How does she do it?

I am obsessed with doing it all. Getting it all done and getting it all do well! In my latest quest I have devised a new daily to do list. A list of which I concocted while on the treadmill.

I am mom, teacher, wife, housewife, (yes there is a big difference between wife and housewife) business owner, and most of all Kelly. Flylady.net taught me years ago that one really needs routine. I need a basic weekly routine i.e. where to be and what to do on each day of the week. And a I need a daily routine for each of those 7 crazy, fun-filled days.

So here is what I did this morning. I wrote down all the things that I need to do before 9 a.m.

• Walk 30 minutes
• update to list 15 minutes
• email 30 minutes
• Blog 30 minutes
• Shower and dress 15 minutes
  
• unload dishwasher-load washer-and make breakfast 15 minutes (with child labor)
• Eat and clean up 15 minutes.
  

So I added all that up it equaled 2 1/2 hours which means I need to get up at 6:30. That is not too bad. Like I said yesterday I really need to be up and have my time ALONE!

Ok, so I homeschool the two children that live in my house. Oh yeah my children! I really need to add in time to actually teach them some stuff I know it is still summer but I know how hard it is to change a rhythm, a routine so I have decided that "school time" is the time of day that I get Modern June running better. The time that I set aside to get a business plan, set up taking credit cards, setting up ModernJune.com. I am reading a great book called Six-Week Start-Up: A Step-by-Step Program for Starting Your Business, Making Money, and Achieving Your Goals! Modern June is just over a year old but she never had a proper start in regards to the business side of things. I sure have sold some stuff but I am determined to do this right!

In 5-6 weeks when "our" school starts I will then switch from business school to homeschool. For now the plan looks like this...

• Mail Packages 15 minutes
  
• Six-week start-up 30 minutes
• Weekly expenses workbook 15 minutes
• Finding Professionals (lawyers, accountants, insurance) 30 minutes
  
• Listings for esty 30minutes
• ModernJune.com ( for now it is reading my stack Seth Gordin books) 30 minutes
  
• Recess 30 minutes
  

This last one , recess, sucks! Not that I have to have to do it that I have to schedule it. A week ago my son Aidan (6) was chatting with his sister Maddie (9). He reminder her about how Mommy used to sit down and play with them before Modern June. She told him that lots of good things happen because of MJ. I am glad that she sees the good in it but man that was hard to hear! So I will be doing legos this morning for 30 minute come hell or high water.

Well what about the rest of the daily routine? Well my time is up so that will be for tomorrows treadmill and blog time! Take care I am off to get my life in order!!! Wish me luck I will need it!

So how is it going?

well.... baby steps right? I did not get this crazy in a week and I won't get sane in less than one either!

So let me recap the week.

Monday---I wrote this original post on Monday and I did not follow my new morning routine in any way shape or form. Here is when the weekly schedule trumps your daily schedule. Monday morning is park day. So I did not get one single thing on my "business school list " done. No big right. I mean I only made this up that day. So no guilt that day. At least not about the morning routine.

At dinner time, ok well past dinner time when I was getting dinner on the table finally the kids and I had a serious melt down. They had watched way to much TV and got surly for more. I can't blame them it has become their caregiver. How wants to sit down and eat a meal with someone that spends her entire life in the studio. How is going to give that woman any respect when she is running around life doing for others. I had a fit and once I calmed down I was able to set a TV limit. (More on the beauty of that later!)

Modern June is growing by leaps and bounds! That is a good thing, it really is. But I have to create a healthy balance or it just isn't worth it, is it? So after my fit I gave my self a nice long time out! Meaning I took to my bed. LOL! Don got home and I went up to watch grown up TV. I turned it off 3 times to get some sleep but my brain kept thinking about what a bad a Mom I am. I refused to think. I finally did get to sleep and when I did I was greeted by Aidan giving me kisses and tucking me in with one of his favorite stuffed animals. How bad of a Momma can I be if that is the love I get?

Tuesday---I slept late, which I hardly ever do. Come to think of it, no, I did wake up at 5:00 and laid there problem solving for a good amount of time. After last nights mini war I new I need to make some changes. I have decided that until I can have employees I will not seek any new wholesale clients.

Modern June is full to busting with just me but how can I afford to hire anyone? And there lies the Business Plan. I have to devote myself to completeing this book. So I bet you think I got up and went right to work on "Business school" WRONG! I took the kids on an adventure instead.

We went to the free movies and saw Charlotte's Web. Then had a lunch with Don at the office. One the way home we stopped off a Crate and Barrel and Build a Bear. I got the kids an inflatable love set that has been so fun. It is currently being used as a Doctors waiting room for all the sick animals. Yesterday it was part of a animal spa! Yep Maddie is growing up to fast!

The day was great. We all needed it! Everyone was to tired and excited to rediscover those bears that they did not need me or the TV one bit!

Wednesday--- Well here again you never know what is going to happen. What thing is going to distract me. I spent the morning tiding up my Etsy store because of the article. Not a bit of "business school"! But I did do all the first half of my morning routine. So there I think I have hit the nail upon the head! I will concentrate on that before 9 routine first and then move over to the rest once I have that down.

Thursday--- Morning routine update! I am trying and that is all I'll say. : ) I am off to the farmers market and to visit my stuff at House of Lukaya. Have a great day.

My crazy and wonderful life!

Good morning! The house is so silent everyone is still in bed. My wrist is killing me. Tentinitus I am guessing. I should be walking on ye ol' happy treadmill. But no way. I have my wrist brace on, an ice cold seltzer at my side and I want nothing but to blog away!

I love this time of the morning. I try to get up super early I need at least 1 hour alone to really be sane. Two hours is optimal but that is hardly ever realistic.


Well the last 9 days has been crazy. Crazy good and just plain old crazy!

The ice cream party that was last Friday was a success. Oh what stress that was. The night before I got 2 hours sleep. I need a root canal. Yep, at 3:00am there I was in shocking pain! I was mortified. What was I going to do? How could I make it through the day? But I made it with the help of a LOT of advil!

With Advil, decorations and loads of ice cream toppings I make my way to the hotel. First I was shown this room, YIKES. Those are some super ugly tablecloths. I was in such shock I couldn't even ask to have them changed. I was then informed that the ceiling is damaged in the other room where the talent show was to happen. NO way! It turns out that the room AC was not working. But no one told me this. The woman did not seem to think I needed to know that bit of information. But I took the high road and thought what can I do. I mean I can't fix air conditioning. I can't make this room comfortable for 200 in less than 7 hours.

So I went off to the "ice cream" room and worked some magic. I was able to get white tablecloths. That made the biggest difference. I also dimmed the lights so I didn't have to see the stains on the carpet.

So around 2:00, 5 hours to party time I walked into the big room with no air. I had been avoiding this room like the plague. Well I hear a drip, drip and then came a gush of black water coming out of the ceiling. Crap. I am trying to stay calm, I want to call the conference chair my buddy Parrish or call Lois who has been the person who had made the arragements with the hotel. But really what are they going to do? Freak out and have twice the stress. They are at the conference space setting up.









But never fear the wonderful workman came through! I even start thinking "next year I will do....". How quickly I can forget and forgive.






By 7 the place is wonderful! We have air. I have my great friends ready to help. Lynn, Kirstin, Heidi and Tracy were in the ice cream room scooping away! What do you think of the cute aprons that I made! I really thought they were fun. They got to take them home with them, the least I could do to thank them!























And then there is sweet and wonderful Kimmy! My friend that got me through it all. I was able to grip and complain and pass off work to. I could not have done it with out her. What did I do last year, I am crazy!



But don't think the "fun" stopped there. Nope with a now throbbing tooth I go and meet everyone at the Barnes and Noble. Yup Harry Potter. I have to admit I am a HP geek! I am really glad I went even with my tooth aching and my extreme lack of sleep. Don and the kids stayed until 11:30. He said that they were unable to finish the treasure hunt because of the people that were lined up through out the store. The line snaked around every isle. Kimmy works in the Cafe there part time, she said that they were open until 1:30 am that is when the last person in line bought their HP book. That is some kind of crazy! Kimmy said that the Manager spent the night in the store after cleaning up all the decorations. They opened back up at 5:00 am. They sold out of all the HP 7 by lunch that Saturday. Here are some picture of the fun!

the new stuff is so cute

What do you think? Cute right? I love them!!!
Get one or the other or both for bit of a discount!

salsa!

For days Maddie and I have wanted to make salsa! That we can do. All thought I am really trying to expand out our menu. While trying to become a better cook at the same time.

This has never been a strength of mine. My moms kitchen was so tiny and she had such a stressful life with two jobs and a rotten marriage, it was no wonder that when she had to be in the kitchen she wanted to alone.

Well my kitchen is fab and I want my little girl to be a foodie, even if she only eats 5 different foods and did I mention that they are all white in color. She has been experimenting with food lately but her creations are wacked! Today she wanted to make cucumber stew. (Maddie wants you all to know that she was joking about cucumber stew. )

OK , we need direction! We need recipes! And we need it NOW!


