My fondest memories of summer when I was a kid was going to summer camp.  I loved it!  Making new friends and doing lots of activities during the day in a structured environment suited me perfectly.  I got emotionally attached to my camp counselors every year and cried on the last day of camp every single time!

I went to day camp, Girl Scout camp and overnight camp until I got too old to go. 

This is the time of year when school is drawing to a close and you might be sending your kids off the camp.  Whether it's day camp or overnight camp, it takes some preparation. 

Are you ready for Summer Camp?

I found some tips from the American Camp Association that might help you out.

Plan Ahead - Your happy camper will be living out of a duffel bag, trunk or suitcase for the duration of their camping experience.  If you pack light, it will be easier for your camper to keep track of their items and helps them handle their own luggage at camp.

Review Camp Packing Lists - Each camp should provide a recommended camp packing list, complete with any equipment they require, including recommended footwear, etc.  Carefully review that is needed and pay special attention to the items that are not permitted.  Before packing your child's favor hand held gaming system, make sure the camp permits electronic items.  Many do not.  If you're not sure, speak with the camp director to get clarity.

Label Everything - You can use laundry pens, iron-ons and press-and-stick labels to distinquish your child's items from other campers.  Most camps ask that you label each and every item, including clothing, personal items and toiletries.  Make sure your child knows where the label is located on these items.

Break In Shoes and Boots Before Camp Begins - If you are purchasing new sneakers, boots or any other type of shoes for camp, make sure they wear them at least once before they pack them to be sure they will be comfortable.  The last thing your child wants to do is have to sit out on an activity because they new hiking boots make their feet sore.

Prepare Together - Make sure your camper knows what is being packed and where so they can find what they need when they need it.

If you have a specific question, don't hesitate to contact your camp director.  They are there to help you and your camper prepare for an exciting and fun experience.

Enjoy!

If you have any questions about how to get organized or are too overwhelmed and don't know where to begin, don't hesitate to contact me.  I am more than happy to help!

Have a great week! 

About two weeks ago, my very dearest friend announced that she was going to plan a surprise 21st birthday party for her daughter.  How exciting!  But what an undertaking in such a short amount of time.

You might think that because she is my best friend she would have a similar personality and the likelihood is there that she is organized.  Not in the least bit!

She called me in a panic the past week because she had taken the first step of inviting people - 73 that is!  She basically told everyone she knows and probably some she doesn't know too well to "come on over" this coming Saturday.  So, before she knew it, she has 73 people showing up.  Yikes!  Where will she put them all!

Now she is only days away from the party and there is no plan as to what she is serving or how she is serving 73 people.

Of course, I volunteered to help her out and create an action plan to get everything organized so that the party could run smoothly.

The first mistake that was made was that she did not make a set guest list and really see how many people she was inviting.  She just randomly asked everyone without taking into the consideration the ramifications of her actions.

The next issue is determining what the menu should be and how much food to provide.  (My friend is notorious for purchasing way too much food because she cannot judge how much everyone is going to eat.)  The end result of not planning is that you can end up with so many leftovers, you end up giving it all away because you just don't have room to store it afterwards.

The next issue is how the food will be prepared and served.  Will it be brought in by a caterer or will it need to be prepared at home?  If made at home, when will it be prepared?  Can it be prepared in advance so everything does not have to be done on the day of the party?  How will it be stored?  Is there enough room to store the food until its time to heat it up or serve it?  Do you need to create a schedule for placing items in the oven so they all are done at the same time?

The next issue is whether you have enough supplies - plates, cups, plasticware, napkins, bowls, serving trays, sternos, crock pots, aluminum foil, plastic containers for storage, etc.   When planning the food, you need to determine how it will be served to make sure you are not left stuck in the end with nothing to serve your food on.

The next issue is decorations.  Since this is a surprise party for her daughter that lives at home, no decorating can be done until that morning when she leaves the house to go to work.  It does not mean, however, that you don't plan what to decorate with and where to place it when the time comes.

Lastly, where will you put everyone - in the living room, dining room, kitchen, basement, outdoors?  With a large crowd such as this, the hope is that the weather will cooperate so many will be out in the backyard.  But, if the weather does not cooperate, what is the backup plan?  Will you put up a tent in the backyard?  Do you have enough seating?  Will you be doing a buffet style service and where will it be set up?

No matter what the special event might be - birthday party, anniversary party, christening, bar mitzvah, wedding, it all takes planning.

Be sure to leave yourself enough time in advance to figure out all the various aspects of planning the special event so that it goes off smoothly.  Reduce stress by planning ahead and then you can have a great time along with your guests.  

If you are planning a wedding, why not check out my "U Can Do It Wedding Preparation Checklist" at my ABS Store right on this website.  It provides you with a comprehensive list of what to do starting a year before the wedding. 

Now, that's how you plan a special event!

Do you  know "How Long Is Too Long?" when it comes to keeping something?

This past week, I was working with a client who had bought a new home and was transporting all of his worldly possessions from one home to another.

