As working adults, spouses, roommates or happily on your own, who amongst us doesn't love finding shortcuts to housecleaning?  Let's share our tips and secrets as we embark on another cold season.  A time where we'll find ourselves trapped in a forced-air environment, waiting to open the windows again.  It's the Fall Getting our House in Order Blog!

....and my First Fall WINE BLOGGING WEDNESDAY!

Who wouldn't love this magnum of excellent Coppola Cabernet Sauvignon...now here's something cool - it has a DVD of the redux of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalyse Now tucked into a "secret compartment" near the bottom of the bottle.

With one week before I leave for the Fall Harvest Party at the Rubicon Estate Vineyard (previously known as the Niebaum-Coppola Winery) near Napa in Rutherford, I have to salute the master filmmaker who has changed the name of his vineyard in an effort to pay more attention to the wine and less his name.  I am SO EXCITED!

Rubicon Estates - Rutherford, CA

Feel free to send me suggestions for my most passionate wine-loving blog ever, which of course will be following this wonderful trip of a lifetime!

A HOUSE IN ORDER

Fall is here.  Rather than a blizzard of snow, our home has been taken over with a blizzard of back-to-school papers and the disorganization that happens when routines change.  With the boys back in school, now is the time to look at how I can get things organized, weed out the unnecessary, and generally clean up my house.

I love a good housekeeping tip.  So I thought I would dedicate this blog to the clever people out there that know ways to become more efficient.  But first, here is my favorite organizing tip from last year.

This is how I want my counter to always look

So in order to do that, I buy drawer dividers whenever possible.
This one is my divider, made of wood, for all my quick-use kitchen tools
This divider expands to whatever width your drawer is - which is especially cool
I got it at Target when I did my kitchen remodel (2006)

But wait - what is this?  Yup - a kleenex box.  After I use all the tissues, this box is recycled by stuffing plastic grocery bags inside it, then neatly putting it in a drawer

Avoid the Blizzard of Bags.  With one (or two) empty kleenex boxes, you now have the ability to store extra bags and recycle them for collecting trash, doggie doo doo's, or just about anything that requires a quick plastic bag. It's saved my drawers from Mayhem!

That's my Fall Tip - Enjoy!