10 Things that Make Me Happy: August 2018

• Celebrating Bryan's birthday with friends at B&B Butchers. 
• Throwing Bryan a birthday party with family & friends at Eureka Heights Brewery. They have great rental prices that include unlimited beer. 
• Galveston getaways with Bryan. 
• Pool party at our friends Vanessa and Richard's house.
• Some fun work consultations. 
• Volunteering and helping a science teacher get organized with other NAPO Houston organizers. The Clutter Fairy did an awesome job putting this together.
• Getting a lot of blogging done for my Eco Modern Concierge.
• Astros game with my WISE group. 
• Texans training camp with my father-in-law and watching the Texans vs. Cowboys game at NRG. Thanks to my in laws for giving us tickets.
• A random night of going to see ELO at Toyota Center. 

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The One Thing Houston Professional Organizers Do Every Day

I asked some NAPO Houston professional organizers, what is one thing you do everyday? These are some of the responses. THANK YOU to all my fellow Houston organizers for sending me your responses. 

Dena Wilson of Places! Professional Organizing: "Have to make my bed each day. If for some reason I don’t (running late) I make it before I go to sleep."

Melony Davis of All About Space Organizing: "I unload my dishwasher every morning while my coffee makes, I make a realistic to-do list, I make my bed (even if I don’t use all of the decorative pillows every day), and I always wash my face before I go to bed."

Mary Jo Contello of Organized by MJ: "I make my bed, then I've always accomplished something. Check email before I leave house."

Valerie Thompson of Chronically Organized: "Hmm...am I the only organizer who doesn’t make my bed?!? I make a cup of earl grey tea every morning, after that it seems like every day is different."

Ximena Lopez of Zensible Organizing: "Coffee first thing in the morning , stretching exercises, make bed, check calendar, emails and FB ( have lots of family and friends far away) have breakfast at home,work from home or with clients, check emails before 6 pm, cook a nice dinner ( 70% of the week days), watch nice TV show or movie ( no news), sleep."

Gayle Goddard of The Clutter Fairy: "I do the bed every morning, but all my clearing/ resetting happens at night. I put everything back in the kitchen, food away, dishes in dishwasher, get through mail and pick up any trash, put the day's clothes/shoes/jewelry away, and manage cat boxes. I don't have any juice in the morning to do anything other than getting out the door!"

Naomi Kealy of Charming Spaces: "Make the bed, coffee, check my calendar and check my to do list. At night, I deal with mail right away, check the kids backpacks, have dinner as a family at the table, dishes, and I always wash my face and remove my makeup before bed (took years to form this habit lol)."

Ellen Delap of Professional-Organizer.com: "I love my morning routine! Walk first, tea, email, get ready for the day and off to clients."

Tammy Atchison of The Busy Corner: "Before going to bed, I set up the next day. Have everything ready for client, create a daily list from my master list, usually look at Facebook! 

...I’ve simplified my bed linens, so it’s easy to just pull up the covers!"

Meredith Brister of Sorted and Styled: "Make bed, floss, update bullet journal, unsubscribe from emails, classify mileage, take trash out, feed cats. Not in that order but at some point in the day."

Tiffany Mensing of Space & Serenity: "Coffee. Just thought of one other thing I always do...mascara. Or no one can see my eyelashes! "

Susan Wade of Sunflower Strategies: "If errands are needed, I write them down in the order I will go geographically so I'm not wasting time. Also, always add an item to the grocery list as I run low or use the last of.....can't stand going to the store more than once per week!"

Ellen Cooley of Southern Sequence: "I don’t go to bed without putting everything away and tidying up the main living area. i.e. fluff the pillows on the couch, straighten items on coffee table, etc. Helps me start the next morning fresh and less distracted!"

Amy Vance of Eco Modern Concierge: "I get everything ready for the next day this includes laying out clothes, checking my calendar and making sure I have all the supplies that I need for the next day. I check my email every morning, but don't always make the time to respond to everything right away. Only if it is urgent. I also take our dog, Rothko, out first thing every morning." 

Photo by Logan Nolin on Unsplash

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Fall 2018 Bucket List

What is on your fall bucket list this year? Here is mine:

• Yoga outdoors.
• Go to a Texans game.
• Eat more dinners outside.
• Go camping. Forever on my fall bucket list.
• Try new essential oil diffuser blends. Grapefruit and Gold always has good blends. 
• Try my hand at making a pie.
• Random acts of kindness. Not just in the fall, but always. 
• Weekend getaway. 
• Prep for the holidays. 
• Teach an organizing class. 

