New Year...new planner/ Part 2

Welcome to "Part 2" of my post on my Erin Condren life planner! I'm just continuing on with more details.....
There is always a heavy laminated pocket at the back of the planner- great for stuffing invitations, bills, anything "extra" you may have. You also get this perpetual calendar & contacts booklet which I use to write down birthdays and dates we celebrate every year- this can be transferred to your next planner (which I always say I'm going to jot down ALL the birthdays from my old planner to new when I get it and it never seems to happen!) But having this makes it easy to store them in always.

Another awesome feature is this removeable bookmark/ruler! I use in front of the monthly calendar we are in for a quick way to open right to where I need to be....very handy, and durable- just pulls right out and attaches where you want it to go.

You will also see that you can purchase all kinds of accessories to go with your planner....it's like being in the checkout aisle of the grocery store and the CANDY sitting there tempting you. This is the first year I've opted to try one and I chose the mini sticky notes shown below...very happy with these- they clip right into the planner so I can just grab one and stick it on when needed!

I hope I have given you some planner inspiration! I love the size of these planners too, easily fit into a medium sized shoulder bag, and stays together. I made this tray for my desk as a little "happy" spot for me to see each morning...the paper and pencils are Rifle Paper Co...which I love everything they make- always have gorgeous paper products. And the quotation booklet is from Sugarboo Designs, which I've shred before, I just tear a sheet off each day to one of their inspiring quotes :)

***Erin Condren is currently offering 20% several styles of life planners on their website!

Worth checking them out! ****

   If you have any other questions about the planner please leave them in the comments below!

New year...new planner/ Part 1

  So of course this post topic was meant to be shared with you all shortly after New Year's....however, it did not make it then, but it definitely had to be shared because I have such a LOVE for these planners. For those of you unfamiliar with Erin Condren life planners I hope to give you enough info today that you'll be inspired to check out her website or YouTube videos to learn more.

First and foremost, I am a "visual", as well as a "paper & pencil" type girl. A few of my girlfriends solely use tech to log all their appointments/kids' activities/ etc. I've never been able to rely on my phone like that. I like to see the entire month at a time and fill in the "blocks" of days. So if you are a techie- I get it, but if you're the one who needs to physically write it down in a planner, you must check Erin Condren planners out!

There are a plethora of design covers to choose from in the Life Planners!!! You can even choose to personalize your cover with a family photo or your name/monogram.  Last year I chose the metallic cover in the mint & gold combo, this year she introduced rose gold to the metallic collection and there was no passing that option up!!!

I'll try not to post too many pictures in this post, however I do want you all to have a good idea of what one looks like :)

 I love the spiral binding, and details throughout. She always uses a pretty vellum overlay at the front of her planners, which just makes it feel very luxurious & pretty. As you can see there is a place to put your name inside in case you were to lose it.

There's always a monthly layout of the entire year following that page...which is nice to be able to see it all at one glance. I'm not quite sure you can tell from my top picture, but there are coated tabs for each month, as well as a "notes" section. This makes it easy to flip around if needed.

You'll get a few different options when designing your Erin Condren planner. You will always get the full month view, and then you can choose if you want your weeks layed out in horizontal form, like you see in mine above, or vertical form.  This is just personal preference. Again, I tend to use the "whole month calendar" the most, please excuse this next pic below for being cropped somewhat- planners have personal things in them obviously and wanted to share my favorite part of the planner which is the stickers that come in each. There are labeled stickers that say "birthday", "dentist", etc as well as blank stickers that you can write your own appointments on- I LOVE this accessory! So I wanted you to see what they look like in my own planner..

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Sharing some "sweets" in these pics today...I made it a goal of mine this past week to make and decorate Valentine cookies with my son. We all know after their daily sports, homework, dinner and whatever else may be thrown in, it can be a fete to even think about "let's make cookies and decorate them! And- on a school night too!" Well we did it, and it's pretty sweet that he loves to take part in the whole process :)

This precious kitchen towel is from Anthropologie, as always could take one of just about everything from their home collection. Nothing. but. LOVE.

And thanks to my very talented mother, who's become a pro when it comes to cookie decorating, I had these sweet cookies to share as well.

 THIS photo shares some of my son's true creative masterpieces mixed in with mine and mom's...hmm can you tell which one's he did?? Hint- the one with the turquoise on it he calls "the rainbow cookie" and his personal favorite is the one with his name on it :)

This is what it's all about. Creating the memories.

Enjoy this sweet day with your loved ones!

Valentine's Day Inspiration...

Valentine's Day is 5 days away and those of you who know me well know I am a SUCKER for all things holiday! It takes some serious "restraint" for me to not want to throw every seasonal/holiday item I see in Target's little dollar section in the front of their store right into my shopping cart! As I mentioned during Christmas, I know I get these holiday "fuzzies" from my own childhood memories. I remember my mom would always have some little surprise waiting for my brothers and I when we came home from school....it would usually be something chocolate and some years we'd have a small toy sitting right next to our Valentine chocolate :) Now THAT was exciting.

My personal opinion now that I am a mother to a 6 year old son is that this isn't supposed to be Christmas! This is a sweet day to recognize and think about the people you love. Maybe baking cookies for your neighbor, or having your children draw and decorate their own Valentine's for family members or teachers.

Today's post shares a set of 3 heart shaped sticky notepads from one of my favorite lines- Sugarboo Designs. For those of you who aren't familiar with Sugarboo you simply MUST explore their website here.  A mom from Roswell, GA  named Rebecca Puig, is the creator of all the whimsical art you'll see. They offer everything from art prints in 12 X 12 sizes all they way to huge poster-sizes, paper products such as the notepads I'm sharing today, blankets, ceramics, and even sweet melamine plates for your kids to eat from!

For everyone local, they just opened a huge brick & mortar store at the Summit shopping center in Birmingham!!! When I walked through the doors there for the first time I wanted one of every single thing they had. Definitely check it out next time your in Birmingham :)

I've written a few notes to my son on the smallest heart and put them in his lunchbox over the past few weeks- just to give him a little surprise when he was having lunch- and I love how the medium and large pads are lined...very helpful for to- do & grocery lists. The notepad set is $18.

Hope this gets you thinking about your own Valentine's this week!

Hello...and Happy New Year!

 So, it's been a little over 2 months since my last post... I had so many more ideas I wanted to share with you in December, it just became super hectic. I also ended up with strep after a swift four day stint at my son's school running the Santa's Workshop (just a few germs there) and that put me down for about a week- tis the season!

I want you to know that my purpose in this blog is to share with you the things that I love so much and inspire me. I also want you to be able to walk away after reading my posts with something that inspires you or helps you in some way. I will be working hard to try and stay more consistent with my posts, and not leave you hanging quite so long!

So here's to 2016, there's something about starting a new year that gives us all a sense of a fresh start to everything. New goals, new routines, something different.

I myself am trying to nail down some type of workout routine, as well as determine how on earth I can be a part of the retail world now that I am out of my own shop.

This week I will be sharing some fun ideas for the upcoming Valentine's holiday this weekend....stay tuned!