New Year / New Planner

Hey y'all!

Today I am so excited to share my new planner for 2016!!!! I absolutely love planners. I used to love writing in my planner in high school and college and was so excited to pick out a new one each year. I used it mostly for keeping track of homework, papers, sorority events, etc. Then I graduated college and tried using the calendar on my phone, and it just wasn't happening so I went back to what works for me. There is something about writing something down that helps it stick in my memory. Plus I love the organization capabilities of a physical planner. For the last two years I have used Emily Ley Simplified Planner. I fully intended on purchasing another one, but definitely did not plan ahead in time because those sold out so quickly! I have had a lot of friends swear by the Erin Condren Life Planners so I decided to give it a try. I thought I would share my unboxing experience with you and tell you how I will be using my planner. Do you use a planner? If so, what kind? Enjoy!

This adorable box showed up at my house today! So cute. I ran and jumped on my bed to open it. I always open packages on my bed...not sure why! 

When you first open the box, there are some cute little cards (see pic below), a planner info guide, receipt, and in my case a package of elastic bands that I ordered as well. Such cute packaging!! Loving this already. 

One thing that I love about Erin Condren planners is that you have the option to personalize them. This southern gal looooves personalization so I had my name put on the planner. I choose the geode design in turquoise (available in other colors too!). I am really happy with how it turned out! You can also see the metallic elastic bands that I ordered. You slide one around the planner to keep it closed. I tend to stuff my planners with notes, receipts, etc. so the elastics bands will really come in handy! 

You'll notice a little clear ruler looking piece attached to the coil on the left of the planner. This is a great little place holder that easily pops on and off the coils so you can save your place each day. Genius. I always used to use a giant paper clip so save my spot...this is so much better. 

I'm realizing now that I did not take a picture of the monthly view. Oops! Each month has a tab and when you open to it, you find a full month at a glance. I love to use this to pencil in important dates, appointments, days off, etc. so that I can see my entire month's plans at once. Then each week takes up two pages (see above). There are several designs you can choose from, I chose the horizontal design. I always plan out my meals that I will make for the week so I will be writing them in the little boxes to the right of each day. 

 In the back of the planner you have two pockets for receipts or notes. It also came with a cute little datebook (seen sticking out of the pocket). I love that these planners come with a clear little ziplock pouch. They throw in some cute stickers and extra goodies in there for you. I plan on keeping a pen and some sticky notes in mine. Also, the planner has some built in pages of stickers for you to mark special events like birthdays, doctor appointments, days off, vacation, etc.

Overall I am very impressed with this planner. It is much lighter than my Emily Ley planners and little bit smaller too. It will be easy to throw it in my purse everyday. The cover and tabs are a laminated, plastic material so I hope that it will be durable enough to last all year. These sell for $50-$60 depending on the design you choose. The only thing extra I ordered were the elastic bands ($10) but the website has tons of other extra goodies to check out! I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my planner. The weather here has been nonstop rain so hopefully it will clear up soon so I can squeeze in some outfit pics! Thanks for reading and have a wonderful rest of your week!