jenny collier photography blog

i love my digital SLR and my point & shoot cameras.  but sometimes i want to capture something just for me that i know i’m not going to blow up into a huge canvas for my wall.  so in comes instagram for the iphone.

http://instagr.am/

i love the instant gratification of taking a photo, applying a filter, and posting it.  no waiting to upload them from my camera to computer, editing, and resizing for web.  instagram has become one of my favorite ways to capture my everyday life.

speaking of emailing things.  when i come across an article, blog post, etc that looks interesting but i don’t have time to read i simply email it to myself.  the great thing i love about gmail is the great amount of storage…but i recently saw that i have used 80% of my storage capabilities.  yikes!

so instapaper is allowing me to store all of those articles and blog posts here to read later (even when i’m offline such as on a plane):

http://www.instapaper.com/

between two home computers and a work computer we are constantly emailing files back and forth.  dropbox is a cloud-based storage system in which you keep files that can be accessed from multiple computers (or your ipad/iphone).

https://www.dropbox.com/

so…the flier for our business that i was working on at home i can upload to dropbox and finish at our business.  and if i want to share something with a client or even our printing company i simply share the folder with them.  easy peasy!

i was recently introduced to evernote and am loving it.  i constantly have notes saved to the desktop of my computer with packing lists, confirmation numbers, to do lists, and other information that i don’t want to forget.

evernote is a free website (and a handy iphone app) that allows you to create notebooks with various notes inside.

http://evernote.com/

for instance i have a confirmation number notebook and am able to jot down confirmation numbers on the fly.  i also have an important information notebook in which i have our handyman’s contact information, insurance information, my child’s school information, etc.  if i’m out and about and need an important piece of information i can simply visit the app on my phone and get it instantly.

another great feature about evernote is you can scan business cards, photos, documents, and simply pull them up with a simple search.  the search feature even works on images.  meaning if i scanned our handyman’s business card and i search his name it will pull from the writing listed on the business card.

cozi family organizer has become my new homekeeping binder. last year i spent hours creating…and lots of ink printing one of those raved about homekeeping binders. did i use it? yes, for about a week. i quickly learned that i’m no longer a pen and paper girl. and carrying around a big binder with me as a planner just seemed ridiculous.

so in steps cozi.

http://www.cozi.com

it’s free to use and helps me and my family stay on the same page. there’s even an iphone/ipad app that syncs wirelessly so you’re always current on whatever device you’re using. what do i love about cozi?

first…there’s the calendar. i use google calendar to write in all of my appointments. i have multiple calendars (my personal calendar, a family calendar so that my husband knows when i have appointments or when we have plans as a family, my photography calendar, what’s for dinner, etc). and cozi takes note of all of that.  each person in the family is a different color.  so appointments that only involve certain members of the family will be noted.  and it emails both me and my hubby an agenda for the upcoming week each weekend.  i love that feature because my husband often schedules things without checking what we have going on.

next…there is a to do list section.  my lifeline.  i would remember nothing without this feature.  i have various lists including….

- my weekly to-do list

- my husband’s “honey do” list (which he can view at any time without me nagging him)

- which flylady cleaning zone i’m on and the tasks involved for that week (more to come on this in an upcoming post)

- documenting life

- a list for each of my current photography clients and the steps involved with each so i know where i stand with their orders, if i’ve received contract and deposits yet, etc

- gift ideas

- blog brainstormer

- a capture list of things that i want to capture of my kids at this stage

- parties i’m planning and the various tasks involved

also within cozi is a shopping list and a journal.  as you can see it’s entirely replaced my homekeeping binder.  why waste paper and lug around a large binder when you can have everything you need at your fingertips…no matter where you are.

every year i do a review on some of my favorite items. i love hearing about what makes life easier for other moms so this year i’m going to share some of my favorite things.