New ECLPs on the Horizon! What Changes Are You Hoping to See?

New ECLPs on the Horizon!    

What Changes Are You Hoping to See?

Oh, the anticipation is starting to build as Erin Condren is planning the release of the new Life Planners!  What changes are YOU hoping to see?! We have so many ideas of things we'd love to see! 

**Share your thoughts on changes / additions you'd like to see in the comments, and we'll add a blog post with all of your feedback!! One idea sparks another... Creativity as well as organizational planning ideas are great gifts to share and receive! We love the community of ECLP fans as it's just a big organizational, inspirational, creative community of neat people! :)

We are really hoping Erin Condren's team releases a Life Planner the size of the Teacher Planner. We'd like to see about 20-30 pages of note paper between each month, more add-ins and the ability to coordinate / customize the 5 rows down! In our ideal ECLP, Teacher Planner sized, instead of the 7 subject columns across the top, the days of the week take over (starting with Monday just like the ECLP),  Down the left side where the 5 rows are currently the 5-weekdays (for school), we would like to see categories that can be personalized such as :  

Home         Morning          Home          Kids            Mom              Budget & Bills

Work          Day                 Work           Work           Dad               Appointments

Meals        Night               Kids            Home          Kiddo 1          Work

Chores      To-Do's           Meals          Wellness      Kiddo 2         Home       

Fitness      Meals              Chores        Gratitude   Gratitude      Social

...and obviously there are a million different options you might have in mind that could be personalized. We have a couple of ECLP/ECTP friends who have taken their Teacher Planners and repurposed them into Direct Sales Planners. They're awesome! 

Another extra bonus would be getting to select the motivational quote pages - what they say and where they fall within your planner...

We could ramble on, but alas, we must not! Share your ideas, your creative input! Who knows...maybe Erin Condren herself will see your ideas and put them into action! And maybe we'll all inspire something in each other that we put into action... Remember...one spark at a time!

Remember to sign up on the Erin Condren website by clicking on the link below and GET A COUPON FOR $10 OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE!!! Just follow the link below:

Sign Up w/Erin Condren here and get $10 Off Your First Order!

Happy Planning!
Amy & Regina

Being Happy Is A CHOICE!

Being Happy Is A CHOICE!

A happy and blessed Easter and / or Passover to all those reading! Hope good, quality time has been spent with family and friends. 

Where, oh where, have we been, you're wondering?!  We have been busy WORKING LOTS of HOURS!  We are so blessed to have our jobs and love every minute of the time we put in at each of our jobs! Work has definitely kept us so busy - much busier than usual! Amy worked 140 hours the past two weeks alone!. Regina traveled out of town for her first work-related business trip last week! Needless to say, the craziness in our work schedules has definitely helped define how we spend our free time together. So please forgive our lack of activity here on our Planning Pixies: Erin Condren Awesomeness Blog! 

We're getting work life balanced out with all these hours and should get back to regular posts soon!

As a back in the saddle kind of post, we'd like to share a general idea with you. You don't have to agree with us. But we would ask you to contemplate the idea. That idea...:  

Happiness is a CHOICE!  

You CHOOSE to be happy:  

Circumstances and situations will always change.. One of the things we can keep constant is our choice to choose to be happy! That doesn't mean things are picture perfect. It doesn't mean you have everything you want or even need,  Not in the least. It simply means you have a choice... 

You can choose to be happy, or you can choose not to be. 

One of the many things that brings us great happiness is the time we spend together jazzing up our Erin Condren Life Planners ! We take time, once a week, to plan out our week. Even with our crazy schedules lately, we've made that a priority between us because it brings us so much happiness (not to mention the obvious need for scheduling / planning to keep everything in order). We have some really big, happy goals ahead of us, and, in order to realize those goals, we must keep ourselves on schedule! So needless to say, scheduling / planning each week is critical for us. 

We'll go ahead and wrap up  this post. There really isn't much to it other than the idea that choosing to be happy is a choice. We hope you choose to be happy!

Happy Planning!

Amy & Regina :)

Erin Condren Life Planners: Give them a try!

Erin Condren Life Planners:  Give Them A Try!

https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/amythurmond0527

Happy Easter, Friends! 

