Well Planned Life

I love the city, New York especially. I have been to Boston and Philadelphia and a couple of others, but New York is the city I like best, probably because I go there every few months and because it’s (relatively) close to where I live and because I know my way around (or can figure it out fairly well). My husband and I often say that we should have lived in New York City for at least a year, just for the experience, just to say we did it. There’s so much going on in the city, so much excitement. Anything can happen. And there’s so much to do. You can learn so much just by spending a few days in New York. Every time I go, I regret not having made that choice to move there for a while. The feeling I get when in New York is just so… Well, I can’t describe it really. I guess it makes me think of all the things that could have been possible, choices I didn’t even know existed, let alone made. My life could be completely different from what it is now, though I suppose that’s true regardless...

Who doesn’t like music? (Well, I guess some people don’t, but personally, I can’t imagine it.) I have a wide variety of musical tastes. I like just about every genre of music, everything from folk to rock, with the exception of hard-core rap and heavy metal. This doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate either genre, however. Every genre exists for a reason, and just because it isn’t my taste, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hold value in the world. My life has always consisted of music. Two of my earliest memories involve music. One: I am sitting at the bottom of the stairs in my former house (we lived in this house until I was 3, so you can see how young I was in this memory) and singing “ Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star .” The other, in the same house, my sister and I are in the bedroom, swinging the curtains back and forth, singing “ Rock-a-bye Baby ” until the curtains fell down. No one else remembers either of these memories, but I have always had them buried in the back of my mind. Growing u...

Breaking up is hard to do . Especially when you thought he was the one. Mr. Covey and I, Franklin Covey that is, had a fast and furious love affair. I saw him and he had to be mine. I had heard great things about him. After some hemming and hawing , I got up the gumption to introduce myself and invite him into my home. It took him a while to decide whether or not he wanted to play my game, but arrive he finally did. We created a household so pure, so loving. I thought we’d be together forever and always. He was good to me, and I filled him up like no one had before (or so he said). I molded him into being what I wanted him to be . But, in the end, you cannot really change anyone from being who they truly are . One evening, less than a month later than when we started, we had broken up. It’s embarrassing really; parading around a new relationship like it’s a shiny new car, when really it’s just a lemon with a beautiful coat of paint. I can’t say what exactly went wrong between Mr...

This morning I went for the first bike ride of the season. It was great! I felt like a kid again—the sweet spring air, the wind in my hair, coasting down hills, the freedom. Ah, the freedom. When I was a young teenager, I rode my bicycle everywhere. It was my main mode of transportation. I’d ride all over town, to my friends’ houses, to the deli for a sandwich or candy, down to the bay for some solace. Being a teenager without a license (yet), I could get on my bike and just go. We didn’t wear helmets back then—they existed of course, but it wasn’t law to wear them. My friends and I would meet up, take off for destinations unknown, spend the entire day outdoors. It was a teenager’s dream, away from the parents and on our own. During summer vacation, I would leave mid-morning and not return until dinner time. Sometimes I’d go back out after dinner and my father would pick me and my bicycle up with his pickup truck. I can also remember, when visiting my grandmother, borrowing her 1950’s ...

When I first met my husband, we kept things very casual for several months. We would go out to dinner, movies, and play some mini golf. But things didn’t start to get serious until later on. I don’t remember when I first met his mother, but I do remember the day. We got along right away, since we both love to read, among other things. Also, as I always say, my husband came to me well trained, since my mother-in-law is also very organized. Unlike me, however, she’s not necessarily so OCD about it, but organized she is. I knew this before I ever met her, considering my husband mentioned it to me upon learning how organized I am. One of the first things I noticed about my mother-in-law’s organization method was her big fat planner in the kitchen. From the moment I laid eyes on it, I knew I would marry her son (well, not really, but it certainly helped). I was enthralled by her planner because at the time, I was using my spiral bound Old Faithful . I had looked at ringed planners, but they...

As told from Mr. Malden’s perspective: I had been cooped up in my house for several weeks. I was limited to doing community service work because of a little mishap that took place in Rhode Island. Finally, my confinement was lifted and I decided it was time get back out into the world. I didn’t want to travel too far—I didn’t need to find myself in more trouble. I wanted to get far enough away to make it feel like an adventure, but close enough to home where I couldn’t do much damage. So, I headed for New York City. I boarded the train with much anticipation. I spent the day wandering around the city. I was hoping to find some event to keep me occupied, but nothing struck my interest. I figured that maybe it was time to hang my hat up on adventure. Maybe I had gotten myself into too much trouble already. A life of leisure at home really wasn’t too bad. I meandered along the city streets, and somehow, I found myself in Bryant Park , a beautiful plac...

