My “Things That Make Me Happy” list includes celebrating Valentine’s Day. This holiday combines some of my favorite things such as love, chocolate, sparkly hearts and romance. As a kid, I remember waking up on Valentine’s Day to a breakfast table decorated with construction paper hearts made by my mom. She stapled them together into pockets and slipped Nestlé’s Crunch bars inside them. My dad signed the valentines too with his unique “cartoon” signature. Not only did we enjoy getting chocolate for breakfast, but also we felt especially loved.

As our girls grew up, my husband and I created our own Valentine’s Day traditions. Making valentine cards was an elaborate and joyful event. We’d bring out the craft supplies and the girls and I would sit around for hours making cards and writing notes to all the special people in our life. Valentine’s Day breakfast was and still is part of the celebration. I love to decorate the table, make strawberry muffins or chocolate waffles with fresh berries, and share Valentine’s Day cards and small gifts with my family. Chocolate is always involved.

Mainly, though, it’s a day to stop and remind those that you love how much they mean to you. It’s a day about love, gratitude, passion and let’s not forget chocolate.

So, what does any of this have to do with organizing? There are organizing systems that surround traditions, including Valentine’s Day. Here are some ideas:

• V-day Card-Making: Do you have a place where you can easily store all your card-making needs? Use a box or drawer to house your paper, glitter, glue, tape, scissors, stickers and envelopes. When you’re done creating the cards, all supplies can return to their designated spot.

• V-day Card Memorabilia: What do you do with the cards and love letters you’ve received? I keep cards that have special heart-felt messages written on them, in a decorative box stored in a closet. The ones that are signed “love, _____,” I usually enjoy for about a week and then let them go.

• V-day Decorations: Whether you enjoy decorating the entire house or prefer to set the table in a Valentine’s Day theme, establish a place to store your V-day decorations. Depending upon the quantity, you might need one large plastic storage bin or only a portion of a shelf or drawer. A convenient storage location will make it easy to access, put away decorations and contain potential clutter.

• V-day Chocolate: As far as I can tell, there’s no need to organize or store it. Chocolate gets consumed so quickly (at least in our household) that it’s not an organizing challenge. For those that are adept at savoring their chocolate, consider storing it in some out of the way location like on a shelf that’s difficult to reach or in a box that’s impossible to open.

• V-day Lingerie: When you’re not wearing it, take care to store pieces carefully in drawers or on padded satin hangers. Place scented soap in your lingerie drawer to keep things smelling lovely. 

As promised, to celebrate one of my favorite holidays, the LOVE-ly Organizing Giveaway starts on February 7th.  One winner will be selected on February 14th.  For the giveaway description and contest rules, continue reading.

The LOVE-ly Organizing Giveaway includes goodies that will organize, inspire, relax and delight you. The winner will receive everything described below:

• ADD & Romance by Jonathan Halverstadt

• Starbucks $25 gift card

• Emily’s Dark Chocolate covered Fortune Cookies

• Barnes & Noble Red Mesh Zippered Pouches (set of 4)

• Red metal tin to organize cards and love letters

Contest Rules:

• Comment on this blog post below with your favorite Valentine’s Day thought, memory, tradition, organizing tip or challenge

• Comment about the giveaway on the Oh, So Organized! Facebook page

• Re-tweet this giveaway on Twitter and include  @LindaSamuels when you do

• Subscribe to The Other Side of Organized monthly e-newsletter for continued inspiration and motivation

• Do one or all of the above to enter. The more you do, the more times your name will be entered to win (up to 4 total entries!)

I look forward to our conversation about love, chocolate, organizing and more. Wishing you all good luck!

During a recent winter storm, my daughter called out to me from her room to see something. When I walked in, she had a big smile on her face and was pointing to beautiful icicles that had formed on the rhododendron outside her window.  They glistened in the light with an aura of wonder. We stopped to enjoy nature’s display.

I kept thinking about the image of the icicles. They were frozen and still. Sometimes we feel that way. We get stuck where we are. We aren’t sure which direction to move. We might even be afraid of change. So we wait. We stop. We freeze.

