Tailgating Essentials to Start this Football Season Off Right

It’s the sweltering dog days of summer when cicadas sing lullabies and we watch the weather channel like crows watch the hen house, but we are excited because the new year is starting.  For us in the south, our new year starts on August 1st. Come August 1st, families start kissing the lazy days of summer goodbye as they become mindful of bedtime routines and getting children back on school sleep schedules.  Everything feels new at this time of year more so than January 1st ever could.

 The children are starting a new grade in school with new teachers and classmates. Many of our friends have moved into new homes over the summer break just to be ready for the start of the new year. And nothing is more refreshing than a new football schedule. Past losses are wiped free and anything is possible. There is a powerful feeling of hope at this time of year. It’s contagious and this is our South.

“College football is not like religion, it’s more important than that.”

-      Unknown

 We are not sure who coined that phrase, but it certainly goes a long way in describing how southerners feel about football. We absolutely love our football! Perhaps it’s the spirit of competition or the need to belong to something greater than ourselves, regardless the reason football is king in the South. From Friday night lights to college tailgating and NFL teams, we love it all.

 If there is anything to know about football in the South it’s that tailgating is serious business steeped in long traditions that vary by school. Whether you are at The Grove at Ole Miss or sailgating with the VOLS Navy on the Tennessee River before a game you are sure to discover the regional flavors that make these traditions so special.

To prepare for the start of this football season…

Here are some tailgating essentials:

• A perfect outfit in your team’s colors!

• A clear purse

• Sunglasses

• Sunscreen

• Bug Spray

• A hat

• Tent

• Folding chairs

• Folding table

• A wagon- to haul the goods if you are walking around

• An ice chest filled with your favorite beverages and lots of water because it’s HOT!

• Ice chest with (already prepared)food to grill.

• Bottle opener/Corkscrew

• Coozies

• Snacks

• Battery powered fan

• Hand wipes

• Hand sanitizer

• Small first aid kit

• Phone chargers

• Small bag for trash

• Tailgate grill (Fire extinguisher)

• Propane or charcoal

• Utensils/BBQ tools

• Paper goods (Plates, napkins, paper towels, cups)

• Speakers or entertainment system

• Games

• Extension cords

• Décor-flags, rugs, pom-poms or anything else needed to make your tailgate look like home!

• YOUR TICKETS!!

To pack an ice chest:

• Stack bottles and cans at the bottom of the ice chest.

• Pour fresh ice over cans and bottles

• Put tailgating food on top of ice in air tight containers

•  Large plastic tubs are great to store the non-perishable items throughout the year. Be sure to restock before putting them away so they are ready to go for the next home game.

Game day is almost here!  Check our Facebook and Instagram pages for pictures of our tailgating adventures and please share your tailgate pictures with us! 

 What would you add to this list?  Let us know!

And last but not least…Geaux Tigers and Geaux Cajuns!

There is Always Time for a Party in the South

And to close out our guest blogger series, Amber is talking about another favorite topic of ours, PARTIES!

Living in Taiwan has really been eye-opening. Particularly about how southerners truly do focus their lives around their homes and entertaining in their homes. In the south we love to entertain in our homes. However, in Taiwan it is customary to invite people out to a restaurant. The person who invites typically pays for the meal. This is largely due to the fact that many people live in apartments.

This has been a huge adjustment for my husband and I as we really love to entertain in our home. In the past when we purchased a home, one of the main features we considered is how well the house will work for entertaining.

I come from a really large family that celebrates everything together.  All of the parties throughout all of the years and all of the expected parties to come have contributed to my extensive collection of serving wear. Plates, bowls, wine buckets, candle holders, cake plates, you name it. I have all the holidays covered. Christmas, Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Easter, Derby, Summer parties, fiestas and so many other theme events contribute to these items I use once a year.

Years ago, I learned to purchase mostly white serving wear so I am able to use my fundamental pieces throughout all the seasons but let’s be real, even with these root pieces my collection continues to grow yearly.

The real challenge of owning all of these items is in how to store them. It’s a struggle because there are so many different shapes and sizes. Many pieces are downright bulky and hard to organize. They are sparsely used and take up significant space but bring such joy.

In my last home, I had a wonderful area under my staircase to store these items. Unless there is a designated place in my new home when I return to the states, I will definitely need the assistance of a professional organizer to help me in this area.

Sometimes knowing what to do isn’t enough. Sometimes we need a little help with the things we are really good at doing.

There are reasons superheroes have sidekicks. Sometimes we just can’t tackle the world alone and that is ok. So even if organizing is your superpower there will be times and areas where you will struggle and can benefit from some help. These are the times to consider the value of hiring someone to help bring peace to your family. Life is easier when everything has a place. Find that peaceful easy feeling by hiring a professional organizer.

Things that Live in the Attic

Let’s discuss one of the most dreaded spaces in even the most organized person’s home. The attic…where things go to die in the Louisiana heat. When we moved into our last house, we promised ourselves we would only use our attic for holiday decorations because we have a ton. Name a season and I could probably compete with Hobby Lobby.

I absolutely love changing the décor in my house for each holiday or season. With that you need a lot of space, a lot of different size odd shaped boxes, a lot of labeling and a very nice spouse or friend willing to climb into the attic to help you haul it all down.

The attic is an area that can quickly slip into disarray because it is for the most part out of site and easily out of mind. It can become the “incase we need it” spot. The spot where we hide things.  The spot we store the stuff our kids will surely want as they get older.

When we moved, we realized we didn’t want or need 99% of things in our attic (decorations excluded). It was organized but it was organized junk.

