December 2019 At a Glance 🦌 | Blogmas Day 1

Happy December, first day of Blogmas, and last month of the 2010's! 

It's pretty apparent that 2019 has been an extremely challenging year for me and I'm hoping to end it on a positive note and move on to the roaring 2020's 😊 I'm really looking forward to the holiday season this year and doing all of the Christmassy things. I've already decorated the apartment to the best of my ability. Unfortunately, it doesn't include a full-size tree this year but I decorated our living room and even put some lights outside on our stoop for the first time! I love coming home to see our colorful lights outside our door. Here's a snap of our mini tree and our stockings hung up (the other two are for our roommate and his girlfriend)!

I also, of course, updated my blog layout for Christmas! I've really enjoyed "decorating" for the holidays over the last couple of months and for the end of the year I wanted to go with my favorite member of the Christmas decor family - lights! I'm thinking in the new year I'll be going back to a more neutral layout and maybe even changing things up a bit. We'll see! 😊

I know I haven't shared my bullet journal online in a LONG while, but I'm actually really excited with how my monthly spread came out for December and I wanted to show it off! Christmas time always makes me think of Harry Potter (let's be real, most things make me think of Harry Potter 😂) so I really wanted to do a ~Christmas at Hogwarts~ theme. However, I wasn't totally confident in making it work with a calendar spread and the amount of time I was willing to put into drawing a Hogwarts scene didn't bode well for what the end result would be, haha. So I used this illustration of Hedwig as inspiration, and this is what I came up with:

What do you think? 😊

December Plans

-Happy Holidays Half Merrython on the 1st (today! Hopefully I'm done running by the time you're reading this 😂)
-Chicago Marathon 2020 lottery results are announced on the 12th - cross your fingers for me! 🤞
-7 year anniversary with Brett on the 14th
-Traveling to Florida on the 21st to spend Christmas week with my family

December Goals

-Again, continue to hit all of my workouts for NOLA! I'm really happy with how November went so I'm hoping to continue to ride the wave of motivation.
-I want to do well with Blogmas without burning myself out like I did with BEDA. I'd love to have at least something to share with you every day, even if it's a couple of snapshots off my phone!

...aaaand that's all the pressure I'm willing to put on myself this mornth and I think that's perfectly fair 😂

December TBR

My TBR is a little eclectic this month. I'll be participating in the 'Tis the Season-a-thon which starts tomorrow (see my TBR blog post for the readathon here), and for the rest of the month I took to Twitter to help me decide what to read! I had folks give me some random numbers that correlated with my TBR shelf on GoodReads. I wound up getting 21 different books to read (which of course would be impossible to accomplish 😂), so I divided up the books into 3 ~mystery piles~ of 7 and had everyone vote!

Turns out everyone voted for the most unique pile of the bunch with a mixture of historical fiction, sci fi, horror, and a YA contemporary set during the summer (which will be really interesting to read in the middle of December 😂). I really enjoyed doing this to pick my TBR for the month, though! I have books in this stack that I don't think I would have reached for if it hadn't been for you all, so I definitely want to do this again for future TBRs.

These are the books that you all picked!

The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobb

The Walled City by Ryan Graudin

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson

Insomnia by Stephen King

 (and my 'Tis the Season-a-Thon  TBR if you were curious!)

Us Against Them by Fredrik Backman

North by Scott Jurek

What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

July 2017 Plan with Me! + June Flip Through

Today I'm sharing my July plan with me video over on the channel! Not a ton has changed inside my trusty bullet journal, but I am getting a *bit* more creative with my spreads as I have the time to do so in the summer. I'm still loving my bullet journal experience, and I'm fairly certain this is the longest I've stuck with a planner system in my entire planning life. Looking forward to many more months with my bujo! :D

My ENTIRE Organization System!

This week over on my channel, I'm sharing my ENTIRE organization system! I talk a lot about what I use my planner/bullet journal but I don't really chat about the other platforms I use to get organized in other aspects of my life. While this video doesn't delve too far in depth to how each platform works for me, you will get a bit of an overview of each thing and hopefully get a little glimpse into how I balance a busy work and personal life!
The platforms I discuss in this video are my bullet journal, my Google calendars, and Microsoft OneNote. If you have any specific questions about any of these platforms and how I use them, please feel free to leave them in the comments! I would love to answer any and all questions about my organization system and give you any details you're curious about!
I hope you all enjoy the video and happy organizing! :)

June 2017 Plan with Me! + May Flip Through

My first full month in my new bullet journal is complete! I'm having so much fun in this bullet journal and just letting myself be ~loosy goosy~ and do whatever feels good. I've been writing down thoughts and memories and doodling and pasting things in and jotting down quotes I like to fill space... it's just been an absolute blast which is exactly what I need in a planning system. I'm looking forward to seeing how my journal evolves through the month of June! Click play on the video to see what my bullet journal looked like through the month of May!

