A Hurricane Prep Guide
Certain sounds from hurricanes stay forever embedded in our mind. The loud thud of trees hitting the ground, screeching and howling as the winds whip around your house and the waves of pounding rain as the hurricane bands pass by. It can get scary at times for sure and you have to be ready to evacuate or hunker down. Here are a few tips from this seasoned southern organizer that can help you if you are new to this season.
HURRICANE PREP
Certain sounds from hurricanes stay forever embedded in our mind. The loud thud of trees hitting the ground, screeching and howling as the winds whip around your house and the waves of pounding rain as the hurricane bands pass by. It can get scary at times for sure and you have to be ready to evacuate or hunker down. Here are a few tips from this seasoned southern organizer that can help you if you are new to this season. It’s certainly not everything but it’s a good start! It may just be refresher info for those of you seasoned Gulf Coasters.
The CDC breaks down prep into 2 categories: Prep before and actions after. I am addressing the prep before the storm here.
PLAN
Review your homeowner’s insurance. This needs to be done prior to storm season because by the time it’s in the gulf, it’s too late to change anything. Here’s a link with some great questions to ask your agent.
Make sure you have emergency numbers stored in your phone. This includes but is not limited to your doctor’s numbers, local police or fire and rescue numbers, local hospital, utility companies, your veterinarian, animal control, family members, insurance agent, boss, school/daycare, and neighbors. I keep a printed backup copy with my important papers just in case something happens to my phone. Here is a free printable from Apartment Guide so you can have these numbers on hand.
Personal papers such as insurance papers, passports, birth certificates, immunization records, wills, vet records and anything else deemed important should be kept in waterproof bags or containers. See example here.
Create a First Aid kit or order one online. These can include non-prescription meds. Talk with your doctor about getting an emergency supply of essential meds as well as a list of current medication, dosages, allergies and any other pertinent medical information that you may need to know.
Have emergency power sources in case you lose power. Make sure your electronics are charged ahead of time. (Extra battery phone chargers, flashlights with extra batteries, hearing aid batteries, generators, car chargers.) Here is a list from the CDC.
Have a printed evacuation plan (in case your phone isn’t working) and an emergency plan for tornados. If you have pets, be sure to include them in this plan. This includes names and phone numbers of hotels that allow pets.
Protect Home-board windows and secure anything that might fly away. This is when my kids realize I have a million potted plants! lol
Clean your shrimp boots.
Clean your margarita machine.
STOCK UP
Infant care items
Pet care items- medicines, leashes, bowls for food and water. They will need good collars with their tags attached. Make sure their vet records are with your important papers.
Emergency food and water. CDC recommends 1 gallon of water per person per day. Food that needs little to no prep and no refrigeration is recommended because you may not have utilities. Plan for people with special dietary needs such as the elderly or infants. Here is more information about emergency foods.
Don’t forget to include contacts, contact solution, asthma inhaler, blood sugar monitor or any other items that you or a family member will need if you have to evacuate.
Gas-For car and generator!
Paper goods-Be sure to include a manual can opener.
Covid-19 protection-Masks, hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, and gloves.
Ziploc bags filled with ice or freezing water bottles can help keep your freezer and refrigerator cold for a little bit if the power goes out.
Hurricane drink supplies.
Toilet paper-I may become a toilet paper hoarder after the Covid-19 shortage!
WE NEED AS MUCH PEACE OF MIND AS WE CAN GET NOT ONLY IN THESE UNPRECEDENTED TIMES, BUT ESPECIALLY IN HURRICANE SEASON AS WELL. IF YOU ARE FEELING OVERWHELMED WITH ANY SPACE IN YOUR HOME AND NEED HELP GETTING ORGANIZED, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US AT 225-205-6400. WE ARE HAPPY TO HELP!
