CLICK COVER TO ENLARGE
Since the original SPM newsmail began back in January of 2006, it has grown in length and in popularity, reaching several cities in the US and now several foreign countries. Now, in the fourth year, this month marks the 44th issue. SPM strives to offer a fresh look with each issue, which have always been sent out on the first of each month.
~On the cover~ "Northern California Journey"- West Marin/Point Reyes, CA -DeNitto ©1999
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING ALL FUTURE ISSUES
As of May, 2009, Siesta Magazine has moved most contents to this new blogspot site. E-mail reminders will continue to arrive in subscriber mailboxes on the first of the month and will only include the magazine cover, news and announcements. From now on, if subscribers click on the cover or the link to the blogspot, they will be directed to view the various sections of the magazine within this new site. The magazine will also have further editing changes in the coming months.
*NEW!
For SPM special event announcements, please view the updated event blog link here!
As you will see, there is already a very important event to take advantage of coming up in September!
>>> SPM ANNOUNCEMENTS
Follow SPM on TWITTER and FACEBOOK!!
>>> SPM TWITTER
>>> On Facebook, simply search for STRESSED.PRESSED.MESSED!
STRESSED.PRESSED.MESSED FACEBOOK FAN PAGE REACHES 100th FAN!!
STRESSED.PRESSED.MESSED is having so much fun with Facebook fans! As a result of celebrating the first 100 fans with a free gift for the 100th fan, another free gift will be awarded to the 150th fan! As of today, there are 119 fans! Who will receive the next free gift??
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
+ SPEAKING OF SIESTAS!
+ THE BOOK CORNER
+ PICK OF THE MONTH
+ RECIPE OR COOKBOOK OF THE MONTH **COOKBOOK PART IS NEW!
+ GREEN LIVING TIPS
+ TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS
+ MOM TIME
+ SPECIAL FEATURE OF THE MONTH
+ QUOTE OF THE MONTH
+ PHOTO OF THE MONTH
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+ SPEAKING OF SIESTAS!
{ Pictured: Ulysses resting from his little kitty journey. DeNitto © 2006 } A siesta /siːˈɛstə/, original Spanish pronunciation [ˈsjesta] is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some hot countries. The word siesta is Spanish, from the Latin hora sexta - "the sixth hour" (counting from dawn, therefore noon, hence "midday rest").At SPM the true definition is taken a bit further. If a nap is not possible, but there is enough time allowed for any other type of break, it is strongly encouraged to take advantage of that precious moment. As long as the mind and body can rest for a short period as often as possible during the work week, it can only enhance the quality of living.
Each month, learn more facts about SIESTAS and how you may benefit from taking them into your daily routine.
Below are August's SIESTA FACTS:
Simple question:Napping Improves Memory?
Answer: According to recent studies, outcomes continue to reveal that napping restores alertness and improves memory. It also can help uplift low moods. Naps even seem to better than caffeine and if kept to 20 minutes or less, they should not interfere with night rest. It may also increase performance in study or athletic abilties. To read about a nap study from the University of California San Diego, please click on link below.
NAPS IMPROVE BRAIN POWER
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+ THE BOOK CORNER
This section offers ideas for books related to various subjects including organizing, designing, lifestyle improvements, humour, business, psychology and green living. During the year, the occasional novel or biography may also slip into an issue.
: BOOK RECOMMENDATION FOR AUGUST :
TITLE: A Place for Everything: Organizing the Stuff of Life
AUTHOR: Peri Wolfman and Charles Gold
COPYRIGHT: 1999
ISBN: 0-609-80448-0
A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING
This book is often used by SPM to show clients various ideas on how to store everyday items in a way which might work for their spaces. Covering every area of a home from the kitchen all the way to the basement, the book has loads of photographs with asthetically appealing ideas which are very functional for the many items of everyday routines. Clients tend to love the kitchen ideas, especially. Designs range from rustic to chic.
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+ PICK OF THE MONTH
INDIE SPOTTING
I've been following Indie Spotting on Twitter for months now and they always have unique handmade items posted on their site. As seen here in the etsy link, I am quite fond of the envelopes created from recycled maps.
