it's my girls' world

Happy Friday Everyone!!! This has been such a crazy week so I just thought I'd end this week with a light post on the big happenings of next week--- premiere week!!! ('kinda like my TIFF- really but not really) ) Summer has been great! We spent lots of time with friends and outdoors. However, with cooler nights, routines, school, bedtimes and life getting back to normal I CANNOT WAIT for my  shows to begin! It's my quality time with D, watching our shows and sipping some peppermint tea! 

Here are a few of my favourites that I'm looking forward to this September. Let me preface this by saying I'm a mainstream kind of girl.... Mine is good old' fashioned regular TV.

The Good Wife

Oh my goodness- this is great TV! The drama, the cases, the human relationships, the power struggles with a little mystery thrown in. How shocking was it with what happened to Will?! And the whole forming the new law firm! I got on The Good Wife band-wagon a little late- I think it was two years ago. I started watching some episodes from the beginning and then became hooked. I even got D into it! I can't wait to see what happens with who's running for the DA's office and if Alicia/Carrie's firm lasts and gets Diane. Seriously quality TV!

Grey's Anatomy

I am a huge Shonda fan! I loved Private Practice when it was on and watched every.single.episode. I love Grey's. Those characters have certainly grown on me and I really want to see what's in store for them next. I'm invested, you know? I also like Scandal but I find that the darkness in the characters scare me a bit. I like my people complicated but good!

Parenthood

Another one I started late. I watched the whole of last season and then realised that it was really great TV. Can you not wait to see what happens with Amber and the baby and with Ray and Lorelei--hehehe! And apparently (spoiler alert) there's a death in the family too in this final season. Eeek!

The Mindy Project

I am loving Mindy. She is so clueless, sweet and self absorbed at the same time, it's unbelievable.  And I am so glad that she's with Danny. THis one has apparently started already so guess I have to catch up! 

The New View

I was sad to see Sherri get fired but  curious to see how the new panel of the view interacted and what the new show brings. I must say that I am really liking it so far. Back in the day, I would watch The View everyday (I recorded it when I was at work) and I really loved the intelligent conversations. Over the course of the last few years, it definitely changed and I kind of stopped watching it daily. This new panel is very smart and very opinionated but I'm enjoying it so far. 

Lots others that I love. Of course, Modern Family is excellent!  We love Nashville and simply cannot wait for Mad Men next year. I think I'm going to start watching Once Upon a Time with D too. And what about Dancing with the Stars? Isn't Alfonso Ribiero so entertaining? 

So yes, I confess, I watch lots of TV! I do have a PVR though so I watch the shows in half the time! Unless I'm with C, who loves commercials!

What about you? What shows are you into? Any suggestions on others I should watch?

Have a fun weekend !

Linking up with 

Andrea for Friday Favourites

Jenny for Friday Favourites
Amy for Hey Friday
Amanda for Friday Favourites


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A large part of no-spend September involves my girls and their stuff. Apart from a few cute pieces that I got for them in NYC, I did not go crazy like I usually do with the back to school shopping. I wanted to purge their stuff and really take stock of what we have, get rid of stuff we have to and make the most of what we do before I decide to buy anything more. 

So three simple steps (taken from Organised Home)-- here we go!

SORT:

I do my sorting several times a year, at the beginning of the year, in the spring and once again when school begins. That way, my kids' dresser drawers and closets aren't totally jam-packed and they can actually open them.

First of all when stuff gets too small, I put it in a cute little big  basket at the bottom of their closets (thanks Shay). When those get full, I deal with them. In C's case, I sort them out into 3 categories: 

the 'Keep for Other Kid' pile, 

the Donate pile and 

the 'Not Good enough for Anyone Else' to use pile. (ie. garbage)

The Too Small for Me Bin

The Keep for Other Kid stack is then labelled and stored in the basement until A is ready. 

(Tip: be sure to properly label the containers. Through my own experience, it's a pain to go back into those containers and scrummage  around to try and figure out what each bin holds. I use A4 sheets and I'm very explicit about the season and age for clothes e.g. summer clothes- ages 4-5)

In A's case, once again there are categories: the Keepsake pile, the 'Too good To Donate, hope my brothers have a daughter someday soon', the Donate and the Garbage pile. The Keepsake pile is small, I don't save everything. So is the "Too Good to Donate, just a few hardly worn/great condition items."

The Donate Pile is put into huge garbage bags or old diaper boxes and dropped off to different charitable organisations as quickly as possible not to further clutter the house.  Isn't it very satisfying to get rid of stuff!?