Some people call this organized hoarding. This is a time when a professional organizer can help even the most organized person because once again the attic is an emotional tomb. If we put it in the attic there is a pretty good chance, we are tied to it emotionally.

Perhaps we want to keep the items presently stored in our attic but we have realized these items are not being stored properly and are ruining in this non-climate-controlled environment. This is when a professional organizer can help you visualize your spaces in a more efficient manner helping you find a better alternative storage location for these perishable items you hold so dearly.

The latest statistics show that there are 52,000 storage unit facilities across America.

What on earth is being stored in all of these units? These storage units far exceeded the amount of McDonalds in 2014.  Think about this a second. Don’t you feel like McDonalds are everywhere?

Now granted there is a time and a place for utilizing a storage unit. The average storage unit cost 1200 dollars a year. For this reason, we need to make sure we are storing things that actually hold the value of what we are paying to store them.

Try thinking about your attic space as if you were being charged. Would you pay for the things in the attic to be stored? If not it’s time to have someone help you sort through your things and decide what you should keep and ditch. Oh, and if you have a storage unit, they can help with that too! Even clutter we don’t see daily has a cost.

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Summertime and the Weather's Fine!

Summertime and the weather’s fine!

I believe that’s the saying but I could be very wrong. LOL! In fact, when it comes to popular sayings I quite often butcher them! At any rate, I love the lazy days of summer when flip flops, swimsuits, and beach towels clutter the floor of my laundry room.

I’m sure many parents are screaming, lazy days of summer??!!! Who are you kidding? Between swim team practices, summer camps, vacations, and the onslaught of sleepover parties one could argue summer is not a lazy time!

Whether you believe summertime brings a level of chaos or calm it cannot be debated that the longer daylight hours allow us more time to enjoy the outdoors and this is a welcome reprieve from other seasons.

As organizers, we encounter many of the same items in a countless number of the homes we organize. The garage, for instance, is one area in particular where we organize much of the same stuff. We have come to refer to this specific collection of items typically stored in the garage as “Southern Staples”.

Southern Staples are items used frequently and are oftentimes used outside of your home. They are essential for backyard BBQ’s, crawfish boils, and fish fry’s, festivals, parades, and tailgates; therefore, they must be easy to pack and unpack from your vehicle as well as readily available to haul around your home for casual get togethers.

Our list of Southern Staples includes:

• Ice Chests

• Tables and Chairs (stadium seats, camp chairs, beach chairs, folding chairs)

• Tents

• Sunscreen and Insect Repellant

Creating a place in your home for these Southern Staples will make that packing and unpacking job less demanding.

You might even get your family involved in the process making attending and hosting events facile!

HAPPY SUMMER!

How to Get Your Outdoor Space Spring Ready

“Traders en route from the Caribbean to the British, French and Spanish colonies were influenced by island architecture, rich with large open porches to accommodate the humid climate.”

- Old House Online

It’s spring! One of the most favorite times in Southern homes! We Southerners love our large porches where we can socialize with the neighbors or our backyard outdoor kitchens where we can cook and entertain anywhere from 5 to 500 guests before we get into the raw, humid heat of summer.

We are a social culture down here, but how do we keep these areas tidy and neat in between parties? Let me show you how!

Porches are fairly simple since we don’t keep much out there. Wiping down furniture and swings with a damp cloth is usually all that’s needed. The porch itself can be swept or blown clear of any debris. If it has mildew, you may need a good power wash to get it all cleaned up. Most of us have taken our plants inside for winter so now is the time to bring them outside and spruce them up! (Y’all know a proper southern porch must have hanging ferns, right?) Make sure the railings and steps are safe and secure, especially if they are wood. Don’t forget to look up and make sure the ceiling fans are cleaned and old wasp nests and dirt diver houses are removed.

Outdoor kitchens need a little more TLC. Many outdoor kitchens have grills, sinks, stone counters, storage space, outdoor furniture, and umbrellas. Some even have refrigerators or other fun things, like pizza ovens! Mike and I spend one of the first weekends in spring getting everything wiped out and wiped down. We also power wash the concrete and outdoor rugs (when we aren’t at soccer games!) Finally, we make lists of things we need to buy for the upcoming entertainment season.

Wipe down all outdoor surfaces with a wet towel.

Tip: I keep all the outdoor items in closed containers because, well, Louisiana has a lot of bugs and critters.

Speaking of that, check your bug spray stock and sunscreen too. (Sunscreen expires, so check the expiration dates.)

Tip: If mosquitos are a big problem in your area, take old wine bottles and repurpose them into citronella lanterns! We have them hanging across our porch so those pesky little things don’t bother us!

We also make sure to have a full tank of propane for the Easter crawfish boil because if you grab that tank on boil day and it’s empty, you’ll be madder than a wet hen!

Here is my personal list:

1. Clean the grill

2. Wipe the counters

3. Scrub the sink

4. Clean out the beer fridge.

5. Clean out the trash cans and recycle cans.

6. Wipe ceiling fans

7. Check propane

8. Power wash concrete, outdoor rugs and outdoor cushions.

9. Uncover and wipe down outdoor furniture.

10. Uncover televisions (We can’t miss March Madness!)

11. Restock the outdoor spices (which live in a latch box inside because it’s too humid to keep them outside), paper goods, and outdoor linens.

12. Does any pool maintenance need to be done?

13. Check the fishing rods and tackle. (We have a pond. Hunting season is almost over so fishing begins. Remember, I live in Sportsman’s Paradise!)

Check out our Pinterest board to get some spring inspiration for your outdoor spaces!