Erin Condren haul, part 1

I've decided that I'm going to try to schedule the "off-topic" stuff - skincare, makeup, etc. - on the weekends, and keep to polish on the weekdays as much as possible. I don't know if I'll keep to that 100% but it seems like a good goal, anyway. Nail polish is not going to stop being my main thing any time soon. That said, this is even more off-topic than makeup, because it's about planners. I have a huge Erin Condren haul including my 2019 planner, but I have so many pictures I'm going to do it in stages.

So, regarding planners generally - I was having a discussion with somebody one day about whether it's organized people or disorganized people who need planners. All I can say is that I personally fall on the disorganized end of the spectrum, for sure. I don't have a massively complicated schedule, but I have a very poor sense of time and I forget things and having a planner seems to help. And I like Erin Condren's, even if they are kind of expensive. I think you can get them from Staples (here), but I've always ordered mine directly, because then you can get them personalized. Let's see, I think I ordered my first one in the middle of the year in 2015, but I paid extra to get the rest of 2015 and 2016 all in one volume. And then since then I've just done calendar years. The first year I also bought a bunch of extra covers, since they're interchangeable. This year I went especially bananas and bought the planner folio (basically a protective cover) , and also stickers, a notebook, etc etc...

Let's start with the folio, since it's something I haven't tried before:

It's made of neoprene, and the back side is black - or at least that's the only color I've seen - which means the designs with black in them are the natural matches to that. You can get the paisley design in multicolors with black as seen here, or you can pick your own colors. I've had both the dark and white* versions of the cover, and it's really my very favorite design, which is why I decided to get it for the folio.

(*You used to be able to get this design on a planner in multicolors on a white background, which I really liked. - Aha, I just checked and it's still available as as a replacement cover, but that's the only place I saw it.)

The sticker below is covering up my initials, if you're wondering. That's being massively paranoid, I know, but I just wasn't comfortable putting it out there. (Most of my EC things have my full name on them, but this one just has room for initials.)

This is the medium size, which holds a standard-size planner easily and even some more stuff - I have been carrying a bound notebook that's the same size, as well as the planner. (The folio is 9x11" - I checked.) The neoprene stretches a bit, so that gives you some leeway, but there's not a huge amount of extra space. (I don't think there's actually a small size. There's only medium and large - large is 10-1/2x13". The medium size is $25 and large is $35.)

And because it's the same print, I'll also show you the mouse-pad I bought. (I feel like mouse-pads are obsolete, much of the time, but on the surface of my computer desk I seem to need one. And come to think of it, they wouldn't be selling them if nobody bought them, would they?) This is turned sideways because it fits better in the space I have - it also has initials and they're under the mouse, here. I was sorta beating myself up for spending the money on this item, particularly, but it has a really nice surface and I really like it and I know I'll use it until it falls apart in a few years, so really it's totally worth the $12.

(Part 2 coming on Friday)

Added: some pictures of the folio that I didn't post the first time:

This is the interior - it has several pockets and a pen-holder, as you can see. The planner fits underneath this. (Aside: I love this pink pen to a ridiculous degree because it matches the flamingo cover that I'm using now, and also matched the bright floral I was using for all of 2018 up until the last few weeks. And the paisley on the folio, for that matter.)

This is the planner's tabs peeking out from the edge of the folio.

The folio even has a cute EC-themed charm on the zipper: