The Passionate Voice

The Sunday 7

• Lifestyle

Inspired by Interior designer and blogger Shea McGee at Studio McGee, I’ve followed suit and started my own ‘Sunday 7’ series here on the blog. Shea was the keynote at the Blog Podium conference I attended in Toronto this past September. This series can be a fun a way to capture all of the random work + play items-articles-happenings-design inspiration-photos-thoughts that spark my interest.

Hope you enjoy!

  1. Loving this DIY calligraphy wrapping paper that may look ah-mazing all year round, not just under the Christmas tree.
  2. If you are in need of some of the cutest cards and prints, check out local Ontario gal Sarah’s Etsy shop, ‘Sweet Simplicity Paper Co.’
  3. I ordered matching beanies for Blake and I from Muskoka Baby, a Muskoka mom making handmade and fashionable baby products and accessories!
  4. If you haven’t yet read about 94-year old tweeter Harry Leslie Smith, do yourself a favour and read this fascinating article about him.
  5. My family and I visited the Toronto Christmas Market for the first time together this weekend, in the well-known distillery district. What a beautiful way to celebrate Christmas and take in the historic buildings in a beautiful setting. Oh and it was my first time trying mulled wine (so good!). I’ll be trying my hand at  making mulled wine over the holidays with this recipe.
  6. We are heading west this week to visit the in-laws in Manitoba for Christmas. You’ll be able to find me in the quiet countryside, cozied up with a new good read and browsing (for hours) in my favourite little shop, Pineridge Hollow.
  7. The first major snowfall this weekend at home on the farm was so peaceful and calming. You could tell even Duke our farm dog enjoyed the new blanket of snow. I was able to write a blog post about this welcomed ‘quietness’ that the snow brings, I’ll be sharing next week!

[Photo Source]

Take Your Goals Seriously – Get Organized

• Career, Lifestyle

We’re 8 days into September, our second New Years or as I’ve been calling it, New Years 2.0. Oh and Christmas is 108 days away. Crazy, I know.

I’m not sure if its the teacher in all of us but most of us appreciate the ‘reset’ that September offers. Places like Chapters tug on all of our organizational heartstrings and all the new planners come out on the display racks. I personally love it. I joke to Andrew that if I am ever lost, he can find me in the stationary/organizational section. The stationary lover in me fan girls over the latest planners every year when they are released.

If your actually serious about (finally) tackling your goals or getting your side hustle or daily work organized for 2018, a new planner is a good start.

As techie as I am, there is nothing like putting pen to paper to keep everything organized. I haven’t yet been sold on fully transitioning my calendar completely to my iPhone calendar or through an app. I have an electronic calendar but also manage my appointments, commitments and to-do’s through a hard planner.

One of the best feelings in the world is checking off your to-do items in your planner when they are done and accomplished #Check #Done #KickingButt

Here are 9 options (some of them I’ve tried!) to try and put on your  planner wishlist:

[1] Emily Ley’s Simplified Planner – I’ve heard rave reviews about this planner. Emily Ley is a #GirlBoss herself and many fellow #GirlBosses I follow have ended up choosing this planner as their go-too.

[2] Day Designer – I had this planner for 2 years and LOVED it, just didn’t think I needed a page per day but otherwise loved this planner.

[3] Plain Notebooks from Chapters – If you don’t need anything fancy, too expensive and want to just ‘do it yourself’ with your notes, you can always refer back to the good ol’ notebook where you can make your own planner like this one or this one (The message on this one is SO true in my world of too many tabs open on my laptop!)

[4] Danielle Laporte’s Desire Map Planner – I’ve never personally tried this planner but if its anything like Laporte’s books, I’m sure it is an amazing planner packed with tons of inspiration and kick a$$ motivation!

[5] Rifle Paper Co Planner – Love all the details in this one including its 17-monthly calendar year and the beautiful floral design typical of Rifle Paper Co. It also has so many delicate touches inside.

[6] Kate Spade Planner – I have tried this planner but needed more space to write down more to-do’s each day. I still loved the details though in this planner including how each month had tabs and the pocket included inside.

[7] Eccolo 12-month planner –  This is the planner I used for 2016 (a larger version) but this exact version is what I used for the majority of 2017. I actually didn’t purchase mine from Chapters though, I was introduced to Eccolo in the Winners’ check out line where I bought the first planner for $9 #score

[8] Erin Condren’s Life Planner – I love how much you can personalize this planner and how colourful and bright her designs are. How can you not get creative when you get to open up that beauty every time?!

[9] Bullet Journal – I contemplated doing this for 2017 but at the last minute, chickened out. It seemed like a little too much work for me, but I swore to myself that if my current planner failed, I was going to give it a try!