Ask Anna

Tips for How to be a fabulous Hostess

I love having people over, it’s something I crave. I start going nuts when we are in a busy season and can’t have people over. So today I wanted to share a few tips I’ve learned over the years and a list of things to always have on hand for when your guests drop by. #1 The first thing that’s important to remember is to be YOU. Your house doesn’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to apologize over and over again if it’s not (actually apologizing for the mess, points out the mess that they might not… Read More

Meal Planning 101

I have written about meal planning before but it’s been a few years and I’ve slightly changed how I do it, so I thought I’d revisit the topic. The way I meal plan is so easy, and even though it takes a little time, at the same time it’s a valuable tool and saves me so much time in the long run! Step 1 The first thing that’s important is to write your recipes on a meal calendar. Here’s the one I use. It doesn’t have to be this one but it’s important that you write your recipes down so… Read More

What NOT to Spring Clean

I partnered with Maids.com for this post This time of year there is so much talk about Spring Cleaning. Obviously I have a handful of Spring Cleaning posts as well but today I’m going to talk about what NOT to Spring Clean. I think the idea of Spring Cleaning can be overwhelming to some of us because we stare at the huge checklist and don’t know where to start, so instead we get paralyzed and do nothing. Well nothing is never the right answer so let’s figure out a better solution by finding things we can take off the list!… Read More

Two Places You’re Missing When Cleaning the Microwave

Hi it’s Kim from A Real-life Housewife here to share a couple tips about cleaning your microwave. I don’t doubt that you know to clean the inside of your microwave as well as the front panel. These are the most obvious places to wipe down when it comes to cleaning the microwave. However, there are two more places that you’re likely not getting to – the exhaust grill and underneath the microwave. If you don’t have a mounted microwave, well then, you are not missing out on these two places! For the rest of us, let’s get started! The Exhaust Grill… Read More

How to Keep Furniture from Sliding on Wood Floors

Ever since we installed our wood floors it has driven me nuts that our furniture slides around easily, especially when we sit down. I bought some new chairs for our living room last month and every time you sit down in one it slides back at least a few inches. As someone who is slightly OCD, and wants my furniture to stay where I want it, this drives me crazy. Any of you with wood floors relate? I got to the point last week where I finally snapped and said, “there HAS TO BE a solution to this madness!” So… Read More

Strawberry Tarragon Lemonade

Refreshing lemonade filled with diced strawberries and a hint of tarragon. Simple to make and delicious, this strawberry tarragon lemonade is perfect for spring. Hi it’s Andrea from Cooking with a Wallflower, and today I wanted to share with you an amazing drink. It’s spring, which means strawberry season is well under way. Are you as excited as I am? One of my favorite spring and summer drinks is strawberry lemonade. I love the sweetness of the strawberries paired with the tartness of lemonade. But this! The addition of tarragon simple syrup makes this strawberry lemonade so amazingly delicious. Tarragon… Read More

DIY Pool Rules Chalkboard

Spring is finally here and even though our pool is still only about 55 degrees my daughter is already swimming (she’s nuts!). And I know that as the weather gets warmer more kids will join her and before I know it summer will be upon us and our pool will be filled with family and friends! Last summer was our first summer having a pool and I spent a lot of time yelling at the kids, “no running around the pool!”, “no jumping in the shallow end!”, you know, you’ve been there too. I thought about making a “Pool Rules”… Read More

Laundry Room Reveal (AGAIN)

You’ve seen a couple of my recent laundry room projects, like our industrial shelves tutorial and the hooks I installed, and if you follow me on Instagram then you’ve also seen some sneak peeks of other things I’ve been up to in the laundry room. But today I’m going to show you the whole laundry room. I love how it turned out and I actually enjoy being in there now, rather than trying to get out as fast as I can! One of the things I love doing is revisiting pictures to see how far our house has come. Since… Read More