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Christmas Card Clean Up
What do you do with the Christmas card clutter? 🌲🎅🏼🤶🏻Here’s 3 ideas…
What do you do with the Christmas card clutter? 🌲🎅🏼🤶🏻
Here’s 3 ideas.
🌲Use them as the contact photos in your phone! Then they are saved! (And you can toss them after the holiday.)
🌲Punch a hole in the top. Use a ribbon and hang them on your tree.
🌲Tape them to a door frame so they are displayed during the holidays. Take pictures of the ones you want to “keep” and add them to a photo file on your computer. Then toss at the end of the holiday.
Spend 2-3minutes per day to attend to the cards. Don’t forget to toss the junk mail before it even enters your house!
Want to get your home in order for the new year?
Learn how to organize your own home using the Chaos Organizing Method. Here’s how…
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Vacation 2020: Road Trip Pandemic-Style
Travel expert, Karla C, is sharing her tips for an organized driving vacation!
Travel expert, Karla C, is sharing her tips for an organized driving vacation!
Oh 2020, what a year it's been!
If you're like me, vacations have been canceled, plans have been changed, and chaos has reigned supreme. But those circumstances are precisely why you need a break!
So how to vacation this year, when the world is mostly closed to Americans? When even in the U.S., states are are limiting access to visitors from other states? When cities are sometimes limiting access to citizens even from the same state?
ROAD TRIP!
2020 is the perfect year to plan your great American road trip! A road trip is the best way to maintain flexible travel plans, especially in these unusual times. If one state is on lock down, you can choose another. If one city is closed to nonessential travel, simply move on to the next one.
Life on the Road:
So how to make the most of your time on the road? Here are SEVEN tips that might help!
ONE: Think of masks as a fashion statement!
Acquire a few really cute, well-fitting masks that will complement your road trip attire. And bring more masks than you think you’ll need: the ear straps break, they get dirty, and you may lose one or two along the way.
Disposable masks are okay, but please dispose of them properly. Mask litter is becoming a huge issue around the world, and wildlife can be injured or killed when tangled in the straps.
Holiday masks are all the rage this year!
PRO TIP: Bring along a sewing kit in case your favorite mask needs an emergency repair!
PRO TIP: Even though you may live in a place without a mask mandate, you may travel through or visit places that require them. And it might be that a place without a mask mandate when you started your trip suddenly has one. Better to be prepared than scrambling to find masks on the road.
TWO: Gourmet on the Go
You won't be able to rely on restaurants along the way, like you normally do, so plan in advance for delicious and tasty meals away from home. Of course, you can bring gourmet shelf-stable foods like canned stuffed grape leaves, garlic-stuffed olives, candied walnuts, and yummy peanut butter to slather on crackers or presliced honey crisp apples. Or you can create a charcuterie board at a rest area with things from your ice chest, like cubed cheeses, precut veggies, and deli meats.
But you can also pack a slow cooker that plugs into your car so you can have hot meals along the way. This secret has long been known to truck drivers, but you now you're in on the game!
My favorite road trip meal is taco salad, using leftover chili from my home freezer (place in ice chest frozen, where it can sub for ice and thaw along the way), a bag of lettuce and grape tomatoes, toppings like cheese and sour cream, and a bag of tortilla chips. I heat the chili in my slow cooker while I'm driving, and I top my salad with steaming hot chili that perfectly melts the cheese. A slow cooker works for so many meals: leftover gumbo is my second fave meal on the road!
In addition to healthy snacks, like fruit & cheese, remember to pack salt and pepper!
PRO TIP: Pack an inexpensive, easily-cleaned plastic table cloth to cover rest area picnic tables. Or stock up on several inexpensive table cloths at a discount store like Dollar Tree so you can toss them in the trash after use.
PRO TIP: Remember to bring seasonings, like salt, pepper, Tabasco, and Tony Cachere's!
PRO TIP: Pack the Pantry: if your lodging offers to prestock your kitchen with food and necessities, this is definitely the year to sign up for that service.
