I wish I knew. I’ve been incredibly loose with posting in the last month due to numerous big events:

• Moving (for the 4th time in a 1.5 years)
• Applying for grad school
• Studying and taking the GRE for said grad school application
• New job/first full-time job
• Getting ready to basically cater my grandpa’s 90th birthday party
• Designing and preparing to make 150 wedding invitations and 50 bachelorette party invitations for my friend’s wedding

And of course next weekend is my grandpa’s birthday party, Easter, and when the husband and I are moving. Egads.

On top of it all my poor neglected seedlings are beginning to take over their tiny pots and desperately need transplanted. But when will I have time to go to Fred Meyer’s and get more potting soil? The cherry on the sundae is that I don’t have a driver’s license (I just haven’t needed it…till now). It makes life very difficult to always be planning around the buses or the husband’s schedule to chauffeur me. Not that I don’t greatly appreciate him being my taxi to the store. :)

Anyway, regularly scheduled programming will resume mid to late April. In the meantime, please return to folding your laundry. Which I also need to do.

P.S. Did I mention our new apartment has a Swedish washer that is also a dryer? The landlord says it doesn’t work well, so she’s getting a new dryer. I still thing it’s awesome.

P.P.S. I’m planning on sharing my perfectly organized new apartment with you and the awesome pieces of furniture found on Craigslist.

So on Mondays my Twitter Feed is filled with mommy bloggers posting their menu plans for the week. Every week I think, “Huh, I should start menu planning.” And you would think that I would menu plan. In a sense I do, I’ll scribble short lists for what I need to buy to make certain dish, but it’s never very formal. Plus there are only two of us so dinner plans are always pretty flexible.

So here goes, my menu plan.

Monday: Pineapple Coconut Chicken Curry (I actually don’t follow a recipe, but this one is close. Though I don’t use cilantro, and I use a few teaspoons of machi curry powder in place of the paste.)

Tuesday: Leftover elk chili from Sunday

Wednesday: Pad Thai (We use our own recipe that varies from time to time, but the linked one is for if you’re curious.)

Thursday: Chicken White Sauce Pizza (chicken, alfredo sauce, mozzarella, bell peppers, garlic, and mushrooms on a Trader Joe’s crust)

Friday: Dinner out (or leftovers)

Saturday: Bay Scallops (seared with lemon, butter, and random seasonings of choice) and salad

Sunday: Baked Indonesian Chicken (chicken breast marinated in a sauce I received as a gift) with Hasselback Potatoes.

Right now the elk stew is simmering and will be Tuesday’s dinner too hopefully. And yes, I do eat dinner this late (9pm PST). The joys of a home without children (at least for now). I’ll let you know next week how closely I followed this plan. Not likely since I just got back from Uwajimaya’s (local Asian store) and picked up tons of ingredients for yummy curries and pad see ew.

See more menus for Menu Plan Monday @ The Organizing Junkie!

Photo by star5112

Photo by Tony Newell.

Try some of these ideas and see what works for you, finding an effective and beneficial morning routine is the best way to start the day!

1. Get up earlier! Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. Even 20 minutes earlier leads to a more leisurely morning. In fact, take advantage of the recent Daylight Savings fall back and go to bed an hour earlier so you’ll wake up an hour earlier. That’s the clock your body will still be on for a couple weeks anyway.

2. Lay your clothes out the night before. I sometimes think of two outfits when weather might be an issue.

3. Write a list. Write down everything you need to take with you and put it where you’ll see it in the morning, or tape it to the door. Or the bathroom mirror. I hate running through everything in my head in the morning, I just know I’ll forget something important.

4. Make your lunch the night before. I grew up doing this for school and mom always did it for my dad’s lunch so I continue this practice now. But to make sure to bring it everyday it might need to stay on the morning to-bring list…

5. Eat breakfast. And lack of time is no excuse. Get one of those portable salad containers and put granola in it, and yogurt in the dressing compartment (or vice versa depending on your preference). Or bake some homemade granola bars! You can find a recipe for that below. Be sure to play with it, recipes like that really are flexible.

6. Set out your cereal bowl with the dry cereal in it or oatmeal, or get a timed coffee maker that will start right before you get up. Who doesn’t want to wake up to fresh coffee already made? If you make a hot breakfast put all the ingredients (eggs, cheese, meat) on the top shelf of the fridge already prepared (cut, sliced) to use.

7. Get a shower radio. Music in the shower is a relaxing way to wake up and shake the slumber. Or buy a touchscreen mirror. Or this one. Or even this one. As you can see I think these touchscreen mirrors are really cool.

8. Clean the kitchen the night before. No one likes waking up, flipping the kitchen switch, and have their heart drop at the sight of dishes in the sink (you get a “sinking” feeling looking at that don’t you?) and a banana peel on the counter.

9. Leave 5 minutes earlier than normal. It gives a greater peace of mind that you’ll get to work or school on time even though you’re hitting every red light and a train crossing.

10. Make your bed. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and it really doesn’t take that much time at all. And a room looks so much cleaner and warmer with a made up bed. This is a good habit if you don’t already do it.

Have any other tips to have a peaceful morning? We could all use some help! And to the existing morning people, how do you do it?

Have a good morning everybody!

How long does it take you to unpack?

For me and my husband to unpack it took 3 1/2 days. I include the 1/2 day because I unpacked nearly the entire kitchen on the first night. And I have broken down so many cardboard boxes it’s ridiculous, but I have recycled them like a good Seattle girl.

Now how to move to a new home?

• Begin packing 2 weeks ahead of time and be finished the day before.
• Rent a Penske truck, not U-haul, not Budget. Penske. Also get quotes for a variety of days and pick-up times, even drop-off points as this all effects the total cost.  Tell you what, I’ll write up a review about them sometime.
• If you can help it then completely pack everything and sleep at a friends home the night before putting everything in the moving truck.
• Wrap furniture in sheets and blankets, some of our furniture was damaged because we mistakenly thought it would be alright.
• Got to a liquor store and ask for boxes, the dividers that are in them are perfect for transporting cups and glasses.
• Wrap dishes and breakables in clean clothing or towels, then you don’t have to wash the newspaper dust off of them when you unpack.
• Put the furniture in last into the truck so it’s the first thing out. And wrap fragile furniture, we ended up with some awful scratches on our bedroom dresser.
• And the number one tip is: Get as many friends/family as you can to help!

So there are many other facets to moving, though most of the rest of them that I have are apartment-living specific. Like making sure you either transfer or cancel utilities the day you move, and call ahead of time for internet since it takes a few days to transfer. Oh and lastly, forward your mail a week in advance.

Remember my previous post’s love story about Seattle? Well our roommate has only been in Seattle for a few days in his life. So we will introduce him to the wonders that be. Am I looking foward to it? You betcha.

And did I tell you that we already found the nearest bistro with great happy hour deals? It’s a great place. It’s modern, serves large meals, 2.50 beers during hh, amazing appetizers, and it has wifi. It’s our new Friday night spot. Did I mention the lovely outdoor seating with a view of the lake?