If you're looking for a paper planner to help keep you organized, we highly recommend Erin Condre Life Planners! If you follow this link and register with your email address, you'll get a $10.00 discount on your first purchase, and we'll get $10.00 store credit when your first order ships!! 

Their Life Planners are 40% off right now, so it might be a good time to give them a try! 

We got ours in December, 2014, and we have found them to be fabulous tools! 

Everything is custom-order, and it's such a good quality! Share this link as you like - and get organized!  

https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/amythurmond0527

Happy Planning! 
Amy & Regina :)

Making Time to Plan!

Making Time To Plan!

How often to you forego your planning time? For us, it is a rarity!  When we decided to go back to paper planners, we went all in! We invested in the Erin Condren Life Planner because we found it the most functional for our needs. We decided, also, to use our planners as memory books / scrapbooks / journals, so decorating/  jazzing up our layouts is a dedicated effort to use our tools to accomplish our goals - however big, however small. We typically take time at least once a week to plan and decorate, (really more with adjustments and updates).

This is the first week we've had a really big blip in our scheduled planning time. We were out of town for several days co-hosting a party and celebrating a family landmark.  It was well worth the time away! There was a LOT of planning that went into the event (as with any project), and a beautiful family memory was made!

The Happy Couple celebrating 60 YEARS of marriage!!! Awesomesauce!  

Now it's time to get back to everyday life! So our week is already underway, and we feel like something is missing...oh, right... our planners...our plans for the week... Tuesday evening is solely dedicated to our layouts for the week - and just maybe the following week!!! It will feel so good to get back on track! We also have Happy Mail to get out (some of it is a little late, some will go out on time and some will be an unexpected surprise to some special people)...

Tuesday work days are always particularly busy (more so for me than Regina)! It will be something to look forward to after a long day at work - that creative outlet we seem to enjoy... And just getting down on paper all that we need to accomplish gives us that visual that works so well for us!

So who else is behind on updating their planners? Who hasn't even started?  Who has hit a creative road block or just can't move forward?  Talk to us, to each other! We can all be motivators, encourage one another to share ideas and help you get back on track with your planners or even to get started!!!

Look for pictures tomorrow night!! And thank you for following our blog and posting on our FB page!  We are growing so quickly, it's exciting!!

Happy Planning!
Amy & Regina

Erin Condren Life Planners: Our First Spreads

Erin Condren Life Planners:  Our First Spreads

Planning your first spread in your Erin Condren Life Planner can be overwhelming! We wanted to share our first weeks with you since we're fairly new to this fabulously fanatical, fun & frilly, frenzied planner hobby!  

Regina and I have a lot of the same tastes, like a lot of the same things...AND we equally have as many different likes / tastes. Also, as with everyone, we have different approaches / methodologies to functional practices - work processes, creative activities, house cleaning and cooking. When it comes to creative outlets, Regina, generally speaking, gets an idea and runs with it while I have to have a whole big picture vision of the end result before I even put something down on paper. We can be equally as simple as we can be complex, so that's always a toss up. 

***For those of you who haven't signed up at the Erin Condren site yet, please see note at the end of this post!***

Always remember that your planner is YOUR planner. ITs sole function is to do whatever you need it to do:  help you keep track of activities, help keep you on budget, on schedule, on task, help you stay on your health routine, help you keep record of gratitude and memories, help keep your creativity flowing, help keep your mind active...and so on and so on and so on... (remember those commercials, lol?!)! YOUR planner can do one or ALL of those things. It's up to you! 

We definitely recommend planning time in your schedule to "plan"... Whether you take 10 minutes every day, 30 minutes twice a week, an hour once a week  - doesn't matter...make it work for you. But if you're going to invest in the product, if you're going to invest in the supplies to "dress it"...USE IT! It's really easy to make those purchases... It takes follow through to DO IT! 

So we here and now challenge each one of you... 

YOU INVEST IN IT, YOU BUY IT, YOU USE IT!!! 

Now for the trip down memory lane...our first spreads! We were in the midst of final Christmas planning, so it was fast & furious for us. We opted against ordering the "remaining months of the current year" in our planners as we figured they wouldn't arrive in time for us to put them into use. Ahhhh, but they did! LOL! So we only had half of Christmas week in our ECLPs. 

