Get Your Laundry Done

Do you find yourself at the end of the month or week with piles of laundry. The "laundry monster" is something that no one wants to see. However, there are ways to prevent this giant pile up of dirty clothes. Here are some great tips on how to keep away the laundry beast from showing up in your home. You can learn more atApartment Therapy.







Anyone else at war with piles upon piles of laundry? It never occurred to me how much motherhood and laundry go together, but here we are! While it's still an uphill battle, I have learned that some things (when I actually do them) help keep the relentless laundry situation under control.
FIVE STEPS TO TAMING THE LAUNDRY BEAST:


A load a day.Obviously, this will be way too excessive for some people, but for anyone with a couple kids or more, this amount of laundry is just about right —and will save you from a day or more that's consumed by catching up with laundry. Early on in my homekeeping life, I came across Flylady. Her mantra of "A load a day keeps CHAOS away" has been burned into my memory, in large part because I've found it to be true in my experience. (Note: "CHAOS" stands for "can't have anyone over syndrome.")

Follow through with each load.Load goes in the wash, then the dryer (or hung to dry), then gets folded or hung and then gets put away. My laundry troubles come when I linger too long between steps and loads begin to pile up at the clean end. I like to "save" folding for when my kids are in bed and I watch a TV show, but if I'm behind at all, then this means piles that I probably won't get through will be waiting for me... and grow and multiply. If I really mean business with keeping up, I'd fold right after the load is dry and then put it away. Honestly, this never happens. I'm still learning.

Address your sticking point.Usually there's a part of laundry that's a bit more of a mental block and this is what makes the piles grow and multiply. For me, it's putting the clothes away. I like putting the clothes in to wash and dry. And I even enjoy folding. But putting the clothes away is just not my favorite thing to do, and, alas, I often end up with several baskets of clean, folded laundry waiting to be put away.

Set up strategically.For me, this means that I have to think about putting clothes away before I start folding them; I have to make putting them away as painless as possible. I set out separate empty laundry baskets per room or person and put folded clothes in piles according to which drawer they go into. I also have hangers at the ready for clothes that need to be hung.

Make it fun.As with many chores in life that just have to get done, take a page out of Mary Poppins's book and make it fun. Turn on some music, make a party out of it, or reward yourself with a treat (chocolate, 15 minutes of pleasure reading, staring at the miraculously empty laundry baskets, whatever) when you accomplish either the laundry task as a whole (is anyone out there ever caught up with laundry???) or the part you dread most.
I'm going to go take my own advice and put away the piles of folded kids' clothes so my son doesn't have to dig for clean Ninja Turtle undies after bathtime tonight.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Fun Facts: The movie "Halloween" was made in only 21 days in 1978 on a very limited budget. You can learn more here. 

Delicious Halloween Treat

Slimy Bog Balls do not sound like something you would want to eat. However, Martha Stewart has come up with a great recipe for your next Halloween party. These delicious snacks made with pesto are perfect to fit in with the Halloween theme next week. You can learn more about the recipe here.

Ways to Preserve Your Pumpkin

Do you pick a pumpkin every year? You probably do not want your pumpkin to rot after only a few days. We have gathered some great tips on the jack-o-lantern season. These will help you pick the best pumpkin and keep it fresh as long as possible. You can learn more at Apartment Therapy.



3 Tips for Picking a Good Pumpkin

The best way to ensure the longevity of your Jack-o’-lantern is to begin with a healthy pumpkin. While there’s no such thing as the "perfect" pumpkin, there are several things you can look for to get your Jack-o’-lantern off to a great start.

Inspect the skin. When you select a pumpkin, keep an eye out for gouges or blemishes. While dings and dents may give a pumpkin character, they also invite rotting and pests.

Poke and prod. If a pumpkin is even a little soft in the patch or pile, the rotting process is already underway. What begins as a small, soft spot can grow into a large, caved-in mess overnight. Look for a pumpkin with even color and firm flesh. Poke around to find one that doesn’t give when pressed gently.

