Modern Woman, Vintage Soul

You made a resolution to finally get organized this year (just like every year in the past so far) ;)  Well, it's already the end of March and, GASP!  You haven't even started or made any headway? Don't fret!  I'm in the same boat.  Below are some great places to start getting organizational help, tips and ideas.  I'll be sharing more ideas and tips with you in this blog as well as the upcoming website:) Inspirational organizing talk and resources: http://penelopeloveslists.com/ Organizing Tips, Articles, A Blog & Online Workshops: http://www.simplify101.com/ This page is offering an online seminar on organizing your closet starting April 7th!  Check it out! ________________________________________________ Photo Source:  Marthastewart.com All kinds of great ideas here :) http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/winter-organizing-tips http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/12-homekeeping-multitaskers http://...

Bring The Joy Back By Deborah L. Kunesh Copyright Deborah L. Kunesh 2011 I can very much be a "once and done" kind of a person in certain things. Desiring to just do something and then be done with it. Some tasks are unpleasant and we just want to get them over with and move on. But sometimes it's a matter of  love missing as being the catalyst for action in these things we have to do. We have a million things to do and all of these other things are just more items we have to tick off of our to do list. Water the flowers, clean the bathroom, call Aunt Stacy, respond to emails. We get overwhelmed and we just want some time to relax. Many know that I also run a website and page dedicated to telling the truth about Michael Jackson... Reflections on the Dance .  Michael always spoke about love.  My good friend and co-admin of the Reflections Facebook page recently said that we need to put love at the center of all we do.  Such a simple concept, and yet, so profoun...

Sorry for the delay...there will be some brand new posts coming soon....along with great tips, links and inspiration :)

Some Inspiration For Today: Reflections on the Dance

Creamy Soup Made Healthy "One trick I learnt was to put vegetables through the juicer and use the juice to make soup with, rather than water. The soup has a creamy texture without the use of cream. I got the tip from an Oprah show years ago. She had a chef who had a restaurant in New York. Either he or someone in his family had a VERY serious scare with cholesterol and he completly changed the way he cooked. On e example he gave was to remove corn from the cob and put the raw kernels through the juicer and then cook in that juice. And you get a really creamy corn soup without cream. Another thing I do, and this is my own tip ... is when you make a salad and use vegetables like tomato and cucumber. Slice them and remove the soggy centres and put them in a container in the freezer. (The outer part of the tomato and cucumber will not add liquid to your salad) Then, when you make chicken soup, use the contents of the container instead of water. It gives the soup a nice rich fl...

Hi everybody, Sorry for the long absence.  Had some computer issues and then had to serve as a juror in a trial.  I'm back now :) Something I've been wanting to try and plan on starting very soon is making vegetable and fruit purees in your blender and freezing them to add to sauces, while baking and in main dishes. I always make a goal of adding more fruits and veggies to my diet, but never seem to be able to stick with it.  I like this idea because it's fairly simple and you can blend really healthy fruits and veggies into purees, adding them to your favorite foods and the idea is that you don't taste them, but you get all of the goodness of them :)  Sounds like a winner to me! Below is a Redbook Magazine article with ideas for purees excerpted from the book "Sneaky Chef" by author  Missy Chase Lapine. From the article:   The results: "We made chocolate-chip cookies with white bean puree — and they were awesome," said one staffer (even though...

"As a person, you're the whole pie...being a (Fill in the blank....Mom, Writer, Office Worker, Bank Teller, Retail Manager, Homemaker, etc.) is just a slice.  It's just one piece of that whole pie that makes up your life.  Paying attention to, and giving time to (Fill in the blank...your sense of style, what you're passionate about, cooking, exercise, cleaning, reading, creating, using your gifts) shouldn't stop simply because you are a (Fill in the blank...Mom, Writer, Homemaker, Office Worker, etc.)" Quote rewritten and paraphrased from a quote by Nina Restieri in the Better Homes & Garden Magazine, March 2011 issue Many moms for instance, fall into this trap.  They see and think of themselves only as moms and forget to take care of all of the other parts of what makes them who they are.  This is also common in those in the corporate world as well as homemakers. The moral of the story? Make sure you take care of all of the aspects of yourself...