Amy's first spread:  As mentioned, we were in the throes of Christmas activities, so Amy really tried to transition our functioning "to-do" list into her new planner. She used a sheet from our personalized note pad to function as the early part of Christmas week. It's got glitz and glam, to-do's, washi tape and stickers! 

Regina took a simpler approach and just decided to start her spread where the planner started, Christmas Day! She went with a little washi, a few stickers and a few notes (since Amy had most of our notes in her spread that week). 

As you can see...two totally different approaches, perfectly functional for each of us. These pics were taken when we finished decorating them. Since then, we checked off completed action items, updated activities (for example, we didn't go to the grocery store that weekend - too pooped out from the Christmas rush)!  But you get the idea... YOU decide how functional, how much, how detailed, how minimal ...rambling, yes... bottom line...

MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU!

Make your ECLP fit into your life, don't fit your life around it. 

Have specific questions on how to get started with your ECLP? Message us, or post them here! This is such a fun fan community, that you are sure to get all the help & inspiration you need! 

***If you haven't signed up yet, copy and paste the link below into a new browser window, register with your email address and set a password. By following the link below, you'll get a $10 welcome coupon via email, and, in the spirit of full disclosure, we'll get a $10 referral credit when your first order ships (not until then). ***

https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/amythurmond0527

Happy Planning!

Amy & Regina

The Wacky, Wonderful, Wholly Guacamole World of WASHI!

The Wacky, Wonderful, Wholly Guacamole World of WASHI! 

How many of you really KNOW what washi tape is...? Rather, how many of you HAD NO CLUE what the term meant, how to spell it, let alone what to do with it, before you became obsessed with everything Erin Condren / organizer / scrapbook supplies?!

To be honest, washi was a new term to us as we started delving into the world of the Erin Condren Life Planners (and we're scrapbookers, crafters and stampers from way back who had taken a hiatus for several years). Like many of you, we quickly became OBSESSED wild women wanting washi tape...seeking it out at every possible location...scouring etsy stores, amazon shops, all the group posts, the craft / hobby stores, dollar stores...looking exclusively for uniquely designed washi tape!

It is certainly a staple in our planning supply stash, an ever-growing stash, at that. Washi tape must have reproductive beams of some sort that send out signals which control our wallets and pull us in by some wild magnetic strength to stores and sites....to buy - buy - buy!!! LOL! Of course, no such myth exists, but it IS an easily addictive impulse purchase... SO BE PREPARED!

Our best lesson learned:  one role of Washi tape goes a LONG way! 

So some helpful advice...
*PLAN:  Go out on that shopping spree with a plan! Do your research online, browse the pics on the group pages and find things you like, styles / patterns / colors...

*THINK before you load up that cart...Try to get a vision of how the things you've added to your cart

will work together in your planner to make it as functional and fun as you need it to be!

*SET A BUDGET: Set a budget for yourself for that first time washi purchase... You may want to include room in the budget for stickers, pens, adhesive paper (i.e., Hobby Lobby has a fun new product), etc. ...
*DON'T SETTLE:. If you don't find what you're looking for, keep looking! You have to really envision that washi tape in your planner in some design - or you envision sharing it with a Planner Buddy or in a RAK... If it doesn't fit into those two categories (use yourself, share with friends), then put it down and step away. It's tempting to just buy it, but if you really don't have a clear plan for it, put it down and step away from the washi!

There are so many cute designs out there for washi tape! We WISH they were all in one place...but they're not. SO be open and really shop around for what you want. Etsy shops for planner supplies draw us when we're shopping for functional stickers that we use for everyday tasks/chores, etc. But  washi shopping on etsy isn't something we enjoy to be honest. It's being in that creative mode, maybe, instead of the utilitarian mode... The wacky, wonderful, wholly guacamole world of washi DOES exist! It can easily become a black hole. When you learn how far one roll truly goes, you'll quickly find that, eh, maybe buying the samples that Etsy vendors and user groups sell. Or exchanging with your Planner Buddies once you know each other's tastes can be a good resource to help you keep your actual ROLL collection count down. We currently have about 200 rolls of washi tape that we've collected since...December... Granted...MOST ALL of them were on MAJOR sale (see our previous post below to help you find those bargains!)

