Kellie's blog

Have you ever heard about taking an apple for the teacher on the first day of school? And I don’t mean a computer here! Apparently, apples are considered the traditional present for teachers in the United States, Denmark and Sweden. Some say the practice began as a form of payment for lessons, and others believe they were given because of the good health associated with apples. Whatever the reason, it’s a short-lived gift! ...read more

We hope all of our readers are enjoying this holiday with friends and family!  Happy Labor Day!

- The Out of Office team

I couldn’t believe it when I logged in to Facebook earlier this month to see pictures of some of my youngest cousins posing on the front porch early on a Monday morning, lunchboxes in hand and backpacks full of fresh crayons and notebooks. Back to school already? It was August 2nd! Summer just never seems to last long enough.

The ebbs and flows of life seem to take me by surprise every year. I can never get over how quickly time passes and seasons change. But alas, with the school year comes a more predictable routine, and with this new routine, a need to get – and stay – organized. Below are a couple of my favorite ideas for managing the daily grind.

Establish a routine. The sooner you can get on school schedule, the better. For most households, this probably means starting earlier bedtimes and wake-up times a week or two before school, but it sure makes the transition from lazy summer days to serious school days easier. ...read more

Back when I was in elementary and high school (you know, when people walked five miles in the snow, uphill both ways), we basically “rented” our textbooks each year. They were given to us on the first day, our name was added to the list on the inside front cover, and we spent the last week of school assessing the condition of each book and receiving our fines. Bent corners were a quarter each, scratches on the cover were a dime, and marks or tears on the pages inside were a dollar. You couldn’t move to the next grade or go to Field Day until you had paid your book fines!

My classmates and I always covered our textbooks to avoid the damages that had the potential to keep us from Field Day on the last day of school. But when we made them way back when, they we no fun – no fun whatsoever! Covering our books meant taking a brown paper grocery bag apart at the seams and putting the store logo inside (facing the book) so there was a big, blank, brown space to draw on the cover. It sure wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done. ...read more

Ah, summer. The days feel longer, the sun is shining, the kids are out of school and the beach/mountains/your favorite vacation spot are beckoning. But what about your responsibilities at the office? No worries! We here at the Out of Office blog have some tips to help conquer the frenzy that always arises in the days leading up to that glorious summer vacation! ...read more

At our house, the age-old question – “What’s for dinner?” – is usually met with some groans. It takes a lot of work to find good recipes – or even recipes with ingredients that we’ve actually heard of before! Then you have to plan the meals, do the shopping, put the groceries away and THEN cook the meal…it’s a lot of work! Sometimes, because it is just the two of us, we find that it’s easier to grab some kind of take out.

But even then the question remains – what kind of take-out? Drum roll, please…I’d like to introduce to you the take-out menu organizer! It’s a simple concept, really. Each time you’re in a restaurant that you like, you grab a copy of their takeout menu and then slip into a page-protector sheet in a three-ring binder. Then, when you’re beyond starving and trying to figure out what to order or pick up, you have all the options readily available with contact information, too. ...read more

We’ve written before about the importance of building a strong personal brand and professional image for yourself – and if we haven’t made it clear yet, we think it’s very important!  But obviously branding is an enormously important issue for businesses, too. Building a consistent brand image can make a business of any size stand out from the crowd.

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The class of 2010 will soon be sporting caps and gowns and parading across stages everywhere.  And whether the students in your life are graduating from pre-school, high school, college or a post-graduate degree program, they deserve kudos and celebration.  

From big graduation parties to intimate family gatherings, here are some ways to make it festive and fun. 

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Blog friends, I have to let you in on a little secret: I have always wanted to be a good gardener! I always thought that when we had a yard, I’d plant bulbs in the winter and watch beautiful flowers blossom in the spring. Or have a few rows of veggies so we could make fresh salads. But alas, no luck – my thumb isn’t showing any green tendencies and our yard is filled with wildflowers and weeds (and maybe a few too many “presents” from our dogs Molly and Conrad). My grandparents, however, were very active gardeners.  I spent many summers enjoying perfectly ripe and flavorful tomatoes, juicy strawberries, sweet corn and crisp cucumbers…Yum!

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As you may remember from our wedding series, I recently got married – and for me, that meant moving too! I’ll soon be sharing some of my best tips and tricks for keeping a move (relatively…) painless, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t also share one even more important tip: you have to tell people where to find you!  

Once you’ve settled into the new place, send out a notice of your new address. This is incredibly helpful for family and friends alike, especially around the holidays when they are sending greeting cards. And don’t forget to make these change of address cards as fun as you are by using a photo of your new home, a moving van or a little rhyme.

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