Clean Your Workspace

We all seek inspiration in different places and I believe it is important to surround yourself with things and ideas that inspire you. It's one of the reasons I decided I had to reorganize my home office for the new year.  I enlisted JB's help so that it would go faster too. I think that you need to give yourself even a small space where you can experiment and feel motivated to dive into your work.

“Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative place where no one else has ever been.”
— Alan Alda
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Here's how we reorganized my office:

  • Cleared off all workspaces and filed unfinished projects
  • Stocked the shelves with my favorite books and magazines
  • Put all supplies for a particular medium together so they were easy to find
  • Took stock of what may need to be reordered at a later date
  • Threw away anything that was not usable, or cluttering up the space
  • Organized loose items into baskets and bins for storage

I think when we committed to doing this it actually took us less than two hours, and we felt accomplished! If you find yourself hesitating to use your space because it feels overrun by past projects, I would definitely recommend purging and organizing to spark your motivation. If you try this in your own space I would love to hear how things turn out---leave me a comment below! 

Simplifying Dinner

JB and I have heavy work schedules during the week and so it can feel like a challenge to get dinner made and on the table in under thirty minutes. We sometimes do the takeout thing but lately we've been making more of an effort to eat at home. Even on the weekends there is nothing better than already knowing dinner is covered.

And truthfully? I just don't want to spend a lot of time during the week and on the weekends cooking or in the supermarket. I want to spend more of my free time doing the things I enjoy, like studio work. So we've been experimenting with different ways to make this easier on us. 

So here is a peek into my freezer...you can see the makings of a frittata and spaghetti in this photo. 

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Basically, we prepare one large recipe and freeze the components of that recipe. We do this sparingly because you do use some plastic freezer bags and we want to be kind to the environment. But at the same time, on those nights when you are exhausted it is great to have homemade spaghetti sauce, or vegetables already chopped up for a frittata. I am trying to do this with recipes that require the same amount of effort to cook once regardless of the volume I'm making. I had never thought of cooking this way, but it makes sense, saves time at dinner, reduces the time we spend in the supermarket, and is more economical than takeout. Having a homemade meal beats the all too routine takeout any day! 

This is one way we've already been trying to simplify and enjoy our time more in the new year. I was inspired when I saw this post on Lifehacker. I will say that the spaghetti sauce tastes just as good as if I had made it from scratch that evening. And last night we made the frittata, and it was delicious!