Bargain Shopping Tips & Pointers for Planner / Scrapbook Supplies!

To wrap up this rambling post, purchasing supplies before your planner arrives is a smart idea if you have a general sense of how you'd like to decorate your months / weeks.  Or if you KNOW you like a certain color scheme and want to stick with it, or if you have a seasonal theme planned, okay... Those are valid reasons to start purchasing supplies for your planner before it's even arrived.  We can't honestly tell you to  start small because we purchased all the items above before our planners even arrived...We'd love to hear and see pics from your first planner supply shopping spree!  Remember...

*Plan ahead, *think through the items in your cart, *stay within your budget & *don't settle!

Add us to your circles and let's stay in touch! After all, the biggest part of this Erin Condren Life Planner community is the UNITY!

Happy Planning,
Amy & Regina :)

Planner Buddies & RAKs

Planner Buddies & RAKs

In the world of paper planners, there are a couple of really nifty little nuggets of yesteryear actively circulating.  They seem most prominent on the Erin Condren Life Planner community pages, but they're prevalent throughout any of the paper planner groups.

"Planner Buddies" and "RAKs" (Random Acts of Kindess)! 

A Planner Buddy is someone you get to know by swapping / sharing planner goodies, exchanging ideas / advice. They may send you something from their area that you can't find in yours (something, for example, from a particular store that doesn't do business in your neck of the woods)! Planner Buddies are rather like modern day pen pals. :D Fabulous, really, especially for those of us who love the personal touch a handwritten note sent via snail mail provides!

A RAK, Random Act of Kindness, is just what it implies within the world of planner goodies!  Some people and groups organize RAKs where you put your name in and get a list of people to send "happy mail" to that consists of planning supplies. Other people may just feel like sending out RAKS, so they will offer up a contest of sorts to choose random recipients. Anyway they go about it, RAKS are a lovely way to pay it forward and just spread some joy, send a smile!

It takes organization to participate in either of these activities, so be prepared! Having participated in both, we can attest... It's totally doable, worth it and FUN!! It's such a sweet feeling to drop something in the mail to someone knowing that it's going to brighten their day. As my mom has always said, you never know what someone is going through... We hope that each package of happy mail we send out is received on that day and in a moment that the person receiving it just smiles and giggles, gets inspired or all of the above!

We have always been fans of paying it forward. We try to practice that regularly, in fact. Through our involvement with the ECLP groups and other planner / scrapbook groups, we have been able to send out over 100 pieces of happy mail in just under 60 days. More about that later.

For you newbies, don't be afraid to speak up in the groups. Let people know you're looking for a Planner Buddy, and wait for the offers to roll in!  You'll be pleasantly surprised at how many people from all walks of life are fans of these planners / hobbies / pages. You will make new pen pal friends and be able to send and receive happy mail - either or both - your choice!

So get involved! It will really enhance your experience. Most importantly, it will lighten your heart, bring a smile to your face and hopefully inspire someone else to do the same!!

Happy Friday!!!
&
Happy Planning!
Amy & Regina

Bargain Shopping Tips & Pointers for Planner / Scrapbook Supplies!

Bargain Shopping Tips & Pointers for Planner / Scrapbook Supplies!

It is SO MUCH FUN to go shopping for planner and / or scrapbook supplies! Whether you're on a very tight to minimal budget or have no kind of budget concern, ALWAYS seek out the best bargains you can! Money saved is money saved. Period. And if it isn't saved, but spent on more planner / scrapbook supplies, then so be it!

Here are some helpful tips for "newbies" on getting the best bargain you can!

***This is a long post, so if you're an experienced bargain shopper, just glance through it and please share your bargain shopping advice in comments below!) ***

1.  KNOW your products! For the products you purchase regularly (stickers, paper, pens, adhesive, washi, etc.), you should most definitely be in the know on what they typically cost, what stores carry them, what brands compare to them, etc.

