Good morning!
I had a lovely 9 hour sleep last night and didn’t get myself out of bed until 8:45am. It was pure bliss. Need to rest up for my 10k race tomorrow!
I raced downstairs for this lovely breakfast that was waiting for me. How nice of that lovely girl to make me breakfast last night! ;)
Raisin Pumpkin Spice Vegan Overnight Oats
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup oats
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1.5 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 cup pumpkin
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
- 1/3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp Eden’s Apple Butter
- Raisins, to garnish
- Coconut, to garnish
Directions: In a medium sized bowl mix the oats, chia seeds, pumpkin pie spice. Now add the milk, maple syrup, and pumpkin and whisk. Place in fridge for at least 30 minutes. When ready, sprinkle with raisins and coconut. I also used some apple butter for a fun change.
I love getting in another veggie in the morning!
So we went a bit crazy on Saturday…
I don’t know about you, but whenever September 1st strikes Eric and I go into an organizational tailspin for about 36 hours. After a summer of fun, most of our rooms look like they have been hit by a tornado.
And then we crash and burn. Hard. Never wanting to organize so much as a desk drawer for the rest of our lives.
Over the next 363.5 days, we slowly but surely return the clutter to where it came from.
It’s the circle of life, folks.
I thought I would entertain you this morning with a few before and afters…
As you can see, the shelves were a bit cluttered and messy…(and dusty!):
(That is Eric’s desk- we share the office)
This is ‘my’ side of the shelf below:
Old university textbooks on top (not sure what I am keeping these for? Kindling?)
And a TV that is not in use because we don’t have cable.
Minor detail.
We like to pretend we have cable. Sometimes I turn it on and just stare at the blue screen.
My side AFTER:
Boom, right?
Side by side:
Much better.
Then I decided to turn my boring old bulletin board into a Vision Board.
I bought some scrapbooking things at Michaels (OSGMOM will be so proud!).
Scrapbooking paper..note, girly prints.
I bought several of each print because I couldn’t choose.
And now for the finished product….
Unfortunately as I was making it, I didn’t step back and look at the entire board and it ended up VERY busy looking. I’m actually not that happy with it overall…
It shall now be known as the Dizzy & Bizzy Board!
I would not suggest using such a busy print like I did. ;)
The ‘I’m A Quitter’ by Natalie Dee print is one of my favourite things in the world. It is an inside joke in my family that goes way back and when I came across it I knew it was special. I want to buy the t-shirt too. [I also LOVE this one too.]
When I showed the board to Eric he said, ‘Umm it’s a bit busy….’ trailing off and eyes glazing over as he looked at it.
Then he added with a wink, ‘But I think it fits your personality. I wouldn’t expect it any other way or less complex looking.’
Hrmm. I have to agree. If you opened my mind and put it on paper it is probably quite dizzying! ;)
I love the ‘You Hold The Key’– this phrase is so meaningful to me. It reminds me of the quote I love from The Eagles song called ‘Already Gone’
“Well I know it wasn’t you who held me down
Heaven knows it wasn’t you who set me free
So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key…”
I have the key to live the life I want to live and you hold the key to living the life you want to live. We have the power within us. Not our partner, family, friends, mentor…once we take responsibility of our own lives things start to fall into place. I firmly believe in this way of life. Realizing that I held the key to my happiness has allowed me to be where I am today.
The dizzy board all together…
The Vision Board made Sketchie dizzy too…
A comparison:
I must say things are looking up.
I decorated the red magazine holder (far left) with floral scrapbooking paper. It added a fun & girly touch!
The yellow basket on my desk holds my favourite cookbooks and yellow basket on the shelf holds my health books!
Eric’s side is looking great too! He packed up a ton of DVD’s and is donating them.
We bought all the baskets you see above from an awesome organizational store called Solutions. How I didn’t know this store existed until last month is beyond me. It is my DREAM store.
Today’s goal: Organize this shelf and expand my business file box from one box to two. gulp.
Does September 1st inspire you to start organizing your space? Will you be going back to school or starting something new this September?
Even though I am no longer a ‘professional student’ (as my family used to joke when I was in university for 7 long years!), I still get that back-to-school feeling every September, along with the urge for a fresh start. This is one of my favourite times of the year.
