Time Saver: Lemon Water Cubes

In our neighborhood many of our neighbors have citrus trees and we are often given lemons. We planted citrus trees last year, but do not have any fruit yet. We actually think 2 of the trees died, which is a total bummer. Anyways....recently we were given a TON of lemons and usually I juice them and freeze the juice in jars. This time my mother in law suggested I put them in ice cube trays and pop into my water every so often for lemon water. Oh yea great idea MIL, why didn't I think of that sooner?! I actually have clients who do this on a regular basis as well. I guess it just needed it to hit me in the face. I juiced all the lemons in my juicer, but it is super easy to do it by hand as well. One of my clients uses Mumi & Bubi baby food trays and I love using these too because it is sooooo easy to pop the frozen lemon cubes out. They are made in New Zealand. I always put the leftover juice in jars to freeze and some in the frig to use. This is such a time saver and something that will force me to drink more water more often. I am going to post something, hopefully soon, of many time saving kitchen/meal tips I've learned from experience and from awesome clients. What are some of your time saving tips?

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2016 Goals

For the past couple of years I have been posting my goals for the year. Here are 2015 goals. 2015 was a great year, but at the same time a tough year with loss. When I was writing down my goals during the holidays without ever looking back at what I wrote (I need to do this more often through the year), I realized I wrote many of the same goals that I had last year. Not listed are goals my husband and I made together for 2016 that we want to accomplish together.

Let's recap my 2015 goals, which I think I can always work on:

• Be more positive: I think I did great with this, well, at least much better than previous years.
• Have gratitude: I am forever grateful for what I have, whom I am surrounded by, what I get to do, etc. etc.
• Be more patient: Still working on this one, but I think I did much better this past year.
• Be present: I really need to still work on this. I did ok.
• Go somewhere new: We went to Edisto Beach, SC and was able to explore Charleston and Destin, FL along the way. Some of us road tripped it and I rode with my aunt and uncle.
• Stress less: this past year was stressful in many ways. Still need to work on it.
• Try / learn something new: I tried a ton of new things this past year. I need to do a post about this.
• Accomplish yoga goals: I still can't do the splits, but feel I can hold me plank longer. 
• Host more parties and dinners in our new home: We had a lot of people over, but I didn't host as many as I would like. 

2016 Goals

Meal Plan: I love the cook, but frankly Bryan and I just don't always have the time to. This will save time, money and hopefully not waste as much. We ate out and many Trader Joe's frozen foods (we don't normally eat a ton of frozen food that I didn't prepare, but most of their frozen foods are really good and we love their fried rice)

Random Acts of Kindness: I have done this in the past, but I want to do it more this year.

Learn to Use my Camera: I love my camera I got last year and have learned so much about it. I have only really used it to take blogging pictures. I want use it to take more everyday pictures.

More Me Time: This past October I we were in Austin for a music festival and I stayed longer than Bryan to attend SXSW Eco. I rented an eco Airbnb. I LOVED having the downtime to myself. Don't get me wrong I love being around Bryan, but it was very stress free away from the general demands of life. I went to Black Swan Yoga, got a haircut at Milk + Honey, tried several different oyster places during happy hour, went to different eateries in general, did a little shopping (found a love for Outdoor Voices), watched tv, wrote, read and met up with a friend. It was fun and I want to do it again this maybe back to Austin because I LOVE Austin or somewhere else. Several years ago I would go different places here and there to decompress maybe I'll start doing that again like yoga, meditation, museums, zoo, etc. 

Try / learn something new: I am adding this again because I had so much fun with it the past couple of years.


2015 Business Goals Recap:

• Blog more for Eco Modern Concierge (perhaps the personal blog too): I did blog more than I had in the past, but not consistently like I would have liked. I think I may shut down my personal blog because I am not sure I want my life of my husband and I exposed like that. Still thinking about it....
• Work more and find something that really challenges me: I worked a lot more and so thankful for new clients and connections I made this past year. There were plenty of challenges along the way and I am always up for more!
• Collaborate with and meet new people in the area: Well I certainly met a TON of new people in 2015. I really got out of my comfort zone and went for it. I did get to collaborate with some great people.