2. Educate yourself!  If you are new to the world of bargain shopping or Erin Condre Life Planner decorating, scrapbooking or just planner decorating in general, educate yourself. Take time to start reviewing the websites and printed ads of your local craft / hobby stores, major chain stores, dollar stores and even grocery stores. You can find craft supplies EVERYWHERE! LOL! Pay attention to what stores offer online versus in store. Sometimes the better option is on line, but with craft / hobby stores, major chain stores (Walmart, Target, Big Lots), we have found the best bargains to be had are in-store. Walk the stores with the week's ads in hand, make notes if you need to of the product lines you seem to be drawn to, even take pictures of items you like and the shelf tags to remind you of their regular costs. Compare both the same items and similar items to other stores' offerings.

3. Follow the cycle, shop the cycle!  Once you've had a couple of rounds walking the stores with ads in hand, while taking notes / photos, you're ready!! Review your ads, have your electronic coupon links ready (or print your coupons) and make a list! You will come to realize there is a cycle that most retail stores follow (just like Bath & Bodyworks or Macy's), so you will be able to make your purchases when your favorite things go on sale. For example, stickers are something we use almost daily. We try ONLY to purchase stickers when they are on SALE!!  Stores like Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnn and Target ALWAYS run their stickers (and most every craft supply) on sale every 4-6 weeks. Buying stickers at 40%-50% off is the ONLY way I'm buying them (except in a very rare, specific circumstance)! By following the sales and knowing the prices of your items, you will begin to see where the best bargains can be found. Frankly, here in Texas, traditionally we have found that Michael's is bit more pricey than Hobby Lobby (on most everything). However, Michael's has a much larger selection of washi tape where Hobby Lobby wins out in the sticker category. In our neck of the woods, JoAnn Fabrics is no where near as competitive in their craft supply pricing as Hobby Lobby and Michael's. But Joann even has a better offering of washi tape than Hobby Lobby. Just observations from our neck of the woods!

4. Clearance items can be found THROUGHOUT a store, not just in the designated "clearance" area! Walk the entire store! If you're looking for a bargain, keep looking, you'll find one (or some!)!! Walmart and Michael's especially and most definitely do this all the time in our shopping area!

5.  Different store, different pricing!  Just because a price is $3.49 for an item at this store in this city, it does not mean it will be $3.49 at its sister store across town or in another city. It's kind of a crummy thing, really, but it is what it is. So if it's worth the time and savings to you, drive across town, drive to the next city...and check out your options!

6.  Wait for the sale!  Unless you have a very specific need, wait for the sale! The major chains DO cycle their sale items. And who doesn't want to save 30%-50% on most all their planner / scrapbook supplies?!

7.  Buddy Up!  Buddy up with a friend or coworker and split the cost! Buy a set of 100 pages of card stock and share it between the two of you!  A lot of stickers come in 2 sheets. Easy as pie!  Let's say you really want a laminating machine or sticker making machine...Big ticket item...How often will you need / use it?  If it's something you really want / need but don't have room in the budget, can you swing it by sharing the cost? Talk to someone who shares your interests. You may very well find a way to make it work if you buddy up!

8.  Price Matching:  Price matching is a VERY pertinent tool to posses.  It takes time, dedication, effort and DESIRE! I'm going to save ramblings on this topic for a grocery post!

9.  Never be afraid to ask! Never be afraid to ask about the price of an item. If you feel like it's something that should be on sale or falls within the week's listed sale items, but it doesn't appear to be marked that way, ASK!  Just a couple of weeks ago, we were at Walmart. They had several pen sets that were boxed and labeled "holiday pack" (or something similar) for Christmas. They were originally priced at $9.97. The sale price on the rack showed $5.00. That's a great bargain...However, all the other Christmas items were CLEARANCE PRICED at 90% off! So we thought...okay...that would be a HUGE (extreme) savings...but it totally fits the parameters of the sale (in this case, clearance)... and it would totally be worth ASKING the question... SO we loaded up all we had room for in our cart. At checkout, we simply asked the question, "these are Christmas items (pointed out the words "Holiday Pack"), so shouldn't they also be 90% off like the other Christmas clearance?" The cashier politely told us she would have to ask her manager. The manager came over, looked at the item and made the decision that yes, they should be priced at 90% off because they were Christmas items. We got $250 worth of pens for $25.00 ... WORTH ASKING THE QUESTION!

