Queen Bees Linkup – Waiting on a Queen Bee
Welcome to the March Queen Bees linkup where my friend Katy and I encourage you to share a woman in your life who inspires you! This month the prompt is honoring a woman who is organized! We developed a few prompts for the entire year to help you with ideas but please feel free to showcase any woman in your life!
So this month there was no other person coming to my mind immediately accept my friend Holly from While I’m Waiting. Here she is doing what she loves cheering on the Aggies with her adorable family.
Holly is a list maker and I am always impressed with how she keeps things running in their home with lists. A few things I have observed and/or stolen over the years of knowing her that I love.
Contact Information – Holly always has this handy for all of the important people in her life. Not only does she keep the name, address, phone number(s) and email address in the contact on her phone but she also makes herself little notes there. Favorite drink, favorite flowers, favorite place to eat, birthday; it’s all there at her finger tips! How many times have I wanted to grab a quick treat for a friend but couldn’t remember something personal and special? Well this little tip from my girl helped me out so much!
Mailing labels – Holly keeps her Christmas card address list in an excel file (hello after my own heart!) which is then so easy (she’s laughing here) to mail merge into word and print quick labels. I have used this method for my overall list which has made creating other mailing lists for graduations and such a breeze. Feel free to email me and I’ll send you a template!
Weekly calendar – I have always loved that she prints (or emails) a weekly calendar to her family so everyone is on the same page and knows what’s going on for the week.
She makes lists….lots and lots of lists. I always love getting into her car to see her little list of to dos sitting there with items crossed off so neatly.
So all of these things have always impressed me and years ago when she made a move to a new home she shared the book It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff
by Peter Walsh with me and I learned so many great tips. Y’all, this new book she has shared I cannot wait to read because it is changing her life for sure! You will have to hop on over and read the post she has written the past 8 weeks or so as she is working her way through her house using the Kon Mari method.
by Peter Walsh with me and I learned so many great tips. Y’all, this new book she has shared I cannot wait to read because it is changing her life for sure! You will have to hop on over and read the post she has written the past 8 weeks or so as she is working her way through her house using the Kon Mari method. 
Here is just a little peek at my favorite so far….her closet transformation!
I cannot even begin to tell you how cute my friend has looked since finding all the clothes that bring her joy and ditching the rest!
I’d be lying if I said my very favorite thing was not her ability to organize a vacation! I seriously would go anywhere with this chick. If there is a site to be seen she is going to find it and have it in a typed up travel guide that has been taken to be bound!!! Will you do everything on this list? Probably not but having a guide when we went to NYC for her 40th birthday with endless options all organized with phone numbers and addresses by the area of the city we were in was nothing short of amazing. I really do think this is an area she could really do professionally.
I asked Holly how would she say she handles the “in betweens” in her life and here is what she had to say!
Hmmm…how do I handle all the “in betweens”? Sometimes, not so great! While purging and re-organizing the house, I’ve learned that I’m really, really good at putting things off. If I don’t have the time to do something like I envision it, I tend to file it away. BUT, when I AM on my A game, I find that making lists is key. Take for instance this past weekend. I made a master list of all the things I wanted for us to complete and then split them out between the two days. There’s just something about crossing something off a list. Granted, we didn’t complete everything but we did get lots finished. All the “in betweens” will always be there – I just check them off one thing at a time!
See….what did I tell ya?!! The list making works! So today I’m sharing this girl with you all so you can soak up some of her goodness.
Thanks so much Holly Mac for being my Queen Bee! Love you!
Previous Queen Bee Posts
Now it’s your turn to share a woman you know who loves well and mark your calendar for all 2016 Queen Bee linkups!
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She sounds so organised, I could definitely learn a thing or two from her! 🙂
Away From The Blue Blog
I had a feeling you were going to feature Holly. Just knew it! Great write up on her. Learn a little more each time on her. Thanks for the link up!
She sounds like an amazing woman! I love her idea about writing favorite things by the person's name in an address book!
Thanks, friend! Now I'm off to work on Holden's birthday trip! Don't want to disappoint! 🙂
You could definitely learn a few tips from her Mica!
The closet looks so good! She did a great job!
Shauna
http://www.lipglossandlace.net
Loved reading this! Super impressed with her closet organizing abilities! I need some of the inspiration before I tackle my Spring cleaning!
Really cute post!! I need to be more organized, love these ideas.
Oh my gosh that closet inspiration is definitely giving me the itch to reorganize mine! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston
You had me at "organized"…LOL I knew that Holly would be your Queen Bee as soon as I saw the word organized! ha ha ha!! She is amazing and I think we would be fast friends if I lived closer. I write lists each night for the next day and love love love crossing them off, one by one! It just makes me feel like I have accomplished something! And PS…..Tony has agreed that it would be way more fun for Tay and I to do a Mother / Daughter trip this summer and we both agreed Texas is it! So as soon as we figure out where she is moving to (who hires my new college grad!) We will set plans in motion! We are both so excited. Going to Kyle Field and visiting Texas A&M is probably what she is most excited about! She is a huge Aggie fan!!
The first thing I have to say is 12AM Shelly….you did this a 12AM???? Are you still getting up early? I mean what do you get, like 2 hours of sleep?? OK! Holly, Holly, Holly do you dream about organizing peoples houses in your sleep??? I do!!!! Not naming any names here. LOL. I have read The Life-Changing Magic of Tiding UP more than once and love a little book called Simplifying Your Life. I am also a chronic list maker!! Charles Stanley says in his sermon about living a disciplined life, to keep an index card with everything you need to accomplish that day written on the card. Mark off what gets accomplished and the things that do not, go on the card for the next day. I have excel spreadsheet every year for Christmas gifts, menus, and cards….however Shelly, I totally want a copy of your template. Mine is nothing special. I am however NOT into planning vacations but luckily my husband IS…so that works out well.
Girl…no…I schedule these posts so you will rarely find me still awake at midnight! I am still getting up early in the morning and one or two late nights will screw up my workouts for the week. Trying to be disciplined!! I dream of how organized my house would be if I lived in it alone..haha. I love making lists….alot of times after I have already completed stuff just so I can cross it off! Text me your email address and I'll send this spreadsheet over!
Eek….that will be so much fun! I have taken Jordan on a few trips and it is always so nice to get away with her. You keep us posted and we will be ready for ya.
Right? My closet is pretty organized but after seeing some of the things she has done to minimize I know I could do even better.
It really does make life a little smoother….and truly living with less is the way to go. Now…getting there is a totally different story!
Isn't it fabulous?!! And she always hated getting dressed every day before and now she is putting together outfits like nobodies business!
She's pretty darn incredible….and she always thinks of things I have never thought of that make life just a teeny bit easier.
How'd you guess? Haha
I definitely will keep you updated! I met up with her in Fresno yesterday, for a little Starbucks time and we talked a little bit about the trip. She is so over college and ready to get hired and start her big girl life! This will be a super fun way to send her off to the Big Girl world!!!
I have to agree. Holly is an organization goddess! I had no idea about the vacation organization. That is amazing!
And I realized later…..she can also plan a bday party like nobody's business!