The first time I ate in my college dining hall was the first time I realized that putting on that Freshman 15 wasn’t due to just drinking more alcohol. How on earth can I avoid the temptation of returning to the dessert bar…three times?

Never in my life had tons of food been readily available to me and all paid for. The moment I saw the glimmer of that giant soft serve machine was the moment I knew I was doomed. But I’ve found the solution, people! By keeping some delicious (and healthy) snacks in my room constantly, it’s easier to avoid extras at every meal in the dining hall by reminding myself I can healthfully indulge in between meals. Worried about looking like a food hoarder? I’ve included some cute ways to display your morsels of goodness.

1. Hershey’s Kisses
If you haven’t had a Hershey’s Kiss in a while, let me tell you– they last WAY longer than you’d expect, especially if you let them melt in your mouth. At 25 calories each, you could have four or five before you hit the hay. Plus, they look really cute in a curvy apothecary jar, and I promise you’ll have friends stopping by juuust a little more often if the jar has easy access to visitors. Bonus points for buying the red and green foils during the holidays.

2. Energy Bars
I don’t know about you, but I’m a HUGE energy bar fan. I love trying new ones and have found a few winners for both taste and nutrition: Kashi TLC bars, Powerbar Pria bars (110 calories) and Luna Bars (usually around 180 calories– or try the Mini versions at 80 calories!). Read More »

I woke up the other day and realized, “I’m moving into my dorm room in a week.” Although an exciting thought, I immediately became aware of how stressed I was considering I hadn’t pack up a thing…or cleaned my room all summer.

I looked around my room, which literally looked like the Tasmanian Devil came through, and began to freak. My clothes were everywhere (and not laundered), my desk was littered with piles of mail from Alabama, bank statements and various other stuff that had piled up and I was in no way ready to pack up and ship out.

I took a breath and relaxed. The packing needed to commence. So, before I even touched this hazardous scene, I thought of things I could do to make my packing experience easier. I made a list lots of lists. A list for the kitchen, living room, bathroom, my room, school supplies, etc. I shopped, I packed, I conquered. Here are some tips I’ve learned on how to pack for college:

1. Take a breath and calm down! You’re finally going to college. This is going to be the most exciting time of your life, so stop stressing out and just enjoy the fact that you’re starting a new part of your life.

2. Write down what you have and what you need. Like I said before, LISTS. If you have something, you don’t need another one. I made lists of what I have, what I have that I need to replace, what I need, what I can get when I arrive at school, and what my roommates are bringing. I promise you, lists will keep you so organized when you’re packing because you actually see what has been done and what you still need to get. Read More »

Last time, I went room by room and identified what needed to be done to organize and make most efficient use of the space in my small house. School is starting again in a month and I wanted to have everything in its place and better systems for some of my everyday activities.

I started in the office, concentrating in the computer area. College seems to bring with it numerous credit card offers and bills and notifications that always seem to be tucked in various places on the desk, asking to be thrown away or forgotten. So I got very a simple, $3 silver mail sorter that went nicely with our translucent blue desk (who says you can’t be functional and stylish?.) There are slots for outgoing mail, my mail and my boyfriend’s. Using this simple system, we have been able to keep track of our mail much better. Now I can pay my bills on time and not have mini heart attacks when I can’t find that one, really important piece of mail.

If you are anything like me, disorganization is not simply limited to your desk. No maam; it extends also to planner and mind. It’s difficult to remember due dates in the midst of piles of homework, so I got a small dry erase board from a dollar store and stuck it to the nearest wall with all the due dates for our monthly payments. It’s not written down and forgotten about in some small place in my planner or on a note that will get lost; it’s in a place that I can’t help but look at. Read More »

Last time, I looked up some great websites for ideas on how to help me de-clutter and reorganize my fairly cluttered and unorganized home. Since then, I’ve been using my internet resources and going room by room to identify problem areas and reorganize things to make more efficient use of space and less complicated day by day living.

I started in the room that gave me the most problems, the office. But, as I realized when I started to go to work in this room, doing anything drastic here would be fairly fruitless. It serves a very practical purpose of housing all the things that we have no place for elsewhere and serves as my boyfriend’s dressing room for work. What I’m saying is, most of the stuff in here is his to do with as he pleases.

I’m concentrating on the computer area, where I am going to create a more efficient filing system, a better bill paying system, a better storage system for desk supplies and for old school work.

My bedroom is small as it is, made more so by the volume of things we have in it. My main objective in this room is to create more space, organize my shoes and accessories, create a tidier laundry system, and find a way to store my pants in my ridiculously small closet. Read More »

I’ve decided that to keep my budget under $100, I’m going to use internet resources and not buy all the books I really want to buy. Like this one. and this one.

But I digress. The first website I checked our was Flylady, which I’d heard a lot of good things about and at first glance seems frightening comprehensive. Seriously, there is so much on this site that I’m not really sure where to start. I find a ‘Beginner’s Babysteps” section and note that they mention something about sending you 15-20 emails a day. Yeah, I don’t think so.

I get the impression this website is more for people who need their hand held–That’s not me, but maybe it would work for you. Flylady does give me the idea of sectioning my house into “zones” and concentrating there. She does have some good tips, though. I would start in her site index and skip around.

Next I try organized home and it seems a lot more user friendly. It puts many of its tips into list form, which is good for me because I read “list” fluently. I also like it because it gives you tips not only to help you get organized in the first place, but to maintain your level of organization.

I was hesitant to look at Martha Stewart’s website; I’ve always kind of thought that her ideas were interesting, but not always especially practical or doable on a budget or my kindergartner’s level of organization skills. I can admit it, I was wrong. Read More »

Finals were rough this year. Not that they are ever especially fun, but for some reason I had an inordinately difficult time sitting down at my desk and forcing myself to write. And once I did, I would realize that I didn’t have the right book in the right place and I couldn’t find these notes or those notes and I could hardly type with the mountain of work piling up, threatening to topple over onto my keyboard at any moment.

I found myself in that predicament because I tend to get unorganized when I have a lot of stuff to do. Dangerously so. Which is bad, because I have a hard time concentrating when things need to be straightened, or cleaned, or filed away. I can’t work unless my workspace is clean and everything I need is at hand.

And so, I thought that I would take the first weeks of the summer before I start classes in July and totally reorganize and idiot-proof my office, and, as massive an undertaking as it will be, my entire home. Read More »