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When I was picking out what I wanted from our Survival Kits, Lexi pulled out two spiral bound planners. Could it be? Could those be Erin Condren planners?
Guess what.
They were Erin Condren!!! My little planner-obsessed heart was soaring. Finally, I had the planner of studyblr dreams. (Studyblr is a subcommunity of Tumblr made up of lovely people who love stationary, notes, working hard at school, etc. Very motivational).
The planner is 7” x 9” and is a relaxing blue/seafoam wave-like watercolor pattern with white typography that says, “do what you love, love what you do.” How cute is that?
The inside of the cover (which is also a hard plastic, laminated type cover) is lined. I have yet to determine the purpose for that since it is plastic. Maybe dry erase markers will work? The first two pages have more inspirational quotes so you can start your planning time with a positive mindset. The following two pages have month views from January 2017 through December 2017, as well as two small boxes to make notes. Then, there are two pages with 12 boxes, I assume to make more notes about each month. My only complaint about this is that they used the same colors as the months on the previous two pages but in a different order. For instance, you would think January would be the first color, but it’s actually the eighth. Not a huge deal, but something I definitely noticed.
Next, the actual planner part begins. Each month starts with a page of another inspirational quote in typography style. If you don’t feel inspired to work hard by Erin Condren’s planner, then I’m not even sure what to say to you! After the inspirational page, there is a two page spread of the traditional month view. On the right hand side is a small column for “Goals and to-do’s” which is really helpful to outline your main goals of the month. The next page has 5 rows spanning two pages, to track the things you have for each week of the month. The last page of each month is a dotted page which is similar to bullet journaling style paper.
The month spread continues for the remaining months. And then, there’s a two page spread of January 2018 through December 2018! How exciting, I can plan almost through to my 21st birthday as if I can even pretend to be ready to plan for my 20th birthday! But seriously, I cannot decide if I think this is a great addition or a stressful addition. Let us know what you think.
The remaining portion of the planer consists of your laptop or notebook or just want to make lists. There are also two pages typical lined paper for those times you forget of banner stickers that color coordinate with most of the months. Lastly, there is one mini folder which I appreciate, but would rather it be in the very front of the planner, the way Lilly Pulitzer designs theirs.
Overall, I give this planner an 8/10. Nothing is truly wrong for it but I have gotten used to the Lilly planners that have a full two pages for every week of the month, as well as labeled tabs for quickly moving to the month you’re looking for. There is certainly nothing inherently wrong with Erin Condren’s planner, but, and I never thought I’d say this, I think I might actually prefer the Lilly one.
All photographs courtesy of author.