Pick local. Purchasing from a local pumpkin patch means your pumpkin has been spared the bruising and battering that comes along with being shipped across the country in a back of a truck. Check out Local Harvestfor a listing of pumpkin growers and U-pick farms in your area.




Understand What Makes a Pumpkin Rot

Once you’ve found your perfect pumpkin, it’s time to dig in. But first, it is important to understand the factors that lead to pumpkin rot. Pumpkin skin provides a protective layer from the elements. Once the skin is broken, organisms like fungi, bacteria, molds and insects are able to enter and begin breaking it down. Oxidation and dehydration also contribute to the rotting process, which means from the moment you make the first cut, the clock starts ticking.

Many methods for sterilizing and preserving pumpkins involve the unnecessary use of harsh chemicals and environmentally unfriendly solutions. Common tricks include using bleach or apple cider vinegar, but Mat says NO to this. Bleach is dangerous and apple cider vinegar will only attract bugs.




5 Natural Ways to Extend the Life of Your Pumpkin

Scrape and discard the "pumpkin guts". When prepping your pumpkin for carving, be sure to scrape and discard as much of the pulp (aka “pumpkin guts”) as possible. The cleaner and drier the pumpkin interior, the slower the rotting process.

Clean with peppermint dish soap. Dilute one tablespoon of peppermint dish soap such as Peppermint


Castile Soap in a quart of water. Pour into a clean spray bottle. Lightly spray the inside of your pumpkin. Peppermint is an antifungal and will slow the decomposition process, significantly extending the life of your pumpkin.

Consider refrigerating overnight. If you live in a warm climate, consider placing your carved pumpkins in the fridge at night instead of leaving them on the porch. Spray your pumpkins with the


Castile-water mixture and wrap in a trash bag prior to placing in the fridge. This process will rehydrate your pumpkins each night.

Consider soaking overnight. Another way to rehydrate your pumpkins is to fill a large bucket, bin or tub with cold water. Soak pumpkins overnight. Typically, pumpkins set out for less than a week won’t need rehydration, especially if you live in a cool climate. If you notice yours beginning to wilt, however, take them for a dip!

Use a fruit fly trap. Much like any other produce you bring into your home, pumpkins attract fruit flies. Drawn to rotting fruit and vegetables, fruit flies will expedite the process, leaving a damaged pumpkin and an infestation behind. Natural fruit fly solutions, like Aunt Fannie’s FlyPunch! or this DIY mixture, are a poison-free way to prevent fruit flies from settling in to do damage. Your pumpkin lives to see another day, and your home remains free from invaders.

Stay on a Budget

Do you go to the grocery store and end up leaving with more than you should? Here are ten tips on how to keep a grocery budget and stick to it! These tips will help you avoid the temptations at the grocery store, and you may end up saving money in the future. You can learn more at The Kitchn.


Grocery budgeting is a science, and an art. So much must be balanced: time, preference, income, store availability, seasons, life situations, and more. These are my top 10 tips for creating a grocery budget—and sticking to it.

1. Track what you actually spend for a month.

Before you can make a realistic grocery budget, you have to have a realistic idea of what you usually spend. You might spend more on food (including drinks and eating out) than you realize. Start tracking what you spend for a month. Keep your receipts.

Whether you use a spreadsheet or a Word document, or just paper and pencil, it can be helpful to divide your food expenses into itemized lists. Drinks: coffee, tea, soda, alcohol, juices, mixers. Fresh produce. Frozen meals. Baking items. Meat. The key is to track everything that you consume.


Pro tip: to make this easier when you go back through your receipts, load your groceries from cart to cashier in itemized groups.
2. Budget per month, but plan per week.

I track my income monthly, so I also track grocery bills monthly. Some people track weekly; it's a personal preference. I've found it's easier to stick to a monthly grocery bill, as I often go for two weeks without shopping. On the other hand, it is equally key to plan your meals per week, to avoid eating out or ordering in. I suppose you could plan your meals for an entire month, but for me that's not realistic. Having a rough idea of what we'll be eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner helps me shop accordingly.
3. Name your priorities.

