Issue 04 — A Somewhat Organized Life
Bits of unsolicited organization guidance.
This is not written from the perspective of a perfectly put together 30-something free of messy corners. As of this morning I have 93,518 photos on my phone and majority are the inside of my pocket. Most clothing I own is stained with cooking oils. Half my life is Apple, half Google, and it’s perpetually confusing. When I season with salt, I let the excess fall to the ground like I’m in a restaurant thats mopped up nightly when our kitchen most certainly is not. However! I will tout my knack for organization and love for cobbling together logistics, which is where this issue fits in. Don’t be mislead into thinking I’m the whiteboard calendar girl, or the scheduled time hold for “relaxing” girl, or even a meal prep girl. My presence in a grocery store can be very goal-oriented, but more often resembles an impromptu dance that’s lacking direction and is a little too long and verklempt. The last disclaimer I’m compelled to write is that I refuse to use chatGBT or AI for personal projects. If you do, cool. But nothing — absolutely nothing — excites me more than seeing someone write in a journal. Maybe a few of these little practices will strike a chord for you, maybe you’ll roll your eyes. Either way, I’m glad you’re here.
Colors of Time
Color is how I view the world and everything in it. It’s also how I organize the different areas of my life. Looking at a color treated calendar is much less scary than the alternative. If you’ve already been organizing with color, there’s nothing quite like a refreshed palette for the new year. Max and I have a shared calendar that’s always it’s own color, along with my work projects, events, tasks, birthdays etc.
But because I get anxious when everything lives online, I also love a real calendar that acts as a fun physical countdown for special moments.
Notes, A Lifeline
The sum of intimate time I spend within the Notes app would boggle minds. Notion was my work setup for many years (a next best option) but this old trusty reigns supreme for life org. Within mine you’ll find a shared grocery list that’s edited in real time — when one of us grabs something, we check it off to avoid crossed wires. There are lists for each trip organized by day, a master to do list, a books list, the ‘things I desire’ list where I’ll link what I want instead of purchasing it right away. Oftentimes it will naturally slip out of frame, but if it’s still speaking to my soul after time has passed, I jump. Notes also lets you organize into folders, lock secret notes (I did this for my vows), add photos, links, and even drawings. No notes, Notes.
Pocket Notebooks
Welcome to the part where I tell you it’s not cool to do everything on a chunk of technology. Don’t only rely on your phone to jot down little revelations, special ideas, moments of beauty. I draw a hard line here and use a small notebook. Both my parents are authors that always have a notebook glued to their body and in every door of the car and drawer of the house. Each one I linked is under $10. Most of the pens I use are swiped from beloved restaurants after paying the bill. Also great for a quick game of cribbage.
Keep a commonplace book, a notebook where you write down beautiful pieces of language, things you read. Copy poems by hand, something you overheard on the street. So that you’re constantly guzzling beauty, so that you’re steeped in it like a fruitcake in good brandy. You’re making an alter for yourself every day. — Mary Karr
I will not publish my full list of cherished pens & pencils at this juncture, but know I have an opinion and apparently it’s been coming in hot since I was 9. Right now, I’m really into the Magic Ink Water-Based Pen No. 300 — they write like a marker but with pen accuracy.
Food Organization Thoughts
In the spirit of organization, we must discuss the kitchen. This is the highest level sweep I’m capable of without falling into the deep end:
— Some fruit & veg produce ethylene gas which quickly rots everything in it’s wake: apples, pears, avocado, stone fruits, bananas, kiwis, mangoes, tomatoes. Keep these babies in a crisper drawer together, or separated on the counter. If your bag of spinach is next to apples, it will wilt much faster.
— Raw proteins should always go on the lowest shelf, toward the back. This was drilled into my brain during culinary school and it’s for good reason. The coldest spot, away from contaminating anything else.
— Keep onions and garlic stored in their own area. Maybe in a cute wooden bowl, or a wire basket in a dark pantry cabinet. Same goes for potatoes.
— Stop putting your precious little tomatoes in the refrigerator! It changes their flavor and texture, not for the better.
— Buy rock hard green avocados and let them ripen on the counter in their own area. Check them every day or two, and when they’re nearing peak softness transfer to the fridge to elongate their readiness window. Do the same with pears. If you need to speed up the ripening process, put them near some bananas.
— Nuts go rancid quickly. If you don’t use them within 2 months, keep them in the freezer so they stay fresh for longer (we’re talking years). And have you tried a frozen walnut? The cold crunch is other worldly.
— Move fridge shelves around! If certain containers aren’t fitting right, take it all out and switch things up for optimal storage. We spend a lot of time looking in there, it’ll be worth it.
— Once a month, toss the junk you aren’t eating or that’s expiring. And save every good glass jar. It’s a pain to clean out an oil-packed tuna jar, but it makes for a great cortado roadie. Label everything with a roll of tape in a color that makes you happy!
— On that note, attempt to give up the ziplocks and other single use plastics if you can. Especially in the freezer. The research is out there and worth reviewing. I recently held a memorial service for all my restaurant deli containers. Compostic, Stasher, and glass are the way.
— And lastly, more of a life hack: keep good butter in your freezer at all times so you are never without. Next time you bake cookies, double the batch and throw half the dough balls into a Stasher bag in the freezer. When you have friends over, pop them right into the oven. Peel fresh ginger and freeze the knobs. You can grate it from frozen and never have to worry about mold.
Side of Fries
To continue along in the spirit of 2025 *blah blah blah* I was recently introduced to the Screen Zen app and it’s been a beautiful awakening.
When library books are backlogged on hold, I keep up with my book club and other reading desires by ordering from 1) Pango Books which are gently used and shipped directly from other readers, and 2) Thrift Books which is essentially The RealReal of written word. It’s an excellent hunting ground for beautiful coffee table books, baby books, and cookbooks. And while you can pick the current condition, who enjoys an untouched book that hasn’t been a little loved, anyway? Some ideas to get you started: this book on Napkin Folding that I cherish, Marcella Says cookbook stacked with Italian classics, a Jonathan Safran Foer I’ve been wanting to read, or Cooking in the Nude.
Until next time, lovers. xx
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this over my morning coffee! I especially loved the food storage tips… and your love pencils.
So fun to read this edition! Love the ginger freezer hack. Will do immediately