Erin Condren 2017 Gift Guide

Erin Condren 2017 Gift Guide

Erin Condren 2017 Gift Guide
Although I’m pretty sure I’ve been buying Christmas presents since May, at least it’s now officially acceptable to talk about gift guides! I go to Erin Condren for gifts for all the women in my life, regardless if they’re planner obsessed or not. There are a ton of really high-quality gifts for any price range that’ll sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Erin Condren 2017 Gift Guide
My favorite pick this year is the 2018 Wall Calendar. It’s the perfect little nudge to non-planners to get their life together while not being as pushy as a real planner. It’s gorgeous, full of really inspiring quotes, has a handy pocket at the bottom for invitations and receipts, and has a ton of stickers in the back. It’s also a great gift if you just aren’t sure what to give someone, or need a neutral gift for an exchange party. 

Erin Condren 2017 Gift Guide
Their clutches would also make a really great option for all ages. I swear you can’t have too many pouches. Great for younger girls in school, friends, and teacher gifts. There are a few to choose from as well so you can get a couple to give out to a few ladies in your life.
The Desktop Calendar (available soon) is a good choice if you need a gift for a colleague or you child’s teacher. It’s a useful gift that after a year a person can part with without feeling bad. I love gifts that have a shelf life. That way I don’t feel obligated to hold onto things since they were gifts. I get to use them up and be on my way.

Erin Condren 2017 Gift Guide
For health conscious friends or foodies, the Meal Planner is a thoughtful gift without having to get to specific with what they’re into. I have a hard time keeping up with all the interests of my friends so gifts like these are great to show that I listen, but didn’t risk getting something they might already have or won’t use.

Erin Condren 2017 Gift Guide
If I don’t know what to get someone, I go to Erin Condren. That’s where I discovered the Schedule Pad and knew I was set on gifts for any last minute additions to my list. It’s gorgeous, high-quality, and still thoughtful even though I just didn’t know what someone would like. Plus it falls under the use-up and toss variety of gifts that I love to give. 
If your friends or family are into planning, definitely take a peek at all the planning things the site has, but if you’re in a pinch or just don’t know exactly what to get someone, these are really great, budget-friendly options!
What’s your go to gift for people you just don’t know what to get?

My Traveler’s Notebook Supply Collection

My Traveler’s Notebook Supply Collection

Although I only got into traveler’s notebooks a few months ago, I have quite the collection of supplies. I’m the type of planner who goes all in once they find a new planning style that works for them. Clips, inserts, dashboards, the works. My collection is constantly growing so I wanted to pause this moment in time to see exactly what I have. 
My traveler’s notebook cover collection has been kept to just two since the leather options out there are just so expensive. I use an A6 size that works really well for toting around and jotting lists. Mine came from Chic Sparrow as I love their quality and bohemian feel over other options out there.

I found a few PR package boxes lying around to re-purpose for my collection. Both boxes are small enough to slip into one of the openings on my desk so they’re always close at hand. This first little box houses all of my felt paperclips from Created by Danielle and Book Nook Patch as well as my beloved Lilac Pineapple Co knitted bow clips (use code OHHELLO20 to save 20%). I’m sure there are better ways to organize clips out there so that I can see them all, but I love how low profile this box is. Plus it helps encourage me to stop buying anymore clips.

The main box is a bit of a mess of inserts, dashboards, and all the other clips and things that aren’t felt or knitted. On the left is where I keep used notebooks, out of season inserts, and my sticker organizer I’ve re-purposed to store dashboard papers and die cuts. A6 traveler’s notebooks are roughly 4×6 making this organizer perfect for storing anything I may need to snazz up my notebook. There are also some pens and business cards for traveler’s notebook related stores tucked into the side.
So there you have it. A messy yet functional way I store everything I use for my notebooks. If you want a more detailed look of anything in particular, just leave a comment!
New Enamel Pin Additions

New Enamel Pin Additions

I’m notoriously hard to shop for despite feeling like I’m the exact opposite. Alex in particular goes on about wanting to give me thoughtful gifts instead of just contributing to my various collections. Yet I would be more than happy to get some shopkins, another plant or two, and a couple of new enamel pins. Enamel pins are the best. The perfect way to showcase your interests without having to tell someone, “Hey I really like cats” and small enough to be the perfect stocking stuffer. What’s not to love?
My collection has grown a lot since we last spoke about it and I thought I’d wrap up this week with a little post about some of my favorite new additions.

I add pins to my board from the top down, so all of the pins at the bottom of photos tend to be the newest ones. I picked up this trio set from Erin Condren about a month ago and love what a quirky combination they make together. The grateful pin is also from Erin Condren and has inspired me to make a font pin for Oh, Hello that should be arriving before December hits!

I picked up this somewhat creepy reflective pin of John Green for Pizzamas this year. I think Pizzamas is sadly over so you can no longer get yourself this awkward creation, but I love having something that’s so deep into a fandom I couldn’t possibly begin to explain it.