THREE: Stopping for Snacks
What to do between meals, when you're bored and looking for something to snack on, but your ice chest is all the way in the back? Keep a small cooler or lunch box with small amounts of presliced fruit, veggies, cheese, and crackers in the passenger compartment with you. And remember to drink lots of water!
Each time you stop for gas or to stretch your legs (which experts recommend you do at least every two hours), refill your small cooler with a new set of snacks and beverages from your ice chest or nonperishables container, which are stored elsewhere in your vehicle. Sure, I guess it could be fun to pretend you're a contortionist to get that Diet Coke from the ice chest stored under the suitcase behind your seat, but it's a lot more sensible to simply restock your in-car snacks along the way.
Pack snacks in small packages for easy transfer to your small cooler.
PRO TIP: Freeze water bottles at home and use them instead of ice to keep your ice chest cool. As they thaw along the way, you have nice cold water to drink, and you save all that space that would normally be dedicated to ice that you simply pour out. Plus it's more environmentally friendly to reuse water bottles and minimize water usage!
PRO TIP: Be sure to keep tissues and a few paper napkins in the car in case you need them for sneezes or spills!
FOUR: Plan to be Fully Self-Contained
Normally when we travel by car ... wait - scratch that - it's 2020, and there's nothing normal about it. So this year, and until the pandemic subsides, plan to be fully self-contained. Not just with food and water, as suggested above, but with everything. Pack a full first-aid kit. Bring a compressor in case your tires are low. Remember sunscreen and bug spray, if necessary. Throw in a few trash bags to contain your disposables along the way. Plan in-car and at-location entertainment, like books, cards, and electronics. Remember paper towels, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and - yes - toilet paper.
PRO TIP: Save the disposable utensils and napkins from take-out dining to use on your road trip. Use up your mismatched paper party plates and cups for dining on the go!
PRO TIP: Download any e-books or videos before you leave home. You may find yourself unable to access your vacation favorites if internet is spotty or the WiFi goes out.
FIVE: Condense Your Clothing
We typically throw in lots of extra clothes and shoes when we travel by car, much more so than when we travel by plane. But rethink that habit! Travel should be as stress-free as possible, and the more options you have, the more decisions you have to make, and the more stressful your days intended for relaxing will be. Instead, pack around a color scheme. Or plan a capsule wardrobe for your vacation. Bring accessories to snazzy up your look! Minimizing options on the road will leave you more time for what's really important: relaxing and having fun.
In addition, think about the size of your clothing. No, I don't mean the size you wear. I mean, how small do your items pack down? It's easy to minimize packing space by intentionally choosing items that pack smaller. Fewer bags, less to haul around, easier to manage as you stop along the way.
Packing Small: This is our entire luggage for four days in NYC!
PRO TIP: If you will be staying one night in one or two nights in one place, pack a smaller bag that you will bring inside for only those nights. It's much easier than unpacking all your luggage for a quick stop!
PRO TIP: Plan to do laundry along the way. Pack enough powdered detergent in a small container to hand wash in a hotel sink or in a laundry facility. And remember dryer sheets, if you use them.
SIX: Itemize Your Itinerary
One of the joys of road trips is jumping in the car without a care in the world. And that frequently means without a plan. But during this pandemic, a plan is critical. Many places have capacity restrictions, so advance reservations are recommended - at restaurants, at hotels, at museums, and even at places like some state and national parks.
But at the same time, you have to be prepared to change those plans. Having a Plan B is critical in case the place you've been planning to go is suddenly on lockdown. As you're planning your trip, keep alternate locations, restaurants, hotels, and experiences in the back of your mind - or on a list on your phone - so you're prepared to move on as necessary without too much strife.
PRO TIP: Make reservations that can be canceled at no charge or, if advance payment is required, that are completely refundable.
PRO TIP: If traveling with pets, be sure to check that necessary facilities will be available along the way. And remember to check requirements before bringing your furry friends across state lines.
