Today, I am loving...

I'd never been to Marshalls, the designer discount store, before. But the first time I did, during our recent trip, I was quite charmed by their fitting room. It wasn't luxurious at all like the fitting room above. Didn't even notice if the lighting was flattering. Nor did they have the elite amenities like mood music selection or chocolate and champagne freebies in the fitting rooms.

But that day, I was loving... the useful O.C.-ness of the Marshalls fitting rooms.

You know how a lot of fitting rooms don't have enough hooks? Well, this one had a sort of grid-like grill where you could hang so many clothes all over and still see part of the dress so it's easy to choose which one you will try on.

Haha, color-blocking-obsessed much?

Then, once you've tried on your selection, you can hang it on any of these 3 hooks (all inside the fitting room): Is it a DEFINITELY?

Or a POSSIBLY?

Or a NO, but broken down to Marshalls gently?

Isn't it cool that you can organize the clothes you fit then and there? No need to flip through them as you go out of the fitting room to hand the rejects to the attendant!

Plus, here's what greeted me as I walked out of my fitting room stall...

Not a bad deal for your DEFINITELYs and possibly even your POSSIBLYs, right?

Today, I am loving... the organization tools in the Marshalls fitting rooms.

Photos are my own and from here.

Click here for previous posts from the Today, I Am Loving... series.

Today, I am loving...

The kids are back in school so my new year officially begins today. Am back to "work" on my errands & projects today. The date & days of the week are again important to note unlike during the Christmas break when it really didn't matter what day it was (it just seemed to be one loooong happy weekend!).

So today, I am loving... these free 2013-calendar printables! Just click on the colored links below...

Love the cheerful colors of the letters of each month, especially against the gray typography of the spelled-out 2013 of The Tomkat Studio.

These polka dot calendars from The Twinery are pretty too!

You can even download them in a mini-calendar size!

Here's a gray & yellow (remember this combo from here?) full-year calendar from L@u's Notebook.

Notice the washi tape holding up the calendar? :)

Here's a whimsical option from The Ink Nest.

If you adore owls, try this one from My Owl Barn. 

You can customize your calendar with artworks of owls from many different artists.

My favorite of all is this candy-themed mini-calendar from Eat Drink Chic. Of all the printable calendars in this post, I chose this set and had it printed at Kameraworld for PhP7.75 per sheet (you just need to convert the pdf file into jpg).

Am not really sure what I will use it for (Perhaps a desk calendar? Eeep! Should I have just printed the other polka dot calendar, the one from The Twinery? But...) I loooove the pretty striped & dotted patterns of this sweet calendar!

Plus, you know how I love candy here & here.

Isn't this the most adorable calendar set?

Today, I am loving... these free 2013-calendar printables all over the web. I am amazed at the generosity of the artists who designed these pretty calendars and made it available to everyone for free! 

Not all, but most of these, I found via deliciouslyorganized.

Click here for previous posts from the Today, I am loving... series.

little things, big adventure

Not counting work, company benefits and co-worker friends, here are some of the little things I will miss about my old job:

1 My delight at P20 and P50 change because I immediately think, "Yay! Pang-toll!" (see related post here)

2 The happy colors in my bag from my receipt-organizing-system - I got these flat (non-gusseted) pouches from H&M. They come in seafoam green, dark salmon and cream. The green one contains receipts for reimbursement at the office like receipts from meetings at restos. The salmon one contains receipts of personal expenses. I have a cardstock divider in this pouch to separate receipts from credit card tape to get those freebies my card offers. The cream one holds my receipts for liquidation like gas and health expenses. I have to admit that I loved looking in my bag and seeing the pretty colors of my pouches.

3 The winter-cold office temperature especially during the BER months - an excuse to wear pretty coats and clothes made out of wool

4 The carpeted hallways that make it easy to wear 4-to-5-inch heels all day

5 The calming nighttime drive home along C6 - For some reason, I find the combination of the many lampposts on that highway, the absence of traffic and my iPod music playing from my car's speakers very soothing. Now that I won't be working, I imagine I won't be driving at night nor alone so much anymore.

I will miss (a lot of the big things but also) these little delightful things.

But I am certain there will be a different set of delightful little things as this big adventure begins.

Photos from pinkwallpaper and here via acupofjo.

Noah says...

The hubby and Noah are grocery buddies. They often do the grocery for us...

In June, since the summer was ending, we were recounting the places we went to - like the beach, Balik Bukid in Sta. Elena, horseback-riding in Clark and a Bisita Iglesia roadtrip. Then Noah exclaimed, "We went pa to other places! We went to Puregold!"

A couple of weeks later, Noah discovered a huge roll of double-sided tape (yes, he gets excited about such things because as you know, he has super paper powers) and asked who bought it. I said I didn't. So he said, "Maybe Daddy. He's rich eh. He pays for 2 carts nga when we go to the grocery!"

Funny how much of an impact the grocery had on Noah. About the same as our summer roadtrips! And I love how he measures wealth by the number of grocery carts.

Happy grocery Sunday!

Photo from designeditor. Incidentally, aren't those grocery cart & restaurant highchair covers awesome to keep your baby protected from germs? Ooohh, something ocmominmanila will go gaga over.

Click here for previous posts from the Noah Says series. Click here for my tribute to summer 2012.

