How I Organize My Simplified Planner + My Review

You know when you're anticipating something for a really long time, and then it finally comes together and you just can't wait to tell everyone about it?! That's how I feel about today's post & sharing my Simplified Planner with y'all!

I take my planners very seriously, so when I went on the search for a new one I reviewed a LOT of options! I even reached out to y'all on Instagram and got about 100 suggestions- y'all are the best! I looked at each and everyone thoroughly, but ended up connecting with the Simplified Planner team at Emily Ley and moving forward with the Simplified Planner Daily Edition (in "Happy Stripe" of course!) Before I shared it with y'all though I wanted to take several weeks to use it so I could make an honest recommendation. So today's post has been awhile in the making- now let's get to it! :)

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How to Make the Ultimate Jewelry Organizer

Well y'all, today's post is a real labor of love & I'm THRILLED to share it with you!!

Whenever I take a photo in my room, the most frequently asked questions I get are how I made my accessory wall- and today I'm spilling all the details! The good news for y'all is that this is the easiest DIY ever - even a non-DIY'er like me could do it :) 

In my day job, as a jewelry buyer, there are some serious perks- one of which are the insane sample sales! (We're talking stuff-a-bag-for-$20-type-sales) Which means my jewelry collection has grown large over the past 5 years! In order to keep my collection organized, I had to come up with my own system, which I'm sharing with y'all today...

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Plum Paper Planner Review

I have been so extremely excited to share today's post with you, my Plum Paper Family Planner for 2015-2016 review! It's taken me awhile to put it all together because I wanted it to be just perfect to share with you! And I wanted to get used to it, since it's so different from any planner I have used before! Let's get started shall we… :)

Design wise,  I chose this orange and lime quatrefoil print cover (which is much softer in color in person than it appears in pictures) for several reasons: 

1) I carry my planner in my purse every day, and most other covers had a white background (can you say "dirty")

2) It has a monogram (I mean... duh)

3) It reminded me of my beloved Florida Gators :)

Size-wise, I would compare the planner to the Lilly Pulitzer Medium Size Agenda, just with out the hard cover and slightly lighter weight.

Like most planners, the Plum Paper Planner has a fabulous monthly overview 2-page spread. I adore the size of the spaces- there is so much room to write! There's also room to jot down birthdays and events in the month. I have a color code for my monthly commitments and then write in my gym class schedule.

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Pinteresting: Bookshelf Inspiration

I have completely outgrown my current bookshelf (#totalbookworm) and am on the hunt for some ideas for both new bookshelves to invest in as well as ideas on how to decorate it once I pick one out. I also have to be conscious of space because my apartment doesn't have that much room for a major bookshelf installment at the moment. So, I took to Pinterest for some ideas and have shared a few on my favorites below. (PS- you can follow me on Pinterest here)

Let the ideas begin:

I love the wallpaper background on these shelves- think they add such a fun and whimsical touch! I also love the addition of the bright pink baskets and blue bookends used as decorations on the top of the shelf.

via

I love that this bookshelf is filled with just books! I know that sounds rather silly, but with as many books as I have, it's nice to see that there is a stylish design that is just based on books being books :)

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The Great Planner Debate

If you are like 98% of Americans, then your New Year's Resolutions probably included something like this, "In 2015 I will be more organized." Am I right?! Well, if so it's great to know you are not alone :)

I believe that the foundation for organization is a well-functioning planner- and that can mean a little something different for everyone. Starting in December, as I began researching my 2015 planner, I got into what I like to call the "great planner debate"- right up there with the presidential ones I think! ha! It's both a blessing and a curse that there are so many great planners out on the market now, because it gives you tons of choices but can also be rather overwhelming! I thought today I would share with you a few of the planners that were my contenders for 2015, and then which one I picked! Hopefully this helps you find a planner that is perfect for you!

1. Lilly Pulitzer Large Agenda (18 months)- I'm just going to be honest… I hate 18 month planners! I never want to keep mine that long, I'm a yearly girl, so I feel like 6 months are always wasted. I used a Lilly planner throughout college and loved it!  However, with my crazy "to-do" lists now, between Junior League, the blog, and my personal life I found that there were starting to be more post-it's on my week than appointments and I could barely see my week! Verdict: I think this planner is much better suited for a student than a young professional, although it's one of the cutest on the market.

