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2016-06-06T12:54:00.000-04:00

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Bullet Journaling for a #PlannerAddict

2016-06-05T17:07:00.001-04:00

As you guys may have figured out I am a planner girl at heart. I love planners, notebooks, journals anything related to keeping me organized.

I currently am a #HappyPlanner girl and I love my Happy Planner. I just simply can not get enough of my planner. That is my current planner of choice in which I love to keep myself organized for home and work. I find there is ample space to keep track of everything that you need in the Happy Planner. I also have expanded my planner to include the fitness kit as part of my planner which is one of the may reasons why I love the Happy Planner. There are many expansions available to include with your planner to suite your needs without using many planners to organize what you need.

As many of you may also know I am a Pinterest addict as well. You can follow me on Pinterest here.
Anyways while on Pinterest I have seen many many pins on what is called a Bullet Journal. Instantly I knew that I wanted to create one and jump right in. After pinning many pins and joining plenty of Facebook pages I was like how can I start this when I already use my Happy Planner ( which I can not give up) to organize my day to day activities not to mention plans, birthdays etc.

With that being said I do not use the bullet journal for a planning purpose but more of a personal diary in a way. I fill it with a bunch of random things that I always wanted to keep track of such as: favorite quotes, motivational quotes, movies I want to watch, Books I want to read, Goals, Blogging goals, Etsy shop plans, monthly trackers and more. This is so amazing. I love it.

If you are a planner girl and planner addict at heart you can also join the bullet journaling experience as well.

If you are planning to start a bullet journal make sure that you check out the OFFICIAL Bullet Journal Blog as well as Kara who has an amazing Bullet Journal which is so pretty over at Boho Berry.

All Photos are from Kara over at The Boho Berry Blog

Coney Chili Dogs

2016-05-30T11:34:00.001-04:00

These Coney Island Chili Dogs will be amazing to serve at your Memorial Day BBQ.

With Memorial Day today these Coney Chili Dogs will be perfect to serve at your BBQ or your gathering. I also love to serve these during my Fourth Of July BBQ as well.

Make sure that you guys check out this out this recipe below:

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Coney Chili Dogs

by Rachel Ray May-30-2016

These amazing Coney Chili Dogs are perfect for your Memorial Day BBQ.

Ingredients

1 TBS vegetable oil
1 lb ground beef chuck
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS chili powder
pinch kosher salt
pinch pepper
1 (6 oz. can) tomato paste
2 TBS spicy brown mustard
2 TBS worcestershire sauce
2 TBS light brown sugar
8 pork or beef hot dogs
8 hot dog rolls, split open
minced white onion

Instructions

First Make the sauce: Heat the oil, 1 turn of the pan, in a medium saucepan over medium- high heat. Add the beef and cook 5 to 6 minutes, crumbling with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Once the meat is browned, add the yellow onion, garlic, and chili powder. Season with the salt and the pepper. Stir in 1 cup of water and the tomato paste. Stir to combine, bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to simmering Whisk in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and the brown sugar. Cook over low heat until thick, 30 to 40 minutes. When the sauce is ready, bring a few inches of water to a boil in a deep skillet. Reduce the heat to a low boil, add the dogs, and cook 4 to 5 minutes to heat through. Nestle the dogs in the rolls, top with Coney Island sauce and minced white onion

Details

Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8 Chili Dogs

Magnolia Bakery's Famous Banana Pudding

2016-05-30T01:15:00.002-04:00

One thing I love is visiting Magnolia Bakery. I am lucky enough to get to do this often. I especially love to make this amazing Banana Pudding for my Memorial Day Barbecue that I have every year. My friends and family all look forward to me bringing out this pudding.

While Magnolia Bakery is known for its Sex and the City-approved cupcakes, it's the bakery's creamy banana pudding that's really its showstopper. If you haven't tried it, trust me — this is going to easily become your new favorite dessert.

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Magnolia Bakery's Famous Banana Pudding

by The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook by Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey May-30-2016

While Magnolia Bakery is known for its cupcakes, it's the bakery's creamy banana pudding that's really its showstopper.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water
2/3 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups heavy cream
1 (12-ounce) box vanilla wafers
4 medium bananas, sliced

Instructions

Mix together the water, pudding mix, and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight until it sets up.Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Working in thirds, fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture until well incorporated.In a trifle bowl, layer vanilla wafers, sliced bananas, and pudding mixture; continue until you've used up all the pudding mixture. Refrigerate for at least another 30 minutes before serving.

Details

Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 12 servings

FREE PRINTABLE – COFFEE & DONUTS

2016-05-22T16:40:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite sites for lots and lots of planner printables is My Planner Life. Make sure that you go and follow this blog for great FREE printables for your planner.