Pets: please remember to keep your humans on a leash.
SEVEN: Organizing Essentials
Just like a well-designed closet makes life easier at home, a well-designed packing plan will make life easier on the road.
CONTAINERS: Use stackable, hard-sided plastic containers with lids for packing food, paper products, and cleaning supplies. Pack these containers and your large ice chest in an out-of-the way but accessible-at-stops place in your car, like the in the trunk or in rear of your SUV or van. (Remember: you'll have a small cooler for on-the-go snacks in the passenger compartment of your vehicle.)
SUITCASES: Place your suitcases (which you won't need during your travel time) in a place that is less accessible, perhaps under your plastic containers or behind your ice chest. Keep available only those things you will need in the car or for an overnight stop.
A roomy ice chest and hard plastic containers make road trips so much better!
PRO TIP: Label your containers ... and make sure the labels are facing the right direction when packed in the car.
Thanks to CHAOS Organizing for my new cute container labels!!
PRO TIP: Pack your food items in a container that is separate from your other items to avoid any cross-contamination.
CONCLUSION:
Yes, vacation this year is different, and like everything else in 2020, a road trip may be a little unusual, as well. But you can take a road trip and have fun along the way, especially if you take a little extra time to plan in advance.
Have a great trip!
(And feel free to tag me in your pictures so I can live vicariously! @voodoogardener on Instagram)
To view the original post and see more from Karla
To hear more from Karla on travel, check out our Facebook Live with her from this week!
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Life is Short, Use Your Crystal
Whatever your “fancy” holiday dishes may be, it’s time to bring them out and enjoy them. Here is a guide on how to set the table and some inspiration for a beautiful holiday table!
If 2020 is anything, it’s a reminder that life can change on a dime. It’s important to remember those “things” that you are saving, well, saving for what? Who could be more important than your family?
Maybe china and crystal aren’t your thing? Whatever your “fancy” holiday dishes may be, it’s time to bring them out and enjoy them. For me that means my Great-Grandmother’s china is front and center. You may have opted for something more contemporary, less formal or even less breakable, which I completely understand, but having my china on the table reminds me that life is fragile so enjoy it. No matter if you are having a formal event or a casual one, your decorated and well-set table can make the event feel more festive and your guests more welcome. Your centerpiece might be a mason jar of camellias from the yard or a fancy floral arrangement, either way, having a centerpiece brightens up the table and changes the mood from an ordinary dinner to a celebration! So, pull out the fancy, put on a smile and enjoy this time with the people you love.
Here is a guide on how to set the table. It’s really important to know and certainly a job that the older kids can do for you if you are busy in the kitchen.
Here are some other places that we found inspiration for a beautiful holiday table! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
https://www.countryliving.com/entertaining/g634/thanksgiving-table-settings-1108/?slide=6
https://www.livingwithlandyn.com/2016-11-3-chic-thanksgiving-table/elegant-and-easy-thanksgiving-table-settings
Need help getting your home organized for the holiday season? We’re here to help!
Want to learn the Chaos Organizing Method? Check out our online classes!
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The Best Way to Store Baking Goods
It’s almost holiday baking season! Let us show you one of our favorite baking tools…
It’s almost holiday baking season! Let us show you one of our favorite baking tools, the OXO pop container!
These air tight containers keep your baking goods fresh, all while looking great in your pantry. Your pantry can be functional and BEAUTIFUL!
Labeling them is easy and can be simple or super crafty! Chalk board labels look fantastic but simple labels work too. Need to know the date that you filled your container; use a chalk pen or wet erase marker!
Here’s a great guide to decide what size containers you need!
We’d love to see how you use your Pop Containers! Post a picture in comments!
If tackling your own pantry seems too daunting, give us a call 225-205-6400. We would love to help you!
If you want to learn the Chaos Method for yourself, check out our new online classes!
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