Brown Sugar Toast

Category: Random

A 31 Day Series

Introducing a 31 day series. The topic?Because this topic has been on my mind a lot recently.
As evidenced by the great purge of ’14, my hoarding pictures, and my pursuit of an intentional closet.

Because I’m 100% sure our society screams against this.
As evidenced by the amazing advertisement industry.

Because I’m 100% sure you need this in your life too.
As evidenced by my awesome mind-reading skillz.

Join me. October 1. The Simplify Series.

Want the Simplify Series to come straight to your inbox?
Sign up here! You can also connect on facebook for daily reminders.

I’ll update this page each day so that you can find all the links in one spot:
Day 1 // a definition
Day 2 // you have to choose
Day 3 // why simplify?
Day 4 // leave it empty
Day 5 // all you need
Day 6 // how I have a clean house & more sanity
Day 7 // just use less
Day 8 // put it where you use it
Day 9 // time me!
Day 10 // the very best way to keep your home clean
Day 11 // make a station
Day 12 // details + shaping
Day 13 // plan once. eat twice.
Day 14 // limit your options
Day 15 // simple granola
Day 16 // 2 meals in 1
Day 17 // dump & go
Day 18 // counter real estate
Day 19 // the ultimate
Day 20 // cook once. eat twice.
Day 21 // my fave recipe sources
Day 22 // purpose
Day 23 // filter
Day 24 // limit
Day 25 // inspire
Day 26 // no greatness
Day 27 // plan for paper
Day 28 // simplified closet
Day 29 // a danger
Day 30 // the motivation
Day 31 // result

September 19, 2014
an intentional closet

Since the great purge of ’14, I’ve been much more intentional about the ‘stuff’ I allow into our home. I even avoided the clearance endcaps at Target the other day. Now that’s dedication.

I’ve been greatly intrigued lately by the idea of a capsule wardrobe. I first read about it here, but the idea originated from Un-Fancy.

Basically, the idea is that you think through your wardrobe for a specific season, buy what you need to fill it out, and then don’t buy anything else for the rest of the season. Oh – did I mention you can only have 37 items?

You might think it sounds cuh-razy. And I did too at first. But the more I’ve thought about, the more it really appeals to me. You see, it goes along with being intentional about stuff. Instead of just buying a piece of clothing because “I like it!” or “it’s only 2 bucks!” I’d actually be buying something with forethought. Plus, if you’re like me, you probably have your favorite clothes that you wear over and over again instead of wearing everything in your closet. So, doing a capsule wardrobe would be like picking only your fave pieces to wear each season.

I haven’t committed to the whole capsule wardrobe idea for this fall. But I have been thinking through my closet. And last month, I went through everything in my closet and got rid of at least 20 things. (sidenote: the fact that I can get rid of 20 things in my closet and never miss them is…ridiculous.) Some of the clothes didn’t fit. Some were from high school. All of it got put in a ‘donate’ or ‘trash’ pile.

One thing I am trying to do is to go through my closet and think through pieces I would like to get. I can’t call these essentials. Because really, as long as you have clothes, you’ve got the essentials covered. Buuut, I’ll call these items that I would totally put on my Christmas list. Except for the fact that some of the items shown below are insanely expensive. So I plan to keep my eyes open for replicas. I’ll letcha know what happens with this great search.

1 :: 2 :: 3 :: 4 :: 5 (not sure?)

A lot of neutrals, right? But these are some pieces that can be worn in so many different ways – especially 1, 2, & 5. The shoes aren’t totally my favorite, to be perfectly honest…but I really love having colorful shoes to add a little pop to my outfits. Actually, I’ve been looking for red flats for a while, so I would be pleased as punch to find some this season. And #4…I have been prowling around for a cute, warm, squishy hoodie for a couple years. This one is uber cute. But it’s also over $200. Let’s just make a pact here – you and me – even if I randomly receive a massive inheritance from a long-lost relative, I promise that I will never spend $230 on a hoodie.

Maybe $229.

kidding. obvs.

So, there you have it. I’m going to be making a list of holes in my closet and attempting to not buy anything unless it’s on the list. I’ll let you know if I find all these items for killer steals. Deal? I’m on my way to an intentional closet.

p.s. most of the ideas for these pieces were from my Style board on Pinterest. Follow me?

September 12, 2014
the funny thing about stuff

I’ve been thinking a lot about stuff lately. Mostly due to my purging.

You know, there’s something funny about stuff. It seems to add goodness to our lives. But did you know that every time you add something, something else is subtracted?

Let’s start with the most obvious.

1. Every time you choose to bring stuff into your home, you subtract money. If I add this Ikea blanket into my home, I’ve just subtracted $20 from my wallet.
“Oh, but I got this at a yard sale and only paid $4 for it!” Fabulous! But you still subtracted $4.