Simple Trick: Organizing Your Closet

I'm sure we all dream of a walk-in closet with closet after closet of wardrobe space. But if you're like me, with a small house here, you probably have very limited closet space. You probably also have too many clothes that your small closet is busting at the seams. Here are a few tips on closet-organizing that I learned from Kat of Space That Works. 

1 Using the same type of hanger for all your clothes instantly organizes your closet! Not only do you get rid of the eye sore caused by different hangers - hangers in various colors, materials (plastic, wood, wire), shapes & sizes, but the uniform hangers also bring your clothes' necklines & collars to the same level - which, I swear, makes a world of a difference. Oh, and make sure your hanger-hooks are all facing the back of your closet.

2 Choose the right type of hanger for your space. I've always been in love with wooden hangers. But unfortunately, these bulky hangers are only practical for big closets.

For small closets, it is best to choose thin hangers. Such flat (as opposed to the bow or curved structure of wooden) hangers allow you to cram more clothes into your tiny cabinet. I personally love the flocked hangers I got from True Value (P1,295 for a box of 30, though I checked recently and they're out-of-stock. Found flocked hangers in Howard's Storage World but they were more expensive). They are not only thin & flat, but their felt-like material keeps sleeves from sliding off the hanger. Their hook swivels too so it's easy to get all your hangers facing one direction.

3 Organize your clothes according to how you decide what to wear. If you pick clothes by color palette, then go ahead and organize your closet by color. If you choose your outfit for the day according to type - Do I wear pants or a dress today? - then put all your dresses together, all your bottoms together, all your tops together. Within a category (say, tops), you can opt to sort them by sleeve length: sleeveless together, short-sleeved together and long-sleeved together. For the dress category, you can sort them according to length (mini, knee-length and floor-length).

If you have very specific groupings like say, weekend clothes vs. office clothes, you can opt to divide your closet accordingly too. For seldom used groupings like beach and winter/travel, use underbed storage boxes (or store them inside luggage so you aren't wasting the space inside your Samsonite, Rimowa or LV trunk).

Also, not all clothes need to be on a hanger. Some clothes-categories like t-shirts, tank tops (sometimes, even pants) and especially underwear need to go on shelves or drawers versus hangers.

Oh, and remember to brief your helper on your organizing strategy so she can put the clothes back in their proper places after getting washed.

4 Purge. This is Kat's first requirement. Get rid of clothes that don't fit anymore, that "don't love you back". She says you should only keep clothes that you love AND love you. Meaning, clothes that make you look fabulous. Everything else must go. That they will come back in style, or that you will fit into it again when you lose those last few pounds, or that "this is expensive!" or a certain brand, are all excuses Kat does not allow (in her nice, sweet way).

This is the most painful part. So here's my last quick tip: instruct your helper to let the hanger-hook of newly-laundered clothes face the opposite direction. Then every morning, try not to pick the clothes on these hangers. If, after 3 months, majority of the hangers are still facing the back of your closet, then you know these are the clothes that need to go to the Donate bin. The fact that you chose other outfits over them for 3 whole months means that you either don't love them or they don't love you. So it's time to let go of them. And think of it this way... the closet space they will empty out is license to shop!!! But note that the rule from now on is in-and-out: when something new comes in, something new must go out.

These closet-organizing tricks certainly changed my life. An organized closet will put you back in control of your closet - and your life.

Follow these tips and email me before & after photos! :)

Photos from annnniegirl, heritage, polkadotshoppingbag, deliciouslyorganized and here.

Click here for previous posts from the Simple Trick series. Click here for the down-in-the-dots version of this post - a DIY trick that's not simple at all. 

Simple Trick: Storing Shoes

If you store your shoes in a shoe cabinet - and not your staircase (haha!), here's a simple trick I learned from Kat of Space That Works.

Instead of storing shoes this way... with shoes facing the same direction...

Store them this way... with one shoe facing forward and the other facing back.

I swear, this allows you to fit an additional pair in the same closet! Plus, you get to see the type of heel of your I'm-sure-multiple black pumps. And it lets you see if your heels are scuffed - something you never see when all your shoes are facing forward.

Try it. It works!

Photos from annnniegirl and frommetoyou.

Click here for the down-in-the-dots version of this post. Click here for a previous post on other ways of storing shoes.  

some polka dots i spotted...

Swiss photographer and comedian Ursus Wehrli is releasing a new book called The Art of Clean Up. The book features photographs of everyday scenes of disarray straightened up into neatly organized rows - sorted by object type, size and color.

Now, "where are the polka dots?", you might ask. Well, here they are...

I find it totally hilarious that Wehrli also organized the polka dots on the bowl into a row!

Photos from here via A Cup of Jo.

Click here for previous posts from the Some Polka Dots I Spotted series.

Today, I am loving...

... the symmetry,

the repetition,

the consistency,

and the organization,

in these photos.

They remind me that it's okay to be O.C.!

For all time O.C.-ness, follow ocmominmanila.com.

And to the most O.C. person I know (ocmominmanila), congratulations on another baby girl (repetition)! May N be as adorable as M (consistency), may you recover quickly & easily so you can get back to a balanced life of motherhood and womanhood (symmetry), and may the little cub's hours be far from odd so you can keep the organization (and 9pm bedtime) in your O.C. life...

Notice how a lot of it was incredibly contrived but my own O.C.-ness kept me going so I could fit in all 4 O.C. ideas into this special shout-out to ocmom? Like I said, it's okay to be O.C.!

Photos from everythingfabtumblr and i'm just saying.