Ultimately, what you pay for your planner / scrapbook supplies is in your hands. It's up to you to actively pursue the best prices you can get. Retailers are out to make a profit, of course. We're all out to save as much as we can (most of us), but we hope to have the luxury of a little happy spending. Make it stretch by using the tips we laid out! Become a bargain shopper!!

We'd love to hear your bargain shopping scores or advice! Leave your comments below.

Happy Planning!
Amy & Regaina :)

Pens or Pencils...Please Use Them!

Pens or Pencils...Please Use Them!

The art of handwriting is, sadly, slowly, withering away... To think that schools no longer teach cursive handwriting saddens us both...! Tragic! Technology most definitely has its place. Outstanding things happen with technology. We LOVE technology!  But how beautiful is a handwritten note, a scribbled monthly budget, a sheet of math homework or a journal entry? Recognizing a person by his/her handwriting is a skill that everyone should possess.  

It may sound old school, antiquated to some, but handwriting is a critical line of communication we must keep alive!  So tell us, friends... When you write, what do you prefer to use?  Regina prefers a pencil, especially in her Erin Condren Life Planner. She also prefers to use pencils (the .7,mm lead) at work for little notes here and there.

Amy prefers fine point pens in all colors!  The Frixion pens (erasable gel ink pens) are sensational tools to use in my Erin Condren Life Planner. I love all the colors, and they write so smoothly.  Inkjoys, Pilot G2, Sharpie Pens Extra Fine and Papermate Flairs are allincredible!  Obviously, I like pens! LOL!

Will you take our handwriting challenge?  Will you sit down and hand write us a note, scan it in and upload it in the comments below?   We want to see your handwriting style and tool of choice!!!

KEEP THE ART OF HANDWRITING ALIVE!! Send some snail-mail to a friend or loved one just to say hello, I thought of you today... or anything!!! There is something so truly beautiful and special in receiving a handwritten piece of mail!

So regardless of what you use - pen or pencil - just use them, please... Paper planners are awesome. Journals are classic. Essays for shool and math assignments are the stuff of life... and don't forget love letters...

Write, friends, write, until your hand hurts! Then rest, repeat!

Happy Planning
Amy & Regina

What's Your Guilty Pleasure?!

What's Your Guilty Pleasure?!

Guilty pleasures...things that dominate your attention...things that bring you literal GLEE...things that you will ALWAYS want/"NEED"/have... LOL!

Amy's guilty pleasures:  school supplies & scrapbook / planner supplies!

Regina's guilty pleasures:  naps & romantic comedies!

Both Amy & Regina:  Hallmark / Lifetime style Christmas movies and Christmas shopping!!!

What are your guilty pleasures?! We will go to extreme lengths to garner / procure / attain (choose your verb) our guilty pleasures!

Typically kiddos dread a hint that summer vacation is over. Not me!  I was the kid who ALWAYS jumped for joy when school supplies started appearing on shelves in the heat of Texas summers. The neatness and crispness of fresh spiral notebooks...new PENS in every possible color and pristine white or pink pencil erasers, .5mm pencil leads ...folders with pockets and brads... Ahhhhhhhh, THOSE were simple things of JOY for me! 

To this day, I get butterflies when I see the first ads of the summer for school supplies... I follow the ads... I keep an eye out on sales at my local stores...  I start purchasing extra Sunday newspapers, clipping coupons for my favorite products (and any coupons for something free - usually new product)... I make my list, check it twice, thrice and once again... And.I.BUY.SCHOOL.SUPPLIES at the peak of their sale times with GREAT ABANDON!! 

We specifically budget school supplies into the plan for the last months of summer...

When it's time, I can help you find the greatest buys on school supplies in your area! Just comment me when it's time, and I'll gladly help!  Coupons, advertisements, whether cheaper in bulk or small quantities... I'm your girl!  As I type, I have 2 boxes of neat and crisp brand new spiral notebooks in the guest room dresser and 2 boxes of the pencils I like. :)  NECESSITY!! Truly!  In a year, I've gone through about 3 boxes of 24 single subject spiral notebooks. And I use them!  Every.single.day!