2. Every time you choose to bring stuff into your home, you subtract energy. Because you’ve just committed to take care of that item for the duration of its residence. Use the blanket while you’re eating ice cream and get a big drip on it? You’ve just committed to taking care of that problem. However you choose to take care of it is up to you. But whatever method you choose (stain removal, trash the whole thing, gift it and hope nobody notices the stain, etc.) will require energy from you.

3. Every time you choose to bring stuff into your home, you subtract white space. Do you remember looking at the picture in this post and talking about how much we loved it? Do you know one of the big reasons you loved it? Because there was white space.

Every surface was not littered with knick-knacks. Or trash or books or anything. There was space to let your eyes rest. Each time we add something else to our homes, we’re choosing that stuff over space.

So, what’s my point?

Too often, I don’t think about subtraction when I do addition. I usually consider the $ subtraction. Because, obviously you have to think about that factor before you bring something home, right? But I usually don’t think about the subtraction of energy + white space.

I’m committing myself to think about everything – every. single. thing. – I bring into my home. Like, even the mail. Is it junk? Then don’t even let it through the door.

Clearly, I have an easier time with mail than with, say, Target’s clearance stash. Gah.

So, how are you at subtraction + addition with your stuff? Any subtractions I left out?
p.s. I’m opening comments for this post because I’d love to hear if you have any input on stuff!

September 5, 2014
purging

2014 has been a time of purging.

And I don’t mean anything to do with food or drinks.

I feel like all year has been filled with spurts of organizing and getting rid of things. Redefining my goals for things and possessions. Trashing, donating, moving, etc.

and it feels so good.

This morning, my guy and I had a little texting convo that went like this:

He’s a winner. And the house did/does still look like some wreckage has passed through.

I came across this picture {via this site} and loved it for many reasons.

But you know the biggest one?

It’s clean. There are no piles of junk sitting in the corner, under the sofa, etc.

Now, I realize the fact that I have 3 kids is going to make my house look quite a bit different. And I’m totally cool with that. My intent is not to make it look like no kids live in my home – so the fact that there are toys out is awesome. (unless it’s a block with sharp edges and it comes in contact with my foot. then it’s not so awesome.)

The fact that I have stuff sitting in my home that I haven’t used in over a year and probably won’t for another 5? totally not awesome. So I’m working on it. And it’s quite freeing, believe it or not. I actually vacuumed under my bed this morning. Hello. Who does that? Clearly I don’t.

So, are any of you in a great purging mood? Let’s have a yard sale together.
No, let’s not. Too much work.

Let’s celebrate instead by going out and buying more stuff to fill up all our new empty space.
ahem.

“Let all things be done decently & in order.”
1 Corinthians 14:40

August 18, 2014
take it to Jesus.

when life piles up on you.

when the pressures seem to multiply.

there’s an answer for that.

God doesn’t give us overwhelming situations so that we will be overwhelmed, but so that we’ll give them to Him.

Recently, there have been a lot of areas in my life where I feel burdened and overwhelmed:
several friends rejecting Jesus and pursuing sin.
a sweet Pastor dying suddenly of a heart attack.
my close friend having a miscarriage.
coming off a full summer.
my husband beginning work on his doctoral degree.

In all these things, the lesson God keeps teaching me is this:
God wants these pressures to take me closer to Him. Closer.

Got problems? Pressures? Overwhelmed?
Take it to Jesus. Just keep running to Him.

August 10, 2014
aaaaaaand we’re back!

The past 3 weeks have been full! I mentioned a little bit of our activity here, in case you have no idea what I’m talking about.

I wanted to give you a little re-cap of our missions trip to Brazil. Most of it will just be in picture format. Our main goals were to help the missionary family we were working with by assisting with VBS, a youth rally, tiling in several church rooms, and other outreach activities like English classes & canvassing.

Naturally, I didn’t take pictures of every activity. But I chose several that I thought you would enjoy and would give you a little taste of what happened over the past couple weeks. I’ll give a little recap at the end in case you wonder what in the world is going on in these pics:

1. chillin’ in the Charlotte airport, just waiting for our flights…
2. the chillin’ got boring for some people, so they proceeded to do pushups. I was totally content to be bored.
3. we made it! this was a sign in the Brazil airport that I just thought was too cool to pass up.
4. this sweet family had us in their home for dinner. the food = amazing. I was a little nervous about it, because I was planning to eat whatever they served. there was no need for nervousness. everything was delicious & there were no adverse effects. in case you were wondering. ahem.
5. this guy. love him. and hats are awesome too. especially when you’re shoveling sand + dirt and you look like a hot mess.
6 -7. these kids were just about the ages of my kids. and so I hung out with them a lot. I took videos of them being silly and Anna Grace loves watching them!
8. snack time at VBS. this little guy’s smile and laugh were so contagious!
9. I looked over during the youth rally and saw Jonathan protecting this little girl from the big ball. I mean…I just had to take a pic. #whataguy
10. some friends I met during the youth rally. they taught me Portuguese & I taught them English. thankfully, they knew way more English than I knew Portuguese, so we were able to communicate pretty well.
11. Big Ball at the youth rally! they loved it!
12. the flight home. AKA discarded food trays & a fun movie.
13. first sighting of my beautiful Charlotte.
14. okay, this was clearly the best part about coming home. these 3 precious kids stylin’ in their Brazil shirts while Daddy reads them a story.