As most of you know, yesterday was the New York City Philofaxy meet up . It. Was. Fabulous. I can only speak for myself here, but I think it was a very big success. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. So let’s start at the beginning… My husband and I arrived in New York a little earlier than the group planned. I wanted to be sure that we wouldn’t run into a time crunch and since I’m someone who likes to arrive on time, this was part of the plan. It allowed for a small breather before the meeting. So we stopped at a Starbucks to fuel up and check in on Twitter, where the world it seems, was waiting with baited breath for updates. (By the way, I absolutely loved that people from around the country and the world were so interested in what was happening in New York.) Malden stops to fuel up before the big event. You can also see my iPod Touch with the Twitter feed on the right. We all met at Sam Flax on Third Avenue. I was the first to arrive at the scene (well, my husband ...

It seems like so long ago that we started planning for this adventure, and when we chose today as the date, it seemed so far away. Yet, here we are, looking down the barrel of our first-ever New York City Philofaxy meet up . I can’t tell you how excited I am! Ever since Steve and Laurie met in London to discuss all things Filofax, and especially since the first official London meet up , I have wanted to do hold one here in the US. I did engage in a small meet up in New Hampshire last October with Yvotchka , but I don’t know how official the shopping can be in a store that sells Filofax with leather chaps and children’s tutus. Unfortunately, Yvotchka will not be attending today’s event, and she will be sorely missed. My first official business for today’s trip was to prepare my bag, which I did last night. So what am I bringing to show the group today? I have stuffed my Timbuk2 Eula tote with three different binders . First, I have my Happiness Binder , a personal Jade Finchley . A...

Gentlemen, you are excused from this post, unless of course, you have a burning desire to know what’s in my bag, in which case, welcome! Caribbean Princess asked me to do a post on what I carry in my bag. Being the lovely royalty that she is, how could I refuse? So here we go: I change bags every season. I wish I had the time and patience to change it every day—Lord knows I have enough bags to actually do that. But I figure a season is a long enough period of time for me to use a bag before getting tired of it and wanting to move on. For each season, I have a work bag and a weekend bag. All of my work bags are from Coach . My weekend bags vary, ranging from Vera Bradley to LeSportsac to Timbuk2 to Lands’ End . Currently, for work, I am carrying my Coach “Maid of Honor Butter” Bag . I received this bag as a gift from my best friend when I took on the utmost important role of maid of honor when she got married. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened this gift. It’s beautiful—butte...

I have been using the Filofax 2 pages per day inserts since the beginning of 2011. And they have worked well for me. But then I came across the DayRunner 2 pages per day inserts and decided I liked that set up much better. However, upon receiving them, I decided the line spacing was too tight for my liking, even after forcing myself to use them for an entire week . Then, low and behold, my eyes were opened to Franklin Covey’s 2 pages per day . I have seen Franklin Covey’s inserts before; I am no stranger to their website . However, I am also aware that while they fit into a personal size Filofax, they are wider, and therefore stick out beyond the Filofax inserts . This has always been what’s kept me from purchasing FC inserts. But then Zoe discussed how she’s using the FC inserts in her Malden and how well it works for her . So, I thought, why not? Why not, indeed. I ordered the FC inserts . I couldn’t wait for them to arrive, and of course, it seemed like forever before they f...

I’m still (im)patiently waiting for my Franklin Covey inserts . In the meantime, here are a few random things floating around in my head: 1. I feel very discombobulated lately. I think this has something to do with the fact that my planner is in flux. I need to update some things and move some items around, but I don’t want to do that until the FC inserts arrive. I don’t want to spend the time reorganizing a Filofax just to reorganize it again when the new inserts arrive. I have no idea when they will get here, however. Usually, when one is traveling from Utah to New York, one does not do so by way of California. Whatever. I check the FedEx tracking link about 10 times a day. Nothing new. Ever. I have built up the power of these inserts so much that I will be ridiculously disappointed if they are not what I want them to be. But I’ll deal, mainly because all that means is that I’ll stick with the Filofax inserts, which I like well enough, so that’s not a big deal. But it’s the time wast...