and food - it helps to keep everything in perspective.




Find Carrie on Instagram
Carrie's Blog here
Carrie on YouTube

The other help I find is via an email subscription.  I have signed up to FlyLady in the past and found it very helpful to get me into a good morning routine that helps my day flow smoothly.  FlyLady is a website that has a lot of great (free) resources as well as encouragement's and ideas to help you get organised and stay that way so that again - life is less stressful.  But the best bit is that while you follow this basic pattern every day - there is also a focus area of your home each week.  The focus area is decluttered every day for 15 minutes until you are happy with the amount of stuff.  Then you can detail clean in that area for 15 minutes each day.  Who can’t find 15 minutes?  It’s amazing what you can get done in that time.


FlyLady lives here



There are about a zillion other great people to follow on Instagram and I'm sure there are more on Twitter (which I don't really do).  If you have someone you follow and find helpful please link it in the comments section.


Next Monday I will be focusing on health for my Inspiration on a Monday post.

Blog Love

I thought that I would do a round-up of all of the blogs that I have been loving lately.  As you would expect, as an expectant mother, most of them are blogs that belong to other mothers that I admire.  Most are vintage in theme or focus on cooking and/or eating!


Retro Mummy

This fellow blogger is an Australian who is getting a lot of (very well-deserved) attention for her blog and parenting activities.  I have no idea how she finds the time to update her blog/twitter/facebook etc so often.  She is also the online Mum that I tweet when I have a question about something baby-related!

She has recently revamped her blog after her fifth (!) child and it looks amazing - as do all of her babies and not-so-babies.  With headings such as blog, family, bake, sew, quilt and a few others, her site is a great resource for any new Mum!

Corrie - aka Retro Mummy.  From here

Annabel Langbein's Blog

I adore Annabel.  From the husky way she introduces her TV episodes, to the advice she gives about growing your own in her cookbooks - she is brilliant!

Annabel has two children (I think) that are mostly grown-up now but continues to feature family friends children and her own family in her TV episodes and cookbooks.  Annabel is such an inspiration for me, as a woman who has achieved that work-life/ family-life balance doing what she loves and not compromising on her standards.

As someone who wishes that they were a bit of a Francophile I can see a lot of French influence in the way that Annabel approaches life.  I believe that she does have quite a few French friends and has spent some time there.

In Australia, her new book Simple Pleasures has just come out but the TV series has not started yet.  I have flipped through her book in the bookshop and am hoping to find it in my Christmas stocking as it looks jam-packed with new recipes and ideas.  Are you listening husband?

The many pleasures of sharing - from here

Sprouted Kitchen

This blog has the most stunning photography going - ok I know that there are many others up for that prize!  This blog is authored and photographed by husband and wife team Sara and Hugh Forte (what a good musical name).

The Sprouted Kitchen features recipes designed around wholefoods and they have just released their first cookbook Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods.  The blog also features discussions on food trends (such as ingredients and new coffee making methods), travel and reviews of other cookbooks.

Sara and Hugh Forte - from here

Supercharged Food

Lee Holmes (another Aussie) is probably not a new name to you but I had to include her website in my list.  Just loading her page makes me feel like being a healthy domestic goddess.  Lee is a health coach but graciously offers a lot of information and advice on her website for free!

Lee's website has recipes for food, recipes for natural cleaning products, tips on dehydrating food, links to cooking videos (mostly raw food), a online shop and is all done in the most enchanting, retro-fairy-princess style imaginable.

From here

Elegant Musings

This is another blog that you probably all know about already but as she is expecting her first child - she is going to be the most stylish mother going!  And how cute will her baby look in all those hand-made outfits. 

Casey Brown blogs about sewing projects, daily outfits, recipes, things she finds thrifting, crafting and she also has a great section of tutorials for sewing and crafting items.  In the past she has hosted sew-alongs with great results - it is my goal to complete one of these one day.  Casey is also great at updating her blog regularly with her maternity wear and for my next baby I will certainly be stealing her style.

Outfit: baby packing mama - from here

The Vintage Wife


This is a blog that I have been following for awhile from Stateside and it is written by a lovely vintage lady named Cedar.  It features her beautiful daughter Lucy, recipes, vintage fashion (for Mother and child), vintage decor, sewing patterns and some great parenting tips.

From here

Linking with The Glamorous Housewife

Inspiration for a Tuesday (as yesterday was public holiday!)

Amazing blueberry and buttermilk muffins

Lately I have been doing a lot of reading online.  I find this unusual for me, because usually once I start reading a good book I do not want to do anything until I have finished it (and get annoyed when I am interruppted).

Most of my online reading concerns food.  What a surprise!  But, it has mainly been about sugar.  Now that I am pregnant you think that I would want to eat the best possible foods that I could for the little one etc.  I would like to have that philospophy but I just don't seem to be able to pull it off.  While pregnant so far I have had McDonalds, too much cheese and chips, chocolate, not enough vegetables and too much tonic water.  The blogs that I have been reading are mostly about giving up sugar, not how wonderful it is.  I thought that I didn't eat that much sugar as it is, but I guess I do when you look at the above list.

Raspberry, Coconut and Lime Friands

Sarah Wilson's blog, which I think I have mentioned before is the place where she advocates a pretty-much paleo diet (for people with her health issues).  I love reading about all of the natural therapies and alternate treatments that she explores on her blog but I cannot agree with the non-vegetarian thing.  Normally blogs that feature meat recipes don't bother me.  I cook meat for my husband and handle it for the cat, and I am totally open to my child deciding what they would like to eat.  It seems that there is an attitude on there and more often in the comments section - that most people are vegetarian because it is a health choice.  For me, it is not a health choice but because I love animals too much. 

Anyway, Sarah's blog features her e-book How to Quit Sugar.  I haven't bought the book, mostly because of some delusion that I do not need help in identifying what foods have sugar in them, but also because ... well this sounds really childish.. I don't like her.  And I could be a bit cheap!  So here is a link to Sarah blog and some of the others that I have been reading that link to quitting sugar and generally being healthier. 

Sarah Wilson Blog
http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/



Scandi Foodie
A beautiful blog about food - mainly vegetarian/vegan
http://scandifoodie.blogspot.com.au/

Bread and Butter Pudding

Path to Wellness
A website dedicated to wellness written by a nutrionist
http://pathtowellness.com.au/category/blog/




Eat Your Freaking Vegetables
A personal blog by a nutrionist with lots of great recipes
http://eatyourfreakingvegetables.blogspot.com.au/


Crash Test Mummy
A blog with reviews about trying new things.  Find sugar-related posts under Sugar Crash.
http://www.crashtestmummy.com.au/