Filofax Malden A5 in Grey! My New Friend

I have been trying to do things electronically for years and not loving it. My iPhone deletes my old appointments after a few months so I cannot remember when I went to the dentist last etc. Of course, if the battery dies you are out of luck anyway. I used to have a planner back in college and it worked wonders for keeping all my dates and agendas, to dos and such together in one place and I just threw it in my backpack and went off.

I have been wanting to get back to those days for some time now and ran into a lovely group on Facebook that does paper planning. When I found the Filofax website (they are like me, British... my dad is from the Cayman Islands and I was born their too, and my mom is from MD) I was thrilled with the site. I, however, in my crazy internet search fell in love with the grey color which is discontinued. So like any good planner, I stalked every website known to man until I found it. Finally, the elusive planner was mine on Ebay for just slightly more than you would pay for a new A5 from the Filofax site so I deemed it a success. I tracked that package like a mad woman! It was coming from Austria mind you so it had a few places to stop before it came to me. The expected date came and no Filo. :( Then, it arrived, two days late. I was SO SO SO excited I may have petted it.

Now, I am the owner of 1 A5 Malden, waiting on the delivery of a pocket Malden and a personal Malden. I also have a few Daytimer Malibus in various colors. This planner thing is truly addicting!

Here he is in all of his grey glory. Yes the pictures look more black but he is a dark shade of grey to begin with.

 The Malden is a super floppy planner with pockets galore. It has a large pocket (which you can see a white paper folded in half peeking out), 4 credit card sized slots, a second 1/2 size large pocket (where you can see my post its peeking out) and a zippered pocket. All of these pockets are on the left with a pen loop. I have a nice mechanical pencil in that loop right now.

 In the very front is what we call the dashboard. I used scrapbook paper and traced the plastic dashboard that came with the Filofax. I then punched it using a Rapesco punch (from Amazon) but you could use a single punch as well.
Rapesco Adjustable Diary Punch 66-P

 I used month tabs from Girl at Work (from the container store, also found on Amazon). These are stickers that can be removed and used a second time. I originally used the diary that came from Filofax but decided to create my own pages so I took the dividers tabs off and put them on these pages.

Girl Of All Work LLC Peel and Stick Tabs (GWO713a)

I used the original Filofax dividers to trace and create my own dividers. Here I used Bazill cardstock I purchased from Michaels. I then laminated them and used a label maker with black ink on clear tape to make my dividers. I chose a rainbow effect for these dividers.

 I like to decorate my weekly pages. I have found that the week on two pages works well for me. This past week was fruit week. I found these adorable fruit stickers at Michaels the other week and only ended up using a little bit. My washi tape (the paper tape at the top and bottom) is from an etsy seller.
https://www.etsy.com/transaction/157620967?ref=fb2_tnx_title (the shop is called Mind the Wrap)

I really haven't stuffed him too full yet as I haven't printed out my monthly diaries past March and I have not yet put in a cleaning schedule or other cute printables I am saving to my computer.

I did get a cute charm at Hobby Lobby when they had their 50% off sale two weeks ago and added it to my planner using a cell phone lanyard (also purchased at Hobby Lobby).

I will say that using a paper planner has been great but lugging around an A5 (which is 5.5. x 8.5) has been rough. When my personal and pocket come in the mail I will try and see if those will work as portable planners and then this A5 will become my go to planner at home. I have heard you can really stuff these babies full but I don't like clutter so we'll see how full he gets.

Vinyl Stick Kitchen Floor Update

It has been basically a year and a half since the crazy upheaval of our kitchen floor. Thank goodness it is over! I wanted to come back with some updates on how the floor has held up. The vinyl planks themselves show no wear at all and we are rough on our floors. There are spots (just a few) where I am SURE it was installed tightly but have now shifted slightly because of use and have left small gaps in the floor. This is my only problem with it. I have spilled countless things on the floor, dropped dishes and silverware and the rest of the floor is fine. 

This was always meant to be a temporary (few years) floor until we decided to put down hardwood throughout the main living space.  With the way things are falling apart around here, that is down on the list so it may be a few more years in the making before we replace all floors.

Will this continue to work for a few years? Yes. Is it starting to have a few gaps? Just by the back door and near where we stand (sink/ dishwasher).  It isn't horrible and it isn't noticeable so we will live with it for a few more years. Yes, I would still recommend this tile. We bought these at Lowes in the vinyl flooring section. We purchased by the box and any additional pieces were 88 cents more.

Forever and a Day

It seems like it has been FOREVER! and it has.... well a year and a half. Lots has happened. We have been busy with pre-k, my husband switching to teaching special education, beginning a masters program, and my oldest doing math field day, violin and social studies and science fair. She is a busy little bee.

I have also been working on using a paper planner. I have a *few planners. ahem..... but my favorite is my Filofax Malden A5 in grey. An A5 is a half size sheet of paper for most people. I purchase my paper from Staples or Office Max in 28 lb weight and cut it in half and then load it into my printer and print my own inserts.

I will be filling everyone in on things that have happened in the last year and a half and show off some household developments. :)  Hang in there. I'm back!!!