First, the job was a lot larger of a task because no sorting was done ahead of time.  Everything went with him to the new home.  He put off the task and decided to just do it when he got to his new home.  (There is lots of extra time and effort and expense involved in taking this route.)

Second, a lot of the boxes that were being transported had been stored in the garage for the past 15 years! 

When it came time to sort through all the boxes, it was not surprising to me to find that he didn't actually want 90 percent of it.  He had moved it to the new home for nothing.  A lot of the items were in very poor condition, dated and not useable.

The lesson learned here is two-fold:

One, don't move to the new home without first going through everything that you intend to move to make sure you still want to take it with you and...

Two, procrastination can cost you time, effort and expense.  It takes a lot more time to haul the items, it takes longer to unpack the items and sort through them then just not packing them to begin with, and it costs more to move them when you have to pay a moving company to move excess items that you will end up getting rid of anyway.

Do yourself a favor.  When it comes to moving, do the work ahead of time by sorting through your items, putting like-items together and labeling the boxes clearly so you know what room they should be placed in your new home.

Finally, holding items in boxes that you don't open for 15 years clearly states that you just don't need them.  You didn't miss them all that time, you won't miss them now!

If you are moving to a new location, do it in an organized manner to save yourself that time, energy and money.  If you are overwhelmed with that prospect, feel free to contact A Better Space to get some help.

In the meantime, have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Being a professional organizer sometimes comes with high expectations from others.  I don't mean the quality of my work - I mean the perception people tend to have that I live in a "perfectly organized world".

It's funny to watch people come to my home and look around with eyes wide open, looking to see how a professional organizer lives. 

I always feel that I have to explain that I am human too and that I do not live in a completely organized home at all times.  Life gets in my way too!  However, I do know the things it takes to keep a home manageable and comfortable.  And that is all I expect from my clients as well.  I never expect them to be "perfect", just organized in a way that works best for them and comfortable in their home so they can enjoy it.

You can create your own definition of what living organized is about! In general, I think you would agree that it should:

• Allow you to find what you need when you need it & have the ability to store it quickly and easily without frustrating you.
• Work for everyone who needs to use it.
• Ease your stress.
• Free up time for the things & people you love.
• Keep things simple…

And, finally, what it doesn’t have to be is PERFECT!

So, relax.  I can help you to declutter and get organized if it is just too overwhelming for you.  Bottom line, I want you to enjoy your home, not have a "perfect" home!  Contact me if you need me.

In the meantime, have a great week!

I have worked with so many people in the past 6 years and am so fortunate to be able to help all kinds  - women, men, children, busy moms, entrepreneurs, younger, older, single, married, divorced, widowed.

There are times when I work with someone who believes they have a strong emotional attachment to certain items in their home and feel they cannot let go of them. Sometimes, however, when we delve a little deeper, we discover together that it's not the emotional attachment to the item itself, but the guilt of letting go of an item that formerly belonged to someone who has passed away.

This situation occurred recently with one of my clients.  She has been widowed for quite some time now and still has possessions that belonged to her late husband's mother in her home.  She has held onto these items for many years.  Among other things, she had a large box of linens from her late mother-in-law. 

When we were going through the items, I explained that it is not necessary to keep "all" of the items to evoke a positive memory of that person.  The important part is not the item, but rather the memory it evokes and holding on to numerous like-items becomes clutter.

Another issue that arose is the fact that she felt guilty for letting go of the items she knew she did not want to keep.  I helped her recognize that now that her husband and his mother are deceased, and she possesses the items, it is now her decision as to what is to be done with them. 

Letting go of a deceased person's possessions falls on the current owner to decide what to do with them and that's okay.  With that realization, my client was able to easily let go of all but a few linens which will be kept in a special box (much smaller than the one she originally held them in).  Some were in poor condition and were thrown away, but since there remained others still in good condition, they were donated, so that others could enjoy them.

When you inherit items as a result of someone passing away, look carefully at the items and decide whether you LIKE them or not.  Don't hold onto something simply because someone gave it to you.  If you don't like it or need, it's perfectly fine to pass it on to someone else.  Don't keep anything out of guilt!  Your home should reflect what you like and enjoy.  

If you are feeling overwhelmed with the prospect of getting organized, please feel free to contact me at A BETTER SPACE.  I will be glad to help you weed through your possessions, eliminate the clutter and assist you in making the right choice as to what to keep and what to get rid of.

In the meantime, have a great week!

First of all, I want to wish all you busy moms out there a Happy Mother's Day.  Now, who isn't on Facebook these days?  I know I am.  (If you like A Better Space, you can join my page - A Better Space - professional organizing).  

My friend recently sent this to me via email and I wanted to pass it along to you.  Hope you find these 7 things to stop doing on Facebook helpful...

This article appeared in June 2010 Consumer Reports Magazine.

Using a weak password

Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on the end. Instead, mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. One good technique is to insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word, such as this variant on the word "houses": hO27usEs!

Leaving your full birth date in your profile

It's an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you've already entered a birth date, go to your profile page and click on the Info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.

