You've Got Piles and Piles of Mail!

Did anyone out there resolve to be more organized this year? The question for me is, when don't I resolve to get more organized? One of the worst culprits for me is the mail. I pick it up, bring it inside, and dump it on the coffee table. I manage to pull out all of the bills I need to pay, but everything else, from magazines to oil change discount flyers, sits on that table until I get motivated enough to sort through the massive stack that has accumulated. And then there are times when I have more than one stack going! It's insanity!

On to my point... I really love this DIY mail sorter by Bright & Blithe! Imagine that! A home for my mail! No more running around the apartment in the morning berating myself for not being able to find the electricity bill, because it will be sitting snugly in the 'to be paid' folder. Another plus: this thing is seriously easy to make (with basic sewing skills). No more piles of mail on the coffee table? Hubby will be so proud!

Drop A Cap In It

n case you didn't know, I love a good-lookin' letter. Daily Drop Cap is all about featuring that beautiful letter at the front of your paragraph. They're designed by Jessica Hische, and a new one comes out daily. I vote for dropping a cap in your next TPS report and seeing how that goes over with the higher-ups.

Color Story

Want to give your place a bit of a visual boost? I love the idea of organizing your books by color. It's almost like it creates a little piece of art in your bookshelves. I've organized my books by color before (but I like to change it up often- seriously, I can entertain myself all weekend by organizing my bookshelves!) and it looked very chic. You can intermix a few non-book items- but keep them the same color as the books they're next to for the best impact!

Apartment Therapy had a post about this today and they've written about it in the past, so pop on over there and maybe the inspiration will hit you, too!

Going to the Chapel

During my daily blog read-a-thon, I came across a contest at Coco+Kelley and I think it's fantastic. Why? 1. Contests are fun and bring out my extremely suppressed competitive side. 2. Weddings are also fun and bring out my girly side (which is never suppressed). 3. Inspiration boards are my specialty as I have books and books of pictures whose sole purpose is to inspire me. Therefore, this contest has everything I need.

Here are the rules: pick one of the 36 rooms chosen for the contest and design a wedding inspiration board around it. Dress, flowers, location, you name it. She even has cool prizes for the winner!

So, add to your to-do list- Pick a picture (the three here are all good options!), design your dream wedding, and submit it to Coco+Kelley. Of course, check out her blog for more information!

Blogs We "Heart": Notcot

I have a confession. I am addicted to the blog notcot.org. It is not a secret to anyone who knows me well, or those who pass by my desk at work and catch me drooling over every new post. I am equally as smitten with the sister sites tastespotting.com and notcouture.com as well as the original notcot.com.

I am almost too greedy to post this in case everyone else has the same reaction as me and I have to share my love with the world. What makes these sites so great is the layout. Each new post is represented by a pic displayed like a poloroid in a contact sheet. You see them all at once. And even though I am familiar with some of the products from other sites and publications (yes, yes... I am free with my design site lovin'), it is nice to see everything in front of me. I am all for visual stimulation.

Notcouture is fashion and accessories.

Tastespotting is dedicated to food blogs and recipes.

Notcot .org is a design and graphic wonderland.

Not only do I check all these sites first thing every morning, I refresh the pages multiple times a day as the postings continue. I did mention it was an addiction... right? Now, shhhhhh... don't tell everyone how fabulous this site is. A girls got to keep her secrets on where she finds the best gadgets, stylish clothing and killer scone recipe on the hush-hush!