Last Tuesday I had the honor of working at the new Byrd House Market. What a wonderful little market located in the heart of Organ Hill. I had a blast, sold some stuff, met loads of cool people and bought lots of great produce. One of my favorite farmers were there. The ones that sell tomatillos.

So off to our favorite cookbook, The Healthy Kitchen. But there were no recipes for tomillias were there. So one quick search later and I found this recipe over at Elise.com. It looked great please read the blurp before the recipe it has a nice little story to go along with it.
Salsa Verde

1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 Jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
Salt to taste

1 Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well. Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin.

2 Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, Jalapeño peppers, sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.

Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.

Makes 3 cups.

So I went to our little farm stand in our neighborhood and I bought some peppers. I had the sense to ask him what kind of peppers I was getting but I promptly forgot. Don and I had our guesses and guess what we were both wrong!

According to About.com and Pepperfool.com these is a Jalapeño Peppers. What a happy accident I got the right kind of peppers for the recipe. Man I love the internet!

We are also making our own fresh salsa. Maddie calls it Rainbow Salsa. It is called rainbow salsa because of the yellow and red tomatoes were happy to receive. They are some of the prettiest tomatoes from one of Don's fabulous work buddies, Cherye has grown a wide variety of tomatoes this year and thank god she has had a bumper crop. She gave me tons!

Here is the recipe that we used as a base for our Rainbow salsa! It is from The Healthy Kitchen by Andrew Weil, M.D. and Rosie Daley.

Salsa

	1 bunch cilantro (1/2 cup cilantro leaves)
	1 cup chopped tomatoes
	1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
	1/4 cup diced red onion
	1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
	2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Hold the cilantro under running water to wash off the dirt. Pinch the leaves off the stems, coarsely chop the leaves, and put them in a small bowl with the remaining salsa ingredients. Toss thoroughly until everything is blended together. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

So.... how was it? Well no one eat my dinner that I made because everyone pigged out on salsa and chips along with all the topping that I had to go with the Quesidilla's! Oh well dinner is ready for tomorrow. Its all good!

aprons in the wind!

I am here and alive just very, very busy! I promise to chat soon!

200 for ice cream sundaes!

Wish me good tiding I am off to set up the hall for our Ice cream Social and Talent show.

what inspires me?

Here is what is on my clippings wall!
I would love to see yours too.
So post your clippings
So leave me a comment
and I will check it out!

Inspire me!

I will do this idea some day!

This gave me the idea to make table cloths! It's so damn pretty!

I am so jealous

She is so cute! I would love to show my aprons like this on my new website that I have in the works!

These to make soap with there own herbs that they grow. Love that! There we many other great photos of them and their kids. What a life!

Some day I would like to carry kitschy books like the cake books in my booth and on my site.

I love this necklace. Last winter I was going to make jewlery Ha ha that never happened. I also love the colors in this bedding. I have a store that I would love to make aprons for and I think this color palette would be lovely in her shop.

I love this...buttons on a skirts waistband! Someday I want to do that on an apron! Pin boards HA! I laugh at the idea! I like tape on paint! I am not afraid! I made a set of these dance costumes when I was pregnant with Maddie. Cool to see them again! I understand that these are not mine but remakes of them. Spandex only lasts so long! esp on dancers!

This is my new wall above my new desk. I am putting peoples promos up there.
The clip boards are to do lists, show info sheets and an ongoing shopping list. I need one more for my order sheet. I have started printing out any and all esty sales reciepts to help keep up!

Hellish week

I am knee deep in the final details for the Virginia Homeschoolers Associations Annual Conference talent show and ice cream bash. (FYI ~ I home school our two kiddies.) Yours truly is the hostess with the mostess. I am trying to be positive but I remember how hard it was last year. I am dreading it. I am wasting a lot of energy on that dread too. I mean I have to do it right? So I should get over it.

We have about 200 guests coming for ice cream sundaes. And as of today we have 23 talented kids performing. Yikes, I have to emcee.

I have some of my great friends from our SHARE Homeschool coop lined up to scoop and Kimmy has been so helpful over the last few months listening to me rant and getting donations. I love my buddies. I hope you all have such great friends. I don't throw this word around willy nilly but I am blessed.