NOTE:  I'm not a student or a teacher (well, always a student, always a teacher...but you know what I mean)...

My turn... When it comes to nap time for me, Regina, I make no bones about it... It refreshes my day, it relaxes my body and mind.  It eases any unnecessary stresses. I.LOVE.NAPS!  The most challenging thing to achieving a good nap:  no conversation... LOL! It's so easy to intend to take a nap... But once that head meets the pillow in the light of day, it seems (75% of the time, anyway), that the greatest conversations arise, the never-ending list of things to-do, tomorrow's tasks and what's for dinner... And then I'm hungry!  Actually getting a nap in these days is truly a treat... Just give me one, and I'll RUN with it!!! 

Speaking of Amy's guilty pleasure, school supplies, always reminds me of my very FAVORITE romantic comedy, "You've Got Mail"!  There is dialogue in the film that Kathleen Kelly, played by Meg Ryan, mentions, "bouquets of sharpened pencils..." It's just one of the hundreds of beautiful phrases in the dialogue of this truly endearing movie that make us long for a brownstone in Manhattan for the fall. Amy really shares my guilty pleasure in the love of romantic comedies...but her obsession with scrapbook and planner supplies must be noted...

Okay, okay, Regina... Hi. My name is Amy. I'm a scrapbook / planner supply addict. I TOTALLY own that one with PRIDE! :D

I could easily open a store and be in business for a year without having to purchase inventory... And even still...when a good sale comes along, if there's room in the budget to wiggle a little special treat, I'll always choose scrapbook & planner supplies... EVERY.SINGLE.TIME!  I must admit... The quality of washi tape and planner-friendly stickers found at Dollar Tree is outstanding! I will almost never purchase scrapbook or planner supplies at regular prices. They MUST be on sale!  And when they're on an excellent sale, I MUST purchase more so that I build up the collection I'm using to RAK! 

Then we have Hallmark / Lifetime style Christmas movies!  Christmas in July is a REAL THING, and it's when we start shopping for Christmas, start planning for Christmas... It really isn't about the "things", it's about the joy in giving, the fun in the find and accomplishment of checking off months of lists - viable, useful, necessary and organized lists... We have 2 DVRs that are at least 50% full of Christmas movies!  And those movies aren't just waiting to get watched and deleted... OH NO...they're parked there to STAY!  (We (*Amy*) also hoard "Modern Family", "The Middle", "Grey's Anatomy" and "Glee" episodes... - full disclosure is best, lol)!  

So we have...school supplies, naps, scrapbook and planner supplies, romantic comedies, Christmas movies and shopping that qualify as OUR guilty pleasures!!! 

Comment below with your guilty pleasures (please...keep them family friendly), and we'll RAK ONE person something related to YOUR guilty pleasure to help celebrate YOU!!!

We'll leave this RAK open until Sunday, February 8th, 11:59pm. Comment as noted above by then, and you'll be entered in the drawing. We will select a winner at random on Wednesday, February 11th and notify him/her by email!! 

Thanks for reading. Follow us, share our link with your family and friends!! Start your own discussions around the dinner table, at your meet & greets, sports games, Sunday School classes, home-school meetings, crops, book clubs and any other gathering.., EVERYONE has a simple and sweet guilty pleasure! Get to know them! :) They bring joy to those who have them and even more joy to those who share them! 

Happy Planning!
Amy & Regina

Welcome to Planning Pixies! 

It's a new year, and we're excited to kick it off in style with our newest organizational tool, the Erin Condren Life Planner !! For those of you who already LOVE Erin Condren products, comment and tell us your MUST HAVE organizational item!  For those of you who have NO IDEA WHAT an Erin Condren Life Planner is, check out her website by following this link, https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/amythurmond0527 .   Register there with your name and email address.  You'll get a $10 welcome coupon in your email box (and, to be honest, we will get a referral discount credit of $10, too, WHEN your first order ships).  

