I am always talking about my goal of more work-life balance and I feel that looking back at the month of July I am moving closer to achieving it. The month was filled with great organizing and estate projects, blog events, fun with friends, and a trip to see my family in Michigan.
As a business owner I am always trying to better organize the Kuzak’s Closet scheduling process and over the course of the month I think I’ve finally got a system that will encourage me not to try to fit in everything when it just isn’t possible. As Kuzak’s Closet grows I am realizing I need more and more time behind my computer and on the phone running this ship which is exciting and also stressful for me because most days I am working along side my organizing clients or managing estate projects. I love the working in the action so often I am up late at night catching up on all of the administrative tasks that I couldn’t tend to during the day. Something always has to give and instead of letting my sanity go I think I’ve finally come up with a scheduling system that will work for me as well as my team. For now we will organize with clients on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and hold liquidation sales on Tuesdays and Thursdays (if possible). Estate sales will take place on Friday and Saturday and I am going to try to only organize a total of 2 sales or liquidations per week. Let’s see if I can stick to this.
The demand for us to be in 4 places at once is there and I don’t see that going away. Instead of keeping up with it I’ve decided that it is okay not to. Can you believe I just said that? I know I will have a hard time following that statement I just made but I will try. I’m a very competitive person, especially with myself and I’ve learned that there is not a winner at the end of the day. I will work harder and smarter than everyone in my field but no one is going to show up at my doorstep to recognize my hard work with trophy, it just takes me to understand that I am doing my best and I have achieved a lot and that is just dandy.
Ok, moving on to the month of balance, shall we! Kuzak’s Closet was invited to the San Francisco Cooking school for a baking class where we made butter and tested the results of different types of butter used while baking. I love to cook and bake so I jumped at the opportunity and dragged Taylor and Monica along with me.
We had a nice time in the San Francisco sunshine, learned a lot, and made a few new friends along the way. The cooking school was so professional and interesting to me, maybe someday I will take on their recreational program.
Until then I will remain in the closet, Kuzak’s Closet, ha! The entire Kuzak’s Closet organizing team has been busy with organizing sessions this month. We have tackled a few relocations, a huge paper scanning project (awesome new service, don’t hesitate to email me about this one), closet and garage sessions, kitchens, and so much more. We are always sharing behind the scenes tips and tricks on Instagram so pop over to see what we are up to. This week one of the custom garages from Valet Custom Cabinets is getting installed and we can’t wait to see the finished project, we’ve been working with this client for a few months.
Also along with organization I am continuing my new endeavor with The Los Altos Town Crier and my second article on moving and relocation will be published shortly. After that we are going to chat about back to school tips so if you are ready to gain control of your home again stay tuned to our social media for that! Back to school is one of my favorite times to work with our clients, the kids are transitioning and so is the home so it is important to get it right.
Ah, Michigan! In the middle of the month I traveled home to see my family and friends. It was a great trip and we had a ton of fun. My husband and I try our best to be as efficient as possible when we are home so we can see and experience everything on our to-do list.
Here is a picture of me packing, I have a love hate relationship with packing but if you want to know my favorite tips click here for last summer’s organization series on the subject and here for a post that I wrote 5 years ago on the blog (good tips never change!).
Michigan was so green and lush on this trip, very different from our typical California drought scenery. My entire family was home and Chris’s parents live a few miles away so we had lots of opportunities to get together for lunch, a walk, a cocktail, you name it. We attended some great events at Verona Hills, love that place, and also managed to make it to the Ann Arbor area for a night to spend with friends. I have a full recap in an earlier blog post so check it out.
Once our Michigan trip came to an end Chris headed back to California and I ventured on to New York City for time with my friend Larry and his brother Alex and their mother Linda (one of my first organizing clients) and to attend the BlogHer Conference. We had a few days together before the conference started and had so much fun. I showed them my hotspots and then once the conference started we met up for dinner most nights. It was great to see Alex and Linda and SO great to see Larry again. I really miss having him close by.
BlogHer was amazing, I just wrote a full recap this week and am looking forward to them to announce where it is going to be held next year. It was great professional development and has really invigorated me to come up with new ideas and challenge myself for the rest of the year.
As nice as it was to be away it was also great to come home to this bunch. This isn’t the whole team but I love this picture. It was taken on Jordan’s birthday this month, he is now our fabulous 19 year old intern. It is his second summer and he cracks me up everyday. He always has a positive outlook and jumps at the chance to lead the group. They were all working on projects behind the scenes while I was away and then most of the gang had a full week off (Taylor and Billy never stop, they are workaholics just like me).
Today instead of having an estate sale we are headed to the beach with an estate sale shopper, now how is that for work/life balance? Our shopper George has offered to take us to Capitola and teach us how to surf, and enjoy some time in the sun and the sand. I’ll be bringing snacks and a good book along with my camera to catch the action.
Kimberley Fielding says
Hi Amanda, while I was away this weekend, someone named Sargassus (sp?) called. Since I had inquired about Judy McCalla’s car and artwork, I wondered if this was someone from your team replying. Let me know. 650-948-6601
Kimberley