Then something happens. A light bulb goes off. We feel a little bit brave. We get uncomfortable just waiting. We feel inspired. We make the choice to take a tiny step forward. We’re like the icicle that slowly melts as the sun shines on us. First, there’s one drip, then another. Before you know it, the icicle is gone and the branch is free to sway in the breeze. We are unencumbered by fear, indecision and procrastination. We are not just a bystander of change; we are actually seeking out and directing it.

Last month I took time to think about fresh starts and what shape I wanted the New Year to take. I thought about and prioritized my goals. I slowly began putting ideas into action. This month, I’m focused on pursuing the changes that I seek.

The winter is in full force with its many icicles and ever growing mounds of snow. Even so, I feel more like those melted droplets of water that changed from a state of stillness and contemplation to action.

What changes are you in the midst of right now?

Lighten Up by Peter Walsh

January is Get Organized Month. According to Standolyn Robertson, NAPO Past-President, “Getting organized is one of the top 5 New Year’s resolutions people make…” What better way to wrap up this month than with a giveaway that’s designed to help you with your organizing goals?

For my Get Organized Month Giveaway, one lucky winner will receive a copy of the newly released book Lighten Up by the charming organizational expert, Peter Walsh. He’s a New York Times bestselling author and host of the new Oprah Winfrey Network Television series “Enough Already! with Peter Walsh.” The subtitle of Peter’s book says it all:  Love What You Have, Have What You Need, Be Happier with Less.

Sometimes the pressure of getting organized or working on your goals is so great that it prevents us from taking any steps forward.  For me, it’s valuable to use the change of seasons to create reflection and evaluation pauses. The goals I’m working on now will bring me through the winter. Once spring arrives, I will look back and then ahead to adjust what I’m doing. In my book, The Other Side of Organized, the seasons help my readers focus on particular ideas at specific times. Winter is about fresh starts, embracing change and taking next steps.

Please make your next step entering the Get Organized Month Giveaway.  The giveaway starts on January 24th. The winner will be picked on January 31st.  Follow the contest rules to win a copy of Peter Walsh’s book, Lighten Up:

1.    Comment on this blog post below with something you love or would be happier without.

2.    Comment about the giveaway on the Oh, So Organized! Facebook page

3.    Re-tweet the giveaway on Twitter and include @LindaSamuels when you do!

4.    Subscribe to the Other Side of Organized monthly e-newsletter for inspiration and motivation!

Do one or all of the above to enter. The more you do, the more times your name will be entered to win (up to 4 total entries!)

I look forward to hearing from you and sharing Peter’s book with the winner. Good luck!

This was a first for me. After having tea and checking my email, I started writing this blog post on my iPad at Starbucks. I arrived too early for my client appointment and had some extra time.

I'm a frequent Starbucks customer, and while I’ve spent many hours at various locations sipping lattes and relaxing, I’ve never done any writing on the premises until today.  I find this funny because I always see other people working on their laptops and wonder how they can focus with all the noise.

My preferred time and place to write my blog has typically been at my desktop, surrounded by the quiet, privacy, and comfort of my home. Starbucks has an entirely different atmosphere. There are many sounds like continual music, steamed liquids being prepared, the buzz of many conversations, beverage requests being taken, feet shuffling, and chairs moving. To add to the activity, the Starbucks where I sat was in New York City. There was as much going on inside as there was outside.

To my surprise, I enjoyed the change of scenery from where I usually write. It breathed new life into one of my 2011 goals of writing a weekly blog post. This month, I’m writing about "Fresh Start," which corresponds to chapter one of my book, The Other Side of Organized.

Beginning again with a clean slate or a completely different slate can be enervating. It's what I experienced this morning. So, as you're setting your goals and making some changes, think about shaking things up. I accidentally stumbled upon this at Starbucks simply by changing the location where I usually write. What slight alteration can you make to bring you closer to accomplishing one of your goals?

I’d love to hear about your best goal-boosting strategies.