Our Erin Condren Life Planners combine so many things we LOVE:  organization, to-do lists, creativity and crafts! It is an awesome, personalized, stationary-style planner worthy of the $$ is costs (more expensive than your run of the mill planner). The EC Life Planner (they also sell wedding planners and teacher planners) is NOT for the faint of heart!  It is  a serious organizational product with an even MORE FABULOUS community of fans! There are so many groups, pages and sites dedicated to her products!  We are one of uber-man, we're sure! But we are so excited about ours that we wanted to share the information. 

Think of the busy people in your life: the organized, the disorganized,  the crafty, the entrepreneurial, the creatives, the athletes, the brides-to-be, the teachers, the students... There isn't a person in your world, we don't think, who wouldn't benefit from organization... Our favorite organizational product that we've incorporated into our lives for 2015 is our Erin Condren Life Planner. Check out the site and look at all the organizational products. There is so much more on the site, too, worthy of your attention! 

We will do a series of posts on the ECLPs soon for those of you who might want more information. And to you fans out there, shout out!  Anyone who'd like to get a RAK, comment and follow our blog! We'll select one luck winner for a RAK valued at $50!!! Deadline for entries is Sunday, January 25, 2015. We'll select a random winner from the comments below!!! Winner will be selected on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 and notified by email. 

Happy Planning!

Your Planning Pixies,

Amy & Regina

Welcome to Planning Pixies!

Hi and hello there from your Planning Pixies! Thank you for taking a minute to read our inaugural blog post! 

We are just two regular girls who have an awesome time every single day no matter what we're doing!  Follow the zany experience that is OUR LIFE!  

In the days and weeks to come, we hope to share experiences and wisdom, failures and accomplishments, tips and tricks, that will help or inspire you.  

We are:

Crafty Planners: Crafting + Planning = LOVE! We both have a lifetime love of crafts, and we've got a combined 80 years of planning experience under our collective belt! LOL! 

Perpetual To-Do List Makers: We find so much gratification and accomplishment in checking off to-do lists! To reach a goal, complete a project, achieve a dream, you've got to have to-do lists. No matter how big or baby small the steps are, checking those items off your lists get you to your end result.... SUCCESS, ACCOMPLISHMENT, REALIZING A DREAM! To-do lists are a critical piece of any successful endeavor!  

Creative Cooks:  We are regular gals, home cooks, who cook dinners, bake for the holidays and other inspired occasions, create something from nothing, throw in ingredients just to try something different. Our outlook is simple...a recipe is a guideline you follow on your path to perfection! We have a lot of our own recipes, a wealth of family recipes and love cooking magazines and cookbooks that offer new ideas and inspirations. While we've both got rather elementary palettes, we seek out new ways to  enhance those things we love and incorporate those things we don't in a way that helps us expand our palettes even further. 

Household Management Miracle-Makers: We manage to work mini household miracles every day, it seems, whether it's stretching that last $10 before payday, developing a unique storage solution, reorganizing a space to completely re-purpose it, inventing solutions to troubleshoot household challenges, we do it... every.single.day... They may not be news-worthy miracles, but to us, they ARE tiny little miracles... and hopefully, you'll reap the benefits of our trials and errors for your household management issues. 

Bargain Shoppers Extraordinaire:  Bargain shopping is, to some, an unnecessary skill. Bargain shopping to us is a MUST considering our tight budget and limited resources. It is a JOYFUL end result when you truly find those great bargains. Some people don't even balk at paying full price for something... but, to us, if it's not on sale, it really has to be a necessary item. And if you just wait a little while, that necessary item will be on sale!  We will share with you how to prepare for a bargain shopping grocery store run, when to buy certain products, how to follow major store's advertisements to your benefit. We'll help you make a grocery list, learn how to price match and even how to increase that savings by adding coupons. And so much more!

...and two girls who love our life! If we can ignite inspiration, share some wisdom, spread joy & love, bring a little organization to your chaos AND incite LAUGHTER, we’ll be happy campers! 

Share your experiences with us, and your questions, too! Follow our blog, comment when you can. Ask your questions, and we'll do our best to help you find resolutions. We are here to serve. We want to share what we know and learn from you!

2015 is off to a great start that promises to be the greatest year of our lives so far!  

Happy Planning!!

Your Planning Pixies,

Amy & Regina