My favorite new additions are all of these gorgeous plant pins from Begin Industries. They came into my life right around when I seriously started getting into plants so they’re a lovely reminder of my new passion. They’re hard enamel and such great quality. Plus Begin Industries has some other pins that are seriously unique and completely unlike what I’ve seen out there.
Now to convince everyone to just buy me Shopkins, plants, and pins for the holidays and I’ll be one happy camper.
The Simplified Planner Review & Walk-Through

The Simplified Planner Review & Walk-Through

The Simplified Planner Review
Is it obvious yet that I’m doing reviews of all of my favorite planners first? The Emily Ley Simplified Planner* is one of those planners that is so gorgeous on the outside and makes me want to kick my butt into gear on the inside. It’s perfect for busy women who want a professional planner that’s still cute, has room for everything in their life, and makes them inspired when they use it. This is the planner to do just that.

The Simplified Planner Review

The Simplified Planner Review
The front cover is a nice, thick cardboard with a touch of foiling for added class. I don’t mind if covers are made of cardboard material as long as the corners are reinforced like this one is. Throughout the year corners take the most damage and wear so it’s ideal to have them protected with metal covers.
Gotta love a planner who understands the importance of stickers. There’s a cute little sheet at the start along with a handy pocket to store receipts, paperwork, or even more stickers. The monthly tabs have a great color palette that’s fun while still having a level of professional class. They’re laminated so they’ll hold up to a year’s worth of use.
The Simplified Planner Review
The front of the planner has your standard holiday page and yearly overview, but my favorite is this 2018 Bucket List. I love that there’s a designated place to write goals and plans for the year ahead, and check boxes so you can tick thing off as you do them. It makes me want to not only make some plans, but do them too.

The Simplified Planner Review
The monthly view is simple, but elegant. It sadly is just a little too small to fit standard sized sticker boxes, but little icons an decorative stickers can still be used to snazz up spreads.

The Simplified Planner Review

The Simplified Planner Review

The Simplified Planner Review

The Simplified Planner Review
It’s the daily view that really sets this planner apart for me. Each page is one day with a hourly section on the left side starting at 6am and going to 9pm. The time range is a lot more functional than the one in Erin Condren planners and is perfect for writing meetings, kid’s events, deadlines, etc. The right side has a roomy to do list to write everything that needs to get done that day. The bottom two sections are marked meals and notes, but the headers can easily be covered up with a sticker to be turned into other categories.

The Simplified Planner Review
On the weekend page there’s a section for weekly prep that already has a few to do items written in. At first I wasn’t so sure about this, but it’s grown on me. I like having items to refocus my mind and prepare me for the week ahead.
This planner sends my functional mind fluttering. I love this layout for daily pages and if I had more meetings and hour based items, it would be my ideal planner. It just doesn’t fit my current lifestyle enough to justify using it sadly. It would be an amazing planner for busy, working women, large families, or students.
So definitely give the Simplified Planner a look-over if you’re hunting for a new work planner or a planner to hold everything in your life. This one could do the trick.
A Story About Plants

A Story About Plants

Over the weekend Alex’s parents came to visit us in Grand Rapids. It’s not often we see them, and Alex spent the majority of the long weekend trying his hardest to convince them to move closer to us. We spent evenings out on the town finding hidden gems, eating delicious food, and talking. It was a wonderful weekend that ended even better when Linda and Greg gifted me with a gorgeous orchid plant. 
I may have went on a little too much about my newfound love of plants during the first days of their visit. They wanted to show their support and interest in my new love affair by giving me a plant Greg in particular loves growing. When I got this orchid from Alex’s parents it really meant something to me. It meant they cared about what I was into, that they wanted to support me, and that we had something in common. In-laws are hard no matter how good your relationship with them is and this orchid made my relationship with them just a little bit easier. It was an incredibly thoughtful gesture and although I’m terrified to kill this gorgeous, delicate beauty, I’m also proud in myself that people have confidence in me to not kill it.
Growing up and in college I was the typical plant-killing cliche. I over-watered. I under-watered. I completely forgot that I had any plants to begin with. I just wasn’t in the right mindset to be a plant mom. Plus I did understand just how important they’d become to my mental happiness. 
Once we moved into our first how it became obvious that the decor was lacking. We’re trying to build up a good nest-egg of savings and rather not spend it just yet on filling the house with furniture. But something had to be done to fill up the empty shelves. Plants. I already had one that survived the move, but it looked sad and lonely, so I bought another.
After a few months of gingerly carrying for a peace lily and seeing just how well it was doing, I bought yet another plant. And then another. Then three more in one go. Now I’m constantly telling myself to give it a few more weeks before plant purchases because before I know it I’ll be living in a rain forest. At least then no one will notice our couches don’t really match the decor…
Why does this matter at all to you? Because plants are important. Plants bring a little bit of the world outside, in. And on rainy, cloudy days with no sun in sight, that’s incredibly important. Plus having something to tend to, nurture, and take care of really does lift the spirits. Something is counting on you to keep it alive and that makes you feel a little more self worth than you did without plants. Plants can also store memories. The first plant I didn’t kill came from my grandpa’s funeral. It’s still alive years later and reminds me of him whenever I see it in the kitchen every morning. Now I have an orchid plant to remind me of my growing relationship with Alex’s family.
It wasn’t until the weather turned south this year that I realized how important plants are to my mental health. It rained for nearly two weeks straight and it really started to get to me. But all of the plants in our house brightened things up, gave me a calm environment, fresh air to breathe, and some perspective that the weather would get better. I can only imagine how much I’m going to need them in the dead of winter.
Without sounding too hippie-ish, nature is a part of us. So it only makes sense that plants brighten a room and improve a mood. Now to convince myself that I don’t need five more before winter hits…