MAP ENVELOPES
For more fun items from Indie Spotting, visit their website and/or follow them on Twitter using these links!
INDIE SPOTTING
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+ RECIPE OR COOKBOOK OF THE MONTH **COOKBOOK PART IS NEW!
TITLE: Don't Panic- Dinner's in the Freezer: Great-Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead
AUTHOR: Suzie Martinez, Vanda Howell and Bonnie Garcia
COPYRIGHT: 2005
ISBN 10: 0-8007-3055-0
DINNER'S IN THE FREEZER
This is a handy cookbook for time management for busy kitchens, whether it's for managing meals for a large family or living alone with a busy career. It's a great reference specifically for meals that can be made ahead and frozen to save time later. Most recipes are quite simple. The recipe below is quite tasty!
SPM's TOP RECIPE PICK: Buttermilk Herb Chicken Breasts- page 80
Incidentally, there is a "sequel" to this book aptly entitled "Don't Worry, More Dinner's in the Freezer" which hit the bookstores in April of this year.
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+ GREEN LIVING TIPS
It's time to Greeganize!!! (an official SPM term!)
August Tip:
GREEN SCHOOL SUPPLIES
Below is a bit of research from SPM for some top ideas when scouting around for the most eco-friendly products out on the market that are safe for our kids and for the environment!
TARGET
STAPLES
IZZITGREEN
SMENCILS
STUBBY PENCIL STUDIO
GRASS ROOTS
ECOSMART WORLD
Now is the time to embrace the green.......
>>In future issues, Siesta Magazine will offer more tips or product guidelines with the latest information on how to adopt routines of green living!
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+ TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS
MESSY MEDS?
It's very simple to get your medicines to be neat and accessible when needed. Stop searching through a mess and take 20-30 minutes to make the whole cabinet more functional now. Whether it's for adults with pounding heads or sobbing tots with allergies, having all medicines in order and handle sudden medical issues a more quickly. This is a great way to make certain that all medications are within expiration dates and weed out what may be considered unsafe or simply no longer needed. Check with your local pharmacy to find out what methods of safe disposal are recommended for the area where you live as it tends to vary city to city.
Many people prefer to remove excess packaging. This is helpful to make a more orderly look to the cabinet. It certainly makes it less cluttered. However, what if you needed to refer to dosage directions?
The simple solution for that is to create a MEDICAL DIRECTORY, which is especially helpful for parents. As long as parents are responsible about keeping any medications out of the reach of small children, removing them from the packaging is acceptable and actually helpful. With the use of the MEDICAL DIRECTORY, it's simple to store flattened boxes and other packaging and stash them in vinyl pocket pages. You may certainly add business card pages for any medical related business cards. You can also add vinyl sheet pages for any other medical info from doctors, hospitals, dentists or for articles from magazines, etc. 
Organizing your medicine and medical information creates a "one-stop shoppe" right at home lessening the frustrations for pill or thermometer searches. You can keep loose or fragile items, such as thermometers, safe and easily accessible in a clear plastic container which can be easily labeled. 
One of the loose items found in the clear container pictured here is a handy pill splitter. Keeping a pill splitter on hand is great when dosage instructions call for half of a pill. (It really beats trying to use a knife and losing fragments of pills that fly across the room!) The yellow one pictured here is from the Dollar Tree and comes in many other colours. __________________________________________________
+ MOM TIME
FORWARD: A note from SPM MOM...
During the early 1990's, as a mother raising two children through their first years, I now learn of many new products that are thrilling to me, even with my empty nest. I often find myself wishing that some of them were available 22 years ago. Below are neat links and ideas to products or educational items currently on today's market for parents to explore for their children-- babies through college students!
WEAR THE MEMORIES!
The summer may be winding down with the "Back-to-School" season about to begin, but there is still time to allow those great summer adventure memories to linger. Families might enjoy scrapbooking. Well, how about scrapshirting?
