Summer Clothes Seasonal Switchout

My most dreaded event of the season!!!! Pulling out the out of season clothes, taking out the in season..... It is such a pain in the neck unhanging, folding, smooshing in bins. Then pulling out the new season, rehanging, folding, and smooshing it in the closet and drawers!!! Then forgetting a few more boots and coats and having to make another round!!! YUCK!!!!!  Well it needs to be done so I am putting on my best suck it up face and digging in!!! 


I will share my best tips with you about seasonal switch out!

1. Start with the out of season stuff first that way you have room to put the in season items.
2. Take out all of the clothes that are to small or you hate and put them into a bag for donation.
3. Take out clothes, fold them, and put them by the person into storage bins.
4. take a good look at each piece of clothing. Get rid of anything you didn't wear once last season, as well as anything that no longer fits, also toss items damaged beyond repair, or doesn't suit you. Try on anything you think may no longer fit. Also, make a note of any summer clothes you need to replace, then reward yourself by buying some new clothes.
5. Give your closet and drawers a good cleaning, vacuuming the floor and the drawers
6. Don't forget about your shoes and accessories, too: don't make your flip flops do battle with your snow boots or your sun hat fight for space with your mittens. 

UPDATE I pulled out a bunch of Paige's clothes, put them away, and got sick of it so I will resume this later. Hey don't judge I hate this job!!

Summer Wardrobe Shopping

It's that time again to shop for some new summer clothes. I stopped by the store and grabbed a few new shirts and checked out some dresses that I may get later.


I like to have a new few pieces that I can wear with my last year wardrobe to mix in. I have yet to pull out our summer clothes because I hate the mess it makes. Dreading it over here!! My usual plan is to get a bunch of inexpensive tops because I get tired of the same old things pretty fast. I like to stick with basic pieces I can mix and match with. It is going to be a beautiful day so I can't wait to do the magic minimum and get out there. Have a great day!! XOXO Dawn

Magic Minimum: Daily Plainning

Everyday I try to do my magic minimum with my household organizing. I notice some people do one for the morning and one for the evening but I do just one. My list typically goes as follows:

1. Make bed
2. Load / unload dishwasher
3. Wipe counters
4. Clear Main room
5. Laundry Wash
6. Laundry Dry
7. Laundry fold 
8. Laundry put away
9. Mail Sort Pay Toss
10. Room of the day
• Monday - Family Room
• Tuesday - Master Bedroom
• Wednesday - Playroom and Paige's Bedroom
• Thursday - Bathrooms 
• Friday - Kitchen
• Saturday - Living Room
• Sunday - Family Day
11. Errands - I usually try to do errands on Tuesdays because both kids have ballet, but I love to shop so you never know.
12. Me Time
13. Create 
14. Relax

If I accomplish these things I usually feel good.  The only problem is when I have construction everything goes out the window and I have to retrain myself. Anyway today is Wednesday so off to Paige's room and Playroom I go to do  a dry room clean sweep. Wish me luck in there!!

Rainbow Hair

I know this is so random but the other day I was at Meijers and I saw a lady with rainbow hair. Being a child that was brought up watching rainbow brite I am oddly intrigued by Rainbow hair.


I found some pictures of people with rainbow hair I just have to post because it is so wild!!


How about pink hair


or maybe blue

This reminds me so much of my childhood and playing with Shera dolls I used to pretend I had blue hair. Maybe I should get some wigs!!! Mr. A and I can play some She ra and Skelator!!

PROM 2012 Getting ready for the big night!!

The big day is here and I know my daughter Destiny is so excited for Prom. Yesterday she had her eyebrows shaped, her finger nails polished,

and her toes done








Today we are off to the MAC counter at Nordstroms to get her makeup done.
Next I will be styling her hair, I already trimmed her bangs so they make a nice sweep. I decided to do a side braid and then curl the rest up in tendrils fastened with the pretty rhinestone bobby pins I bought for extra bling.

Well after all this big to do here is the final result
tadaaaaaa.....................................................................................

Have a great night Destiny I love you!!!

Organizing the Office chaos!!

