It's that time of the year again when all of the companies are releasing their planners... it's my favorite time of year and basically my true Christmas in July experience.

When the time came to start thinking about what kind of planner I wanted this year I had a decent idea (which will be coming soon) but then I started seeing all of these other fabulous, gorgeous planners and I wanted them all.

I was in Target a few weeks ago and came across the Day Designer endcap and fell in love. Every year for the past few years I was intrigued by the Day Designer for Target, ever since I first tried a real Day Designer, the Day Designer for Target, the BlueSky Planner for Target. I never picked one up because I couldn't let go  of my Lilly Pulitzer planner. 

I did let go this year when I scored my Henri Bendel planner so I'm branching out, even though the Lilly planners this year are so gorgeous and this pineapple one is truly calling my name.

However, I had already bought my planner for the year when I saw the Day Designer but I couldn't resist. It was $7.99 and too cute for words. It's a simple, no fuss planner but makes me feel super chic at the same time.

*I can't find Day Designer on Target's website but if you go into your local store it'll be there! BlueSky also released an adorable line of planners that are online and I almost bought another one last week. 

*After some research I see that it's now Day Designer for Blue Sky and you can find all of the adorable ones here. This is the one I have and it's called the Spotted Dot planner.

I was so excited to start using this baby and was so thrilled that it started the last week in June.

For now, I'm using the Day Designer as my full time, on the go planner until my "real" planner and the original planner I bought for this year starts in August.

Day Designer for Target has a lot of different sizes, designs, and layouts but the one I have is a smaller size, smaller than the medium agenda for Lilly Pultizer and a lot lighter in weight. It has a nice soft touch cover to protect the actual paper cover, and the design I got was zebra/leopard spots (unsure what it exactly is) and I love it!

The gold spiral coil is strong yet not too tough and doesn't make the pages too tough to turn. The monthly tabs are also coated so they don't get ruined in your bag.

The Day Designer layout is a normal planner layout with a calendar view before each month and daily boxes spilt down the middle, lines on one side and a to-do list on the other. I like that it's spilt because sometimes there are things I need to write down that aren't to-dos. This way, everything is seperate and organized.





At the top of each page are "This Week's Top Three"  and this is helpful in determining what definitely needs to be done this week. This is probably one of my favorite features of the planner.



The back of the book has pages for notes, the front has a goal section, a morning and evening routine section, and a checkpoint interval with birthdays, anniversaries, schedules, etc. This isn't something I really used in my last day designer but I think I'll definitely use them this year, as I'm more intune with goals, etc.




As much as I love this planner I will be switching to the planner I planned to use originally. This will become my at-home planner.

How I organize myself is that I have my 'on the go' planner that I bring back and forth with me to work. Then I have my at home planner that is used less but still useful because I write my to-do lists and daily tasks that I need to take care of at home. Sometimes the things in both planners overlap but that's the point of having a planner with me when I'm at work, so I can write my thoughts down when I'm out.

Anyways... this planner is perfect for pretty much everyone and anyone. It's a good college planner, a good grad school planner, a good work planner, a good everyday planner -- I have nothing negative to say about it.

It's inexpensive, chic, simple, lightweight, and a wonderful alternative if you're not into designer planners that start around $35.

I can't wait to show you my other planner which will be coming soon!

What planner are you planning on using this year? Do you still use a paper planner?
xoxo
B

I am swimming in a sea of planners and I couldn't be happier. I've talked about my love of planners a lot on the blog, especially in the past few weeks, and I'm not stopping now!

There is just something I've always loved about planners, it's one of the most Type A things about me. I love writing things down, I love being organized, and I love making to do lists. I like to be able to look at my planner and know exactly what's coming at me, and how I can approach each situation.

Crazy right?

I've also been a huge lover of "stuff." My mom would ask me (and still does) "Why do you just buy STUFF?!" I don't buy clothes, or accessories (I buy a lot of make-up clearly), but I buy STUFF. I'll buy notebooks, and fancy pens, and keychains, and just random little items like that. I love stuff, and planners & stationery has always been one of my top "stuff" items to buy.

We've already established that I can't wait to start using my ban.do planner, and that I was going to use the BlueSky planner for work, or get a Lilly Pulitzer agenda.

But, that all changed when I saw that Whitney English (creator of the Day Designer) was coming to Target. UH........

HELLO THIS IS HUGE!

The Day Designers are hard to get your hands on, and they are a pretty penny ($50 if I remember correctly). I had a Day Designer last year as that was the planner we received in our Smart Girls Group Conference goodie bag(side note, attendees got Erin Condren planners, the OG of the planner world and I'm jealous) and the Day Designer really was a Type A's dream.

Is it worth the $50 to me? Eh, probably not but that's just me!

