welcome september - back to school, back to routine

I love the freedom that comes with summer - the unplanned days and the spur of the moment trips, but after two months of little structure, something in me starts to feel unsettled. I start to find myself longing for more routine. To return again to the familiar comfort of a well-planned week and a steady, slow rhythm to my day.

This year our summer, while lovely, has been particularly unplanned, and to be honest, I noticed I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. I think Ryan picked up on it, and decided to take the boys out over the weekend for back to school haircuts and a matinee. That time was so important to me.

I put on the kettle, found a calm Autumn playlist, lit some candles and spread out all of my lists. I filled out my month's calendar, then the upcoming week in detail, with to-do lists. 

Then I made a grocery list and filled out my prayer journal for September.

I'm quite particular about the products that I use to keep myself organized. I like them to be simple and of good quality. It's important that the aesthetic appeals to me, as well, because I have them out on my desk, and in the case of the weekly tablet, displayed on my fridge for my family. (The one and only thing on my fridge, though on the side of it, where it's mainly out of sight!) I know a few of you will message looking for sources, so I'll link them at the end.

Maybe it's from having four babies, or maybe it's just that our life seems to get a lot busier as the boys get older, but I need all the help I can get to stay on top of it all - physically, in front of me, not on an app. I need to see it laid out before more. I enjoy seeing it laid out in front of me.

A mini Pumpkin Spice cupcake went perfectly with my cup of tea, too.

Cupcakes are also therapeutic.

(Don't worry, I'll post the recipe soon!)

- sources -

Notes Notebook in Navy - Target

Monthly Day Planner - Rifle Paper Co.

Grocery and Weekly Tablets - Everyday Occasions

Yearly Prayer Journal - Val Marie Paper (I pre-ordered it in French Blue for 2020!)

And also, because someone will ask, the napkins are the Washed Cotton Napkins in Chambray from Pottery Barn, and right now they're on sale for $11.99 for a set of 4 (reg $20).

The Family Room Entrance

I thought I would show you the progress we've been making on our family room entrance.

In an effort to keep this as inexpensive as possible, we actually relocated a shelf we weren't using from another part of the house.

It's a very simple shelf with a peg rail across the bottom.

 You can see in the photo where the shelf was. It was in a hallway off the family room, towards the playroom. You can also see it wasn't really being used where it was.

I think when I work on this little hallway, I may use that wall to create a gallery wall of family photos.

We kept it as simple as possible - Oliver's leash, my market bag, a small ironstone tray for keys, a basket for mittens and Willen's backpack when he's home.

Now I just need to sew a simple cafe curtain, and find an old bench.

Getting Ready for September

I have been patiently waiting all week for my rose bushes to bloom.

Yes, I understand how silly that may seem to many of you, but I'm certain I'm not the only one who feels this way! 

In a garden, there is always something exciting we anticipate that passes all too quickly - the blossoming of the fruit trees. the first fragrant Spring Lilacs, the changing of the leaves... 

Lately, this has been the case for my roses. I have waited for the buds to unfurl for days. With us getting ready to leave for the cottage, I couldn't help but feel as though they would bloom while we were away, and all that would be left would be a sprinkling of petals when we returned.

Fortunately, most of them have opened in the past few days.

They have a delicate frangrance to them - sweet, but more musky than perfumy. It's hard to believe that soon we will begin to put the garden to bed for the winter.

We've also been getting ready for school to begin in just over a week. Today Willen was registered at a new school, and we discovered that he will now be riding a school bus to school - something he's very excited for.

We borrowed a few back to school favourites from the library for our trip. We're really looking forward to one last week at the lake before the summer comes to an end.

Something that I need to keep me organized was a day planner. I'm quite pleased with this Kate Spade one I picked up at Chapters. I love that it's actually a 16 month planner that begins in August. 

I really just like it's simple design.

It's also become quite helpful in keeping track of appointments with contractors, something that has become a big part of our life.

We've recently run into delay in our living room renovation. When the installers arrived for the fireplace, they were completely unconfident in drilling through the stone wall. This of course made us nervous, and quite frustrated. It takes weeks to get an appointment for an installation and after a promising initial inspection (and us making it perfectly clear what kind of exterior wall they would be dealing with), we were so exccited for this huge part of the room to be completed. There are many other little details that can't really be done until the fireplace is installed. However, that being said, we were thankful the installers cared enough to voice their concerns.

Their biggest worry was that once they began chiselling a stone out for the 9" hole (for the rear vent), other stones that are behind the first would be staggered, and therefore more than one would need to be removed, and so on. This could mean that what started off as one stone, could end up actually being a large hole by the time they were finished. And then what do you do to cover up that hole - a hole that is very visible from the outside.

We decided it was best for us to try and contact a historical mason who would have the best knowledge on the type of stone used (Limestone), and who would be familiar with the kind of mortyr.

Luckily, we found a local one, and though he was booked solid for the next half a year, he recommended a corer who could core out a hole. The man he recommended was very confident that this would be perfectly okay for the wall (and old windows!) and that it would provide the installers with the necessary hole they needed to do their install.

Fingers crossed, the coring will be finished this week sometime, and the installation a few days after that. Then it's onto the mantel, finishing the trim, painting and finally, furnishing.

There are some exciting things in the near future that I need our renovations to be finished for, so the pressure is on.

50 Top Kitchen Tips - Martha Stewart

So... the new year begins in about 14 hours. That's 14 hours to finish coming up with any sort of new years resolutions that most likely will be abandoned before the week is through. Last year, it was the Martha Stewart Cleanse and Detox diet. I may as well have just posted the list of foods I could eat on my fridge because it definitely would have taken up less space. Needless to say, it didn't last long.

This year, I have only come up with one resolution. To be more organized. I've given it a lot of thought and I've realized that this can apply to anything; finances, health, work habits etc... My goal is to have a more efficient and productive home and a structured daily routine that allows me to maintain my house, while still giving me some time in the day to do things that I love.

This is no small task. I know that the actual resolution sounds simple; be organized, but in reality, it's an entire change in lifestyle. That's why I love things like "Martha's 50 Top Kitchen Tips". This may be specifically for the kitchen, but trust me, it's the principles that are applicable to any room in the house. And I figure, it's hard to be organized amidst clutter and chaos in your home, so why not start there? I think it'll be much easier to tackle a schedule in a tidy and organized environment.

Each photo is linked to the article. Once at the link, click the photo to magnify it and it read through each tip. Or just browse the photos. One of the photos near the end doesn't link up to anything so you'll have to head over to the original link at the bottom to read those on her website.

Prepare to be motivated! And, what better time, right?

May you dare to push yourself to grow and set resolutions that take work, for the harder the work, the sweeter the reward.

Oh, how I love this kitchen! Being in the kitchen is one of my favourite things. This is how I envision my kitchen to be one day. It doesn't need to be nearly this big, but with the same look and feel and the same organization!

All of the photos and tips in this post are from Martha Stewart Living. To read the original article, please go here:

link