What was I thinking. I will learn to say no, I really will. But you know how it is you want to give back to those that help you but you know that you are stretched thin. You are all ready to say no and then your great friend Parrish asks you ever so nicely to do it again. Then she tells you how much everyone enjoyed last year. How they just can't stop talking about it. You start to think how hard can it be you did it last year... you know what to do and what not to do. You then start thinking that your Martha and you can do it all! Ha! I am a SUCKER!

It really is going very well even though I refuse to admit that in public! Oh this is a bit public, dang it. No one is allowed to tell "them" you know them the people that will ask me again next year. : )



Last year I packed everything away really nicely. There I found that I have 138 spoons and 200 cups ready and waiting to be used up. I have tons of left over luau themed napkins serving pieces and decorations all just waiting for another party. I also thought way ahead and I have 400 leis and gift bags for those talented kids. I even made some oilcloth book marks for the adults that are entertaining us. I made these for me a month ago and I thought they would be fun in here too. I will post a tutorial not that they are the least bit hard to do. But none the less I will whip that up later.


But this is really funny I used they inflatable's to decorate the room. I can not get my kids to stop filling them up. I can not get them to the hotel conference room all filled up. Oh well they are busy, right?



A whole lot of fun! I need to remember to bring these out on a cold winter day when we feel like shut ins. They played with these for 8 hours. love it.

Well this was a self help, pep talk. I feel much better! Thanks for listening!

heavenly weekend

This last weekend was so lovely. It was like a pre-Modern June weekend. I did not sew. I did not spend hours at the computer. I got out in the garden a tiny bit. I shopped, but not at a fabric store! I cooked lots of great meals. And best of all we entertained.

Why oh why do we not have dinner with friends every week. It is so much fun. Especially when the people that are coming could not give a damn that the bathroom floor never got mopped. I love that.


















Maddie and I made some great salsa together. And I used this recipe for some damn fine guacamole. It's from my most favorite cook book, a must have for that Mediterranean cooking. I can almost always find what I need to make in here!






















Once everyone got here the guys took the older children on a walk to the beer and wine store in our lovely hood. Check out this tree. Oh and the silly kids.



I splits off into three trees of was three trees to begin with who knows? When we fist moved in to the neighborhood 9 years ago the Bellevue new-letter wrote about the really great trees in the area. I wish I remember this monsters story.

For dinner Saturday night we had grilled quesidillas. First I grilled chicken and then I sliced it up. Then I it layered lots of yummy cheddar, fresh corn sliced off of the cob and tomatoes into a tortilla. I placed that on to the hot grill. I learned the hard way that you really need to stay right there with them while you are finishing them up. One of them was black as night. Oops. Once I pulled them off the grill everyone pilled them up with toppings... veggies and what not.




How about this gorgeous and oh so yummy blackberry cobbler that Christi made. It was even better than it looks.

Visitor

Yep he came right on in and got comfy!

Modern June at Strawberry Fields

Grown up lunch!

The other day I was honored to go out to lunch with a friend. No kids! Wow I need to do that more often. I was a real woman for about 3 hours. I was not a mom.

Allyson and I talked about our young crafty businesses, local craft shows, press releases. How nice it is to bounce ideas off each other and gain good advise. But most of all energy to go forward and do more. You can't buy that! Good crafty friends are worth more that gold!

Check out the wonderful colors in this handmade paper, soft and strong at the same time. I just realized the the photo of Allyson's studio work bench has the same coloring. How cool is that?

tree house and water lilies

tree house and water lilies, originally uploaded by ModernJune.

I am supposed to be making line sheets but I keep getting distracted!

I love this photo. We took it last week when we had company in town. Our lovely family from Atlanta, Dons sister and her clan. Our children get along to wonderfully well. We always spend the entire week wishing they lived here!

This is a shot of the children's garden at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. The tree house is incredible!

one step at a time

Well I actually did get a little bit accomplished last night. And yes I am taking over that icky bathroom little bits at a time.

I love this chest of drawers. We found it in a neighbors garage, he was moving to a tiny place and was purging. It is really perfect for my notions. Maddie loves to go through them for me. She organizes them by color and size. Oh yes, definitely my child! My little Martha!!

That "prison" door is still bugging me! I like the light that I get from it. Don just unearthed an old set of sheers. I may have to hang those to make it a little bit better. There is only so much you can do with a mess like that. We'll shall see. Don says that I can make dung in to diamonds... we shall see.


The shoe box bins on top a loaded with my stock. Wallets, bibs and splat mats. That kind of stuff. I also have there my show boxes, you know things like...

and like this...

I am even taking over the shower. I can see shelves in here!

patterns
More to come!