That's why I was so excited to see that Whitney English was coming to Target...and it was released in stores YESTERDAY July 12th!

*You can also get these on the BlueSky website if you can't find them at your local target

One of the main components of a good planner is it has to be cute. Isn't that the reason I didn't like the Kate Spade planners? I need color and fun and life in a planner. It makes organizing and day to day tasks so much more fun. Not to mention, they look awesome in Instagram photos #basic.

Is that just me? Does anyone else need a pretty planner over everything?

Well, Whitney English is bringing her A game to Target.

I received three planners (to my surprise) in the mail and almost wept tears. The reason I was weeping was well, because the planners are beautiful, and because I now have too many planners to choose from.

Between my ban.do planner, the BlueSky planner, and these adorable Whitney English ones, I didn't know what to do.





I wound up falling head over heels for the large, cloth-bound Monthly & Weekly Planner and decided it was much more professional and a little neater than the other BlueSky planner. I already started using the BlueSky planner so I'll probably just keep that home as a all around calendar.

This planner is gorgeous. I've never had a cloth-bound planner before because I really do love spiral planners (The ban.do planner is hardbound so I guess we're going non-spiral this year!) and it feels so luxurious. It's nice and big, and has a similar layout to the original Day Designer with the 'to do' lists next to the weekly layouts.

I only got this planner last Wednesday and used it at work on Thursday & Friday and already love it. It's definitely smaller than the original Day Designer and will take some getting used too but it's really practical for work.





The other two planners I received are floral printed, smaller versions of the Day Designer, very practical for everyday. They're spiral bound and have a nice, plastic protective cover.

These planners have the same layout of the blue, cloth-bound planner which I think is the jist for the entire Whitney English for Target collection. They're small enough for your purse, school, or work bag,

The thing about the original Day Designer that I don't really like is that it's too big to carry around. I would've never used that planner for school because it was just too much.





With my three planners came a booklet of the entire Target collection and there are so many different and fun prints! They also seem to have the classic, original Day Designer in White & Black stripes (I think it's safe to say it has the same layout as these planners, otherwise it'd just be the regular Day Designer).

The prices are ON POINT! The clothbound planner is $13.99, while the "original looking" Day Designer is $14.99.




They have a horizontal planner *which seems awfully interesting and desk pad calendars. The collection also consists of a small cloth-bound planner, which I think is great. It's always good to have options for everyone!

The designs are too cute for words and I may have to make a trip to my local target just to get a glance in person.

Because I have too many planners and not enough use for them, I decided to do a little giveaway for all you lovely planner nerds out there!

I have two planners, so there will be two separate giveaways and winners: one for the Medium Sized agenda & one for the smaller one. Feel free to enter both Rafflecopters below. The giveaway will end in one week-- GOOD LUCK :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway

If it isn't obvious by now, I have a sick planner and stationery obsession. It's always been that way...I've always had multiple notebooks, diaries, post-it notes, etc laying around. I can't resist an adorable patterned notebook, or a notepad that has cute quotes printed on it.

I'm addicted to stationery so when I was emailed by BlueSky to talk about their 2015 planners, I couldn't resist. I could always find a use for multiple planners, hence my rambling in my ban.do planner review when I said I wanted two planners this year.



When I received the package, I was so happy that I not only got a planner, but three little notebooks that are perfect for toting around your bag. I love little notebooks like this to write down random thoughts, or keep to-do lists.





The planner is HUGE. It's a lot bigger than I thought it'd be so this will for sure be one I keep at work. I'm going back and forth between this and a Lilly planner...maybe I will skip out totally on Lilly.

This BlueSky planner isn't as cute or chic as I'd like and it may or may have not been something I picked out myself. I feel like I would if I was looking for a larger, notebook size planner.



The inside is very spacious, and definitely not plain--not like the Kate Spade planner. There are some fun designs, and perfect if you like a more low key but still decorative planner.

Once I decide what I'm doing planner wise, this will be a fantastic work planner. It's definitely big enough and I think will be a great addition to my desk.



Let's talk about the mini notebooks. I"m obsessed! I haven't used them yet but I'm going to start. One for lists, one for notes, and one for ideas. All three are formatted exactly the same way, each with a little heading on the top specificing what for. (Every "note" page has the word "notes" headlined at the top, etc).




I feel like I haven't seen tiny notebooks laid out like this before but I'm glad to have them now! I think the "List" one is my favorite since I'm all about making lists!

These are adorable and something I definitely would've purchased on my own! I also really love how they come in a trio pack together. Three for the price of one!

These are not expensive planners by any means but they are well made and pretty. The BlueSky website has so many cute, adorable, and chic stationery items, I may have to get some on my own!

What is your favorite go-to stationery? Tell me in the comments!