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Organize Me Monday: Recipe Box

Even though life has been a bit crazy lately (read: running between work, Junior League meetings, friends and family) I love the simple joy of taking some time to make a home cooked meal. Even if it's as simple as throwing together a crockpot dish, I love trying new recipes- and old-time favorites!

I am a bit old fashioned in my recipe organization and I'm not ashamed :) I love handwritten recipes, each and every one tells a story and brings back memories. I have ones handwritten by my mom, giving me tips for cooking; ones written my girlfriends, reminding me of the fun we had making them together; and ones written by me, that I bring back fond times I had cooking for loved ones.

But when you have so many recipes, you have to have a great way to organize them! I file mine away by "type of dish"- appetizers, side dish, main dishes, and desserts. Then within these main categories I break them down by main ingredient. This makes is super simple for me to find whatever I am looking for!

How do you organize your recipes? Do you organize them physically or digitally?

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Organize Me Monday: One-Offs

I can't believe it is Monday already- it seems like this weekend went by way too fast! I'm so excited that today I start my new role as an Assistant Buyer- it's going to be a really exciting new adventure and I can't wait to learn all that it entails!

I thought today was the perfect days to talk about a few "one-off" ideas- simple things that I do around my house to help keep it a little more organized and put together.

I love cooking and trying new recipes, and I am also an old-fashioned girl that still loves cookbooks and recipe cards (tips on that coming soon). To keep my cookbooks organized my mom found me this cheery yellow basket that I keep on my counter so my books are always within reach. This is the perfect way to add color and a personal touch to my kitchen.

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Organize Me Monday: Closet Tour

Friends, it has taken awhile for me to pull all my tips together for organizing your closet- because there are so many ways! I'm excited to share my closet with you today and I hope that this at least gives you some ideas to make yours a little more orderly.

It seems fitting that as we prepare for spring, many of us are turning our attention to our closets and ways to make that part of our lives easier! Nothing is worse than running late in the morning and not being able to find the pieces you need because your closet is a mess! Well ladies, let's clean up those closets shall we?!

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Organize-Me Monday: Juggling It All

I recently interviewed with some very successful women in my company, and I asked each of them the same question, "How do you maintain the ever elusive work-life balance?" I loved the answers that I received!

Each of these women told me that everyday is a juggling act, some days we juggle more heavily to work, some days our personal lives, and some days our community engagements. As successful women we will not often get those days that are perfectly proportionate - each day is about prioritizing.

It is easy to get overwhelmed by all that I have going on, but I am trying to focus on my priorities each day. I know that some days are going to juggle towards work, some days are going to lean towards my personal life, and some days are going to pull me into my community work. And every day I am going to work hard for each of these areas of my life- because they are all important and they all make me who I am.

Do you ever feel that life is a juggling act? How do you balance it all?

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Organize Me Monday: Putting Your Baubles In Order

When I was in college, I was no accessory queen. I liked spending my shopping money on fabulous clothes, and jewelry just detracted from that budget, so I always kept it simple with solitaire pendants and studs and let my brightly patterned clothes take center stage. Then, I hit the real world and got a fabulous job in corporate retail working in jewelry. And everything changed!

All of  a sudden statement necklaces made perfect sense (how had I lived without them?!) and "do you bangle" became part of my everyday vernacular. In a matter of months my jewelry collection was bursting at the seams of my formerly small organization system. So what is a girl with an over-sized jewelry collection to do?

It was time to get crafty! My college roommate (and bestie) Asha had created one of these boards and I thought it was the perfect time to create my very own! All you need is a pegboard (you can get one super cheap at your local Lowes or Home Depot) and hooks (which you can buy in the same aisle). I painted mine with acrylic paint to match the colors in my room and make it a little more like "art" then just a utilitarian organization system.

I absolutely love how it turned out- and it is perfect for keeping all my baubles in order!

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Organize Me Monday: A Tote for Every Occasion

Happy MLK day! I'm loving that I got the day off from work- what a nice little break to catch up on life!

