Project: The Hot Chocolate Shelf

Today we woke up and it was COLD. Rainy. Wet. It sort of reminded me of the weather in Virginia from November thru February (minus the occasional, albeit very welcome random 70* weather days in December)  I sent Son off to school, something which I felt honestly bad about because there he was, running out to face the elements at the bus stop and there I was standing in the doorway calling out my love to him, perfectly content to not leave the house for the rest of the day.

After puttering around the house for a bit I realized how hungry I was and looked at the clock. 10:24. Daughter also found herself hungry and ready for second breakfast. I announced eggs and toast to be on the menu and officially declared today the first of many great ones after it: A hot chocolate day! This brought cheers and squeals.  I went to the kitchen and smiled. There it was, waiting for me, and waiting for this special day...

the hot chocolate shelf. 

It is a must-have for homes located in climes which drop below 46 degrees more than 9 days out of the year.

The picture makes it pretty self-explanitory, but since I like to hear myself talk, I'll go ahead and keep going...

• The cabinet organizer/shelf is available at Wal-Mart, Bed Bath and Beyond, and other like stores.  
• As far as the hot chocolate goes, just get yours of choice, but I highly recommend Stephens. Careful, there are so many varieties, your head could explode trying to decide. Some popular favorites are the mint chocolate, italian amaretto, and vanilla hot chocolate.
• Mugs. I was lucky enough to inherit the super-sized, "It's not shopping... it's retail therapy" mug from the previous owner of this house, along with some other random knick knacks and dishes...the other ones have been acquired along the way and are "chosen ones" in regards to being allowed to stay with the mug collection; The red snowflake is reminiscent of a Goodwill in Chicago when husband bought 31 mugs for a Christmas party we were hosting. She was the only survivor that was allowed to not be re-donated. The brown mug reading"Instant Happiness: Just add Hot Chocolate" was a Valentine gift from Husband back in '09".... My guess is many households have plenty of mugs and really you need to weed out the ones that don't get used. {But, if you don't, Goodwill and DI are heavily stocked with mugs for practically nothing} I'll leave that up to you. 
• I highly recommend a few thermoses for soccer games, campouts, and romantic little dates to watch a movie from a laptop outside on a couch in the mountains. Doesn't that sound wonderful? Then you can take your chocolatey warm goodness wherever you need it. I actually can't take credit for this ingenious item. Our fabulous neighbors in Chicago gifted them to us for Christmas one year.  It was the perfect gift -- I LOVE hot chocolate and Kyle loves camping. 

Happy Hot-chocolating!

Mom's Best Friend

I recently purchased this calendar in effort to simplify and mainstream our weekly and monthly planning.

Can be found at Target. Made by Mead. Part of the Organizher collection.

Why do I like it?

It's cute

It's large

Has a row for "mine" -- to put my calendar items

Has 4 rows for "Theirs" -- to put the rest of my families items

Has a row for Meals -- so my meals can go on the same spot, too

 I loved the calendar so much I even purchased a table for it to go on in my kitchen. I've learned it's important to not only have a calendar, but to house it in a central location in the home so that other family members can update it as well as be aware of what is going on in everyone else's world..