So I bought my cabinets from IKEA and put the frames together with my mother and a little help from the kids. It was fairly simple and I got the frames together in a little more than an 2 hours. I can't wait to see them up on the wall but I have to wait for Mr. A. to pencil me in his busy schedule. I made sure to put them in front of his TV to promote the immediate need to get them hung. (I may even hide the remote)

In other news while I wait, I need to remove all the stuff from my existing cabinets so he can move them to the other wall. One holds Patterns, Embroidery tools, and thread while the other houses my Fabric stock. So my plan is to refold and relocate my fabric to the larger cabinet. I also need to plan exactly what I am putting in all my new nifty cabinets. The fuse box is located in the center of this wall so I had to leave the space open. I saw a really cool idea to put a chalkboard in the middle of the two cabinets.Although it looks a little hard to do.

So I was thinking I may hang a shelf in the middle of the two. I guess I will figure it out after Mr A. puts them up and I gain my floor space back again. 

Office Organizing

So my plan to reorganize the office is in full swing and I have rearranged all the furniture in the room. I decided to hang cabinets across the open space on the back and side walls around the window and the fuse box. I already have two cabinets but I am moving them to the other wall and hanging the new ones for an exact fit with a corner cabinet. I also am hoping my darling husband will cut down my desk about a foot to make it flush with the new wall we added for the shower in the next room. Less desk space is a small price to pay for the shower the whole family is really enjoying. Lastly, I need to get all my papers, crafts, filing, and misc other stuff a home in my much smaller space.
So today I am off to IKEA to buy cabinets to get this office done! Here are a few office inspirational pictures that I really like. This one was featured in Better homes and gardens by one of my favorite designers Pamela Porter. She made magic happen in this sewing studio check out the before and after.



And this is from a blog that I stumbled across she has wonderful taste. I really like her craft room

Office Cleaning and Organizing sources

I have been working on my office after the bathroom renovation I lost a ton of space from it so I had to completely revamp the room and there are now papers, crafts, sewing and endless other items running rampant about my house. I have so many projects going on at my house I feel my head is spinning.... I don't think there is a room in this house that doesn't have forty things to do. It is kind of stressful and my poor husband is ready to shoot me because his honey do list is forty miles long!
Oh well to bad for him! Momma isn't happy no one is going to be!! I have been having a hard time prioritizing. I love organizing but it seems the job is never done. I have found great inspiration from a book called House Works by Cynthia Townley Ewer of organizedhome.com
This book helps a ton and whenever I am overwhelmed by my junk I like to pull it out and read it. It has pictures and methods that really work for me. She suggests a household notebook but I have not yet mastered every day notebook keeping skills so lets just say this is a work in progress for me.


I also purchased this handy dandy life notebook from a store on etsy called Kelly Bangs Creative it seems super cool but since I am the biggest paper procrastinator I know I have yet to fill out a page.It really could be useful if I would break down and print a few copies of the sheets on my own paper but it seems like a lot of ink. Cross your fingers for me that I start using this beautiful book!




Last but not least, I bought this neat looking filing system a while back from Filing JOYS but I really have not taken the time to really use it perfectly but seems to be a lot of great ideas. I did find it a little bit tricky in my filing cabinet to divide up my paper work into subsections. Which doesn't work all that well for me. I will take a picture later when I work on my filing cabinet.

Getting Destiny ready for prom

Getting Destiny ready for prom has been fun and pricey and we are off to buy some more stuff for it today. I found these great shoes that Destiny and I argued about the height of the heel. She wanted 4 1/2 and and I said no way! So we settled on these from amazon only 3 inch heel much more appropriate then the hooker height ones we argued about! I think they are cute but they don't stay up on their own so off to the store we go to get some two sided tape to keep them up and dancing at prom.

Next we are looking for some pretty bling for her hair I am thinking little jeweled bobby pins like these I would prefer stars but they are hard to find.

Then off to shop for some jewelry I am thinking a pretty rhinestone pendant necklace and matching bracelet and earrings. We will see what we find.