I've recently started "pedometer training", which is, essentially, wearing a pedometer around all day long to see how many steps you take throughout the day.  So far (it's only been 2 days) I feel that this may truly be a fitness breakthrough (though for friends of mine, like my good friend Sharon, who has been wearing a pedometer for a long time, this is nothing new).  The minimum required for good health/basic activity requirements are, for most healthy people, 10,000 steps a day.  I wasn't sure how I measured up in this department, but let me tell you, 10,000 steps is a LOT...especially if you work at a desk all day. Yesterday was the first day and my husband and I took a 5 mile walk.  My husband got his 10,000 steps from the walk, but I logged in at only a little under 9,100 steps.  I obviously have a much longer walking stride than my husband does. Not to be outshined, while he showered, I continued doing running in place and aerobic moves until I got ...

Goop.com by Gwyneth Paltrow is a pretty cool site.  It has recipes , interviews , motivating information to be healthier, eat better, move more , fashion and shopping , healing ...well, it's just a plethora of cool articles, links and advice.  Check it out! http://www.goop.com/

‎ "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." John 13:34 Such an important Scripture and advice, and yet, one of the most difficult things to do at times.  Let us take this to heart and truly love one another and in doing so, we can change the world and our daily lives.  Lives filled with love, passion, joy bring forth much more fruit and lead to a ripple effect out in the world.  Much love to all of you.

This is what All You Magazine's Reality Checked diet proposes.  I like their concept of swapping out processed foods for healthier, more "real" alternatives. For instance, there are suggestions for swapping out artificially-sweetened drink mixes with simply adding lemon, lime or orange slices to water to flavor it naturally or switching from flavored boxed rice mixes to brown rice enhanced with fresh herbs. For more suggestions...including recipes, shopping lists and breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas, visit  http://www.allyou.com/diet-fitness/diet/reality-checked-diet-recipes-00411000067712/ Here's a list of healthy snacks to get you started.  P.s.  Chocolate is on the menu...so, this is a keeper of a diet :) http://www.allyou.com/diet-fitness/diet/reality-checked-diet-snacks-00411000067677/page23.html Some easy low fat snack ideas from this diet: Yogurt ranch dressing Mix 12 oz. plain low-fat yogurt with 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 4 Tbsp. finel...

Seen on my friend Sandy's Facebook Status: I am proud to be from the South - where tea is sweet and accents are sweeter; summer starts in April; front porches are wide and words are long; mac and cheese is a vegetable; pecan pie is a staple; Y’all is the only proper pronoun; chicken is fried and biscuits come w/ gravy; everything is darling and someone is always getting their heart blessed. Have a good day y'all! Repost if you're Southern to the bone :) Sandy Corbin All I can say is...I think it's time I moved to the South :)  Fried chicken and biscuits, large front porches and the kicker...mac and cheese as a vegetable!  I'm so there!  LOL

Okay, I admit it.  I am not a big veggie or salad lover.  I will eat broccoli if it's in a pasta dish and/or covered with cheese...but raw broccoli...blech! In my browsing today, I came across this hub page which gives some great ideas for including healthful veggies into your everyday meals by "hiding" them.  I know many times this is suggested for kids, but even some of us adults need to "hide" our vegetables in order to remain healthy.  That's why V8 Vfusion is so popular.  Servings of fruit and veggies both in a daily serving of juice that tastes sweet :) http://hubpages.com/hub/Sneaking-Vegetables-in-your-Families-Meals I have 2 cookbooks that I've been meaning to try, using this very same concept.  "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld, and "The Sneaky Chef" by Missy Chase Lapine.  I'll let you all know how that works out once I try them out.  I hope to incorporate some of their ideas into my meal planning soo...

Everybody Loves Cupcakes! Not only a sweet treat, but a meaningful lesson in the art of slowing down and savoring each moment Decided to make some cupcakes yesterday.  I don't know.  It just felt like a cupcake kind of day, lol. Cupcakes are very "in" right now...but really, cupcakes are really one of the original "retro" desserts. Something about cupcakes....the making of them, the enjoying eating them, that cannot be duplicated.  It's like a little sweet bundle of joy and happiness wrapped up with a colorful wrapper and lots of delicious frosting. I love making cupcakes and everything about cupcakes.  They're cute, they're yummy, they fit in your hands.  I even love cupcake pans (just got myself some new ones this past year)...cupcake pans feel very retro to me...remind me of my mom baking cupcakes when I was a kid.  Just one of those mushy, warm and fuzzy moments that you want to re-create now that you're an adult. Making cupcakes causes...