Remember when you were a kid and your mom took a little something to her friend for having you all over for dinner? Well the lost art of hostess gifts should be returned. It’s amazing that this day in age, we don’t bring a treat for the lady who put in all the hard work – so we could chow down on a delicious dinner, tasteful drinks or participate in the house party of the year.

We’re not talking about anything hugely expensive or extravagant. Check out these great items all under $25 and show your gratitude! [continue reading…]

Winter is coming on and we are all going to be spending more time in our homes. It is a good time to not only get our space into shape to accommodate us and our holiday guests, but to really create a peaceful, lovely place for us to dwell, unwind, and recharge.

Read on for my top 8 ways to create a sanctuary in your home: [continue reading…]

You have all heard of investment fashion, but investment pieces work for home style as well. Now, I know you’re probably still a transient young adult (I’m still moving apartments too!) so lifetime furniture is a no-go (who wants to haul around a Pottery Barn sofa?). But one area where this wine-loving, party-thrower has found ideal investment pieces is stemware. Riedel, in fact. [continue reading…]

The start of fall means football, pumpkins and plenty of baked goods. But sometimes you want to put aside sports and focus on something more elegant – and with the chill in the air and holidays fast approaching at-home cocktail parties are the way to go.

Now I know most of you can throw together the food – just hit up Dean & Deluca for some cheese, meats, bread and fruit. But the drinks are a bit trickier. Beer? Save it for the boyfriend. Wine? For some reason, a bit too simplistic. So spice up your fete with my fave at-home sparkler: Champagne Cocktail. [continue reading…]

Organization has always been a problem for me in all areas (organizing my time, closet, desk, etc.) which is why I’m very grateful to have Nicole Abramovici, founder of Genius Organizing, in my life and as a contributor to ANM.

Due to the popularity of her first article, I asked Nicole to compile five more household items that can be used for organization, which she was more than happy to provide. Nicole encourages her clients and readers to look more carefully and creatively at common objects and to try to find new ways to reuse them to stay organized without spending money.

Read on for more of Nicole’s GENIUS ideas! [continue reading…]

Whether you’re an unfortunate casualty of the economy or trying to decorate on a summer job’s income, re-styling a room on a budget is always a challenge. Yes, there’s IKEA, but I must disclose this now: I’ve never set foot in an Ikea and never plan to.

So what’s the best way to get a fresh, stylish home without shelling out too much dough?

Read on to find out! [continue reading…]

One of the most common mistakes I see people make when trying to organize is buying organizing tools that they wind up not needing and which ultimately take up valuable space. Money is spent on bins, boxes, drawers and racks that very frequently are found to be the wrong size or just plain unnecessary.

Sometimes current storage items get emptied  of their junk and can be used again to store items that have been deemed “keep-worthy.” In other cases, there are organizing tools lying around unused and forgotten that can be put into play. Further, there are many household items that can be re-purposed into handy and useful organizing tools. Especially during this recession, it’s good to use what you’ve got and not spend money that you don’t have to.

Below I am going to share with you my Professional Organizer’s Fave Five Ordinary Household Items That Can Help You Get Organized.

Read on to see how many of these objects you already have and how to put them to good use! [continue reading…]

As much as I love the summer time, I truly hate paying for the cost of air conditioning. I mean, I would way rather spend that money on a good pair of shoes!

I am a huge fan of Yoga and firmly believe it can solve almost every issue in life. This belief was further enhanced thanks to YogaWorks instructor Peggy Hall, who shared some amazing, and inexpensive, tips to stay cool this summer without.

From easy yoga poses to dietary fixes, to the temperature of water when you shower, to new ways to utilize commone household items, these tips will definitely keep you and your wallet very happy this summer.

Read on for her top 10 tips for beating the heat without the AC! [continue reading…]

One of the best ways to stay organized in life, work and in general is with an agenda. To some it’s a diary to others it’s a planner; whatever you call it, it serves the same purpose in many different forms. There are monthly versions, which lay out the month with little space for detail. Then you have the weeklies that map out a week, usually Monday to Sunday which, depending on the size of the planner, leave a limited amount of space. For those of us who are a bit busier, there are the daily planners, with each page dedicated to a single day. Some planners even list time by the hour!

Buying a planner is like going to Starbucks. There are so many different options, additional add-ins, like calculators, note section, address book, etc. You want something chic and portable, but still practical and useful.

Organizing and practicing time efficiency starts here. Buy a planner and start to write things down. From the time of your favorite TV show to a morning run, log it, do it, and don’t forget about the dinner promise you made to your mother last month. With many options below you will be sure to find one that matches your lifestyle.

