Curl up with the one you love and enjoy!

Vintage Ticking Pillow {Drawing Room}

I like to consider myself a gym rat who is slightly (ok heavily) obsessed with Nike. The joke around our house is that we are sponsored by Nike.

Nike’s website allows you to browse by sport, gear, clothing. They even have a separate section geared toward what women want (see, someone gets it!). Here are just some super cute clothes I found on their website for men, women, and even babies and toddlers!

I’ve had my eye on this canvas art from Pottery Barn for quite some time. The 60″ x 42″ Numbers Canvas ($79) would fit perfectly in our family room. Now to convince the husband…

And no, I do not mean the typical weight scales. But balancing life. Let me preface this post by saying I am by no means an expert on this subject, just a woman trying to juggle it all. And man is it hard! I was having a conversation today with a good friend of mine via email (another post – another day) and we were discussing our daily routines. When I wrote it out and saw exactly what I do every day it made me stop and think, something needs to change. There is barely anytime for myself let alone quality time with my husband and daughter.

Right now my schedule is:
5am Wake up and get dressed, eat breakfast and blog/email before the little tyke wakes up
6:30am Get the bambino fed and dressed
8am Out the door to drop my daughter at daycare and then leave for my “9 to 5 job”
9am until 5:30pm Working my “9 to 5″, emailing, working out, emailing, checking my blog…
6pm Pick up my daughter from daycare, eat dinner and get her in bed
8pm until…create designs, fill orders, etc…

I find myself checking my email and my blog several times a day which inevitably leads to reading blogs and before I know it so much time has passed and I was not productive at all. So before my shop opens, hopefully within the next couple of weeks, I want to get on a “schedule” and become more efficient. I’ve tried many times before but always get sucked into reading a blog and then blogs they read and the list goes on and on.

So I guess the point of this long-winded post is to figure out how to become more efficient and use my time more wisely. Let me ask you, how do you do it? I want to hear your thoughts and secrets.

Be a fan of Perideau Designs on facebook and keep up to date with all the happenings. Thank you for all of your support!

Some great finds on Etsy to go with my gray obsession.

1. Wild Mushroom – Earthy Delights designed by cicadastudio

2. Letterpress Alphabet Poster. Modern Design. Orange and Grey. designed by sycamorestreetpress

3. Retro Modern Pet Bed in Black and Gray with Acrylic designed by likekittysville

4. Gray and White Baby Blanket designed by mamasewcrazy

I thought I’d take a break for business stuff today and show you a picture of our ‘new’ bathroom. My husband so kindly painted our half bathroom downstairs this deep gray: City Scape from Sherwin Williams. He did an amazing job and the best part? It only took 1 coat!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thank you so much for the Blog LUV Award, Annette of Swanky Tables!

I’m sharing the LUV below:
Honorees please follow these instructions and share the LUV!

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
(You can highlight the photo and text of this post and copy/paste wherever you need to…start your highlight from the bottom up to get the photo)
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received the award.

Here are my 10 picks:
1. Swanky Tables – returning the LUV
2. Sarah and Abraham
3. Bloom
4. Bloesem
5. LePapier Studio
6. Red House
7. Hei Astrid
8. Paper Crave
9. Modish
10. Polka Dots + Pirates

I love reading blogs and then checking out blogs they enjoy to read. It’s a never ending cycle – there are so many great ideas, thoughts, products, etc…found on blogs, I learn something new every day. Today I came across this blog called Zen Habits. The first article I read had me inspired. This practice is something I want to start instilling in my daily routine to become a more productive business woman, wife and mother.

10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It
article c/o of Leo Babauta, author of Zen Habits

1. Greet the day. I love being able to get up, and greet a wonderful new day. I suggest creating a morning ritual that includes saying thanks for your blessings. I’m inspired by the Dalai Lama, who said, ” Everyday, think as you wake up, ‘today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.’ “

2. Amazing start. I used to start my day by jumping out of bed, late as usual, and rushing to get myself and the kids ready, and rushing to drop them to school and come in to work late. I would walk into work, looking rumpled and barely awake, grumpy and behind everyone else. Not a great start to your day. Now, I have a renewing morning ritual, I’ve gotten so much done before 8 a.m., my kids are early and so am I, and by the time everyone else gets in to work, I’ve already gotten a head start. There is no better way to start off your day than to wake early, in my experience.

3. Quietude. No kids yelling, no babies crying, no soccer balls, no cars, no television noise. The early morning hours are so peaceful, so quiet. It’s my favorite time of day. I truly enjoy that time of peace, that time to myself, when I can think, when I can read, when I can breathe.

