Samantha K Schmidt

I have always considered myself somewhat of a minimalist. I like simple design and get anxious when there's too much clutter. With that said, I've also been a trend-seeker most of my life. I'm immediately attracted to things I see on blogs or in stores and feel an immediate need to buy more. It's the consumerist mindset that I've grown up, but my minimalist self and my consumerist self have always battled it out. Lately, I've been inspired by other minimalists to start narrowing down my clothes and accessories to only the essential items. This looks different for everyone so here are a few tips on how to decide what to keep in your closet. 1. Get rid of anything you haven't worn in a year. Whether the item is no longer trendy, doesn't fit, or never quite looked right it's time to get rid of it. If you are holding onto items thinking you will fit into them again, keep this in mind. Once you lose the weight you'll want new items anyway instead...

There is a never ending list of things that must be purchased for a wedding or DIYed if you're feeling ambitious. In the same respect, there is a plethora of things you are likely to forget to buy until the last minute. Here is a short list of those forgotten items. A Board for Table Assignments : You've probably remembered the importance of those cute little table numbers and place cards, but you may have forgotten about a place to put a list of table assignments. Unless you want your guests roaming around aimlessly for the first 30 minutes of your reception, its best to create a list to be viewed during cocktail hour. It allows everyone to easily find their seat and keeps your big entrance from being delayed. There are a lot of creative options for displaying your seating chart and it's a quick and easy DIY. Reserved Signs : Believe it or not many of your guests will not be aware of proper etiquette when seating themselves at your wedding ceremony. Unless you have...

On November 14, 2015 my amazing boyfriend asked me to be his wife and almost immediately gave me the deadline of 5 months to plan and prepare a wedding and merge our two homes. I had known since the beginning of our relationship that he wasn't fond of long engagements and admittedly the sooner I could marry him the happier I would have been; however, I believe he underestimated just how much there is to do in preparation for a wedding. As the wedding day got closer and closer I found my capacity for other processing almost entirely disabled. A normally organized and alert individual, I began to lose track of dates, tasks, and even people's names. The other day I found myself pondering over the name of a coworker for nearly 3 minutes before it finally made its way out of long term memory. I began using the term wedding brain when I realized that like a pregnant woman I was so focused on this monumental change in my life that I seemed to be forgetting little details....

If you think that your wedding day is going to go off without a hitch, I hate to say it... but you're wrong. There will definitely be bumps and bruises along the way. However, if you're anything like me, sometimes imagining the worst possible scenario can help prepare you for all the little (and big) fails that are bound to occur. I've ranked my wedding fails below in order to relieve you of some anxiety. 5. Taking a Dive Weddings are filled with exciting moments. One of the most exciting moments for your guests is the bouquet toss. It seems to bring out the best and the worst in people. I was looking forward to this tradition as I knew there were quite a few couples who were likely to get engaged over the next few months. I sent word to a few of my bridesmaids to scatter in order for one particular friend to catch the bouquet. The music began, the girls hearts began to race, and toss. I turn around to see my husband's 8 year old cousin taking a dive for the bouqu...

Photo Source In today's world we are constantly obsessed with time. Mainly because we never seem to have enough of it. How many times have you caught yourself saying, "If only there were more hours in the day." I know I've felt like that a lot lately, especially in the summer when there are so many fun things to do. The fact of the matter is given more time we'd just find more things to fill it with, and the cycle would begin again. So instead of manifesting more hours in the day, let's make the most out of what we have. 1. Purge : First of all figure out what things you can purge from your daily routine. If I'm being honest the thing I had to eliminate was TV time. To some people that may be an important part of their routine, but I found myself just sitting mindlessly when I could have been doing something productive. This website has a calculator to help you figure out how much time your wasting, and how much time you can gain by eliminating or ...

Eating healthy is hard to do when you are constantly on the go. One of the easiest ways to stay healthy is to cook at home, but whether you are a working girl or a busy stay at home mom it's hard to find time to cook nutritious meals. That's why meal planning can be such a life saver. Here are a few ways to minimize your meal stress and stay healthy all week long.

Traveling can be a nuisance for a lot of people. Flying can mean measuring, weighing, and checking luggage. And even then there's a chance everything could be lost. When I travel I try to keep everything with me to minimize tragedy. For my upcoming trip to California I have managed to pack everything I need into one backpack that will fit snugly under my seat. Here are few tips you can use to help you downsize. Compromise: Downsizing means giving up unnecessary accessories. I've minimized my accessories down to one scarf and my every day jewelry. I'm also taking a small wallet in lieu of a purse. Minimize:  Here's where some people may have trouble. For a 3 day vacation (1 of which is travel) I am only taking 2 pairs of pants. There is no reason you can't wear a pair of pants twice unless you experience severe perspiration. And even if you do, Febreeze is your friend. Spray your pants at night, hang them up, and they are ready for the next day.  Compart...

