I have a little secret to share with you. Yes, I live on a Caribbean island. Yes, time is slow here, we’ll get to it tomorrow, let’s do that when the rain stops, etc. etc.
But while lots of things have changed since moving here, my attention to detail and excellent organization skills (or, as my dive shop co-workers call it, my anal-retentiveness and OCD…whatever guys, at least you know the tip sheet is done right!) have not changed much since my escape from the cubicle.
I love details and I love to plan & organize. I think when I get too old to carry tanks I should probably go back to school to be a wedding planner. I would be awesome at that.
First, I never win anything. Second, it was a planner. A PLANNER YOU GUYS. I tried the whole iPhone calendar thing, I even synced it with my Gmail calendar and that was okay for a bit. But I’m secretly an old lady and I love to write things down. So a planner was mega-exciting!
Not only do you get a cool planner, which I needed anyway, but you can totally customize the whole thing! You can use your own photos for the front and back cover, write whatever you want on the welcome page, choose what kinds of little add-ons you want on the bottom of each page (to-do lists, graphs, lines, etc.), choose headers, and pick from tons of options on what to put in the last 16 pages of the planner (maps, 2015 calendars, address book, etc.) I had so much fun designing my own with all the details, right down to the color of the keeper (the elastic that goes over the front to hold it closed). And my favorite part? You input names and birthdays/anniversaries, and they get printed right in the planner….and it gets saved for when you sign in and order the next year’s planner! How awesome is that??
I was so excited when this arrived – shout out to Amanda for picking this up for me in Scotland and bringing it back to Roatan. I can’t wait until December to break out this bad boy:
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| classy narcissistic front cover |
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| welcome page |
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| customized footers – left pages |
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| customized footers – right pages |
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| birthdays and anniversaries printed right in the calendar! here you can see my dog ginger will be sharing her 17th birthday (not a typo, she’s super old) with the anniversary of the coronation of queen elizabeth. the more you know… |
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| customized back pages – 2015 calendar (you can see my grandparents’ anniversary, grandpa’s birthday and my brother’s birthday in 2015…the birthdays/anniversaries are printed here too!) |
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| customized back pages – i have 8 pages of maps! (also, if you don’t know where roatan is… i’m right under the Z in belize!) |
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| back cover. this is the view where i work. not bad. |
I’m thrilled with how this turned out. This company is awesome and they even include worldwide shipping in their prices! I had great support from Sara, their customer service agent while trying to sort out where to ship this to and the timing so someone could bring it to Roatan for me (you can’t really mail stuff here…) The only thing I would change about the planners is the option to have holidays printed on the dates…the company is from the UK and if you choose to have holidays printed in the calendar, they print ALL the UK bank holidays on it that have no relevance for anyone outside of the UK. It would be nice to be able to choose a country for the holidays. That’s my only little gripe!
When I emailed the company to ask for a discount code for my readers, they very generously offered a FREE any-size planner for one of you! Woohoo! Make sure to head over to their Facebook page and Twitter pages and give them some love for being rad. This is the perfect time of year to start getting your 2014 organized!
I will definitely share some pictures! 🙂
AWESOME Michelle! Would love to see pics of what the final product looks like 🙂
Congrats to Lise! I was so excited about this planner, I ordered one anyways! I had some troubles with trying to pay by credit card, but PayPal worked like a charm, just ordered it today. Yeah for me! 🙂
Oh my gosh Michelle – that is a BIG one!! Haha! Too funny!!
What a fantastic planner! I love it, especially the maps and photos you can add. I don't really have a good story about not having a planner or calendar. When I'm traveling, I've usually printed off something three times and stuck it in different bags. One thing that did happen that I tried to rely on my memory was working out the Saturday schedule at my job 8 years ago. My husband and I were going to get married on Saturday the 20th and then wait to leave for our honeymoon to Cabo San Lucas the next week. Well, we were looking at the main work calendar trying to get us all assigned and I said I couldn't work on the 27th since we would be going on our honeymoon. I was obsessed with travel and that was sticking out in my mind more than the wedding!? I shouldn't admit that, but people at work know I'm a flake! Anyways, we write all of the names in and I'm set to work the 20th. I go back to my desk and then it dawns on me that I have something planned for the 20th and can't work! Everyone got a good laugh out of that one. If I had grabbed a planner first, I wouldn't have looked like such an idiot! 🙂
I am SO a details girl, this was a dream to build! And I get to bust it out tomorrow, finally…so excited!
How awesome is that planner. I love details like that too. And nothing beats something handwritten. Love the cover.
Thanks Shaz!! I love it too, super excited that I get to use it in a couple short weeks!
I have totally forgotten taxis too. Man, a lot of the stories in the comments are making me feel better because I've done most of them as well!!
Oh shoot. I have SO done this before. And I should know better, I'm from a military family and I don't think my dad has ever used the 12hr clock!
Ooooooooooooouuuuffff $1000!?!? Yikes! Crying does seem to get us places sometimes though doesn't it 🙂
Thanks Agness!! It's so much easier when you always carry it around, isn't it?
Amaze-balls! There's nothing like a good pen and paper planner. I far too often attempt digital planners and watch as my plans get lost in cyber space. I need to write things down and visually see it in front of me. I was stoked when I got to customize a case for my ipad mini, but customizing a planner is a whole other ball game, yours turned out great!