  

Last but not least she has a pink purse but I am not sure if it matches if she needs one we will look for that so wish us luck on our shopping fun and the checklist is as follows

1. Dress
2. Shoes
3. two sided tape 
4. Hair bling
5. Necklace
6. Earrings
7. Bracelet
8. pink satin slippers (maybe hard to find)
9. Purse (maybe)

Wanted: Curb Appeal

Today I started thinking about different options for my bed of weeds in the front of my house.  It is a scary situation out there and it needs some serious TLC! I have totally neglected it since we put it in, only planting a few annuals each year. Yesterday I broke down and bought some yard art for the sad excuse of a flower bed. Hopefully this summer I can whip that bad boy into shape and make it presentable. Here are some inspirational pics I like

I really dig these round bushes

I love the vibrant colors

Love this charming house with the white picket fence

And where can I find the person that mowed this lawn

Swinging for Paige

We made the big splurge and finally bought Paige a new swing!!! I was so excited to come home and put it together until we opened the box! I have never seen so many pieces of wood and screws, this is going to be a serious job. Here is a picture of the one we got



isn't it grand? Hopefully we can get it together before Paige turns 16 and wants a kindle instead! So far we got the rock climbing wall and the part to the left that holds the swings.

Bathroom fun for everyone!!

The shower is officially painted, grouted, and ready for business!! Paige loved the new bench and I really liked my new cool niches to hold shampoo and conditioner. The new kohler toilet and Delmar Sink vanity were installed today.  We still have a few more things to do.

1. Install the light fixture
2. Buy and Hang a new Mirror over the sink
3. Hang the doors and shelves for the tall cabinet
4. Finish tiling and grouting the laundry room
5. Move the washer and dryer
6. Get some pretty new towels and rugs 

Here are a few pics of the progress

Destiny's Prom Dress 2012

Shopping for Destiny’s dress to wear to prom has been an interesting experience. She ear marked an entire seventeen magazine. I decided enough is enough and I just ordered her this cute number by Jessica Mcclintock in baby pink.  Online ordering is pretty interesting sometimes you love it and sometimes you don’t, so we will just have to wait and see. 

Well without further ado, here it is……..

Isn’t it pretty??!!!  I think so! I also really think this hair style is pretty!  Good thing my Destiny likes my taste.

Or this one?

bathroom happenings!!

It has been busy here at the Aouina Casa, yesterday I was at IKEA my favorite store getting the new cabinet for over the toilet and a tall wall cabinet to hold towels and other bathroom necessities. I put them both together by myself in under an hour.  I just need to add the hinges for the doors.

I went with the Adel doors

 I have been debating whether I want to add mirror to the front of the cabinet to give the illusion that the space is bigger. Kind of like this cabinet in the picture!

The wall tile for the shower is done on 2 sides and we are waiting for the new granite piece to be cut and added to the bench.
Hopefully the dry wall will be all finished today cross your fingers for me...

Dawn

Bathroom mood board

We started renovating our lower bathroom about a month ago and it has been a messy project.  Before we had a little teeny tiny old grody bathroom that was most likely an afterthought to our house. My husband has been wanting his own private shower since we moved in and he is finally getting it. It took me a while to come up with a plan but it is finally starting to take shape. We knocked down some walls and stole some space from an adjoining room and presto chango new bath with a shower.  If only it was that fast and easy..... Well I made up a little mood board to show the basics of the bathroom.

Spring shelf!

Well I will get right down to business. A few months ago I finally got a built in bookshelf installed in my living room. Let me just say I was so happy, finally a way to put cute little decor on display and decorate for holidays. Which is something I love to do.

The only problem was my shelves are pretty wide and I have had a difficult time making it look right. I was thinking of making a banner but I ran into nonstop trouble with my mothers cricut. First the paper would not stick to the mat then she forgot the cartridge I needed. Needless to say I ran out to buy a new mat and it is so sticky it tore all my paper.......  (frustrated)    so that little project is sitting on hold. Anyway here is a pic of my in progress Easter - spring shelf. 

Dawn

Day in the life of Dawn new beginning!

Well where to start? Hi everyone my name is Dawn and I decided to make a blog to talk about different things I like to do in my life. Something about me I have like forty projects always going and life never gets dull in my house, which always seems to be under construction.   I have been married for 13 years, and have two wonderful daughters that bring an enormous amount of joy to my life (one teen and one tot).  and last but not least I have two dogs and the dog hair to prove it.