Full Bullet Journal Flip Through #1 {September 2016 - April 2017}

Although I do individual monthly flip throughs of my bullet journal, I thought it would be fun to do a full flip through of the first bullet journal I completed! It's really interesting to see how my planning style grew and evolved through these pages and revisiting old systems definitely gave me some inspiration for future planning! Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed spending time in my Moleskine over the past seven months and will continue to join in on my bullet journal planning!

May 2017 Plan With Me: Moving into a New Bullet Journal! + April Flip Through

With the academic year coming to a close and my Moleskine running out of pages, I have officially transitioned into a new bullet journal starting in the month of May! This time around I opted for a Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid notebook in the color lemon. I am so psyched to have a yellow bullet journal! Yellow is definitely one of my favorite colors. It brings be so much joy and that's exactly what this notebook does for me every time I look at it! Click play on the video above to see my flip though my final month in my Moleskine :'( and the way I've set up in my new organizational home! :D

April 2017 Bullet Journal Plan with Me! + March Flip Through

Here it is - my very last Plan with Me in my Moleskine gridded journal! I'm kind of sad I'll be finishing up this journal after April. It's stuck with me all through this crazy academic year and holds some serious memz. I am looking forward to starting fresh with a new journal as I enter into a slower time in my schedule, though, and who doesn't love a fresh new notebook?! My May Plan with Me will be a bit different so stay tuned for that, but for now I hope you enjoy this video! :)

March 2017 Bullet Journal Plan with Me! + February Flip Through

It's March! (WHAT.) You know the drill - it's time for me to show you what I did with my bullet journal in the month of February and to show you what I'm planning on doing with my bullet journal in the month of March! I've actually made a few changes to how I'm using my bullet journal this month which I'm really excited about, and am incorporating my traveler's notebook back into my lineup of journals and notebooks! I'll be showing off what I'm doing in my traveler's notebook later on this month so keep a look out for that, but for now I hope you enjoy this month's plan with me! :)

Mindful Bullet Journal Activities

I mentioned in my Developing a Routine blog post a few weeks ago that I would share some of the mindful activities I do in my bullet journal each morning to get my mind in a good position for the rest of the day. It's been a really refreshing change of pace for me to take the 5-10 minutes right at the start of my day to do some reflection and focus on the positive. (Lord knows we need some positivity in our world at the moment. -_-)

I'll usually do these things as one of the first things I do in the morning in the office, but sometimes mornings are hectic and I can't get to these activities. Sometimes I'll do them if I have a free minute in the afternoon which also gives me an extra boost to get through the rest of the day. Sometimes I have to skip a day or two when things get really busy. But I always try to make the effort to do these activities as often as possible and they have really helped to clear my mind from negativity, even if it is only for a few moments. I hope you can use one of these activities in your planner, notebook, or bullet journal to help you gain of glimmer of positivity during the day!

Reasons to Smile

A lot of people use "gratitude logs" in their planners or bullet journals and have always talked about how much they enjoyed using them. I was always a little nervous to take this plunge and commit to writing something each day, but it's honestly such a joy to look back and find something positive in each day. Somedays I have a lot of positive things to write about that are really amazing and other days I find positivity in something as small as my morning coffee, but there's always something to write about.

I give myself a small space to write so I don't have a ton of pressure to write big, long paragraphs about why my day was great (because let's be real, sometimes days aren't so great), so the smaller spaces are much more manageable whether or not I had a really wonderful day. I've been loving this space in my bullet journal every month and have been doing it since September when I first started this journal!

Mental Health Tracker

This is something I recently started doing after finding it in a really wonderful BuzzFeed post about using your bullet journal to help your mental health. Instead of a "habit tracker", which I often found became more of a chore than a helpful resource in my bujo, this tracks how you're feeling and the activities that might contribute to the status of your mental and physical health. For those of you who might not know, I deal with migraines and anxiety fairly regularly, so I have found it is really helpful to know what might be contributing to those aspects of my life.

I have a "physical" section, which lets me know how I'm physically feeling and what might be contributing to that, such as my diet, m the amount of sleep I'm getting, and the last time I got a good sweat in.

A "self care" section which includes daily tasks like showering and brushing my teeth, things that I need to push myself to do like socializing outside of work on a regular basis, and things I enjoy doing like journaling or writing for my blog.

And a "mood" section which lets me know what my overall mood is for the day.

I also found that if I need more space to provide more information on a certain aspect of this tracker, I can simply put a triangle on that space and explain on the weekly spread of the day I felt that way or did a certain activity. It's nice to have the option to write a bit more if I feel like I need to!

This tracker has been very helpful for me to reflect on how the previous day went and why it might have gone the way that it did, as well as help me to prioritize my mental health in different ways. I would definitely recommend this daily activity!

Seasonal Favorites

I do "favorites" videos each season, and so I like to set aside a page in my bullet journal to track my favorite things throughout the season! Not all of the items I write down in this section make the cut into my final video, but it is nice to note down things that I really like each season. It's like a little collection of things that make you happy!