I'm learning to tell myself, "If this, then not that," as I shop for groceries. There are certain items that I prioritize for my wellbeing, such as fresh foods and basic whole foods. Towards the end of a month, I'll nix fringe items before cutting out my priority items, such as that new flavor of tea, juice, optional toppings for meals, and desserts.


→ More on my priorities: 8 Foods to Always Spend Money On
4. Don’t eat out.

Just don't do it. Eating out is the Trojan horse of grocery budgeting. It sneaks into your monthly budget and destroys everything you've worked so hard for. Dramatic, yes, but true. We eat out for special occasions or with friends, but have made it our personal policy to never eat out as a response to laziness. Knowing your priorities and keeping basics, frozen double batches, and quick meals on hand can help with this.
5. Prize (and plan) variety.

...Or you will eat out, unless you have a willpower of steel. Plan variety into your grocery lists to stay well and keep food enjoyable. Some people can eat ramen for a month in the name of saving money. I can't. However, I'm also the kind of person who finds something they love and wants to eat it endlessly... a habit which always results in me tiring of that food for months afterward. So I try to plan budget-friendly meals that I know I'll enjoy, and rotate those meals throughout several months.
6. Keep a fridge list

Keep a running list on your fridge and write down items that you need as soon as or shortly before you run empty. This is a basic tip but it can make all the difference between grocery runs that result in spending sprees or incomplete shopping.
7. Learn to love your leftovers.

They are your friends. They will feed you while protecting your budget. Invest in a good set of glass food storage containers—your food will last longer with better flavor. Plan meals that make good leftovers, and if you're feeling ambitious, make double or triple batches and freeze.
8. Don’t be duped by coupons.

Coupons are great — if they are for items that you need and from brands that you like. Too often, coupons trick customers into buying unnecessary items "because it's a good deal." Furthermore, generic versions of many items in the coupon book are even cheaper than the price you'll pay for a discounted name brand item. So if you find a coupon for an item that you usually buy, celebrate and purchase. Otherwise, steer clear and seek out cheaper options.
9. Stock when there’s a sale, but don’t overstock.

Sales are the cousin of coupons: they can often dupe customers into buying more because it's "a great deal," not because they need that item or can even use that quantity. On items that keep well, stock up with sales.

But a common mistake is to buy a few extra items of each product, thinking that you're saving time and money by not having to return later to the store. I did this for years before I realized I was still shopping at my usual rate, buying a few extras of this and that each time, which was inflating my grocery bills. Unless you live hours from a grocery store, this sort of pseudo-bulk shopping isn't helpful.
10. Take the time to comparison shop.

The suggestion of comparison shopping is inevitably met with a chorus of voices protesting the efficiency of "driving all over" just to find cheaper items. And I would have to agree. I used to shop at a closer grocery that was more expensive, than transitioned to a larger, cheaper store much further away, then began shopping at three different stores, with a separate list for each. Now I'm back to shopping at the closer store that's a bit pricier. Time and driving costs must always be factored into budgeting. There are still a few items that I will buy once a month at the larger, more distant store, but I don't have the time to go to several stores on each grocery run.

However, I also comparison shop within stores: some items are cheaper in the international aisle, or the yogurt in the organics aisle, for example, might be on sale when my usual yogurt selection isn't. So pick the stores that are most efficient for your shopping, familiarize yourself with your options, and make a plan.

11 Things We Wish We Knew About Senior Year

Do you want to make sure you have the best senior year? Here are eleven things that everyone should know about their senior year in college. Career advice, social tips, and how you can really enjoy one of the best years of your life. You can learn more here.



1. Network, network, network. Networking is like life. It might be awkward, but you have to deal with it... and it never gets any easier. The more out of college you are, the less of a chance you'll have to talk to prominent people in your industry. I remember when our college would throw networking nights and I would just mingle with friends in a corner eating the free food. Now I want to kick myself in the face because, like, WHO WAS THERE?! WHO'S EMAIL/PHONE NUMBER COULD I HAVE GOTTEN THAT I WOULD BENEFIT FROM NOW? WERE THE FREE CALORIES WORTH IT?! WERE THEY?!

