new year's resolutions Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on January 28, 2013

My boyfriend and I live in a 2-bedroom apartment and those of you who live in small apartments know that storage is at a premium. We are lucky enough to have an extra bedroom to help out with storage. The only problem with having a second bedroom is that it does become basically that- another storage room.

We were having trouble with putting the room together after the move and up until the other week, it had been filled with boxes of things we hadn’t unpacked yet and random furniture we hadn’t been able to find a place for. We finally came up with a plan for the room and it started to come together. Once again, our second bedroom became the guest bedroom –slash- office-slash- craft room. The only problem is that because the room fills all of those functions, I need a different type of storage for my crafts so that I can I take out what I need when I need it.

This is what the craft closet looked like before:

Extra Closet Before Project

Total chaos. It was so hard to fine anything, which is not really conducive to creativity.

Storage Project

So what do you need? I bought a bunch of 16 and 6-quart Sterlite storage boxes from Target (they were the cheapest here: only $2.60 and $1.00 respectively) and a label maker from Amazon. You don’t really need a label maker to do this project- you can easily print out labels from your computer, cut them out, and put them on the box with clear mailing tape. Then, organize everything into all its own boxes and create labels.

New Closet Organization

You can box together whatever makes sense for you, but I had a box for: stationary, cookie cutters, fabric, ribbons and strings, sewing, paper cutters, paper, sprinkles and baking cups, and labels and markers.

Closet and Craft Organization After

Ta Da! I love the results- It is so much easier to find everything. Also, we finally got a tool box to fit both of our tools we have collected over the years. There are two file boxes on the floor for both of our files. I left them out in the open like that so we can put away important paperwork more easily and stay ahead of the piles of paper that build up so easily.

Closet Organization for Crafts

The games pretty much stayed the same, but I put the small games in a box together and it made them look neater.

My Favorite Label

This is my favorite storage label because I figured out how to use the icon on my label maker! A cupcake icon for the baking cups and sprinkles. Mmmm …makes me both happy and hungry for a cupcake! Yay for organization!!!

What projects have you been working on in the New Year?

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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on January 5, 2013

On New Year’s Day, my boyfriend I decided to start our new resolution of exploring California more. We decided to drive to Carmel which was only about 60 miles from us. It was a beautiful 60 degree day with clear skies and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see some beautiful views. {Side note: I was not prepared for such amazing views. I just thought we would drive to a beach and take a few pictures. Oh no, it was so much more. There was 17 miles of beautiful views and 21 points of interest. Good thing we had to whole day to spend there! I was so surprised that every stop we made, the views were more beautiful than the last. You can see the progression below!}

At the entrance of the park, you have to pay $9.75 per car to get in and are given a map with all of the 21 points of interest I had mentioned.   You can follow the dotted red line on the road to follow along the 17-mile drive.
Point 1– Shepard’s Knoll- This is one of the highest views and you can have your first view of Monterey Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountain. (Still unaware of what is to come)

Point 2- Huckleberry Hills- Another High point with a clearer view of the water (Still oblivious.)

Point 5– BAM! Hello Pacific Ocean… How you doing?

Still at point 5- amazing. Now that I am looking at this picture it looks almost fake it’s so beautiful.

Point 6– Oh baby. I asked my boyfriend to kiss me on this bench… he just looked at me like I was weird.

Point 7– I can’t stop saying- OH MY GOD the water is so blue!

Point 8– China Rock and a random seagull

I call this one “Lonely Boy on the Rock.” Don’t worry, I am not just taking pictures of random men- that is my boyfriend!

Point 10– Bird Rock- There are birds and seals sunbathing on that huge rock out in the water.   Can anyone see the two birds that look like they are in a deep conversation is this picture?

Point 14– Cypress Point Lookout- So beautiful!! Oooo Mountains and Ocean…sighhh.

Point 16– The Lone Cypress- Pebble Beach’s Icon…Look familiar?

The sun reflecting off the ocean.   I love this picture because I swear it looks like I can see the curve of the Earth.

This picture is actually from my iPhone- that’s why it’s not as clear as the others.   We had lunch at the The Bench at the Lodge at Pebble Beach. This was our view from out table…   amazing!

As you see, we had an awesome time with some unforgettable views. There was so many pictures that I needed to weed though to come up with these I have shown you, as well as many points of interest that I didn’t show. If you ever have the chance you need to go to 17-Mile Drive in Carmel! You won’t be disappointed!
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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on January 3, 2013

goals for 2013

It’s now an annual tradition to share my goals for the year on this blog (Here were my goals for 2010 and 2012…apparently having a newborn baby made me less goal-oriented in 2011.) Instead of drafting lofty resolutions, I always like to break it down into smaller goals that I’m more likely to accomplish throughout the year. I don’t always follow up on all of them, but it’s nice to sit down and prioritize how I want to focus my life. Here are some of my goals for 2013:

Read 26 books in 2013. Last year, I set 26 books as my Goodreads 2012 reading challenge number, but I fell short by 14 books…oops. I’m hoping to try to reach this challenge this year by skipping the tv more often each evening and reading instead.
Try yoga again. Since moving to the ‘burbs, I haven’t belonged to a gym or any kind of fitness studio. I recently bought a 10-pack of yoga classes through one of those group coupon deals and I’m hoping to incorporate more fitness into my weekly schedule.
Focus on eating more “real” breakfasts and lunches. I’m pretty good at making a “real” dinner each night for our family, but often I find myself just grabbing whatever throughout the day whenever I’m hungry. I made this Greek Veggie Wrap yesterday for lunch and it was so good (and healthy!) I’m hoping to try a lot more smoothie recipes for breakfast as well.
Keep organizing! Even though we have lived in our home for over a year now, I still find there are spots that I haven’t touched since I initially unpacked them. I’m planning on doing some major basement reorganizing this winter and some garage projects this spring when it starts to warm up a bit.
Grow 2 Sisters 2 Cities. While K and I are very proud how much our little blog has grown in the past few years, we want to keep growing and improving it every day. I want to try many new recipes this year and also continue to work on my food photography and editing skills.

What are you hoping to accomplish in this upcoming year?

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