2016 Business Goals:

Collaborate More / Establish Relationships: I would still really like to collaborate with more businesses, bloggers and people in general. Whether it is in Houston or elsewhere. I have great relationships with my clients, but I want to establish ongoing and good relationships with the people, businesses, vendors, etc. that I work with throughout the year. Along with meeting new people, businesses, etc to collaborate with and build working, business relationships with.

Write Down Successes (big & small): I want to really remember everything I accomplished (or didn't)  throughout the year and it's hard to remember if I don't write it down. I also just want to keep a log of who've reached out to, who has reached out to me, and just day to day things I do to hopefully grow & improve my business.

Teach / Write More Articles: This kind of goes with collaborating, but I would really like to teach more perhaps add some workshops or online courses and guest contribute on blogs. 

Join more Professional Organizations: There are several professional organizations that I have been wanting to join for sometime now and I just need to pay the money and do it. I try to look at it in a way where it is beneficial for price vs. how many clients come of it or connections I make through it. You never know who you will meet.

Up My Promotional Material Game: I really need to get new gift certificates and promotional material made. I want to try to source it locally and eco hopefully. 

Blog / Create an Editorial Calendar: I was really hesitant to put this on my list of business goals because blogging really hasn't been my thing. I enjoy it, but It takes sooooo much time. Hopefully if I create an editorial calendar it will be something that I can stick to and not pressure myself to write often. It's hard to come up with new, unique content that others haven't already covered. I'll keep on trying. 

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EMC on Blogs This Week

EMC was featured on 2 popular blogs this past Monday Camille Styles & Veronika's Blushing where I give organizing tips. Go check them out and happy organizing!

Camille Styles: I offer tips on staying organized with holiday gifting
http://camillestyles.com/living/life-lessons/a-professional-organizers-guide-to-gifting/

Veronika's Blushing: There is before and after photos of a pantry organization project I did and tips on how to organize your pantry. I will also be a regular contributor on there as well.
http://www.veronikasblushing.com/2015/11/organizing-pantry-eco-modern-concierge.html

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Made in the USA: The Incense of the West

I bought this teepee incense holder several months ago at a store in Houston called Manready Mercantile. I have talked about them before and you can find made in the USA items there. When I first bought this incense holder I had every intention of giving it away to a friend, but ended up keeping it for myself. It is a cool little item and is only $10 plus it comes with 20 incense cones. 

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10 Year Celebration!

I'm celebrating 10 YEARS of business!! What started off as a side job while working in O&G turned into a career I LOVE! 

I thought I'd extend my celebration discount for my clients to everyone with 10% off purchased services from now until Nov.20th this includes gift certificates and phone consultations for out of towners. They make great hostess gifts, gifts for employees, etc. Also, stay connected for some exciting things in the coming weeks.

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Made in the USA: Outdoor Voices Workout Clothes

I recently went by Outdoor Voices when I was in Austin, TX. They have tons of workout gear. I am a pretty loyal Lululemon person when it comes to workout clothes because they last. Let me just clarify, I don't go out buying LL all the time, about half of their stuff I own I got resale or it was given to me.

Well, I am so glad I walked into Outdoor Voices because I love their workout clothes. They are comparable to Lululemon in prices = expensive. I love that they are made in the USA and they are soft. Their sports bras are by far some of the most comfortable that I have worn in a long time. I constantly get compliments on the pants I bought. So far they have held up pretty well.

Do you have any Outdoor Voices workout gear? What do you like most about them?

UPDATE: I visited the Outdoor Voices store in Austin in October 2016 when we went back for ACL and the employees there informed me that a majority of their clothing is no longer made in the USA. I was disappointed to say the least. I found this statement on their website as of March 25, 2017 stating "All of our clothing is designed in our studio in New York, ny, and manufactured at an expanding and increasingly-global list of factories. We are currently working with manufacturers in China, Portugal, and the United States."

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You've Got Mail: Shipping Labels

I ship a lot of items for clients and myself and use shipping labels all the time. Of course you can always just write the address on the package or envelope directly, but it is always nice to have something that is easy to read and jazzes up the package a little.

These are great labels that era waterproof, so minimal smearing. 

Martha Stewart brand always has great labels.

Use a stamp for when you want to write on the package directly.

USPS has free labels to use.

Fun, different labels.

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