For an annoyingly organized person I’ve been unhappily disorganized during this past year of non-stop work, two moves (yes, two) and general life chaoticness (yes, it’s a word, I’ve checked). So I am inaugurating this Getting Organized weekly feature on the Problem Solved blog as a purely selfish gesture. OK, not purely selfish — I think we can all benefit from some practical tips for getting our lives a bit more organized. Every Thursday we’ll go digging for some practical and helpful organizing tips and post them here for your perusal. Sounds good?

It does to me so here we go. Here are the links for our inaugural Getting Organized feature: Read the rest of this entry »

By Maria of Immoral Matriarch

It’s very, very easy to become sucked into blogging and for it to begin taking up way too much of your time. You begin to read, and write, and comment, and subscribe and all of a sudden it begins to feel like a job more than a hobby. The enjoyment can be drained out of it, leaving you with this perceived commitment to…the internet. Sad, eh? Yeah, being guilty of it, I know, and I’ve taken some steps to rid myself of this pesky obsession.

1. Remember why you started blogging in the first place.

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Figuring out what to feed our small family, remembering to put the ingredients on the shopping list so that my husband can get them during his weekly shopping trip and finding time to cook is a constant struggle for me. I feel a bit like a whimp here because it’s just my husband, our four year-old daughter, and me, but the truth remains: Cooking is something that makes my work-life juggle more difficult.

So I thought we should kick off a new weekly feature here on Problem Solved called "What’s for dinner?" Monday. Every Monday we’ll post some links to quick and easy recipes from our favorite blogs and cooking sites, with the hopes of making the cooking part of your work-life juggle just a bit easier. If you have favorite easy recipes you’d like to share, please link to them in the comments, and if you write a recipe blog, please link to it as well so that we can keep expanding our collection to link to.

Here goes this week’s edition of "What’s for dinner?" Monday : Read the rest of this entry »

By Swistle

What’s amazing is that ANY two people EVER agree on a baby name. The entire population should be wandering around nameless, their parents still trying to agree on something.

Here are a few tricks to try if you’re stuck:

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By Org Junkie

Clutter at some point or another invades everyone’s home. The trick is to stay on top of it before it gets out of control. Is it already out of control? Does your clutter have a grip on you so tight that you feel overwhelmed with how to get rid of it all and don’t know where to start? Here are some practical solutions to help you.

1. Start with one room at a time, break it down into manageable steps and don’t get ahead of yourself

2. Create a designated space for everything and put things back when they get misplaced.

3. If you have to think about why you want to keep something, you most likely don’t need it.

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By Lindsay of Suburban Turmoil

Let’s face it- Too many parents today have, well, “issues” when it comes to disciplining their children. If you don’t believe me, look around you; have you ever seen so many kids calling the shots in public?

Since overhearing moms and dads say, “MacDougal, let’s talk about what’s making you poke me in the eye with your finger over and over again. Are you feeling frustrated?” or “MacDougal, if you keep screaming ‘goddam’ like that, you won’t get your sticker for today,” is one of my pet peeves, I resolved very early on that I would control my kids, rather than the other way around. And while my children certainly aren’t perfect, they are turning out to be pretty darn well behaved, from my 19-month-old wannabe-hellion son all the way up to my 18-year-old stepdaughter. Here are a few tricks I’ve learned along the way.

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Don’t let the economy cramp your style. Here are some great tips to find cheap wall art.

Get rid of clutter and be a good eco-friendly citizen with these 10 tips for re-using plastic bags.

Be prepared and safe — here’s what to do in 12 scary emergency situations.

By Amanda of Kicky Boots

Here’s what they don’t tell you:  the post-partum recovery period is really hard.  Sure, it’s amazing to finally cradle your baby in your arms and experience the joy of motherhood.  But mixed in with that joy is exhaustion, uncertainty, sleep deprivation and a really sore hoo-ha.  Here are some tips to make your post-partum experience a tad more enjoyable:

1.  Toss Your Expectations.

We all have dreams of what life with a baby will be like, what kind of parents we will be, what blissful children we will have.  If things don’t go according to our plans, it can be devastating, especially for a new mom battling sleep deprivation and intense hormonal surges.  We all hit glitches along the way: maybe breastfeeding is a gong-show and you have to switch to formula, perhaps your baby is screaming ‘round the clock, maybe your partner isn’t as hands-on as you had hoped.  It’s OK.  You will find your way amidst the challenges, and don’t let yourself feel like a failure if things don’t go as you had planned.
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By Jonna of Jonniker

Choosing a personal fragrance is very … well, personal. No perfume will smell the same on everyone, and one person’s heaven is another’s olfactic nightmare. With that in mind, I’m not going to torture you with varying categories of perfumes (Floral! Woody! Chypre! Oceanic!) because I firmly believe that no one fits into a single class, and who cares what box it fits in if it smells good to you?

Instead, I’m going to tell you how to find your perfect fragrance without searing your nostrils off or breaking the bank. Ready? Let’s go!

Get out of the department store.

I have nothing against many department store fragrances (some of my best friends are department store fragrances!), but unless you love smelling like everyone else, you’re better off elsewhere. Not only is shopping for a fragrance there the shortest path to anosmia (the conflicting scents! the makeup counter ladies doused in Emeraude!), but most department store scents are designed for broad appeal to keep sales high. They aren’t thinking about what you’d like to smell like, they’re thinking about how A MAJORITY would like to smell. And are you like everyone else? I didn’t think so, you unique petite little flower, you.

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Need new lunch ideas for your kids? Here’s how to make a great bento box.

It’s getting cold (well, at least for some of us). Warm up with some mulled wine.

Don’t let the economy stop you from going out to eat. Here’s how to get a $25 Restaurant.com gift certicificate for $2 (until Halloween).