STORE:

As much as possible, I try to put each kid's stuff in their room so that all of their things don't
take over the house... Yes, they have a play area downstairs as well but most of their stuff is in their rooms . I even put their linens and towels in their room. May not work for everyone but their rooms have enough space for them. I try to figure out fun and simple (and cheap!) ways to stay organised. i.e. the Dollar Store, Walmart stuff. 

For example, look at these kitchen organisers I use to stack their shoes. So cheap but pretty useful

And these are cute containers that can really fill a drawer.

Although the OCD part of my personality would love all white bins, I got some colour to make it fun for my kid. 

I also put the stuff I don't want them to get into on very high shelves.

Also, I blogged before about hair clip hassles and how I've solved them.  improved the situation in my house.

SIMPLIFY:



Closet-
okay, point form for this one.
+ I know it's simple, but all hangers facing in one direction to make it easy for everyone.
+ I installed a second set of rails to hang clothes to really utilise the space as well.
+To make it easier, put all shirts together, dresses together, pants and skirts.
+I also put all the out of season clothes at the back of the closet or on the top shelf-- otherwise you find C in a snowflake sweater dress like she wore last weekend.
+I  group by colour but that doesn't always stay that way with a five year old.
+You'd notice at the end there are a bunch of hangers... this is huge.  I leave those at the end so they don't bulk up the clothes and are easy to find when I do laundry and need to find them.



Drawers- as simple and as minimal as possible.  Kids simply can't stay organised with their drawers hardly being able close.

And a spot for dress up stuff. Who doesn't love dress up?'

And finally, make it easy for your kids to know where it goes back! Because Mama doesn't have the time to clean closets all the time.

What about you? What are your best organising tips?

Looking to declutter your kids' toys, check out this great article! 

Along the lines of this topic, my 'Tips for transitioning to a big kid room" remains one of my top posts to date.
And as we're talking about clothes, check out another favourite of mine from last year on how to dress little girls. 


Linking up with Salma, Raj and Nisha for Three Things Thursday.
And also with Annie and Nat for Thoughts on Thursday.

You know when you have a post that just gets lost in the shuffle.... this is one of them. One Sunday in the beginning of August, our family headed to the African Lion Safari for a day filled with fun, family, animal watching, water time and of course funnel cake. 

The trick to going to African Lion Safari (or any safari for that matter) is to go early. It's not blazing hot so the animals actually move around instead of trying to hide from the sun... and also, it's not ridiculously busy. Since this place is about 20 minutes away from our house, that's exactly what we did,   grabbing breakfast along the way. 

We got here before the safari opened for the kids to play and run around a bit. 

I am a tea drinker. Maybe it's from my former British colony, island upbringing, but no coffee for me in the morning. I'm not a snob about lots of things but I'm a little bit of a tea snob. I really love a good strong cup of Orange Pekoe. In fact, I've been known to walk with a couple tea bags in my purse when I travel to the US as the American teas are too weak for me. 

That being said, I've never been much of a chai fan. I think the spices in the chai tea bags are too strong and I can taste the black pepper. I know I said that I like my tea flavour strong  but to me, black pepper and orange pekoe do not mix. 

About a year ago though, I met my friend Sukhi in the park. We would have play dates with our four girls and she would make chai for the moms. I totally changed my tune about chai. The flavours are way more delicate and the fresh ginger really adds to the flavours. Sukhi was sweet enough to share her recipe which I'm now sharing with everyone. It's the perfect beverage to warm you up in the upcoming cooler months. 

Masala Chai Recipe 

(for two cups of masala chai)

3 whole cloves

3 whole cardamom pods 

1 small piece of ginger (about 1/3 inch of a knob)

1/4 stick of cinnamon

1 cup of water 

1 cup of milk

1-2 tea bags

Bruise/Crush the spices in a mortar and pestle. If you don't have one, you can use a rolling pin instead

Boil 1 cup of water with the spices and let it simmer until the water changes its colour to a nice golden brown.

Put the tea bags in and let the tea steep for 1/2 minutes over medium heat

Add milk in and let the entire mixture come to a rolling boil one last time. Monitor carefully as this can happen quite quickly and make a huge mess... trust me I know.

Strain the mixture into cups, sweeten and enjoy.

A few side notes.

I usually use skim milk but I've also enjoyed almond milk in it when I'm really being strict with my meal plan

I sweeten with Stevia but brown sugar is lovely in it also. 

Trust me, once you try it, it will be hard for you to go back to your Starbucks' chai latte. 

Linking up today with 

Kate and Emily for Tasty Tuesday

And also Tuesday's Table
And then Handmade Tuesdays with Kristen