On my second last day in Vietnam my boyfriend and I ordered a taxi to bring us to the airport to catch our flight to Vancouver the next day. We obviously forgot what time the cab was coming, went out with our friends the night before, and awoke to a taxi driver banging on our apartment door. We had to speed-pack our remaining stuff and throw ourselves together while the man waited impatiently at our door. Luckily we were in Vietnam because anywhere else we would have been charged through the roof for that. Perhaps if I wrote it down I would have remembered that I paid someone to come drive me somewhere.
That looks amazing!! I've actually been looking for a nice planner recently haha.
Hmm a story let's see….last year, living in Germany for the first time I wasn't used to 24 hour time yet, so I booked a flight to London for 6:30, and for some reason I thought it was 6:30 PM. So the evening before I double checked my ticket, and realized it was actually 6:30 AM….and after checking my shuttle bus connections to Frankfurt Hahn, I realized I had to pack and be ready to leave like 2 hours after discovering this ordeal, hahahaha.
Love this! There's just nothing like writing something down. I always travel with a planner and about five notebooks to keep myself sane. Dan just makes fun of me for having so much stuff, but I think it really helps 🙂 My story isn't that funny, but there was this one time I missed my international flight from Europe back home. The ticket attendant told me I was going to have to pay over $1000 to get on the next flight… Luckily after bawling my eyes out and getting some sandwiches from the sweet old Spanish women that felt bad for me, I managed to convince them to let me fly on the same flight the following day at no extra charge. Phew. But definitely could have been avoided with a planner 😉
Wow, this is something amazing! Love your cover photo, it rocks. I always carry my notebook with me to keep myself more organised so I've been doing a great job recently. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!!!! Great plan x
I definitely remember stuff because I've written it down…I don't always even look back at it later! But as long as I write it right away, I'm good. Otherwise I forget everything haha. And I agree – these are GREAT gifts in time for the holidays! Getting a calendar is kinda boring but getting a sweet ass personalized dayplanner is kinda awesome I think.
Teachers AND travelers definitely need planners!! So handy. I love how now I've had two teacher stories…what is up with you guys!? 🙂 I would have definitely been calling someone and crying too (a sobbing phone call to my mom comes to mind, while I was stuck in a snowbank in my car…and she lived in a different town two hours away. I just wanted to cry and yell to someone who wouldn't disown me!)
Yay Lise!! Thanks for de-lurking to comment 🙂 Miss you lady, hope you are good! I loved your story, I laughed so hard. I would have said something equally as ridiculous, and also definitely also got drunk. Well played.
I never knew either until I saw Andi's giveaway. I LOVE MINE!! Using a dayplanner is a must for me…I forget everything that I don't write down 🙁
Oh man I'm going to go nutts making one for myself and for a few friends of mine who I know could use one. The personalization makes it a great gift idea too! Double score!! I always need to write stuff down as well. For some reason when I write it down I remember it more. I know the whole point is to not have to remember BECAUSE it's written down/typed in, but for some reason the writing just works better haha.
Oohh… this looks just like what a teacher/traveler like myself needs! The story that comes to mind is when I was on my way to work (substitute teacher) heading to a school I had only been to a few times. The office called me and asked if I was coming to work today. I said, "Yes, I'm on my way. Why?" And they informed me that I was supposed to already be there. I confused the time for two different school districts. (SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN IT DOWN AND NOT RELIED ON MY USUALLY IMPECCABLE MEMORY!) Anyways… after I hung up the phone (yes, talking while driving) my car basically stopped. On the freeway. I called the school back to say my car broke down and that I'd do my best to get there. I'm sure the secretary thought I was a total flake. I somewhere managed to chug my way into school… basically coasting down a hill. In the end I made it to class before the students. Unfortunately, the story ends with a pathetic call to an ex-boyfriend, stalling at several lights while trying not to sob, and purchasing a brand new car a few days later. So yes, I think a planner would have come in handy that day. First for writing down the correct time of my assignment, and secondly for keep track of my auto shop appointments! 🙂
Rika! OMG I LOVE PLANNERS. I nearly fainted when I saw the title of this post. also, my first comment!! yippee!
My story…
I was scheduled to start my first day of work at a new school, and I had a big meeting with the principal first thing… well I woke up in a calm-slept-in-nothing-can-bother-me-WAIT-A-MINUTE-WHAT-THEFUCKISHAPPENING state. I had about 5 minutes to make a 30 commute through 8am Vancouver traffic *barf*.
I phoned the school and made up a bullshit excuse about my mother and my cat and it was dramatic and believable(maybe?) anyway. I ended up getting THE WHOLE DAY OFF TO DEAL WITH MY ILL MOTHER AND CAT.
suffice to say I got drunk.
Yay! Love your planner, love the blog!
Lise
Wow I never knew anything like this existed. I would share a story with you but Ive actually never used a dayplanner! Ive always just relied on my memory, but as I get a bit older Im thinking maybe I should try writing stuff down…
Thanks!! Yours was pretty rockin as well. Thanks again for setting this chain of awesome planners in motion! xo
LOVE YOURS!!!!!!!! So happy you're happy with the final result. <3