This set which is the Coffee & Donuts set is so cute and includes:

7 full decorated boxes
7 half decorated boxes
7 list half boxes
7 today headers
7 to do headers
7 remember headers
7 list checkboxes
7 habit tracker quarter boxes
1 weekend banner
6 flags
4 workout markers
8 food icons

Source: My Planner Life

Erin Condren’s Life Planner…

2016-05-22T15:55:00.004-04:00

Being a planner addict I can not live without my Erin Condren Life Planner. I love the bloom LifePlanner but there are so many to choose from. With the new releases fast approaching on June 1st. I simply can not wait.

bloom LifePlanner

$50.00

Bloom where you are planted…and watch your creativity and organization take root and grow! Handwritten quotes, REAL photos of stunning succulents or blooming blossoms make this cover a natural beauty! Choose from three layout options (horizontal, vertical, and hourly), each with daily, weekly, and monthly views that allow you to plan your way.

This design has three available covers to choose from:

Pink

Green

Yellow

I choose the yellow since I love sunflowers…

Here’s a quick run down of what you’ll find inside the 2016 Erin Condren Life Planner:

Personalized covers
Tabbed months
Monthly and weekly spreads
Year at a glance section
Notes Section
4 sheets of stickers
Double sided Keep it Together folder
Perpetual Calendar
Zipper pouch
Snap-in bookmark

Now, let’s break it down.

Interchangeable Covers

One of the best changes they made is making the covers interchangeable. It was such a daunting task to pick which stunning cover you wanted to be your cover all year, but now the task is a lot easier. On the site there are 2 full pages of covers you can buy separately and switch out based on your mood. There are even seasonal covers that you can find at various times of the year. Being addicted to seasonal things like I am, this is an awesome way for me to add some pumpkin spice or Christmas flair to my planner. The best part: buy them for this year’s planner and you can use them year after year! They also work on the EC notebooks of the same size.

Erin Condren offers a “ready to ship” version of the Life Planner that comes with a non-personalized cover with the saying “and so the adventure begins” printed on it. If you get that one don’t worry, there is a voucher for a free personalized cover inside.

A Look Inside

The first thing you will see is a vellum page with beautiful bright colors printed on it. As per usual, the pages are covered in color and inspirational quotes. This year the beginning pages have a sketched look about them, which makes me feel like I took the time to doodle in my planner.

Every month has its very own tab, and this year the tabs get a page all to themselves, each printed with a different quote (rather than having the quote on the month-at-a-glance page).

There also is a goal setting page. Two pages, each with 6 boxes where you decide what goes in the title and what fills the box. I suppose you can use these for whatever you want, but I know I’m using them to set my goals for the year. My personal categories might include: Weight/health, Social, Personal, and Blog goals, just to name a few.

Next is the Calendar section:

The month at a glance pages are pretty much the same, but are cleaned up a bit. As I mentioned, there is no quote up at the top (as they’re on the tab pages), so the look of the spread is a bit cleaner. There is a sidebar for goals for the month that I think has been cleaned up just a bit as well. Other than that, it’s a pretty standard monthly calendar.

The weekly layouts are the ones that have gone through the most change. Which was so exciting. You get to choose your layout as well.

Vertical Layout

The vertical layout is what most people think of when they think Erin Condren Life Planner. This year, they completely revamped this layout, cleaning it up so it can better serve the purpose you want it to serve.

Except for the dates themselves, all labels have disappeared. Instead of the usual “Morning, Day, and Night” labels, these colored banners are left blank so you can fill them in with whatever you want. This change alone sold me on this year’s planner. You’ll also notice that instead of “goals” written on the side bar, “meals, etc” on the bottom, these areas have also been left blank for you to fill in as you please. In the upper left corner there used to be a mini calendar, but now there is a blank box for you to write a “thankful thought” or anything else you think needs to be written. There is also an extra note page at the end of every month, for some extra writing space. Personally, I think all of these changes are great. While it does make things look a bit more plain, the planner sticker world on Etsy quickly allows you to change that. They are all still colorful and coordinated, just a bit more simply done.

Horizontal Layout

This was the biggest news when the 2016 ECLP videos came out. They finally came up with a horizontal layout. When you order the horizontal layout, I know that the color schemes are a bit different, using more subdued colors instead of the brights, and there is use of the triangle pattern throughout the planner. Tab pages have this marbled look, and the vellum is also in the triangle pattern, rather than the paisley pattern of the vertical planner.

Hourly Layout

The hourly layout is great if you are super super busy and need to plan your day out by the hour for appointments.

The perpetual calendar also got a face lift. This little book tells you what special holidays you should remember, and it also gives you plenty of space to fill in birthdays, anniversaries, and any other reoccurring events that should be remembered.

Last, but certainly not least, is the zip pocket. This year, both the pocket and the bookmark (that snaps in to your coil to mark where you are) have white dots on them for decoration. Instead of gift labels, there are some other goodies to be found inside the pouch this year:

3 compliment cards
3 referral code cards (to share with friends)
A sample sheet of their new “do it all dots”
1 coil clip (to make anything clip into your coil)

There you have it, friends. The Erin Condren Life Planner!

The Life Planners come in regular ($50), platinum edition (metallic silver foil)($60) and gold edition.

