Review of Typo 2014 Luxe Diary in Polka Dots!

Stop. Grab a cuppa tea and a snack. This will be a long-winded, very picture heavy post! I hope you enjoy it! 

I recently stopped in at Typo at my favorite mall, Fashion Valley, here in San Diego. I never really have trouble finding things I like at the lush, whimsical stationery store, and this trip was no exception. I happened upon this precious ringed planner that totally suits my style! I love the light color and pastel polka dots. It's considerably lower quality than any ringed binder I've ever owned (about on par to the Walmart planners) but for $19.95 USD, it refused to be left on the shelf. I've included detail shots of the inserts, which are almost cute enough to justify the whole purchase. 

Of course I failed to photograph the front cover, but it includes 4 credit card slots and one ID slot (clear, slip-in type.) It doesn't include a full-length pocket. The material is a pink plastic faux leather, whereas the outside is made of oilcloth. overall it's quite the solid binder and could take quite the beating. It also includes a black ink, slim silver pen.

The first page is a floral divider for "personal info."

 Behind it, there is the standard information sheet and emergency contact information. I love the font and how simple the inserts are designed.

The next 2 facing pages include a 2014 year at a glance calendar, which lists the months across the top of the page, and each of the days in columns below it. 

And behind that, there is a standard 3 years at a glance reference calendar for 2013, 14, and 15.

Next is a lovely blue "diary" tab.

Then they've included a birthday reference sheet, still carrying on with the clean, streamlined style that I really appreciate!

 The month on two pages layout is absolutely stunning! It features a lovely mint shading. The only thing that totally ruins it is the small saturday and sunday boxes. I mean come on, weekends need love too!

I'm also a big fan of the week on two pages inserts. Each new month has a notes section at the beginning. Depending on how late in the week that particular month begins, it starts further down the page. It is of note to mention, the months that start with Monday do not have notes sections. Also interestingly, they've chosen to include the month and week inserts back to back. So that means that between each of the month pages, there are the subsequent week pages. I kind of like this idea.

Pretty ditzy spot budget section~

The first page includes a very cute "things worth saving for" insert where you can place photos of things you're saving for like festival tickets, amazing shoes, and a dream car. This is what makes me love Typo...the whimsical, fun side of planning and organizing. 

Loving the budget pages. God knows I need them! 

Another very pretty, vintage style to do divider.

 Another simply designed to do / checklist. Kudos to Typo! Even though the paper is very thin, I might even use these inserts for next year! (Would you like to see pen tests on this paper? Let me know.)

The last divider!

Behind that is a standard contact sheet for each letter of the alphabet.

The inserts are identical size and punched for the personal Filofax. The only difference is the ring size, which is definitely on the small side. I have inserted a picture of Filofax personal size pages in the binder as well as the Typo binder directly on top of the Filofax Personal Finchley (to show the ring size comparison.)

A few mm smaller than the Filofax.

 A closer look at the fancy-looking pen, as well as more glamour shots of the inserts.

Overall, the pricetag and lovely inserts really convinced me to buy this little number. It isn't a fancy replacement for my Filofaxes or even Kikki-K binder, but it is a cute, fun binder that screams my personality. It almost reminds me of one of the Kate Spade planners I've been lusting over. As I mentioned before, Typo has created a sturdy binder. The problem I had with the construction was the rings. About 75% of the binders on the shelf had misaligned rings, so be sure to really pay attention to the little details if you plan to pick up this agenda. All-in-all, I don't recommend it as a replacement to the nicer binders you have, but if you're like me, you might be attracted to a sweet little whimsical lovely every now and again. And for $20, what can go wrong? 

What's your opinion on the binder? I personally adore it!

My Week #37

Week #37 in my Kikki-K large time planner.

I have to apologize for being a worse-than-mediocre blogger for the past few weeks. It has been a slightly trying time around here, but I'm coming out on the other side.

In the spirit of staying positive, I present to you the highlights of my week:

• I had sushi this week. Twice.
• Farmers market trip with my mom.
• I rode on a see-saw. Yes, really.
• Staying up all night reading. This time it was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
• Coffee date with one of my oldest friends.
• Way too much Project Life & book haulage. 
• Generous IG friends and penpals.

& here's a selection of instagram photos this week, for your viewing pleasure~

Clockwise from left: (1) letter from Rin (2) thrift store book haul (3) reading on my iPad (4) farm fresh strawberries 

And now what you really  wanted to know more about: my Filofax week! I fear that my other two Filofaxes, both personals, aren't getting enough love since I moved into the A5 Kikki-K planner.  It's not that I don't love the portability of Personals, I do, but the A5 seems so luxuriously large and spacious. Plus I love my setup and the inserts I've chosen to use in there. It's almost too perfect.

Used this week~ cloud sticker handmade by Shelly at Prim & Parchment, gold stripe washi tape by Freckled Fawn, Anchor sticker gifted to me, Kikki-K everyday gel pen. 

... that's seriously it!

 Oh, and this is not an uplifting/encouraging quote like usual, but it's sooo relevant to my life~ 

There you have it. Another week done. Wishing happy days to all of you!

My Filofax Week # 36

This week was nice and productive. 

First of all I wanted to mention that my giveaway has now closed.

The winner was @sassysally12 on Instagram!

Now onto week #36 here in my Kikki-K planner! 

Starting the week off with a holiday is always nice. Though I actually had to work on labor day - ironic to say the least. I didn't mind. 

I used my new Freckled Fawn multi-colored airmail washi (love!) to reinforce the pages. It made me so happy just looking at it. In addition, I used a Kikki-K cloud post-it to denote Monday's holiday, and a Mara-Mi chevron post-it to write down the giveaway winner's address.

I have been moving away from pastels in my planner for the past two weeks. Just exploring...

This week I started reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides - an interesting read. I hope to get it finished by next week, as I have  a stack of books waiting to be read. Here's to another fabulously organized and pretty week. 

I'll leave you with this pretty piece of inspiration from Julia Child. Art is by the lovely FoodLovesWritingShop.