A cozy fire on the television

I love fireplace CD's to warm up a home. There are dozens of these available from Amazon.com and others. Just pop them in, make a cup of hot chocolate and relax in front of the fire. They make terrific housewarming gifts or stocking stuffers.

Yes, we do small offices, too

As so many of my home organizing and moving clients have asked me to move or organize their small businesses, I am officially adding this to the list of services we offer.  After all, this is where I started in business many years ago, organizing my bookkeeping client's offices.  I will do the space planning and my assistant, will do the paper management.  Together we will get your office moved and/or whipped into shape and see that it stays that way.

Moving a doctor's office

This week we helped move and organize a doctor's office. We had the weekend to get this office completely packed, moved and ready to see patients on Monday morning. So we hustled and with the help of the doctor's office team, she was up and running without missing an appointment. After unpacking, assigning homes to each specific area of the doctor's practice (patient files, office files, reference materials, office supplies, supplements and lab areas), Gayle chose the best organizing tools to keep each area in order. A very rewarding experience for all.

Being prepared

In the wake of the fire disaster in So. California, it is imperative that we ALL prepare as much as we can for the possibility of having to leave our homes and head for shelter elsewhere. Here is some quick web info on where to go for assistance in getting ready. Nationally, www.ready.gov, www.redcross.org, www.fema.gov and www.aspca.org, all provide extensive information. For Californians, www.insurance.ca.gov provides an excellent home inventory plan. I will cover more information in later posts on this subject, but I urge you all to start preparations now.

My favorite cookbooks

As a "retired" private chef in San Francisco, I frequently get asked about my favorite foods, restaurants, chefs and cookbooks. So, from time to time I'll post on these subjects, including cookbooks from my library, and here are two books that I think should be in every kitchen.

Emily Luchetti's first 2 pastry books, Stars Desserts and Four-Star Desserts are legendary. The originals of these books sell for hundreds of dollars when you can find them. Fortunately, Emily revisited those books and published Classic Stars Desserts earlier this year. Emily was the original pastry chef at Jeremiah Tower's Stars Restaurant - the likes of which will never be seen again! Emily's pastries are simply the best. She is neat, economical and dead on when it comes to putting together a recipe. No one has ever made a better lemon square.

Judy Roger's Zuni Cafe is also a San Francisco legend. Her cookbook of the same name is, in my opinion, the best to come out in decades and should stand as one of the best ever. Her discussions of brining and braising are life changing and there is no better roast chicken than Judy's. This book won the James Beard award and Judy was named Chef of the Year at the same time.

ICE Packet

Here's a handy tool for anyone who needs their medical records on hand at all times. This small keychain device carries your medical history and any other personal info you wish and plugs into any computer so it can be read out instantly. No special programs are needed as it runs on Apple, PC and Linux systems. The best part, it's only $29.95.

Are you neat or are you organized?

Today I did my one week check up with my office reorg client. His exact quote: "You rock. I only hope I can keep it up..."  I told him that it's not about trying to keep it up, and it's not about being neat, it's about efficiency and being able to get your hands on what you need when you need it.

Many people think that being organized is about being neat, and that's just not so. I can be messy in my own space, and believe me, when I am working 6 or 7 days in a row, my own house gets pretty messy. But, the difference is that when I do decide to clean up it only takes me 20 - 30 minutes to whip the place into shape, not 3 weeks - because I know where things live in my house. I have a system in place that kicks in when I have a few minutes to work on it.

And furthermore, YOUR system doesn't have to be like my system - it just has to work for YOU. My job as a professional is to come in observe and evaluate how you work and then tailor a system that fits YOU, not me, and not necessarily anybody else, if the space is totally yours. That's what being organized is all about Charlie Brown!

Going back to basics

Retractable pens and wooden pencils are making a come back. Yes, retractable pens are bit more expensive, but you don't lose the tops in the bottom of your pencil cup and you don't get ink all over you because the pen isn't covered. A good old fashion pencil sharpener will keep your #2's going for quite awhile.

La belle Julia

Those who know me well, know that Juila Child is one of my favorite people ever! An amazing woman in so many ways and what a life she led. I have finished reading her last book, "My Life In France", written just before she left us in 2004. She recounts her time spent with her husband, Paul, in Europe, during the 40's and 50's. What time that was! You can hear her voice on every page and almost taste the meals she describes so vividly. She also tells how "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" came to be (and very nearly not so). You know, it was Julia who was the first to list recipes in the format ALL cookbooks now use. I loved every page of this book.

Bon Appetit, Julia...

Change for the fun of it

Sometimes you just have to have a change of scenery - even in your own house! This is my condo living/dining room last year at this time.


And here it is today. Took me less than 10 minutes to pull this together. So, why does this work so well? Because the furniture is to the scale of the room and scale is everything when choosing furniture. If I had an 8 or 9 foot sofa, it would be too big for the room no matter which direction it faced.

Even the cats enjoy their new digs...