So, I finally bit the bullet and decided that I could (and should!) splurge a little on an Erin Condren Life Planner. If you're a planner nut like me, you've probably heard of these babies since they are the creme de la creme of planners. The planner I had purchased in May wasn't working out and I needed a new one, so I shelled out the $55 (or $66.96 with the expedited shipping) for the Life Planner. I actually purchased this in August before school started, but I wanted to talk not only about my first impressions but my impressing after about a month of use. Buckle your seatbelts and prepare for awesome!
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| How gorgeous is this box?! |
First off, this box is gorgeous! That's all.
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| Tissue paper makes everything feel magical! |
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| Look at all the goodies! |
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When you open the beautiful box, there is a beautiful layer of tissue paper. The box and tissue paper make the product feel really luxurious and expensive (which it is for a poor college girl like me).
When you fold back the tissue paper, there's a pile of free goodies! These goodies include a coupon for $10 off your next purchase, a postcard, a sticker, and really cute gift tags! (I lay all these out in the next picture, so keep scrolling!)
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| Goodies! |
The top left corner of my box was really sticky after I pulled the shipping label off, so I put the purple postcard up there. I use the box to store things I want to put in my scrapbooks. (I couldn't throw away such a pretty box!)
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| There it is! The Holy Grail! |
Finally, under a layer of big ol' bubble wrap, there's the planner (I might've cried a little).
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| Size comparison to my 2014 MacBook Air |
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| Size comparison to my hand (which is tiny). |
For posterity's sake, here are two pictures of size comparison. I thought it would be big and bulky to hold/carry around, but it isn't really. I actually really (REALLY) love the way it feels in my hand.
FINALLY we're getting to the good stuff! The actual planner!
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| Strong, but bendy cover. (This is the cleanest my desk will ever look.) |
Let's talk about construction. This planner has an incredibly durable cover. It's made of a thick laminate plastic and is removable! (I just bought two more covers!) The planner is hand coiled with a thick, aluminum, one-inch coil. I believe it can withstand 110 pounds of pressure. There's a sheet of really lovely printed vellum (the see-through overlay stuff on wedding invitations) covering the first page of the planner. It's another one of those things that gives it that luxurious feel. The pages are printed on good quality paper (I have yet to have a pen bleed through). The print quality is excellent (and I'm an ex-printer's daughter). The colors never feel thin and nothing looks fuzzy, even the teeny tiny print and embellishments on days with holidays.
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| Month view |
The month view is nice and big with plenty of room to write stuff. I was really concerned the tiny boxes for the 23rd, 24th, 30th, and 31st would be really cramped, especially because the 23rd and 24th are part of Welcome Weekend and I had TONS of things going on. I had to write a little bit smaller than usual, but everything fit. I don't use the Goals section a ton yet, but I'll do another post on how I set up my planner. There are also a couple of pages in the front that you can use for goal planning, etc. (More on those in December when I set them up!)
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| Vertical Week View |
The week view is gorgeous and incredibly spacious! There's plenty of room for me to write in my entire crazy schedule and my homework (and not have a panic attack over how cramped it looks)! There's also a little Thankful Thought box in the top left corner that I think is really cute. I also use stickers for some of my planning to make certain things pop. The actual planner comes with three sheets of stickers in the back: one is pre-printed with events like birthdays, appointments, game days, etc and one is blank for you to fill in your own things. I LOVE these stickers as they fit perfectly in the boxes and are repositionable! The planner also comes with a double-sided "Keep it Together" folder with a perpetual calendar for birthdays/anniversaries, important contacts and passwords and a clear, zip-lock, plastic pouch in the back.
All in all, I highly recommend this planner. If you're willing to spend a little dough, this planner is a GEM! It has everything I need and more. I like looking at it and that makes me want to write in it. The design is aesthetically pleasing while still maintaining the level of functionality necessary for a busy person. There are a zillion ways to customize them and use them for your plannering. You can find blog posts and YouTube videos all over the Internet. I myself will be posting about how I organize mine pretty soon so keep a look out!
As always, thanks for reading!
Rachel