Quotes & Notes

The best part of a bullet journal is that there are no rules. You can customize it and set it up any way you would like, and you can write in whatever feels right. I've been finding lately that allowing myself to write down quotes that make me feel motivated and inspired, and giving myself space to take notes on the random things I'm listening to or watching online makes me feel really productive and fulfilled. Here's some of the things I've been jotting down lately:

Notes and doodles while watching a recent Frannerd video

A quote I doodled on a sticky note and stuck into my bujo to stay motivated.

Notes from a recent episode of the "Dear Hank & John" podcast.

How do you utilize your bullet journal or planner for self care? I would love to know! I hope you were able to take some of these ideas and incorporate them into your bullet journal as well. Mindfulness and self care is so important and utilizing your bullet journal is a great venue for practice!

Plan with Me! Weekly Bullet Journal Planning Routine

Today I thought I would so something a little different and give you an in-depth look on how I plan out my week in my bullet journal! This is the typical way I approach my weekly planning. The only thing you do not see in this video is mapping out my daily to-dos which usually happens the morning of each day. I would love to do a video on that as well if that is something you would be interested in. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this video and let me know if you have any questions on my planning method!

February 2017 Bullet Journal Plan with Me! + January Flip Through

Back again with another plan with me for a new month! I'm really liking how I set things up for the month of February and while it isn't that different from my January set up, it really feels like I'm starting to hit a groove in my planning in my bullet journal. I've been loving every page that I have in my Moleskine and am happy I've really come into my own as a bullet-journaler. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this plan with me video and let me know if you have any questions about my set up in the comments! :)

November 2016 Plan With Me! + October Flip Through

It's that time yet again! Here is my November 2016 Plan With Me and my October Flip Through of my Moleskine Bullet Journal. Not a whole lot has changed over the last month but I'm still really enjoying using my Moleskine and have found it to be perfect for my life at the moment. Everything is in one spot, it's a portable size, and it doesn't take up too much room on my desk at work and at home. Lov.ing.it.!

How are you all liking the format of me setting things up ahead of time and showing you after they are all done? Do you prefer me to show you my process? I haven't done a full process video in my Moleskine so maybe I'll plan to do that for next month. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! 

October 2016 Plan With Me + September Flip Through (Moleskine Bullet Journal!)

New month, new Plan With Me! 
At the beginning of September I realized that I really wasn't using my Filofax all that much. While I was setting up my planning pages faithfully each week, I never really took my Filofax out of my bag and looked at it to guide my planing and to-dos throughout the week. That, to me, was a sign that my planning system wasn't working for me in that place in time. Planners, while they can be pretty, are meant to be used and help you feel more organized which my Filofax wasn't doing for me at that point in time. 
I decided to strip everything down to the bare minimum, purchased myself a Moleskine gridded notebook, and have been bullet journaling to my hearts content for the last month. This style is working for me right now so I'm going to stick with it for the forseeable future. Let's see where we land in the next few months! ;) Watch the video below to see how my style has evolved over the last few weeks!

Hand Lettering Play

I've been trying out new hand lettering techniques in my planner lately. I've been really inspired by bullet journal Instagram posts and YouTube videos and have been pushing myself to try new designs each time I sit down to make my pages for the week. Part of using a bullet journal system is having the freedom to be as creative as you'd like, and I've found that many of the bullet journals I'm drawn to are extremely artistic and aesthetically beautiful. I'm a big fan, and have been challenging myself to try out some of the techniques I admire! Here are a few videos of bullet journalers that have handwriting and illustration styles that I'm a big fan of:


Kara (aka Boho Berry) is really popular in the bullet journal world right now and rightfully so because her spreads are gorgeous! This is a video of her practicing banners and headers that she can potentially use in her bullet journal in the future. (Which is also a great point - practice, practice, practice! Skills like the ones I admire take time, patience, and practice and do not come over night. Keep working at your style!) Check out her YouTube and Instagram for more inspiration!

Fran (aka Frannerd) is a freelance illustrator and has been someone I've been LOVING over the last few months. Her illustration style is so whimsical and wonderful and her personality keeps me coming back to watch all of her videos. (I not-so-secretly want to be her best friend.) I love her handwriting and her style, and while I don't really try to emulate it myself, I still come away from all of her videos feeling super inspired and motivated to create, so I thought that this video showcasing her planning method deserved a spot on this post! If you're interested in seeing more of her artwork check out her Instagram, and for more behind the scenes stuff check out her YouTube! 

Anna (aka Pixel Pearls) is another artist who makes polymer charms and (surprise!) uses a bullet journal. Her style is very similar to Kara's, but I love this video because it shows you a different technique of creating headers and banners for her bullet journal. This video shows that it's okay to use tools to reach the look that you want to get to and, like Kara, it's important to take time to practice! Her YouTube shows more of her planner page development, and her adorable charms can be found on her Etsy shop!
I'm going to leave you with a few of my favorite hand lettered banners in my planner that I've made in the last couple of weeks. I'm always looking for more inspiration, so if you have any bullet journalers you think I should check out, please leave them in the comments!

Happy planning! <3