Favorites for the New Year

Hello… it’s me… (cue in Adele…LOVE her new c.d. btdubs)

2016 is upon us!




I wanted to share a few new favorite essentials I have collected

to help kick start the new year:

1. New planner – 6 x 9 Sugar Paper Planner 2016 Monthly/Notes

(found this gem at Target)

Every new year (or half year) I find myself always craving a new planner to help myself get organized.  But every planner I have owned became like too much work to record information down.  If I recorded an event on the calendar spread, I also had to write it down on the weekly spread.  Basically I was recording the same information twice. (The planner then lost it's novelty after a week or so.)

I found that there are two main ways that I can actually get myself organized and be more productive:

•    Recording events on a calendar (appointments, due dates, celebrations, etc.)

•    Making to-do lists. (I love creating lists!)

What makes this planner so different from the others is that I can store all important appointments, events, reminders, and to-dos all in one place.

The beginning part of the planner contains "monthly calendar spreads" across two pages to allow for documenting important events to remember.

The second part includes lined pages for notes and lists.

There is even a cute pocket sleeve that separates the calendar pages from the notes/lists pages from each other.

I like how this planner is not bulky at all and has a spiral binding so I can turn and fold to any page easily.  I also love the fact I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for it.    

2. STAEDTLER triplus fineliner pens – 10 pack

(got these at Office Depot) 

I don’t have “cute” handwriting what’s so ever (If you've seen it you would say my husband's handwriting and mine are almost identical.)  My handwriting (especially when I write fast) can be categorized as print-cursive.  Sometimes I’ll run my letters into each other so it makes it a little messy to read.

I did some research and came across these pens.  I love that they come in different colors and are so very fine tipped (to be exact they are 0.3 mm).  The fine tip helps to prevent my letters from running into each other.

These pens also help to color code information in my planner.  The ink dries fast too so there is no chance of smuging as I write.  The pens are a bit pricier that I expected to pay but totally worth it. 

3. the life-changing magic of tidying up – the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondo

(own a copy from Amazon) 

I had asked for this book for Christmas and was so excited that my “secret elf” had gifted it for me. (We do secret santa with my family and my husband’s family.)

The title basically gives away what this book is about.  

It's a "LIFE-CHANGING" method on how to "TIDYING UP".  

I HIGHLY recommend reading this book.  

I could probably go into another whole blog post about all the juicy tid-bits of this book, but that can wait until later.

Just to show a glimpse of the book’s inspiration here is a before and after of my sock drawer:

If you’re thinking “oh this book just tells you how to fold and organize your clothes differently” I would say… yes it does exactly that, but there is also so much more to it.  The KonMari method has changed my mind-set into how I can declutter and organize my personal possessions. 

So far as I have been going through my things, I have accumulated:

•    3 huge bags full of clothes, accessories, and shoes for donation

•    2 boxes of paper to be recycled.

•    1 huge bag for trash

I’m still in the process of “tidying” but the impact this book had made on me is seriously “life-changing”.  I am a KonMari fan!

These three things are what I'm using throughout the new year to keep me inspired, organized, and tidy.  

Happy New Year!