I see my Favorite...

Erin Condren is becoming a household name in my social circle of sorority chic and just plain organized women on the go. The Life Planner has become a staple in my organizational arsenal. Recently I ordered one of the newly release Deluxe Notebooks. These new notebooks offered a lot of exciting upgrades and I was excited to get mine in the mail. For me the biggest draw to the new line of notebooks was the introduction of dividers for the 7 inch by 9 inch model. Previously these personalized dividers were only available in the larger 8.5 inch by 11 inch model, perfect for students but a bit large and cumbersome outside of the collegiate setting.

My Deluxe notebook came stocked with a two- pocket pouch and two sheets of blank stickers that are missing from the Keep It Simple model. The price point for the Keep It Simple model starts at $22 while the Deluxe Notebook starts $13 dollars higher at $35. It seems a bit steep for the two additional items but in the end it was worth it to me to have stickers collated in and a pocket to store paper work.

I plan to use my deluxe notebook as my go to organizational guide as the Administrative Assistant at a summer camp.

Due to the necessity of planning based on dates and camp sessions I elected to have a monthly calendar collated in for an additional $15. The calendar was a great choice. It doesn’t add a lot of bulk to the notebook but has made scheduling chaperoned flights with campers, scamper birthdays, and camp events a breeze. I have all of the most important information at my fingertips without the need to flip through pages of notes. Another really neat feature of the calendar is the customizable starting month; I elected to have my calendar start in April in order to have the flexibility to log off season hours and to do’s.

The design I chose (paisley) allowed for a two or three character monogram. I used this space for my camp nickname Jmo (J-Mommy). There are other designs that allow for full names or messages of several characters.

One thing I really loved about the design I choose was the coordinating dividers. Not only was there a matching divider option in the exact same print as my notebook, there was also a lighter version with the same illustration but a lighter color way. I really liked the way the two color options complimented each other. My favorite feature of the divider is the “dry erase” board on the back of the laminated

“Dry Erase” Board on Backside of Divider

divider. It allows me to make lists without wasting valuable page space for things that will only be relevant for a short time. The lighter color way makes the dry erase board even easier to read but every color way is printed with a washed out rectangle for the dry erase board. I have found I much prefer to use wet erase markers than dry erase ones. There is less transfer on the page opposite and the message is rarely smudged. Expo Vis-a-Vi markers have been doing the trick for me, they seem to stay put on the laminated pieces even better than a Sharpie. I selected three dividers for my three main responsibilities at
camp. Each had two lines of customizable text.

There is also a small clear pouch at the back of the notebook to hold odds and ends. I been using it for paperclips thus far and I’m sure I will continue to find uses
for it. I also added a sheet of personalized notes to the back of my notebook, they are sold separately at ErinCondren.com and come in a set of two. I have one in this notebook and the other in my Life Planner. Overall I love the improvements to the notebook this year. In fact I love my notebook. My only concern with my purchase was the decline in this company’s quality control. I opened my box to find that a Keep It Simple notebook was sent by mistake instead of the deluxe notebook. When I contacted customer service they did fix the problem quickly and sent another notebook. Unfortunately when I received the new notebook the calendar was improperly collated so the second half of the month of December is now located after March. When I contacted customer service again I was told I could either take a $15 credit to my account or send both notebooks back and start my order again. By then I really needed to start using the notebook for my job and had quite a lot of personal information in the notebook so I elected to take the $15 credit. I am still disappointed I really think that purchasing a notebook that cost over $70 should have also bought a second look that ensured by product was correct the first time. And the second shipment certainly should have been quality checked as a mistake was already made. I love this brand and their products. I know others have steadily by finding their way to Erin Condren as well, I only hope that the company finds a way to keep up their standards for quality with the rapid increase in orders. Part of what breads the brand loyalty Erin Condren is currently enjoying is quality products the first time.

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I, like many of my age demographic, spent most of my adolescent years on a hormonal birth control pill. I spent more than ten years in a committed relationship with that little pink box. It wasn’t until I was twenty-six that my doctor talked to me about a recent change in what was considered safe in the prescription of hormonal birth control pills. Due to my history with traditional migraines, including the telltale mark of their accompanying auras, I was no longer a good candidate for a hormonal birth control pill. Long story short I soon moved to a progesterone only method. For the first few months all was well but eventually the storm hit. And boy did it hit hard. All of the sudden I was living my thirteen year old selves nightmare a new peak on the zit range that my chin and cheeks had become. I tried so many different products those that seemed to lessen the appearance of my acne were so drying that the skin around the affected areas became incredibly dehydrated and flaking. Those that kept my skin moisturized only seemed to anger the acne gods and resulted in even more acne. There came a day when I realized I was just hoping for those little zits, the ones that sit on the surface, at least then I would be spared the pain of the deep cystic pimples that had taken up residence on my chin.

Hey Honey Acne System — Hey Honey Propolis Acne Solution Don’t Miss a Spot: Propolis Cleansing Foam 911 Pro Gel: mulit-purpose propolis serum

And finally by savior arrived, in the form of the April Ipsy bag and a prince called Hey Honey. I received a sample of Hey Honey’s Good Morning: Honey Silk Facial Serum. It really did feel like silk when I first put it on, and it made my makeup glide on that day. After one application I knew I was going to need to buy a full size product. I was even more excited when I found out it was made in my home state of Colorado. While perusing the website, and finding more than a few great products, I stumbled upon the Hey Honey Propolis Acne Solution. The Solution includes the Don’t Miss a Spot: Propolis Cleansing Foam and the 911 Pro Gel: multi-purpose propolis serum. Hey Honey has a guarantee that if you don’t see and improvement in your acne after using the system for three weeks they will refund the purchase price, so I figured it was a no lose situation. The Cleansing foam is a super fluffy dense foam. I have found it works particularly well with my Clarisonic Mia 2 (another of my favorites, more on it some other time). The foam rinses easily and leaves my skin feeling refreshed and light. The 911 Pro Gel works kind of like a spot treatment. When I started using the system I had a few scabs when I started using the 911 Pro Gel and I saw a significant improvement the next day and all but one are completely gone less than a week later. As of today I have had one new pimple just start, literally the tiniest pimple ever, and my previous acne is almost completely healed up. I look forward to seeing continued improvement and will keep you posted. For those of struggling with hormonal acne, you know how hard it is to get that stuff under control. I highly recommend you try this system and I hope you have as much luck as I’ve had.

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