Overall, the trip went well and we’re thankful for the many times we saw God answer our prayers. He gave much grace and we are so grateful!

July 28, 2014
you don’t have to understand

Before my kids take a nap, I usually read at least 1 story to them. Sometimes it’s Curious George or Madeline. Sometimes it’s a few chapters out of Proverbs. Lately, I’ve been reading some stories out of this Bible story book. We’ve already gone through it a couple times for our evening devotions, so the stories aren’t new. But I’ve really enjoyed reading through them again.

Recently, I read “The Present” – which is the story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son, Isaac. If you haven’t heard this story, you can read it here.

A couple sections from this story stood out to me:

“Put his boy on the altar and kill him as the sacrifice? How could God want him to do such a terrible thing? Abraham didn’t understand. But he knew that God was his father who loved him. And so Abraham trusted him.”

and again with Isaac:

“They built an altar and laid the wood on top. Abraham asked his son to climb on top of the wood. Isaac didn’t understand but he knew his father loved him. And so he trusted him.”

Do you see how their belief motivated their actions?
Abraham believed God. And so he obeyed even though he didn’t understand.

You don’t have to understand in order to obey. You don’t have to know how everything will turn out in the end before you take the first step. That’s what faith is. People who believe in Jesus don’t live for what they can see. They don’t make decisions because they see the final product. They live their lives based on what they can’t see.

Weird, right?

In a culture obsessed with the visible, God calls believers to be consumed with the invisible.

I don’t have to understand. I don’t have to be strapped to people’s opinions and my ever-changing emotions. Like Abraham, I can choose to obey based on who God is and what He has said.

Goodness. That’s who I want to be.
How about you?

July 9, 2014
taking stock

The next several weeks are a bit packed, so I’m trying to be super strict about vitamins, water, rest, hand-washing, etc. to keep the germies away. And of course, that means I’m upping the healthy routines for my littles as well. Thankfully, they love the taste of their vitamins + drops {wrote about them here}, so that makes it easy all around.

Anyway, I read this post last week and wanted to play along {original post here}, so here’s a little snapshot of my life in a nutshell…

Making : cleaning products with this
Cooking : freaky greek pasta & this from this book (that I borrowed from my library)
Drinking : water. and coffee with this creamer
Reading : just finished this
Wanting : people to just follow Jesus instead of their hearts. myself included.
Looking : for a striped skirt
Playing : Uno Moo with my kids {Nate is surprisingly good}
Wasting : time playing Scramble. good game. in moderation.
Sewing : absolutely nothing
Wishing : that I could paint
Enjoying : the sweet smiles + laughs from my baby Miles
Waiting : to see how God will answer some specific prayer requests
Liking : fedoras. like this one.
Wondering : what to get for my husband’s 30th birthday
Loving : hanging out with my fam. especially outside
Hoping : to sell some items on craigslist
Marveling : at God’s amazing love
Needing : to practice this kind of love
Smelling : the black cherry popsicle I just finished
Wearing : pink capris I finally fit back into
Following : this workout program. except not completely because of our crazy schedule this summer.
Noticing : the gorgeous blue of the sky
Knowing : that God is worth trusting
Thinking : about the fact that 2014 is halfway over
Feeling : desperate for wisdom
Bookmarking : this. obvs.
Opening : pickle jars. my kids are in love.
Giggling : actually, I don’t care for the word giggle. My sister and I used to make fun of it. but I’m amused by my kids constantly. and this made me laugh out loud.
Feeling : like it’s time for my kids to wake up and play with me.

Wanna play along?
Just copy & paste the text below into your own post. Let me know if you do — I’d love to read your answers!

Making:
Cooking:
Drinking:
Reading:
Wanting:
Looking:
Playing:
Wasting:
Sewing:
Wishing:
Enjoying:
Waiting:
Liking:
Wondering:
Loving:
Hoping:
Marvelling:
Needing:
Smelling:
Wearing:
Following:
Noticing:
Knowing:
Thinking:
Feeling:
Bookmarking:
Opening:
Giggling:
Feeling:

July 3, 2014
clean + simple

For the past few months, the design of this site has been getting on my nerves. Everything was so cluttered. I kept seeing different sites that I loved and I finally realized what they all had in common. They were simple. Clean. Uncluttered. And they were beautiful.

