1. May Designs May book: My friend Michelle introduced me to these at lunch last November, when I spent most of our meal oohing and aahing about how beautiful her notebook was and wondering where she got it. A month later, Michelle actually surprised me with one as a Christmas present. As an entertainment writer, I constantly have to take notes during movies and shows, and this stylish, customized notebook is the perfect size for that. With options to make the inside black, ruled, graph paper or dots, and countless beautiful designs for the cover and personalization, May books are a dream for the note-taker or journaler you love. Price: $12-$17
2. Silhouette Blue note cards: I love chevron prints. After my backpack was stolen in August, I had to replace all of my belongings that were stolen, including my Macbook and laptop sleeve. Having lost a basic neoprene cover, I decided to splurge on the well-reviewed ColaSac sleeve in a coral chevron print. Then in December, I stumbled upon a PeopleStyle special at the stationery site Silhouette Blue, and they offered a chevron note card for 50% off (they’re regularly $25). Custom stationery for only $12.50, yes please ! For the papaya-colored envelopes, I bought a special gold gel pen from Paper Source that I hide from the children.
3. MomAgenda Day Planner: One of my organization inspirations is my good friend Leticia, aka Tech Savvy Mama, so when she told me that she used the MomAgenda planner to keep her various deadlines straight, I just had to try it myself. As a mom, you can use the planner track up to four kids’ activities with your own appointments in the regular calendar section. But I use the different “kid” spaces for my four regular outlets. Then I keep my family’s personal schedule on a Cozi calendar, which I share with my husband.
It sounds a bit confusing, but it’s simple. My husband doesn’t need to know when my stories are due, but he does need to know if I’m scheduled for a conference or set visit. Anything that impacts our whole-family schedule goes on the Cozi, while anything having to do with my professional assignments goes in my MomAgenda. Of course, you can do it all in the MomAgenda if you want! I love the flexibility of the design and how affordable it is compared to other agendas.
The lovely folks at MomAgenda gave me a review copy of the Day Planner AND offered one to a lucky DC Moms reader. So if you haven’t settled on a planner yet for 2013, here’s your chance. Just post a comment by 11:59 PM this Sunday, Feb. 3 telling us why you’d like the MomAgenda planner, and make sure to pick which design you’d want. I’ll choose a random winner on Monday, Feb. 4.