Check out my top 10 planner picks after the jump! [continue reading…]

A few months ago, I received some unsettling news from my dentist: I was grinding my teeth in my sleep, something I had apparently been doing for quite some time (the condition is formally known as Bruxism). The grinding had gotten so bad that I had actually started wearing away at the surface of my teeth!

The news was a bit unsettling but also somewhat of a relief as it elucidated why I was experiencing some strange symptoms- trouble sleeping, headaches, jaw tension, and aching gums. However, it wasn’t much of a relief when I asked my dentist what could be done to rectify my little predicament. His solution was to fit me for a mouth guard, which would cost me over a grand! The alternative? Settle for life as a tooth grinder, or bruxist, and continue to deal with the many detrimental side effects. Not wanting to shell out that much money to correct a problem I never really knew I had, I decided to hold off, figuring I would find a better way to solve this issue.

I had put this problem on the back-burner, convincing myself it really wasn’t that big of a deal. In a fortuitous twist, Eric, who knew nothing about the problem that I was pretending not to have, mentioned that a friend of his had actually invented a new product designed to cure my condition! While a mouth guard would stop tooth grinding itself, this new design, the SleepGuard, would actually solve the problem for good at its root.

Naturally, I decided to give it a try and the results were so great, I just had to share it with all of you, especially since I’m sure more than a few of you are amongst the millions who suffer from this condition

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Even though it’s summer, we’re still spending some time indoors (Heat wave! Thunderstorm!) and that means candles are just as in-style as Havaianas. As a candle aficionado, here are some picks for the best of the season.

Check them out after the jump! [continue reading…]

“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere” ~Agnes Repplier

I was once a very foolish little lady and I know I’m not alone. I wanted a boyfriend more than anything. I never stopped to wonder why, I just wanted it. Now this isn’t gonna be a tale about how I wanted it and it didn’t happen and then when I stopped wanting it, it did. My desperation did somehow result in a relationship and from there, chaos ensued.

Saying I wanted a boyfriend had a very clear underlying message- I wanted to be loved, desired, to feel good about myself, to have someone there to make me feel good about myself when I didn’t. During the course of our relationship my moods were totally contingent upon the way he responded to me- a compliment would lead to exhilaration. An insult? Well I’d fall to pieces.

Not surprisingly, the relationship didn’t last and it was only in the years after that I realized the reason why: I was looking outside myself for love and approval, a fatal misstep I see committed all the time. After this relationship ended, I truly learned the value of loving myself, and I found that with my newfound confidence, I was a much happier person out of the relationship than I had ever been when I was in it.

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Goals are an essential part of human existence. Our goals breathe meaning into our every day lives. They push us forward, drive us, motivate us, and inspire us to become even greater. I have many goals- some big, some small. Over the years I have accomplished many of my goals and there are some that I’m still working on. This blog, for instance, was a major goal of mine for years and for some reason, I was unable to lift the idea off the back burner and move forward with it. I have been giving the concept of goals a lot of thought lately and have uncovered some wonderful techniques that have helped me and will help you in attaining your goals and becoming the person you’ve always wanted to be.

Read on for more! [continue reading…]

Stress is an inevitable part of our daily lives. We all know that stress can cause countless health issues and have all been advised to reduce our stress-levels, but as with most things, this is way easier said than done. I am a huge yoga-proponent for many reasons, especially the fact that it drastically helped reduce my level of stress and anxiety and all the body aches and pains associated with the two. Yoga isn’t just about increasing strength and flexibility, as you learned last week, simple yoga poses can be done at any time to combat daily aches, pains and frustrations. To help your days become better and brighter, I’m sharing 5 more poses to try, straight from YogaWorks instructor Irina Oviannikov.

Read on to find out how you can alleviate pain and tension in your wrists, hips, back, and shoulders and for an amazing technique to overcome your mid-day slump without a trip to Starbucks.

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As you learned in my Small Steps for a More Gorgeous You post, I am an avid Yoga proponent. I’ll admit that I have been very on and off with Yoga through the years and during my ‘on’ periods, I notice that I feel and look so much better then when the off switch is hit. Yoga has a lot of Big-Picture benefits- increased strength, flexibility, better muscle tone as well as a glorious inner calm. There are also many quick and easy poses you can do whenever for insta-results to combat every day aches, pains, and frustrations.

Read on for tips from expert Yogi, Kathryn Budig, from Yoga Works, for suggestions on alleviating every day issues, be it sore and achy feet, commute-induced exhaustion, or the after-effects from a long night of partying. [continue reading…]