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First Day of Fall: Time to Purge & Organize

Today is the first day of fall. What plans do you have for fall? It is the perfect time to do a refresh in the house. I often get calls to come back and help purge & organize in preparation for the holidays. Here are some common things to organize and purge in the fall:

• Closets
• Kitchens
• Offices
• Children's rooms
• Holiday decor

When you purge items, consider giving the items to organizations in your community. 

If you are in Houston and are in need of a professional organizer to help with your fall organizing, feel free to email us at info@ecomodernconcierge.com.

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Client Use What You Already Have: Pantry Organization

Sometimes when you look at blog posts you expect to see things that are completely pretty, but the fact of the matter is, that is not always real life. This blog post is real life and how a majority of my clients have things. This particular client we used things that they already had to organize the space. They used their walk in pantry for multiple things like child toys, food, appliances, dishes and liquor. 

1. We got rid of expired food. 
2. Put like items together.
3. Organized the shelves in a way that worked best for them.
4. Put least used items towards the top.
5. Put most used items at eye level for the adults and toys at bottom for the little one.

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Made in the USA: Texans Football Stickers

With football season here, I thought I would share a football related made in the USA post. My father-in-law gave me these stickers before we went to the Texans game against the Cowboys a few weeks ago. When I turned over the package I was surprised to see that they were made in the USA.

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Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) Insider Tips

Every year we head to Austin for ACL Music Fest and we have learned a thing or 2 about some of the best tips and tricks through the years. What are some tips you have? You can read past posts about ACL essentials and eco tips. 

1. Start saving to buy pre-sale tickets for the following year. 
2. Buy merchandise online or right before you leave. 
3. Wear sunscreen.
4. Link you credit card to your wristband. It will save you so much time. 
5. Tag your kid in case they get lost. 
6. Bring extra tissue or toilet paper because....... porta potties. 
7. Bring a water bottle. Stay hydrated.
8. Visit the vendors. You can win awesome prizes. 
9. Download the app.
10. Bring your AMEX card to get into the lounge. 
11. Follow ACL Music Fest on social media to win prizes.
12. Buy the wine. As far as alcohol goes, you get the most bang for you buck. 
13. Don't buy that koozie because more than likely you will find one on the ground at some point. 
14. At the end of the night if you stay until the very end, people leave stuff all around and you can score a lot of free loot if that is what you are into. 
15. If you like where you are staying and know you will be going back to ACL the following year, ask your host if you can go ahead and book the following year. 
16. Have FUN!!!

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Car Organization Must Haves

Headrest hooks: These are especially helpful when you need extra space and can go vertical.

Back of seat car organizer: I love how much storage is in this.

Trash can: Something to hold trash is almost a necessity in the car.

Roadside emergency kit: I have had an emergency kit in my car since I started driving and it has come in handy many times.

Trunk organizer: This is great for groceries and making sure they don't roll around in the trunk.

Gap filler: These are great to hold random things that you keep in the car.

Car visor: Perfect to hold little things that you need to grab quickly.

Dog barrier: Great so you don't have unwanted guest in the front seat while you are driving.

Mini document file: Useful to hold necessary documents you may need to keep in the car.


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Made in the USA: Aeropress

My mom gave this Aeropress to my husband last year for Christmas and he loves it!!  He says it makes some of the best coffee in it. I was happily surprised to see it is made in the USA! I also love that it is BPA free. 

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NAPO Conference: Q Center Eco Practices

When I was attending the NAPO Conference this past year at the Q Center in Chicago, I was happy to see that they had a lot of eco practices.

• There were recycling stations everywhere that made it easy to recycle what I needed to. 
• There were water bottle refill stations. 
• The property is very walkable and you can go hiking straight from the property. 
• I reused my towels during my stay. 
• These are just a few things, but you can read more about their eco practices here. 

What are some eco practices you love seeing when you travel?

**the first photo is from my road trip to Chicago when I stopped off in Hot Springs, AR.

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Death Organizing

Death organizing is something that I have been doing for years for clients, but last year was the first time I heard about Swedish death organizing from my cousin who sent me an article and then a book came out about it. Here are some, of many, things I often help people with, so their families don't have to:

• Inventories
• Making sure they have all of their important documents in one, accessible place
• Listing heir wishes of where and who should get certain belongings
• Helping clients make a list of things they still need to do like make will, paying for burials, etc.
• Decluttering
• Going through old paperwork
• The list goes on and on

These are 2 books that are helpful in prepping for death organizing, Get it Together & The Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. 

Have you heard of death organizing? 

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Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day!

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Photo by Kai Pilger from Pexels