Overlooking useful privacy controls

For almost everything in your Facebook profile, you can limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information, among other things. You can give only certain people or groups access to items such as photos, or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address, since you probably don't want anyone to have access to that information anyway.

Posting your child's name in a caption

Don't use a child's name in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking on Remove Tag. If your child isn't on Facebook and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.

Mentioning that you'll be away from home

That's like putting a "no one's home" sign on your door. Wait until you get home to tell everyone how awesome your vacation was and be vague about the date of any trip.

Letting search engines find you

To help prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of Facebook's privacy controls and select Only Friends for Facebook search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn't checked.

Permitting youngsters to use Facebook unsupervised

Facebook limits its members to ages 13 and over, but children younger than that do use it. If you have a young child or teenager on Facebook, the best way to provide oversight is to become one of their online friends. Use your e-mail address as the contact for their account so that you receive their notifications and monitor their activities. "What they think is nothing can actually be pretty serious," says Charles Pavelites, a supervisory special agent at the Internet Crime Complaint Center. For example, a child who posts the comment "Mom will be home soon, I need to do the dishes" every day at the same time is revealing too much about the parents' regular comings and goings.

Be safe out there!  Have a great week!  And...Happy Mother's Day!

I was thinking the other day about how much I love what I do for a living.  I wake up each morning and am anxious to start my day because I know it means I will be helping others get organized and enjoy their day too.  I am so fortunate to have discovered a profession that makes me so happy.

Unfortunately, not everyone is as fortunate.  I speak to so many people, through my client base, networking, friends, family and others.  So many people are just not happy with what they do for a living.  So many feel stuck in a rut with their careers and their life in general.

I can't help thinking the story of Cinderella and how she was forced to scrub floors and take care of her step sisters' home.  Even though this obviously was not what she wanted to do, she found a way to make it a more positive experience.  She whistled while she worked!

I am a true believer in a positive attitude.  It can carry you so much further than you ever thought. 

For example, I have a friend who drives a truck and although he is only 50 years old, he will be able to retire in less than 3 years!  He tends to think about having to go to work each day and the fact that he has to put up with a boss who he does not get along with and how early he has to get up every day.  All negative thoughts.

I reminded him how fortunate he is; that at such an early age he will be able to retire and start a new chapter in his life - to choose what he wants to do with it and get a pension at the same time!  How great is that!

My point is, no matter what you do for a living or where you are in life, you can always put a  positive spin on a situation.  Your circumstances can change if you look for the positive.  You don't have to feel so stuck! 

If you are stuck in a rut, look at what you can do to make a change.  This is true with a job, career, marital situation, etc.  This is especially true when it comes to getting organized.

Do you envision eliminating the excess clutter from your home and getting organized once and for all?  If so, you might be overwhelmed and don't know where to start.  You can simply get help from a professional organizer, even to just get you started.  By taking this one step, you will be able to make a positive change in your home and reduce the stress in your life.  Then, you can whistle while you work, just like me!

Keep those positive thoughts coming and start whistling!

Have a great week!

As a busy mom, you are responsible for running the household, caring for your children, being a chauffeur, and perhaps having a full-time career among other responsibilities. Part of those responsibilities includes meal planning.

As a mom, it is our responsibility to make sure that the family is fed and fed well. Providing good nourishing meals is important to us. However, chances are, your schedule is so chaotic that you hardly have any time to prepare dinner let alone find good nourishing meals that everyone will enjoy.

If you run home after a full day to get something on the table before everyone has to run out the door again for evening activities, you probably don’t have time to figure out what to serve. So, what is a busy mom to do? The answer is "planning".

Once a week, you should sit down with your favorite recipes, recipe books or go on line to find recipes. Plan out a variety of quick and nutritious meals you can make and have ready for those times when dinner is squeezed into a tight schedule. Include chicken, turkey, pork, ground meat, beans, pasta and casseroles into your plan.

Take those recipes and create a list of items you will need to buy at the store to prepare them. When preparing these meals, consider making a double batch and freezing one, so you will have a home made meal that is quick and easy to heat up but still provides good nutrition.

Ask your family what their favorite dishes are and include one of them into your plan each week for a pleasant surprise.

To save time, use a crock pot. Prepare the ingredients in the morning and let it cook all day. The meal will be ready to serve when you come home at the end of the day. The low setting is recommended!

Look for recipes and recipe books that have meals you can prepare in under 30 minutes. Schedule enough meals for five or six nights of the week and give yourself one night off. You deserve it!

Then, prepare your menu for the following week. With this system in place, you will be able to put a meal on the table almost every night of the week and not have to think "What should I make for dinner tonight?"

If you need assistance in pulling together your grocery list when planning your meals, why not purchase the "U Can Do It Grocery Shopping Checklist".  It's a comprehensive and compact list which will reduce the amount of time it takes to prepare for and go shopping because you just simply check off the items you want to purchase from the already prepared list. 

Visit the "ABS Store" right on this website and make it a regular part of your meal planning each week.

In the meantime, have a great week!