2. Your resume probably isn't special. Unless you're some sort of prodigy, your resume probably looks like everyone else's. Sorry, but it's true. Not everyone has had 4-6 internships, but a good chunk of people have. Not everyone has started a blog or has a perfect GPA, but you're not the only one who's accomplished such things. Even if you have a pink scented resume, Elle Woods already did that. Now a green scented resume... That's different. But the content -- it's probably the same as plenty others. You're not special. And if you stop thinking that, your transition into post-grad life -- unemployed OR employed -- will be much easier.

3. Stop talking to your ex(es). Don't waste your mouth's time and energy talking to some boy you used to know. Don't waste your fingers' time and energy texting (or snapping?) some guy who you are either never getting back together with -- or at least never should get back together with. You only have a number of months left in college. Spend that time and energy on someone else. Even if nothing comes of it, at least you had new experiences and met new people. At least you didn't waste your time dwelling on the past, rather than looking towards the future. And years later, you won't look back at your college self sneaking to his place on a random weekday night to hookup without telling your friends and think WTF was I doing?!

4. If you have dreams of moving somewhere, move there right after college. Don't say you're going to wait a year after you've settled into a routine. Chances are, you might become too comfortable. Don't wait three years because you're going to try and save up enough money to move -- you never will. The later you wait, the more settled down people will be with their lives and groups of friends. Moving to a new city in your mid or late 20s is like transferring schools. It's always harder to find your place after everyone else has already found theirs. So if you know you want to take a leap, DO IT NOW. If you find you don't like it, all you have to do is go home or try somewhere else. Sure you might have to or choose to move later in life, but don't delay it if you already know that's what you want.

5. Stay in touch with all those people from your internships! It might be awkward giving someone a random phone call on a random day weeks or months after your internship ends, but it will make you stand out. It will make so-and-so remember you. And it will probably lead to a job one day -- whether it's at that company or at a company they can refer you to. You never know who knows who. And who wants to have all these awesome internships on a resume and years later have absolutely no contacts from said awesome companies? It sucks.

6. Don't compare yourself to others. Everyone has a friend who gets a job months before graduation, and whether that is you or not -- who cares. Everyone forges a path for them self after college and everyone's road is different. You didn't do anything wrong because so-and-so got a job offer and you're still stuck searching and applying. Sure, getting a job after college is based on your experience and abilities, but it is mostly based on timing and luck. You might have all the connections in the world, but if none of them have an opening they know of for you, you're out of luck (for now). You also have to find a company you personally click with. Just because you're qualified for a position, doesn't mean you will have a connection with the person interviewing you. Is it luck if the person interviewing you for a job went to the same high school as you and hires you because you have that in common? Yeah. There's plenty of hoops to jump through when finding a job. It will happen when it happens.

7. Save. money. Everyone kept saying save your money, but then Urban Outfitters opened up down the street from my senior year house and it was all downhill from there. The rest of my money went to Lean Cuisines and booze. You have no idea how long you're going to be unemployed after college ends, so it's good to have savings just in case. Even if you do have a job lined up, you're still going to want some money in the bank. What if you have to move? What if you have to buy a new computer? Or a car? When you're a few years older and barely getting by because... alcohol, you're going to wish you saved money in college.

8. If you're not 150 percent feeling your relationship, end it. After college, you'll be thrown into the real world where the chance to meet prospective hook ups and significant others in person is slim to none (it's goin' down... I'm yellin' Tinder). You won't meet a new batch of people your age every couple months in class (unless you go to grad school, but still, not the same). You won't be able to go to your college bar on Friday night and be surrounded by people you know. You won't be able to just go home with some dude from the bar because in the real world, you can't just go home with randoms. 1. They most likely don't live within walking distance of your place and 2. They could be a murderer or a rapist. You only have a short time left of the college life. Do you want to graduate and feel like you wasted time you could have spent mingling and hooking up with others on some guy you weren't 100 percent interested in to begin with? Probably not.

