Well Planned Life

It has been a while since I last talked about my Happiness Project . There has been a lot of buzz about other people’s projects lately. There’s even a Facebook group amongst the Philofaxers who are reading the book and embarking on their own projects . Mine own project hasn’t changed much, until the start of the Facebook group. When I first started, I wasn’t going to get involved with monthly resolutions , as author Gretchen Rubin suggests. Rather, I just wanted to work on many things continuously. Then, when I read what others’ were engaging in as part of their monthly resolutions, I thought that focusing on three things per month would help me hone in on those long-term, continuous items. In other words, I don’t have to change the items, but just focus on three at a time for a month. I started this in mid-June. My first set of resolutions was: Exercise daily  Go to bead earlier (which should result in exercising daily)  Notice beauty everyday  Since I started th...

I have been very stressed out these past couple of weeks with all the things that must be done. This isn’t the first time I’ve discussed this here, and it certainly won’t be the last. I’ve been busy both at home and work, I have family coming this weekend, am preparing for vacation soon, and trying to manage a few different projects that require more than just a date and time in my Malden. This is also the time when I need to do more yoga, but as luck would have it, I don’t have time for any. In addition to everything I need to get done, there is still more—there are those things that other people put on my plate. And while I could say no, they aren’t things I can easily say no to because they are things that need to get done and things I need to be involved in because they affect me. But aside from all of the day-to-day nitty-gritty gotta-get-this-done things, I’ve also been feeling overwhelmed with all the technology lately. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and I love all the t...

It’s that time of year again , when I am planning my annual vacation. It’s pretty much one big family reunion, so there are many of us and many meals to plan. Because we share a house with extended family, we all decide what we’ll bring (as far as food) and what meals we’ll be preparing. Lists help us avoid bringing the same items and not enough of something else. In my planner, under my Projects tab, I have one master vacation list, two sheets of Filofax peach (“salmon”) note paper . But within this list, I have several other lists, as well as notations to see other lists. To Buy : This is a small list of things we need to buy for our trip (fan, sun block, bug spray, flip flops, jeans). You can see that some of these items are specific to my needs, and some are for general family use. So far, everything has been crossed off the list, with the exception of food, since that will need to be bought the day before we leave. To Do : This is a list of things that need to be done before we le...

I don’t watch a lot of television, but one of my guilty pleasures is Lifetime ’s (yes, Lifetime—normally, I’m not an advocate of this station) “ Army Wives .” It’s your typical drama series with more going on in a week than most people see in their entire lives. The main difference is that these women (and one man) are wives (and husband) of military personnel. This is what grabbed me about the show—I am a big supporter of the military, so I started watching the show since its inception. I don’t know if what they portray as military life is 100% accurate, but it’s interesting to me nonetheless. Since season 5 just ended, I thought it fitting to discuss the planners I have seen on the show throughout its entire run thus far. The All-Inclusive – Being the general’s wife, Claudia Joy Holden , has a lot of responsibilities on post. She is the head of the FRG ( Family Readiness Group ) and as such, is often in charge of various functions. In one of the early seasons’ episodes, she pulls ou...

A few months ago, some enablers (who shall remain nameless—you know who you are) suggested I try the Pilot FriXion pens . If you’re on Twitter and follow the Philofaxy group , you know that this is a topic of many discussions. I checked them out and thought about making a purchase but decided against it for the time being. But I happened upon JetPens one day and came across retractable FriXion pens (I see now I was lucky, as they are once again sold out). It happened to be my birthday and I said, What the hell . The pens were added to my cart, the cost was paid for, and they were in my mailbox less than a week later. I have to say that the hype was true—these pens are awesome! For anyone unfamiliar with these pens, they are erasable gel pens, something I’ve never come across with any other brand. Apparently, heat from the friction (hence the name) of the rubber eraser takes away the ink. If you put the paper in the freezer, the pen markings will reappear. I haven’t tried this, thoug...

One of my Twitter followers requested that I do another “ What’s In My Bag ” post. I thought I’d wait until my new glasses arrived so that I could discuss both at the same time. If you read my first post in the series, you know that for work, I’m currently using my Coach “Maid of Honor Butter” bag, as seen here: However, I have changed my weekend bag to reflect more of a summery feel (at least in my mind). I am now using my LeSportsac Medium Travel Tote . I forget the name of the pattern, but it’s one that is no longer in circulation. This is a great bag, as I can stuff so much into it—everything I need to carry and then some. The contents of my bag haven’t changed much since the first posting. Back row: Filofax Personal Black Malden, current book (We Thought You’d Be Prettier: True tales of the dorkiest girl alive by Laurie Notaro —a fun summer read), Starbucks Via instant coffee (regular and decaf), iPod Touch , Vera Bradley business card holder , Eclipse gum, new ...

You may recall from the New York City Meet-up post that I bought a Personal Grape Domino . I am using it as my knitting binder. I have been knitting for almost four years. I would not say I’m good, mainly because I have yet to branch out and create something other than a scarf or blanket. I tend to stick to “flat patterns,” as my friend calls it. I don’t often have time for knitting, though I’m getting better about make the time. But I thought a binder (specially a Filofax) dedicated to the cause might help me expand my horizons a bit more. Here’s a tour: My tabs consist of the following: Resources - shops, websites and books  Patterns - currently empty but I will add any patterns I am interested in here  Supplies - yes, a list of my supplies  Projects To Do - a list of projects I want to do and the name of the person the project is for  Projects Done - a list of completed projects and the date of completion  Photos - a photo or two and de...

Not to be confused with A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf . Every once in a while, one needs their very own day, a day to whatever they please without having to check in with anybody else. I had such a day today, and as I knew it would be arriving, I planned for it. I spent all last week thinking of things to do. I came up with a few ideas and put them in my planner. The day didn’t go exactly as I planned, but I was able to get in most of what I wanted to do, so I would say it was successful. It started with breakfast in bed. A decaf non-fat vanilla latte and a multigrain bagel. Yum! Then, I headed out for a drive, stopping in one of my favorite towns to peruse the shops. I did go into a couple but didn’t buy anything (can you imagine?). I did get myself a cup of coffee though. At noon, I met my best friend, my sister and my niece for a lovely lunch. For the afternoon, I had planned to read, nap and then watch one of my favorite “summer” movies . But that didn’t happen...