See you tonight for lentil walnut burgers!
I’m somewhat drawn to your busy vision board! What an improvement to your space. Organizing is one of my LEAST favorite activities, but I feel SO good once it’s complete. :-)
I have to tell you – despite all the rave reviews I’ve heard, I have been a little apprehensive about trying a Green Monster smoothie. I mean, spinach for breakfast?! This morning, though, I did it… And I know I’m already hooked – OMG delicious! Thanks for the great ideas and constant inspiration.
I’m the same way! If I start cleaning it looks horredous for a few hours (stuff everywhere) but then when I am finished it looks beautiful!
I like your dizzy board — the print is busy but what you have on there looks clean and sharp — I wouldn’t change it at all!
Looks lovely now it’s all organised! My parents joked that I was a professional student too, sadly I’m no longer a professional student!
I only wish that my urges to clean could be as well-timed as yours! Mine are usually bundled in with procrastibaking and everything that suddenly seems to jump a priority level (alphabetizing my textbooks, shining up all of the reflective surfaces in our house, collecting up stuff for Goodwill) when I have a major deadline in sight! Like Lynn, I am soo into boxes and containers. I have more boxes than I do things to put in them! Your room looks wonderful!
I get the cleaning fever completely randomly. Never at a specific time of year. I actually really like the board, although I probably would get dizzy looking at it after awhile!
I went mad and started renovating my kitchen! September always makes me want big change.
We just moved last week, so we are in full organization mode right now!
There is nothing like a new apartment where everything is clean and in its place :)
You have inspired me to clean up my mess of an office! I feel so much better without the clutter.
My husband and I are getting ready to move back to our home state of Indiana from Portland, OR. Moving is always an awesome time to purge and start over fresh. We have been apartment or dorm living for the past 6 years so we are very anxious to move into our first home!
The vision board is so cute. What a great idea. I love the overnight oats!
The organization bug bites me every June as I am a teacher and don’t work from June-August. I take almost the entire month of June to organize my life, and our home. It’s wonderful! I always feel like a new woman once everything is nice & organized!!
This post makes me excited to get back to my apartment at school and organize my desk space! I love buying lots of cute bins and note organizers.
I get into a clean kick about once a year…usually before someone is coming to stay at my house! After they leave, it’s a slow buildup back to a mess until the next person is set to come stay!
My husband jokes that he should invite someone to come visit about once a month just to keep it consistent! :)
Hello Angela
I have been looking around on your blog to try to find some sort of guide to the specialty products you use in your cooking – but i can’t find any.. So that is my suggestion for a new post :)
I would like to know more about the health benefits and uses of products such as chia-seeds, carob-powder, wheatgrass and so on.. Or maybe there’s a site you would recommend for that type of info?
Sorry – this doesn’t have anything to do with home-organizing, I just saw my chance and grabbed it ;)
Love your blog btw
Nanna from Denmark
Hi Nanna,
I have done lots of posts on these in the past year or two, but I do think it would be fun to have them all together in one spot! Something to think about for sure! :)
I loooove that quote. So powerful.
And wow does your desk look so great!!! Night and day haha
The office looks so nice! I am terrible at ACTUALLY organizing… Right now I’m making my way through each room in the house but my “workout room/office” is more like a dumping ground for all of the clutter from the other rooms. Doh!
We weren’t bit by the organization bug when September hit, but I attribute that largely to the fact that we were hit by the organization bug in July when we couldn’t stand all the moving boxes, etc anymore!
Added to my to-do list: make vision board. But maybe not a Dizzy and Bizzy one ;)
I’m going to try that recipe! My overnight oats have been mostly the same for a few months with only a few minor variations. Which is good – I like them – but this looks like a nice change too. And I just happen to have some pumpkin in the freezer. I’ll have to get some Eden’s though. I keep meaning to because it is so amazingly delicious that I could eat a whole jar with a spoon but I forget every time I’m at the store.
I am pretty sure I will be a student forever, so I buy a new planner every Sept and write my life down.
I don’t think the board is too dizzy, the parts that are most meaningful to you seem to pop right out :)!