9. Don't stress out if you don't have a job set for yourself right after graduation. Life isn't going to end if you don't know what you're going to do after you graduate. Until you get a job, enjoy your freedom. Enjoy your summer. Once you start working, you'll be working forever (unless your plan is to marry rich and not work, which is actually not a bad plan). Summer days will be spent in the office and if you want to go away or take time to yourself, you'll have to get permission. For now, you're free to do whatever you want (depending on how much money you have of course, which probably isn't a lot, so whatever). EMBRACE IT. You'll find something eventually.

10. Do something (anything!) that makes you stand out from the crowd.Imagine if I had started a blog during college, rather than after. With a website on my resume prior to graduation, prospective jobs might have looked at me a little differently. If you can do anything to show your skills and ambition, DO IT. If you create a website, it doesn't even have to be a successful website. Just the pure fact you do something on your own in addition to school and internships (and after you graduate, applying to jobs and going to the beach), will surely make you stand out from all those other college grads out there.

11. Enjoy yourself. Because after you graduate college, you will never experience anything like it again. I'm not saying it's all downhill from here, because it's not, but it's different. Right now, you're young. You're carefree. Your friends either live with you or live down the street from you. And guess what? They have nothing to do other than spend time with you (and write a paper or two... but, like, who cares about that?). So party it up, my friends. Make memories. Take pictures. Gain 15 pounds during Senior Week. Soon enough, you won't want to go back to college, but -- if you do it right -- you'll definitely miss it.

Forget the Defrosting

We always forget to take our dinner out of the freezer. However, there are certain foods that you can cook right out of the freezer. You do not need to worry about defrosting or setting these ingredients out. They are ready as soon as you take them out of the bag. You can learn more at The Kitchn.


The more hectic life gets with work, friends, and family, the more grateful I am that freezers were invented. A well-stocked freezer full of fruits, vegetables, and homemade meals has enabled me to eat more healthy and not spend money on takeout.

The downside of a lot of frozen foods, however, is that they usually need to be thawed in order to cook or reheat well. But did you know there are still plenty of foods out there that you can cook straight from the freezer, no thawing necessary? Here are our seven favorites!

1. Bacon

Whether you want to fry up a big batch of bacon for a leisurely weekend morning or just need a slice or two to flavor a dish, there's so much fat in bacon that it can thaw and start cooking in a pan in just a few minutes. Make sure you freeze the bacon in individual slices first so that it's not frozen into one big block.


2. Fruit

We all know that frozen fruit is a great way to add texture and keep smoothies cold, but if you bake with frozen fruit, there's no need to defrost it — just mix it straight into batter or dough. If you're making a compote or fruit syrup, just throw it straight into the pot and start simmering.



3. Vegetables

Because frozen vegetables are usually frozen at the peak of freshness, they're a great, healthy choice to always have a stash of. Small vegetables like peas and corn can quickly cook and cool down in soup, and you can even throw mixed frozen vegetables straight into a skillet pasta.


4. Dumplings

Since Asian dumplings can be a bit time-consuming to make, make a big batch and then freeze them for a quick and satisfying snack or weeknight meal. Dumplings cook best straight from the freezer since thawing them will make the wrappers sticky and cook up soggy.


5. Pasta

Similar to Asian dumplings, fresh uncooked pastas and filled pastas like ravioli and agnolotti freeze extremely well. Don't thaw them or the pasta will start to stick together. Frozen pasta only takes a minute or two longer to cook than fresh before it's ready to be tossed in your favorite sauce.

6. Cooked Rice

Did you know that day-old rice makes the best fried rice? It's a great way to use up leftover steamed rice, but if you're not ready to fry up the rice just yet, stash it in the freezer. If frozen properly, the rice freezes into individual grains that you can just toss right into the wok or frying pan when the fried rice craving hits.


7. Fish

Skip the thawing of frozen fish — all you have to do is rinse the fillets off, pat them dry, and get cooking. It'll take a few more minutes to cook than a piece of fresh fish, but now you have no excuse not to have fish for dinner on a weeknight!