Fifteen years ago, Stephanie Davis was at a friend’s house, enjoying a playdate with her children.  “I asked my friend if I could organize her pantry.  She said yes and the rest is history!” smiles Stephanie.  She started her company, Let’s Get Organized (or LGO Solutions), a professional organizing firm that services both residential and commercial clients in creating systems that increase efficiency and bring order to chaos.

Stephanie says, “I encourage our clients to create order in their lives to reduce stress and improve efficiency.  Disorganization and chaos breed a stressful, unproductive, and chaotic lifestyle.  Creating order and systems within a home will improve how everyone functions and relates to one another.  Carrying those principles to the work place will improve productivity and increase bottom line results.”

LGO Solutions will help you organize your home and your business!  Their residential services included kitchens and closets, laundry rooms, attics, garages, relocation and move management, and much, much more!  Business services include project management, QuickBooks and Quicken, Filing Systems and Virtual Assistance. 

With the New Year in full swing, we asked Stephanie to share five expert tips on getting organized in 2016!  She says, “January is the month of renewal and starting over.  I encourage clients to start small to ensure continued personal success!”  Here are Stephanie’s steps to success:

1)     Tackle your junk drawers

2)     Purge your closet

3)     Sort stacks of mail

4)     Clean out your inbox

5)     Invest in organizing tools

Thank you for these five important steps to getting organized, Stephanie!  We plan to start with these small, simple steps and encourage you to try them as well!  Stephanie says, “Organization is not a one-time project, but a lifestyle commitment.”  For more information on LGO Solutions, please visit their website here!

Chilly temperatures and dry weather can be extremely harsh on your skin.  However, there are ways to rejuvenate your complexion during the winter season!  We reached out to the experts at SKIN the Spa at the Runnels Center, and are excited to share their five steps to glowing winter skin: 

For more information on SKIN the Spa at the Runnels Center, please visit their website here!  Also, a special thank you to Adam + Alli Photography for the lovely photographs!

A luxurious boutique hotel will soon be gracing one of Mississippi’s most charming towns.  On September 1, 2016, Chancellor’s House will open its grand doors and usher guests into its exquisite space in downtown Oxford.  This beautiful mansion boasts thirty-one guest rooms, a contemporary rooftop lounge with sweeping views of the Oxford square and the Grove, a dining room, bar, outdoor terrace and a handsome library. 

Chancellor’s House recently held a fabulous reveal party at The Lyric Oxford, introducing its exciting concept to guests from around the state, including Governor Phil Bryant.  Here is a fantastic video recounting the story behind Chancellor’s House, and what guests have to look forward to:

The Chancellor’s House website is now live!  Please click here to learn more about this beautiful lodging experience.  You can also book your reservations for the upcoming Ole Miss football seasonhere!

Whether you love Oxford for the incredible sports, beautiful weddings, renowned film festival, or simply enjoy spending time in the quaint town, we guarantee Chancellor’s House will make your stay perfectly memorable. 

{Blog by Mitchell Walters}

{Name}   Laurel Donahoo
{Hometown}  Madison, MS
{Event Site} Our house in Madison!

{Tell us about the occasion for the event?}
This party was to celebrate our sweet baby boy, Wilson, turning one-year-old! 

{What inspired your event location and theme?}
Wilson loves books and loves getting read to, and one of our favorite books to read to him is Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. That was my husband’s favorite book growing up, and it just seemed like such a great basis for a party theme! I probably had a little too much fun with the planning, but then again, I love planning parties!! 

{What inspired your color scheme/flowers?}
The color scheme was inspired by the illustrations in the book, although we did end up going just a little more vibrant than the illustration colors. Instead of a mustard yellow, we went with a brighter yellow, and instead of just army greens, we threw in a little lime and kelly, too! I designed the invitations and included a little bit of a sky blue on there as well, so that ended up being a color we used in addition to the yellows and greens!

{What’s your favorite event detail? Is there a story behind it?}
My favorite detail… Such a hard question! Can I pick three?! (1) We ended up dressing Wilson up like Max from the book, so getting his costume together was super fun! And it really wasn’t hard. I found a solid white footed pants and shirt (from Wal-Mart) for the base of the outfit, then made a little tail out of gray felt and sewed it to the back of the pants. Then I made a tall yellow crown out of card stock and added a little felt rim to the bottom of the crown with leftover tail material! So easy and so cute! (2) I loved how the blue punch turned out. We made a little boat out of a red apple and I thought it turned out really well! (3) The party favors were some little yellow crown cookies that I packaged up individually to hand out as our guests left. I love baking so this was a fun detail to put a little extra effort into for me! 

{What was your favorite part of the event planning process?}
I love party planning for people I love. Since this little get-together was all about Wilson, it made every stage of the planning so much fun! I probably had the most fun designing the invitations and making his outfit if I had to pick favorites aspects, though!

{What was your favorite moment of the event day?}
My favorite moment of the day had to have been when I first put his outfit on him! Watching him walk around with that little tail dragging behind him could not have been cuter… To make it all even sweeter, the day of his party (which was also his actual birthday), he started giving the sweetest hugs!! If my husband or I were sitting on the floor and would say his name, he would just come give us the sweetest hugs around the neck. It was awesome. A hug from our dressed up little wild thing was just the best! 

{Your favorite picture from the event day?}
Wilson isn’t very good at keeping hats on his head, so any of the pictures where he had his crown on were extra special ones! 

Photographer: myself
Event Planner: myself
Venue: our house
Florist: myself
Cake: Lulu’s Sweet Shop

Mississippi's beloved city of Vicksburg is the ultimate wedding location.  With its perfect balance of old and new, downtown offers the modern bride a memorable location for her special day.  Walk the cobblestone streets, revisit history and savor spectacular views as you celebrate in this thriving city with a remarkable past.

Please pick up a copy of the 2016 Inspiration Mississippi Magazine!  It is filled with lovely photographs and fascinating articles, all celebrating the people, places and events in our great state.

We want to wholeheartedly thank our talented vendors for making this such a memorable shoot!

VENUE:  Vicksburg, Mississippi; The Bluff of Vicksburg​