Check out your friends in the Blogosphere!

I saw a challenge on Consumer Queen’s site and I thought it was a great idea.  She mentioned how busy we get and we many days do not get to check out each others’ blogs.  She took the time,  working full time and running a successful blog to go around the blogosphere and see what 10 other bloggers were doing and I was thrilled she included me in her list.

I am going to do the same and here are the 10 bloggers and what they were up to today. These are friends I have met online and many in real life at conferences, in no certain order.  By “today” I am meaning Monday November 16th, even though it is now 11pm as I write this post.

1) Mommy Brain Reports - Monica has put out her Gift Guide Today…lots of items in different categories.

2) Crafty Mama of 4 - Kim also has her Gift Guide listed today. (Must be the day…I’ve never done one, but thinking I should and will have to get advice from these ladies!!)

3) Plus Size Mommy - Beth has 3 post for today. One for Dove and 2 giveaways, one for Ice Age DVD and the other for Peggy Lutz Plus Size Clothing

4) Blessed Treehouse - Ali has a cute video of her son Henry playing with a golf club and baby Harper jabbering.

5) Skimbaco - Katja has her Land’s End gift guide posted today.

6) Giftfully Simple – Courtney has the cutest picture up telling about My Twinn doll that is designed to look like your little girl. OMG my 8 year old step daughter would love that.

7) The Copper Brick Road - Rebecca has a deal listed on Toilet Paper. (well..we all need that, why not get a great deal?)

8) Everyday Baby Steps - Mary has listed some great deals on TJMaxx Plus Size clothing.

9) Blueberry Lane Photography – Toni has posted the cutest picture of two toddlers…OMG ALL her pictures are fantastic, you can’t just look at one on her blog…you will spend some time on this one.

10) GoodNCrazy – Carissa – A neat post on the definition of Grace.  (cool)

There you have it. This was fun. I get to talk to many of these ladies on twitter, but I don’t always know what is going on with their blogs…..so try it!   Be sure to go over to the Consumer Queen and sign up and then go blogging and see what your friends have been up to.

Guest Blog

Ali from Blessed Treehouse

Ali Hooper is a riot! I have been lucky enough to get to know her through this wonderful avenue we are working on right now..the internet. We went to Blissdom together even though we hadn’t met in real life prior. Ali’s writing will keep you laughing along with filling you with great info. She is the Editor of Homeschool Bliss  at Blissfully Domestic too! Ali is a great green advocate and gives some good tips concerning organizing. (seriously, she won’t harm you if you don’t save all your butter tubs…I will give you her address so you can mail them all to her though, because we don’t believe in hoarding here on my site!! ROTFL! But seriously, donation would be wonderful if you have too many extra plastic tubs. ) I can say this cuz I luvs The Ali!
We visited the Rainforest Cafe on our trip to TN. I’m on the left, Ali on the right. We had a great time, learned alot and even got stuck on an elevator for 45 minutes with 11 other woman. We called it Elevator 13. Ali was the pregnant one on the elevator (don’t you always have to have a pregnant woman in the mist of a crisis?

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So you already know Organizer Sandy, the genius organizing guru who is slightly Sleeping-With-The-Enemy (she knows exactly if something has been moved out of its place) (actually, I don’t think she’s that way at all. We shared a hotel room at Blissdom, and though I can confirm that she is super organized in real life, my psycho sensors weren’t alarmed).

But you might not know me. I’m Ali of Blessed Treehouse. I blog and vlog and spill the beans on the not-so-sunny-side of motherhood. Oh, and I try (and often fail miserably) to live green-ish. It’s more of a sour shade of green that I live, but heck, every bit counts, right?

So sweet Sandy asked me (me? me! of all people) to share with her readers a few tips about Green Organization. Though I’m far from an expert, I do have a big, puffy green heart, and I often pretend that I’m organized, so that’s close enough, right?

Let me begin:

* Before you whip out the plastic (pun intended) to buy some new-fangled organizer, look around your home and turn on your creativity cap. If you don’t have a creativity cap (let’s face it, some people are so far from being creative it’s painful), find a creative friend and borrow theirs. Either way, look around your home and find ‘organizational’ uses for things that you might not think could be used to stay organized. For instance, I use flower pots for storing office supplies. It’s a fun and attractive way to keep my desk clutter free. And who am I kidding – I kill plants, so only God knows what I am doing with flower pots in the first place.
* Don’t throw away containers of any kind! I’m serious. Next time you think of tossing that yogurt carton or butt wipe tub in the trash, think about how you can reuse it. I’m not kidding. I will sniff out your garbage, hunt you down, and hurt you if you dare throw away another plastic container. And if you are concerned that someone will judge you for reusing a butt wipe tub to hold cotton balls, get over it (I suggest investing in large sticky labels to smack on containers so that no one is alarmed when they are looking for butt wipes and they actually discover your Valium – seriously, a butt wipe tub is the perfect size for storing medications).
* Become an eBay, craigslist, and freestyle whore. Excuse my language, but seriously, sell your soul to these websites. DON’T buy new if you can buy used! Ebay now even has a local site allowing you to search for things in your area. Next time you are in the market for a book shelf or storage unit, PLEASE check these sites first. Again, I can smell ‘new’. I will hunt you down and hurt you if you buy new when you could have easily found something gently used.
* Become “that neighbor.” Seriously, be the one who the neighbors talk about, saying things like, “oh, there she goes again, digging through our garbage searching for reusable plastic containers.” Save your neighbors the gossip by letting them know that you will gladly take any of their plastic containers off of their hands. Afraid they will think you are weird? Who cares! They are probably the same neighbors having scandalous affairs and scheduling their next liposuction.
* Finally, organizing IS green. The more organized you are, the less likely you are to buy yet another fabulous lip gloss (okay, so this is what I tell my husband when he catches me spending $20 on another shade of pink gloss, “but honey, I’ve searched the whole house and car, and I cannot find that gloss!” Seriously, ladies, can you blame me?)

Being organized and living green go together beautifully. And with the wealth of resources, awareness, and digital information available to us, there is no excuse not to live a bit more green.

Don’t make me hurt you.

ALI The Blessed Treehouse