4. Sunrise. People who wake late miss one of the greatest feats of nature, repeated in full stereovision each and every day — the rise of the sun. I love how the day slowly gets brighter, when the midnight blue turns to lighter blue, when the brilliant colors start to seep into the sky, when nature is painted in incredible colors. I like doing my early morning run during this time, and I look up at the sky as I run and say to the world, “What a glorious day!” Really. I really do that. Corny, I know.

5. Breakfast. Rise early and you actually have time for breakfast. I’m told it’s one of the most important meals of the day. Without breakfast, your body is running on fumes until you are so hungry at lunchtime that you eat whatever unhealthy thing you can find. The fattier and sugarier, the betterier. But eat breakfast, and you are sated until later. Plus, eating breakfast while reading my book and drinking my coffee in the quiet of the morning is eminently more enjoyable than scarfing something down on the way to work, or at your desk.

6. Exercise. There are other times to exercise besides the early morning, of course, but I’ve found that while exercising right after work is also very enjoyable, it’s also liable to be canceled because of other things that come up. Morning exercise is virtually never canceled.

7. Productivity. Mornings, for me at least, are the most productive time of day. I like to do some writing in the morning, when there are no distractions, before I check my email or blog stats. I get so much more done by starting on my work in the morning. Then, when evening rolls around, I have no work that I need to do, and I can spend it with family.

8. Goal time. Got goals? Well, you should. And there’s no better time to review them and plan for them and do your goal tasks than first thing. You should have one goal that you want to accomplish this week. And every morning, you should decide what one thing you can do today to move yourself further towards that goal. And then, if possible, do that first thing in the morning.

9. Commute. No one likes rush-hour traffic, except for Big Oil. Commute early, and the traffic is much lighter, and you get to work faster, and thus save yourself more time. Or better yet, commute by bike. (Or even better yet, work from home.)

10. Appointments. It’s much easier to make those early appointments on time if you get up early. Showing up late for those appointments is a bad signal to the person you’re meeting. Showing up early will impress them. Plus, you get time to prepare.

How to Become an Early Riser

* Don’t make drastic changes. Start slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.

* Allow yourself to sleep earlier. You might be used to staying up late, perhaps watching TV or surfing the Internet. But if you continue this habit, while trying to get up earlier, sooner or later one is going to give. And if it is the early rising that gives, then you will crash and sleep late and have to start over. I suggest going to bed earlier, even if you don’t think you’ll sleep, and read while in bed. If you’re really tired, you just might fall asleep much sooner than you think.

* Put your alarm clock far from you bed. If it’s right next to your bed, you’ll shut it off or hit snooze. Never hit snooze. If it’s far from your bed, you have to get up out of bed to shut it off. By then, you’re up. Now you just have to stay up.

* Go out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm. Don’t allow yourself to rationalize going back to bed. Just force yourself to go out of the room. My habit is to stumble into the bathroom and go pee. By the time I’ve done that, and flushed the toilet and washed my hands and looked at my ugly mug in the mirror, I’m awake enough to face the day.

* Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option.

* Have a good reason. Set something to do early in the morning that’s important. This reason will motivate you to get up. I like to write in the morning, so that’s my reason. Also, when I’m done with that, I like to read all of your comments!

* Make waking up early a reward. Yes, it might seem at first that you’re forcing yourself to do something hard, but if you make it pleasurable, soon you will look forward to waking up early. A good reward is to make a hot cup of coffee or tea and read a book. Other rewards might be a tasty treat for breakfast (smoothies! yum!) or watching the sunrise, or meditating. Find something that’s pleasurable for you, and allow yourself to do it as part of your morning routine.

* Take advantage of all that extra time. Don’t wake up an hour or two early just to read your blogs, unless that’s a major goal of yours. Don’t wake up early and waste that extra time. Get a jump start on your day! I like to use that time to get a head start on preparing my kids’ lunches, on planning for the rest of the day (when I set my MITs), on exercising or meditating, and on reading. By the time 6:30 rolls around, I’ve done more than many people do the entire day.

All of my new designs have been printed, cut, folded, and packaged and shipped off to the photographer for professional product shots. All 48 items to be sold! Wow! I didn’t realize I had so many, but I’m so excited and in love with each and everyone of them. I hope the public shares in my excitement.

As I was talking with a friend last night, she had mentioned that when she receives orders she sometimes gets a small free gift such as a thank you or post card. So I’m contemplating in doing a post card with one of my designs as a free gift with every order. What do you think? Post your comments below, I’d love to hear from you!