Good morning! 
How’d you sleep last night? I woke up totally exhausted this morning, but I have no idea why. I don’t remember having a rough night of sleep and I went to bed at my normal bedtime. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. It’s strange how that happens, huh? I’m just glad to have my morning iced coffee in hand! 😉
Breakfast
Once again, I rocked the overnight oats for breakfast this morning. I know, I’m obsessed. I wonder if I will continue to eat them once the weather turns cold? Remember what happened with me and hot coffee? I wonder if the same thing will happen with oatmeal? We shall see.
In the mix:
- 1/4 cup oat bran
- 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup Almond Breeze
- Chia seeds
- Dried cranberries
- 2 scoops of Barney Butter
Breakfast also included a yummy batch of iced coffee. Starbucks sent me some of their new Natural Fusions coffee to test out. I love flavored coffee, especially as iced coffee.
The Starbucks Natural Infusions are made from arabica beans and blended with real ingredients– spices, botanicals, and other good stuff. I tried the vanilla flavor first. The smell of the coffee grinds was incredible!
Last night, Mal brewed the iced coffee while I got ready for bed and brushed my teeth. Before he poured the coffee grinds into the filter, he insisted that I smell them because the aroma was sooooo amazing. Mal even brought the bag of coffee into the bathroom for me to smell! What a nut. Apparently, he was really excited about this coffee! 😉
The taste of the coffee was great– nice and strong, not at all bitter, with a subtle vanilla flavor. With a splash of vanilla soy milk it was perfectly sweet. I’m a fan. (Mal, too!)
Which Side Do You Think With?
The other day, I read a really interesting article in Real Simple magazine about Organizing for Your Personality. Basically, the article covered strategies to help you get (and stay) organized whether you’re innately tidy or not.
Right off the bat, I assumed I was a left-brainer. I mean, I like everything neat and organized, and I find it satisfying when things are orderly and put away. But, then, I took the Real Simple quiz, which really surprised me. Here are just some of the questions with my responses:
- When I’m finished using an item, I put it away immediately. Hardly ever. Just ask my husband!
- I like to move around my furniture a few times a year rather than stick with the same arrangement. Yep.
- Keeping current projects where I can see them is a must. Yes, so I stay on track!
- On my computer, I often have multiple windows open at once. Totally.
- My desk is filled with piles of papers, sticky notes, and business cards. I’m surprised I get anything done.
- I’m fine with other people making last-minute changes to plans. I go with the flow.
Woah. This quiz sort of blew my mind. I had no idea that I would have so many right-brain responses! Who knew? I also said ‘yes’ to a lot of the left-brain questions:
- I love being surrounded by vibrant colors. Yes! Love them!
- I often wear the same jewelry every day. Yep.
- I always bring a shopping list to the grocery store. Always.
- I love having a designated spot for each item in my closet or drawers. Yes, it just doesn’t always look pretty.
So, I guess I’m a mix of right and left, but with a lean toward the right? I’m totally facinated by this, especially since I was so sure that I was a left-brainer. Even still, it’s neat to know that I can benefit from organizing strategies for either type. Maybe that’s why I let my messes linger for so long before I obsessively clean them? 😉
Question of the Day
Are you a right-brainer or left-brainer? Or a mix of the two?
P.S. Check out my contribution on WomenDay.com:Â 10 Better-for-You Comfort Food Recipes!
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81 Comments
I think I’m a mix of both right and left brained for sure.
I definitely think I’m a mix! I like things neat and organized and I am a minimalist for that reason. However, I am defnitely a go-with-the flow kind of girl when it comes to making plans!
I definitely have more right-brained tendencies, but I also like things super-organized (and I ALWAYS go grocery shopping with a list!). I think I just don’t mind if things are not organized RIGHT AWAY. I just eventually want everything in it’s place 🙂
I’m definitely a mix but I think I lean toward the left. I had to laugh at Mal bringing the grounds into the bathroom for you to smell. I can only hope that I find someone as enchanted by coffee, haha. Vanilla flavored coffee is delicous, though. Have you ever tried Butter Pecan? I had some from this little ice cream shop near me and it was seriously good.