As you may have surmised from reading this blog so far, I am a very busy girl and my life is "go go go"- running from early morning bible studies, to work, to Junior League, to social events! With so many to-do's constantly running through my brain I had to find a way to simplify my morning routine. You know how it goes... you are rushing to get out the door and all of a sudden you think of the 10 things you need for your meetings after work- and then you have to run around like a headless chicken trying to grab them all and hope you don't forget anything!

After a few stressful mornings I knew there had to be a better way- and that's when I developed my "tote bag" system! It's a pretty simple concept; I have a tote bag for each of my commitments filled with everything I need and in the mornings I can just grab the bag and know that everything I need is in there.

The pictures detailed below are for my "blogging bag" - My necessities in it are:
     - My MacBook
     - My planner
     - An idea notebook (to jot down post ideas)
     - Pens, pencils, and highlighters
     - File Folders
     - General office supplies (post-its, tab dividers)
     - My blogging binder

Since it is all packed up, I can just grab and go when I am ready to hit my local Starbucks for a skinny peppermint mocha and an afternoon of blogging :)

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Organize Me Monday: Organizing Your Desk with guest-poster Tide and Bloom

When I say that I have the most talented group of girlfriends it is not an exaggeration- I seriously cannot get over the skill level of the lovely ladies I call my friends! One of my outrageously talented girlfriends also happens to have the loveliest little blog, Tide and Bloom, and daily I am inspired to add a little more "pretty" into my life after reading Christina's blog. This amazing lady also happens to have a heart of gold and a stunning artistic talent (I still have one of her paintings that she gave to me in college- and I love it)! What I am so excited about is that today YOU are going to get to meet Christina, since she is guest posting for me! Christina's flair for design led me to ask her for tips on a beautifully organized desk- since she has a perfect eye. Read on to learn all her fabulous tips... 

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Organize Me Monday: Start 2014 With a Plan(ner)

Y'all I am so excited to talk to you about something near and dear to my heart... my planner! Since we are all beginning an exciting new year (hello 2014!) I thought it was the perfect time to share with you how I organize my planner, and maybe give you a few tips for organizing yours.

First things first... with all the commitments I have on my plate I devised a color-coding system for myself so when I looked at my monthly and weekly overviews I could see instantly where my commitments were falling.

{Hint: I made my color-codes related to what they were for... Green is the color of money, hence why everything associated with Junior League fundraisers is highlighted in green. And, "pink for personal" & "blue for board" kind-of rhymed and helped me remember my own system!}

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Organize Me Monday: Style Notebook (part 3)

As we wrap up our three part series on my style notebook (you can catch part 1 and part 2 if you missed them) I want to talk to you today about adapting this system for other projects or topics. Although I certainly love fashion (live and breathe it actually) there are a lot of other great ways you can use this system to keep your life organized!

One idea I have (and probably a future set of notebooks for me) is for home decorating. There are so many beautiful ideas out there, that although you may not replicate completely, they lend themselves to giving lots of inspiration!

image via pinterest

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Organize Me Monday: Style Notebook (part 2)

Last week I introduced you to my Style Notebook, part 1, where I organize all the outfit ideas that I get from magazines and look-books. But if you are as organized as me, you are probably wondering how to keep track of all the ideas this binder conjures up! So today I am introducing you to part 2 of my system, the actual "style notebook" in the system!

All the pieces working together look like the below:

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Organize Me Monday: Style Notebook (part 1)

Friends, today I am going to let you into a special little part of my organized world, my style notebook!

First, a little backstory... This notebook started when I was in high school. I was a voracious reader of Lucky magazine (and still am) and loved tons of outfits in each issue. But the more issues I received the more the magazines I had stacking up. So, I started to think of ways to keep outfits I loved without taking up the space used by stacks of magazines and thus my Style Notebook was born! What started as 1/2" binder has now grown to a 2" mammoth book that is bursting at the seams! 

So why do I keep this notebook? What's the point? 

For me, I use this notebook as a constant source of inspiration. I look though these pages on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis and am constantly inspired to re-mix my closet and try new combinations. I also find that I am often drawn to a very consistent style of clothes (classic, girly, preppy) and so it helps me focus my shopping to see what I am drawn too and keeps me from buying things that don't fit my aesthetic. Sometimes I purchase the exact items I cut out, but many other times I use them to spark an idea when styling myself in the morning.

Here is a peak inside the pages...

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