If you’re a 1st time Erin Condren customer, use this link to sign up for the site and you’ll get emailed a $10 coupon that is good toward any purchase on the Erin Condren website.

Here Are 7 Ways On How To Get Your Stuff Together

2016-05-22T11:17:00.000-04:00

Most of us would like to think that we have our “Stuff” together… I know I often do.

In a “perfect” world I have seemed to learn how to balance work and life down to a science.. Have great relationships that are all on track along with all of my hobbies and side projects are going well. Our schedule is jam packed with very important events. We’re going places, and life is looking good.

The gap between a world that is horribly out of control and having it all together is not as impossible as it may seem at times.

The key to an organized life starts by laying the foundation that will enable you to work more efficiently, and purposefully, freeing you up to better reach your goals. You can start getting your stuff together today with these 7 Amazing Steps.

1. Take Small Steps

The biggest mistake that people make when attempting to get their stuff together is expecting it to happen all at once. This often causes discouragement and the feeling of wanting to give up. So be patient, have realistic expectations, and break your goals up into small, manageable steps. This strategy will help to save you from burnout later on.

2. Take Care of Yourself

Let’s face it; if you’re going to get things done, you’re going to need a lot of energy. The best way to do this is by leading a healthy lifestyle. This means getting enough sleep every night and taking care of yourself. Make sure you’re eating right and fill up on healthy, nutrient-dense foods like fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean protein –and plenty of water. It also means giving yourself permission to breathe, and not being so hard on yourself. Treat yourself right.

3. Write It Down

I am a planner addict often having a few planners along with bullet notebooks going on all at one time. Trying to remember everything is a waste of resources. I use my planners in very different manners as well. I help to keep myself on a schedule with my planners. One for work, one for home, and now one for blogging purposes. I also keep a fitness bullet notebook, along with a recipe one and a inspiration/faith motivational one. ALL THESE are VERY necessary for me.

4. Get Organized

It may sound obvious, but if your space is cluttered your mind will be too. Start small by organizing one drawer or a closet –and work out from there.

5. Learn to Say No

Smart people know when to say yes, and perhaps more importantly, when to say no. Regardless of if your plate’s full or not, it’s important to know when to say no. If it’s not work-related –and it’s not necessary, not something that you enjoy, consider saying, “Sorry, that just isn’t going to work for me right now.”

6. Do Things That Make You Happy

Taking steps to free up your time a bit will allow you to focus on things that you’d rather spend your time on, and save you from having to constantly juggle tasks.

7. Follow Through

Finally, be sure to follow through on your tasks. Even for small things –like organizing your workspace. By setting goals, and seeing them through, you’ll be able to get your stuff together faster and more efficiently.

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SAVE THE DATE: 2016-17 Erin Condren LifePlanner Launch

2016-05-22T11:01:00.000-04:00

The countdown is officially on. Mark your calendars; June 1st is the official LifePlanner Stylized Organizer Launch Date!

That means all new Erin Condren LifePlanners will be released.

The ordering process has been revamped on the website this year to reflect the new changes. You’ll start by selecting your cover design. The designers created a collection of new designs, updated classics, and of course sparkling metallic options in rose gold, gold or platinum. PLUS, the front inside cover now includes a lined dry-erase board section, while the back inside cover includes a blank dry-erase board. More room for more notes & doodles!

Once you have your design selected you can NOW select which coil you’d like. Yes, you read that right! Select from gold, silver, rose gold, or the trendy NEW black option. Mix and match metallics, or opt for a sleek black coil with a bright cover. The options are endless and the customization is incredible!

Once you have your cover and coil combination selected, you’ll then move on to personalization. All LifePlanners can be personalized with your name or you can let the pattern have the spotlight without personalization! Want to know one of most exciting site updates?!? You will then be able to see a preview of your personalization right on the screen – from the text you entered to any custom color combinations selected. ( So excited for this ).

Now we’re getting to the really good stuff… the insides of your LifePlanner! As you could in 2016, you’ll be able to choose from either a horizontal, vertical, or hourly weekly layout. A BIG update to the layout is the ability to now select your color theme – colorful or NEW neutral! The site will allow you to explore each layout & color theme combination, so you can investigate all of your options before making the final decision. Each weekly layout will be available in either color scheme.

Last, but certainly not least, there are other exciting updated features inside every LifePlanner™. The vellum overlay front page, the ruler, and the perpetual calendar all feature the mid-century circles pattern which you will also see throughout the interior of all color schemes & weekly layouts.

The Plan For it Pouch will also feature Mid-Century circles and for the first time ever you can decide where to snap it in! You’ll receive a 6in CoilClip™ connector that you can adhere to your pouch, allowing you to clip it into your LifePlanner™ in the front, the back, or leave it in your bag! You’ll have to wait for launch day to see what other free goodies are coming in the pouch.

As always, the Erin Condren LifePlanner™ will be available in two calendar options at launch, 18 month (July 2016-December 2017) and 12 month (January-December 2017).

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