Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  Can you believe that this is the last Friday in January? How did that happen?  I feel like I was just putting away Christmas yesterday!  I have to be honest, I didn’t get quite as much accomplished as I had hoped for this month.  Here is what I dropped the ball on:

1. Planning my 9 year old’s birthday party with friends (he turned 9 two weeks ago…).  Still need to make that happen!
2. Decluttering closets, drawers, the playroom, etc. – I had big dreams to go through the entire house this month. Think I made it through one drawer…
3. Narrowing down contractors to refinish or possibly replace our hardwoods.
4. Organizing my January photos

So hoping that I am way more productive in February!  To help me stay on top of things, I need to be better about utilizing my new planner.  If I can just get into the habit of filling out my to-do list every night and looking at it daily, I may have a chance of getting more things done!  Usually I am all over that, but for some reason this year I am off to a slow start.

I thought it would be fun to come up with five things I am currently loving each month and share with you!  I love getting recommendations on products from friends, family, and other blogs, so I hope that some of these items can be helpful (or just plain fun!) to you.

Day Designer Planner

This is my current planner that I have used now for the last three years.  Created by Day Designer, it is one thing I splurge on each year.  Given that I use it every single day it is worth it to me.  Day Designer has also collaborated with Blue Sky on a line of more affordable planners, which I also have and use for my blog.  I bought the cheaper planner at Target and have the 6×8 gold spotty version. The inside is somewhat similar to my other one, but the calendar is smaller as is the daily to-do list space.  The lower cost option also doesn’t come with as many extras as the original Day Designer.

When it comes to scheduling, I am totally old school.  I never ever use my phone, everything is written down in this planner.  Maybe it is the teacher in me, but I just really love writing things down using paper and a pencil!  It took me several years to find a planner that works for me.  I found that most didn’t have big enough calendars or enough space to write out all my daily to-dos.

Things I like about the Day Designer:

• 12 month overview and goals pages in front of planner
• Larger monthly calendars = more space to write
• Day of the week pages contain the following:
  • today’s top three to-dos
  • longer daily to-do list
  • each day broken down by time
  • notes section
  • daily gratitude section
  • a section at the top of each day to write in things that are due that day, what’s for dinner, dollars, and don’t forgets
  • inspirational quote at the top of every day

A look at the daily templates and weekend templates:

I love this section at the top of each weekday page:

The only thing I wish this planner had more of were extra pages for notes either at the end of each month or at the end of the planner.  The Day Designer meets all the rest of my requirements though, so that tiny thing wasn’t a deal breaker.

Here is a look at both versions side by side:

Capri Blue Candle – Volcano

I have owned several of these Capri Blue candles in the volcano scent.  This is my all-time favorite candle – it smells amazing!  My toddler likes it too. Anytime she sees it she requests to sniff it before I light the wick.  Which basically means sticking her face in the candle and coming out with soot on her nose…I usually buy the silver candle from Anthropologie, but a friend of mine recently gave me one in a pink jar as a gift.  The pink is so pretty! While I have seen the pink version at a few local boutiques, you can also buy it on Amazon.  It comes in a smaller size as well if you prefer to test it out before buying the larger one.  Just be sure to check that the color you choose is the volcano scent.

Taner Bar Small Necklace

My husband bought me this Taner Bar Small necklace in gold for Christmas and I love it!  The necklace is simple enough to wear every day, or you can layer it with other necklaces.  It also comes in silver and rose gold.  Possibly a great Valentine’s Day gift??

Cozy Mock Neck Sweater

I have been living in sweaters all winter because I am always cold! Does anyone else have that problem?  My house is set to 71 degrees during the day and I am usually wearing a sweater and wrapped up in a blanket or cardigan.  I’m clearly not warm blooded!

My mom bought me this cozy mock neck sweater for Christmas and I think it is one of the coziest I own!  I’ve worn it so many times already. Must mean I need to buy it in another color!  It does run slightly big on me, but I have to say I like it a little roomy.  I usually cuff my sleeves with this sweater too.  Mine is the grey color.  The sweater comes in several colors, but if the one you want isn’t available, try checking back at a later date. I have noticed that they tend to come in and out of stock, and that they release new colors seasonally.

In the effort to keep things real here…I had planned to get a better picture of my sweater.  As you can see, I had a little helper so this is the best I have!  I’m learning it is somewhat challenging to blog and take care of a tiny human all day…

1 Second Everyday Photo/Video App

A dear friend of mine shared the 1 Second Everyday app with me since she knows how much I love taking pictures and documenting life.  This is the coolest app!  Basically you take a photo or short video every day and at the end of the year you have a movie of your life for that year.  Each snippet is 1 to 1.5 seconds long and you can input either one or two per day.

Any video you take is easily shortened using the snippet tool.  There is also an option to add captions and journaling for each day.  If you forget a day, it is easy to go back into the app and add in pictures or videos.  So if you end up buying the app and don’t start till say, March, you can either start then or backfill January and February.  The app is only 4.99 and so far I think it was definitely worth the small cost!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!  Would love to hear if you have any fun plans!  We have dance, baseball, basketball, and more dance on the agenda.  What a weekend looks like with three active kiddos!