I am clearly not a graphic designer. Nor am I good at behind the scenes computer coding craziness. And so I was super hesitant to try to change anything because I just knew it would take a meeellion years.

Lo and behold. The new site design has arrived. And a meeellion years have not passed.

If you’re reading this via email, click here to see the clean + simple loveliness.

One of my fave features is the mobile version. I mean, seriously. How long does it take a girl to get a decent mobile version of her site? Clearly it takes a long time. But now you see this… {excuse the top & bottom parts that I was too lazy to crop out of the screenshots.}

And if you want to get to a specific topic, just click on the “Menu” and this drop down list will appear:

OR you can scroll to the bottom to either search the site or check out the most recent posts.

There may still be some wonky issues, so if you see any, please let me know via facebook or email {brownsugartoast {AT} gmail {DOT} com}.

So far, though, I just breathe a sigh of relief every time I see the new design.
Ahhhh…so clean + simple. I love it.

July 1, 2014
grace. and more grace.

Summers are our busy season. Due to Jonathan’s job as youth pastor, we are able to take kids to camp, lead teens on missions trip, and be heavily involved in our church’s summer outreach for kids. It’s seriously awesome!
Like anything, though, it also has parts that are difficult. Like the part where we leave our sweet babies each summer during missions trip.

Rip.my.heart.out. Times 3. Need I remind you how amazingly awesome my babies are?
I will – just in case you forgot.

I mean, I know babies are a lot of work. It’s true. You lose sleep and sanity, non-spit-up-on-clothes and the ability to wear fun accessories that resemble candy. But it doesn’t matter. They’re awesome. And God gives grace to take the good + not-so-good and overwhelm you with the good when the bad seems to outweigh it all.

Speaking of that grace… I’m needing it in a big way as we go through these summer activities.

Sometimes, I try to just muscle my way through difficult things because I think “there are a million people going through harder things than I am right now, so I shouldn’t even consider this ______ a trial.”

And then halfway through {if I make it that far}, I wonder why I’m having such a hard time. And so I pray to God for grace to help me through.

I’m learning to pray for grace and give it all to God before anything even starts. No matter how small it is compared to someone else’s struggle. Jesus has a way of making life situations just for me – things that He knows will push my buttons. And make me lose patience unless I’m getting it from Him.

God’s grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace that is greater than all my sin. Grace and strength to choose God’s way instead of my own.

My way is one of impatience. selfishness. weakness masked as strength.
His way is love. peace. joy. strength that never falters.

God, help me to choose your way. I need grace. and more grace.

June 25, 2014
gift ideas for the lady in your life

This week was my birthday {read: way too many calories have been consumed}.

For the past couple weeks, my husband has been asking me what sort of gift/s I would like. And so I made a list of ideas that he could choose from {so there would still be an element of surprise}. I had quite a good time compiling my gift idea list and thought I would share it with you. In case you’re looking for fun ideas for ~~yourself~~ your friend.

1. this lovely hat hails from Target. I love accessories like this. Neutral-ish colors, but a fun pattern to give your outfit a *pop*

2. because everyone loves homemade ice cream, right? tbh, I haven’t had homemade ice cream for years. but it’s pretty much perfection in my memory.

3. I’ve heard rave reviews about this candle. Is it worth the price tag? I don’t know, but I plan to sniff it out next time I browse anthro.

4. I’ve had a thing for graphic tees lately. And this super cute shirt is just that – super cute. The color combo is definitely my jam. And it looks long. Which is mandatory for this mom.

5. I mean…no explanation is really needed for this one, right? Especially since it even factored into my love story.

So, those are 5 fun gift ideas for the lady in your life. Whether it’s yourself or your friend. Aaaaaand my sweet husband delivered and I’m utilizing one of these gifts today. Can you guess which one? 😀

We’re heading out to take our church kids/teens to camp on Monday. So today I’m doing laundry, baby food prep, and general cleaning of my house so that things don’t look like a tornado when we get back.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

June 20, 2014
pictures for daddy

Last week, I decided to make a collage of pictures for my hubby for Father’s Day.

So, in normal fashion, I did it in the afternoon – perfect timing, of course….hottest part of the day, right before naptime…I’m brilliant, I tell you.

My kids were incredible troopers and we managed to get some cute shots. My hubby loved them and I thought you’d be glad to see them too. But really, I just think they’re the cutest, sweetest babies in the world and had to share…

Adorable, right? I know. You can tell they’re getting kinda sweaty in the last pics. Even cuter.

If you need some help with taking pics, check this post out for 4 tips on taking your family’s photos!

June 17, 2014