I had a few right brain answers, but answered yes to almost all of the left brain questions. Left Brain wins! 🙂 Pretty sure an iced coffee is now calling my name….
You should try cold brewing your iced coffee! I use a french press, dump in a few scoops, fill to the line with water and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Ridiculously easy and so good, not bitter at all.
I’m definitely way more left-brained than right-brained. I hate clutter! My mother would probably find this ironic since I was incapable of keeping myself organized as a teenager/young adult, but once I got my own place and could take control of the system of organization I became much more tidy. I have to make my bed every single morning as an adult, whereas when I was a kid I NEVER did and it drove my mom nuts! Oh wait…this means I’m turning into my mother. Shoot. 😉
Barney’s Butter…Iced Coffee….Barney’s Butter….Iced Coffee…..Barney’s Butter….Iced Coffee…..Barney’s Butter…..Iced Coffee
YAWN!
I love Real Simple magazine! I read that article and thought I was a left brainer but was surprised I’m a mix of both!
I always thought I was a mix. Just took the quiz and found I was wrong. Not a mix at all! I’m a total left brainer.
I’m pretty much a mix. Cool quiz. 🙂
I’m more of a right brainer but I lean a bit towards the middle. I’m in marketing so I guess it’s good that I’m right brain for that purpose but I also like order in my life. 🙂
I think I’m also a mix of the two sides, but more left-brain.
I definitely think with the left side of my brain. Thanks for sharing – the quiz was fun!
I’m probably a mix of the two. Sometimes my right brain will take over for a few weeks, then all of a sudden my left brain kicks in and is like WOAH, let’s get organized!!
I had one more on the right side then the left. I loved the organizational options that they suggested!
I think I need to take that quiz. I might be surprised. I’ve been eating Overnight Oats every morning, too … and I’d be excited about a delicious-smelling coffee, too. I LOVE the smell of coffee, even if I don’t like the taste. (I can drink the super-sweet coffee treats at Starbucks, so I should probably try making them at home to save money.)
I’m very much a right brained person! But when it comes down to it I do like to be organised with to-do lists and my books and dvds are in alphabetical order (lol). It seems like so much effort for me to become a more left brain thinker and prefer to just go with the flow!
Totally left-brainer….well that’s me saying that before taking the test. But I have some OCD-tendencies and just from reading what your answers are I would have answered yes to all the left-brained ones and no to the right-brained!
I’m definitely a mix of the two. I get so busy that even though I want to put stuff away in it’s place and I’d love it all to be neat and orderly I just can’t. It’s drives my OCD nuts every once and a while and I have to put everything away. Then I slowly bring it back out so I can keep working on it.
your breakfasts always look so DELISH! i’m a total right-brainer. my boyfriend follows me around the house cleaning up my wake. bad thing is, i do the same to him. we’re just right-brained about different things. i can’t shut a closet door to save my life, but i can tell where he spent his day by the number of dirty glasses and coffee mugs in a cluster.
I took the quiz and came up left brained which I would have said before I took the quiz too!
I think I’m both too! 😉
so interesting! i’m both, according to the quiz. but i think i’m a right brainer who organizes like a left brainer, and thus, nothing is really organized.
I’m a left-brainer for sure. Organizing and labeling are two of my favorite things! 🙂
9 to 4, left brainer won by a land slide!!
I thought I was completely left-brained, but it looks like I have some right-brained tendencies as well based on that quiz!
That coffee sounds amazing! I haven’t seen it in stores here yet though. Is it out already?
1/4 cup of oat bran is dreading on dangerous grounds. I used 2 T of it in my oatmeal recently and let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. How do you manage to control the fiber amount in oat bran?
100% left brained. If I could have a labeled spot for everything I own, I’d be in heaven. 🙂 That coffee sounds amazing! I think Kath mentioned the caramel flavor. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Hmmm….maybe I’m a right brain thinker after all! 🙂
I am very much a left brained person, with some right brained thrown in. It’s so an OCD thing for me. I can deal with a mess, but what is organized has to be organized RIGHT. The coffee sounds absolutely delicious and I think I may need to go have a splurge and buy a bag 🙂
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