Raising my own kids in the mid-1990's gave us great adventures of travel and exploration. It became enjoyable for them each to "wear" their adventures by my using simple solid colour t-shirts and fabric paint. As seen in the photos below,
I simply drew pictures of some of my daughter's favourite things from the year 1992, when she was six years old. As you can see, she enjoyed games, school supplies, dinosaurs, life at the seashore and candy that year. On the back of the shirt, all of her travels for that year were listed in chronological order. It's a very simple and inexpensive way to tie up memories of a great year and everyone else can enjoy learning about those memories when viewing it being worn.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
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+ SPECIAL FEATURE OF THE MONTH
ORGANIZING DURING TIME OF POOR ECONOMICS
ORGANIZING DURING TIME OF POOR ECONOMICS
Interestingly enough, there has been an upturn with people hiring professional organizers to help them along with projects to get their life better in gear so that they may better face the current economic downturn. It seems that a lot of people are changing plans accordingly in order to withstand the pull of financial burdens. In the wake of this recession, many are opting not to move from their current homes but instead repair or redesign what they already have to make it more appealing or functional. Others are greatly simplifying their lives by reducing clutter and ownerships to major purchases such as second homes, boats or automobiles that they rarely use. Still others are placing their financial and personal affairs in better order, creating a better balance with work and leisure time.
Some professionals in the organizing industry will ocassionally hear certain quotes such as "I can't afford to get organized." A common reply to that statement is "How can you afford not to get organized?" In many cases, the long run is where it ends up counting. People can get by for a period of time sliding through situations until caught by surprise with something more challenging, such as a medical mishap, a layoff, or the notion of a possible natural disaster. In the end, they may realize that having had those areas of their lives properly managed, they could have saved themselves money and frustrtation in a time of great need and/or uncertainty.
In an effort to help better serve clients during this recession, SPM has placed even more importance in offering assistance at a lesser cost, just as professionals within other industries have also been inclined to consider. In what SPM conceives as a serious industry in truly helping clients, fees have been slashed as a way to keep within the tighter budgets of clients and help them still reach their ulitimate goals. It's simply the right thing to do and SPM strives to see clients through even in tough times.
More and more, as SPM listens and learns from clients, most everyone seems to agree on one major idea, which is simplification. As many people have tightened their purse strings, the feel for accumulating is becoming less attractive. Some may think of it as a forced weaning from a bottle of riches. Some may think of it as a mixed blessing in disguise, this recession of ours. Whatever the case may be, it does seem to be creating a buzz of what's most important in our lives -aside from family and friends, of course- the basics seem to be floating back. Growing up, most of us remember our school teachers reminding us of the basic needs being that of food/water, shelter and clothing. That was it. We were also reminded to not be wasteful. Of course, today, in most average households, our basic needs have swelled far beyond what we would only need for survival and the amount of waste produced these days is abosolutely frightening. However, as we find ourselves under reminders about what items we don't need, we tend to also fight against what we want. Years ago, in school, we were quizzed about those needs verses wants. Now, particularly in the organizing industry, it is easy to find many people are under self-initiated quizzes as they sweep through the golden aisles of favourite stores like Target or Staples or Bed, Bath & Beyond. As a result, people observed seem to be adjusting and actually finding peace in the ability to resist some of their wants.
So, yes- perhaps we are in difficult economic times. Yet, it also seems that we are being given time to reflect on what we are already fortunate to have, rather than to wilt from what we may no longer be able to afford. We are being given a moment to review our possessions and take better care of our needs and wants. We can buy a clock, but not time. We can buy a golden ring, but not love. We can by a sporty car, but not true happiness. As our material items gleam in their packages, we now realize the difference between a superficial shine and the genuine shine of what cannot be purchased in a store. Perhaps, by living more loosely from the gravitating pull of consumerism, less imitation means more stubstance in our lives.
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+ QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Education is not filling a pail, but lighting a fire.
--William Butler Yeats
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+ PHOTO OF THE MONTH
"Point Reyes National Seashore" - Northern CA ~ DeNitto © 1999
