Julie's Journal

At one time holiday decorating was a highlight of my year. I have 5 totes filled with decorations that I’ve collected over the years, and I just loved making my house joyful and festive.

This all changed about 5 years ago when we adopted a new furry cat friend. She was the runt of the liter, and has remained really tiny making it easy for her to get into things. Including climbing to the top of an 8 foot Christmas tree and taking a nap. Seriously!

Every year around this time she just knows what’s about to happen. She sees those green totes come out of storage and her little face just lights up with excitement, and mischief. Within minutes of the tree going up, she’s hard at work destroying all my hard work.

We’ve resorted to having an artificial tree, because cleaning up all the pine needles from her destruction on an hourly basis got to be too time consuming.

The decorations stay on the tree just long enough to snap a picture every year, then they are strewn all around the house. Have you ever stepped on a ball hook with bare feet? Ouch!

Every single year I say, “Never again! I’m not dealing with that hassle and the constant cleaning up.” Yet every year here I am digging the totes out of storage and getting in the holiday spirit.

Oh LOOK! Just typing that sentence out on my blog brought her up on my lap. She knows what’s happening today…she’s ready and waiting! She’s lucky she’s so cute.

I am sharing my holiday home decor and cleaning tips for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls and Great Cleaners.

Shopping during the holidays can be a stressful time. Well shopping in general is stressful to me. I’m one of those weird girls who doesn’t like to shop, and I haven’t stepped foot into a mall in over a year. I can fill up an online shopping cart in less than 5 minutes, but actually going to a mall isn’t how I want to spend my day.

T-Mobile brought a little holiday cheer to the Woodfield Mall in Chicago with a surprise performance of “(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays”. This is such an awesome video, and it helped me get in the holiday spirit. Enjoy!

This post is sponsored by T-Mobile.

Who’s addicted to Pinterest? Do you know what Pinterest is?

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard.

Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes. It’s highly addictive, and I could spend hours a day on it if I’m not careful.

Take a look at my Pinboard & make sure to follow me on Pinterest.

If you’d like an invite to Pinterest just leave your email address in the email field below in the comments and I will send you one! (Your email will remain private)

That was fun, but now I have to close comments on this post! I was able to invite over 200 of you to Pinterest. I hope you all are enjoying the site. Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

When we moved to Northern California exactly one year ago, we rented a small quaint house in a very nice Palo Alto neighborhood. I loved that house so much, but more than anything I loved the tree-lined streets.

When our lease was up we decided that we were paying too much for rent, and as much as we loved it, it was time to move into a less expensive place, save money, and buy a house back on the tree-lined streets of Palo Alto. We now rent an apartment in Mountain View.

I stressed for weeks on how we were going to fit a house full of things into an apartment, but it actually worked out well. This place is 300 sq ft larger and has more closet space. CLOSETS!!! One of my most favorite things as a compulsive organizer.

Another thing that I stressed about was the community laundry room. I’ve been used to having a washer & dryer at every place I have ever lived, so the thought of lugging laundry down to the laundry room sounded horrible. It has actually ended up being AWESOME!!! I don’t need to stock pile quarters, as I can just load money from my debit card onto my laundry card, and I can do 5 loads of wash in 1.5 hours instead of doing laundry all.day.long with one washer and dryer.

My dishwasher died the first weekend we were here, and I had a brand new fancy schmancy one installed within a day. I can pay my rent online, no more checks! My heating & electric bills are cheaper & packages get delivered to the office so I don’t have to wait around for the Fed Ex guy all day.

There are things that bug me about apartment living too, but I like to focus on the positives of things, so that’s what I choose to do. Ooooohhhh…and dinner time around here! OMG we’ve got some nom-worthy chefs up in here! The smells of curry, cilantro, and sesame oil waft through the buildings around 6PM. I REALLY need to make friends around here soon! Can you say dinner party???

Have you had to adjust to apartment living ever? What are the things you love (or hate) about it?

Cancer has affected 4 close family members in my life. Some are fine and healthy today, and some have fallen victim to the horrible C-word.

Two words – cancer sucks!

Here’s to less cancer in the upcoming new year and more birthdays!!!

Give a special gift this holiday season – another birthday!
A donation made today can help support year-round cancer research, patient assistance programs, and advocacy outreach. Donate Now

“This post is sponsored by American Cancer Society.”