Favorite Organization I usually end up throwing all my phone cases in a drawer. I thought this was a great way to organize and display them. Favorite Eat I'm a bit of a coffeeholic, so I was all over these coffee popsicles. Favorite Beauty These contouring images have been floating around for a while, but I found this one to be the most basic and easy application. Favorite Abode I am a minimalist at heart and my heart swooned when I saw this tiny camper. Perfect for one person or couple with everything you need and nothing you don't. Favorite Nook I love the look of this cozy coffee shop.  To see the original pins and many more visit Morning Lux on Pinterest

It's been a while since I've updated you guys on my favorite technology. This week I'm featuring one of my favorite ways to stay organized, Evernote. Evernote is a do it all application that you can access from any device. It's a word processor, ultimate checklist, notebook extraordinare.  Not only can you do everything from write an essay to save a recipe you can also add photos, audio, or other word attachments.  While getting ready for the new school year I created a few notes to help me prepare. I added a shopping list, decor inspiration, and preliminary lesson plans. You also have the option to organize your notes into categories from your computer. Evernote is incredibly user friendly and unlike other word processors is completely FREE!  Give it a shot and tell me what you think.

This week's trend crush is an amazing office supply company called Poppin. I was immediately drawn to the eye popping colors from this brand, but I also love their simplistic design. Poppin has all the makings of an ultra stylish office. I'm getting ready to go back to work and I've been eyeballing a few things for my desk. I'm in love with the aqua and pink items because it matches my Lilly agenda perfectly. Here are a few of my favorites. Poppin Desk by samantha-k89 featuring home decor You can find Poppin products at Staples and The Container Store. You can also see all the amazing colors and designs on poppin.com

It's been a while since I've done a Trend Crush post mainly because most of my crushes are work related at the moment. However, today's Trend Crush is the perfect blend of professional and fashionable. It's the Lilly Pulitzer agendas. The new prints were just released for presale and I am in love. The only problem is I can't figure out which one I want. I love these agendas because they are academic style which means they begin in August. And this year Lilly updated the inside with some adorable graphics. The only one I've seen in person is the medium size which is certainly too small for all my to do lists, so I'm thinking I'll go with the large or the jumbo Go big or go home right? Here are my favorites, but you can see all of this years prints on LillyPulitzer.com Hot Spot and Trippin and Sippin

One of the best ways to stay sane and keep your life organized is to create and maintain a budget. I've always been pretty good with money, but I also enjoy the lux life a little too much. Sometimes its hard for me to stay on track. That's why I started using Mint. It's the perfect app to keep your budget balanced. Mint, like your bank app if you have one, gives you an overview of all your accounts. However, it also shows you what debt you may have as well as how much you're spending compared to how much you earn.  But my favorite part of mint is the budget section. The app actually shows you where your money is going. When you see one area taking over your pie chart you know it's time to make some changes. For example, this guy is obviously spending way too much on restaurants.  Saving up for a house? Mint can also help you set goals and give you tips to achieving them. The best part is Mint is available on all your techie platforms. You can chec...

If you read Monday's post you know that I've been trying to add some routine to my summer. For me, summer is the time I can do things I never have time for during the year. And sorry my college age friends its not party, party, party. I like to learn new things, fix things around the house, etc. For all of my daily to-do's I typically use the reminders app on my iphone, but I was desperate for something different. I wanted to organize my tasks by day as well as by importance. After some serious app searching I came across Any.Do. I love the clean layout of this app as well as the organization options. You can organize tasks by today, tomorrow, upcoming, and someday.                                       Each day you also have the opportunity to plan your day. You can give each task a time and the app will send you a reminder. In horizontal view you can see your whole month a...

There comes a point in your adulthood that having summers off is no longer full of late nights and parties with friends. At 25 of all of my friends have full time jobs, families, and kids, but as a teacher I do enjoy having a few months to recuperate. Still I know that I'm going to wear myself out on Netflix if I don't stick to some kind of schedule. Most of the summer schedules I found online were geared towards families, so I used inspiration from my Summer To-Do List  and I came up with a schedule that will help me knock a few things off this list. Daily 6:30 Wake Up 6:35 Take Dogs out and Feed Boys (my female dog has to be fed separately) 6:40 Drink a full glass of water and make coffee 6:45 Make bed 6: 50 Feed Marilyn & Medicine 7:00 Eat breakfast & Daily Devotional 7:30 Get Dressed 8:00 Writing & Blogging 10:00 Get out of the house (see my weekly get out plan below) 12:00 Lunch 12:30 Practice ASL 1:30 Chores (dishes, sweeping, etc.)...