addisonemma

addisonemma

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Procrastination Station






I read an interesting article on procrastination the other day in REAL SIMPLE* magazine. I meant to read it a week or so ago but put it off....:).


Anyway, I am the absolute worst....full blown procrastinator. Lucky for me (and everyone else) I work well under pressure.

A couple things I took away from this article:

1. Do the worst thing first
Um, what if they all seem like the worst thing, then what?

2. Start your day over at 2pm
They say, assess what you have done already that and make an action plan for the last couple hours of your day to tackle the most critical tasks.
I am pretty sure this why babies/toddlers take an afternoon nap...they need to refresh before tackling those tedious tasks of the afternoon like pooping, crawling, crying and eating. I wonder what Emma's critical task for this afternoon is....ah, whining. Mystery solved. Way to tackle the most annoying thing first!

3. Create an audience
Simply, this keep you accountable. A friend of mine started a blog so he would be kept accountable to stay on track for weight loss. It worked...he is down 87 lbs!

4. Don't Interrupt Yourself
This is the most amazing thing ever. I have put this into practice and it works. I can be a bit ADD and try to do 4 tasks at once. Concentrating on one, putting phone on silent and ignoring distractions (like kids calling my name....jk). It works.

Finally, my favorite. Plan an UNPROCRASTINATION Day.
Put together a list of all the errands, tasks and basically anything you have been putting off for too long and do it all in one day. I put this into practice today. I call it a mini-unprocrastination day because I did all the tasks that have accumulated in a pile on my desk that "I will get to later-don't want to deal with now".
I feel like a weight has been lifted. That to-do stack is gone and only one task left for the day, file away that big stack of papers on upstairs desk. I hate filing...I should have done that first.

After reading that article I thought, "Great idea, I will do an UNPROCRASTINATION day every month". After my mini one, I am more realistic...one every quarter should suffice.

 If you want to read more, check out this great article:

http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/time-management/avoid-procrastination-00000000055282/index.html



What will you do on your UNPROCRASTINATION day?

Sunday, May 15, 2011

The Fab Five

My first post of my favorite things....the FAB FIVE. This post snowballed quickly from researching 5 different things in all different interest to some online shopping...oops! Which leads me to #1 of the FAB FIVE....

Piperlime

It is part of the GAP, OLD NAVY, BANANA REPUBLIC brand, but is exclusively online and for good reason. It features designer duds of all styles, brands and price range. Most people think it is shoes and handbags only, but no, they have it ALL! I really cannot even imagine how they would do a store front due to the inventory they hold. My favorite thing about this website is trying designers brands I would have never been exposed to otherwise (Tinley Road) and have quickly become my faithful go-to's everytime I need something and don't have time to browse the whole site. Which brings me to #2 of the FAB FIVE (which can all be found on Piperlime):

Tinley Road (affordable and so fun). Here are a couple of my favorite pieces by them:






#3
Espadrilles (fun and functional for moms like me)

#4 Hive and Honey
They created these shoes that look amazing and were comfy for an entire night out  (even though they look like they would hurt after 5 min)

And check out this bracelet!



Finally, #5 of the FAB FIVE (I need a better name for this list because there will be many more....any ideas?)

The BEST thing about Piperlime?



Free shipping and free returns.

I love some online shopping...and this was the #1 reason I gave piperlime a chance for a place in my coveted "favorites" of online shopping sites.
So, happy shopping and remember, when your hubby ask you if that dress hanging in the closet is new....you say, "I've had that for some time now". Some time now, being the subjective term here....for me, "some time now" may mean it just arrived this morning, which technically is some time.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day

At the dawn of Mother's Day (and I literally mean the break of dawn). I was greeted with "Mommy, Happy Mother's Day I am going to do everything for you today!" Pause..."Mommy, can you get me some breakfast?".  And so starts the Mother's Day. Before I was a mother I thought this was a day of pampering and relaxing for mom, but once a mother you know that relaxing and pampering are not part of the daily ritual. Making breakfast, lunch, potty breaks, changing diapers and soothing boo-boo's are more like it.
I realize now that no matter what day it is, it's always mother's day because as a mother, we are always on duty. The best present doesn't happen on Mother's Day neccesarily, it happen on any ordinary day when your children tell you what a great mom you are or when they do something (like using good manners or making a good decision) to let you know without saying anything at all, that you are a great mom.
To all the Mama's out there....
Happy Mother's Day (today and everyday)

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Time Goes By

Addison is really growing up these days. It seems she has gone from a little toddler to a little lady in a blink of an eye. Today she told me she is going to marry her friend Holden when they are "adults". Apparently, he asked her to marry him today. *sigh*
How did she go from this....

To this....
So quickly?

So, in honor of her being 4 going on 14, let's take a trip down memory lane....

Side note....a shot of daddy after addison was born:

Parenting is exhausting....and he has been a daddy all of 1 day at this point!

Back to the memory lane....
6 months

1 Year Old


2 Years Old



3 Years Old




And now...


Love my sweet Addison Taylor. She is growing up (and I don't like it one bit) but I know no matter how old she gets (or acts) she will always be my little girl.

 

Friday, May 6, 2011

Daredevil

Look at my sweet girls! Just sitting at the art table like angels.










5 seconds later...









Yes, that is Emma, our resident Daredevil. On the brightside Addison seems very worried about her little sister and is reaching out to help her....or, she is trying to keep Emma away from her art project (yep, that is probably more like it). Never a dull moment at the Dales...always on the move!

Disclaimer: Sorry for picture quality...taken from my phone (those kodak moments don't last long!)