Work-In-Progress Wednesday: My Planner

Hi Guys!

So I've decided to rename Wednesdays to Work-in-Progress Wednesday where I'll just share with you a project that I'm working on. This week is something that I've been working on for a while now (since I moved back a little more than a month ago) and is always going to be a work in progress.

This week's WIP is my planner. I've used a planner to keep track of what I'm doing for the past few years and typically I just purchase one already made or make one using a composition tablet, a ruler, and a few pens. Unfortunately, I had inadvertently put the planner I had been  using into the container with all of my stuff from my apartment and I really couldn't find one that I really liked for a reasonable price. I wanted one of the Erin Condren Life Planners but I couldn't see shelling out $50+ for a planner. So I decided to make my own. Using the images of the Life Planner that I found online, I based my planner pages on the Erin Condren ones. The planner is approximately 8"x10" and printed on a lightweight cardstock (I'm not positive of the exact weight because I had an unwrapped stack in one of my paper drawers in my craft room) using my ink jet printer. The covers are laminated with just my little personal laminator and then I had it coil bound at OfficeMax for around $4. It took about 2 weeks for me to set up June through December (I'll set up January through May later) and a couple of hours to print it out. Right now there really isn't anything fancy about it. I'm going to add some tabs for the months later but for now it works.

 I use just a regular ball point pen to write basic things, like birthdays, important things I need to remember, and things like that. If it's something I really need to remember, I'll color the box in with colored pencils. The image above has a birthday party, my brother's birthday, and the day I pay my bills colored in. Fun stuff that I wanted to remember, like lunch dates or things that I need to be aware of, are written in with a marker. The container with all of my stuff arrived this month so I had to make sure I was home for that.
Unfortunately, I was in a little bit of a rush when I set up the months, so the boxes aren't completely even, but it doesn't make too much of a difference.

 

Each week is on two pages. This is just one side. Each day is separated into three sections:  To-Do, Work, and Other. When I was working, I found that having a separate area to put my work tasks for the day helped when I was looking at my planner. I highlight things in different colors, like personal stuff (laundry, etc.) in blue, errands in pink, and blog posts in green. Sometimes I use transparent tape in different colors to highlight things I want to make sure catch my eye. Most days, if I'm running errands, I'll use a sticky note to make a list for myself to make sure I don't forget anything. 

 And that's about it. I think the total cost was around $20 only because I had to buy a new color ink cartridge in the middle of printing. I love it because it's completely customized to what I wanted and what I need. There are a few note pages in the back if I need them but I don't know if I will since I always carry a separate notebook for just random ideas. 

If you have any questions or comments about this planner or how I made it, feel free to ask. I know it's not as fancy as some others, but it works for me. I wanted something simple and I like it. 

See you tomorrow!

~Jeni

Try-It Tuesday: Torie & Howard Organic Hard Candy - Blood Orange & Honey

Hi Guys!!

This week's Try-It Tuesday product is the Torie & Howard Organic Hard Candies in Blood Orange & Honey. I found them at Longs (CVS) for $3.89 but you can also find them at natural food stores or online at various places like this one.

So the candies come in a cute little tin and there are 15 per container. The tins are sturdy and close really well. The candies themselves are small, maybe slightly around the diameter of a dime, but they're just enough if you just want a tiny sweet treat.

The Good:  They're super yummy. Not too sweet and overly sugary. It's also slightly tart, which was unusually good because I typically don't go for tart candies. They're also not horrible for your health. The candies are gluten-free, no corn syrup, and have no artificial dyes. Plus they're only 12 calories each piece. The blood orange flavor isn't overpowering and neither is the honey. They are well balanced and complement each other very nicely. Also, they last a long time. I think I had one in my mouth for almost 20 minutes before it completely dissolved. Yum.

The Bad:  They're a little on the sticky side. I opened one just as I was walking out of the store and already it was a little gooey and sticking to the paper. But that's just a minor irritation. There wasn't anything majorly bad about the product.

The Unfortunate:  They're a little on the pricy side. There are only 15 in the container and it was just under $4. But it's okay. It's not like I was planning to eat a ton of them at once. They should last me a while because it's just a little treat every so often.

The Organic Hard Candies also come in other flavors, including pink grapefruit & Tupelo honey and Myer lemon & raspberry.  According to their website, there are 5 flavors all together.

These are the two I currently have in my bag. I have the pomegranate & nectarine along with the blood orange & honey. I saw one other flavor in the store and may order the rest from online. Would I suggest these to others? Definitely. If they weren't so on the pricey side, I'd always keep them in my bag.

See you tomorrow!!

~Jeni

Polish Pick of the Week: Sinful Colors Morning Star

Hi Guys!

I'm here with my first Polish Pick of the Week post! Yay!

This week's polish pick is Morning Star by Sinful Colors. It's this really pretty light blue color with a slight shimmer to it that does not really show up in pictures I'm afraid. To me it looks like a Cinderella blue.

The Good:  It's a really pretty color. I'm not quite ready for the bright summer colors yet (especially since I'm currently job hunting) so I'm sticking to lighter colors right now. It'll just be spring all the time. Also, contrary to what other reviews have said about this polish, I did not find it hard to work with. Yes, it was slightly streaky, but I didn't find it to be as goopy as some other reviewers have noted.

The Bad:  I had to use three coats to get it to even out and be as opaque as I wanted it. From what I understand, this was from a sheer collection and I definitely found it to be sheer. And, like I said before, it was streaky. But not so much so that I wasn't able to get it to smooth out with additional coats. I'm just an impatient person who wasn't thrilled with having to wait to finish my nails. :)

The Unfortunate:  I was hoping to be able to link where you can buy this polish. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anywhere online that still sells it. From what I was able to tell, it was a part of a collection a few years ago and it's not even listed on the Sinful Colors website anymore. But you never know if it'll pop up somewhere.

For a nail polish that was $1.99, I'm happy with it. I only put it on a day ago, though, and I have some cleaning and moving things to do. The jury is still out about how it'll hold up. I'll let you know.

See you tomorrow!!

~Jeni

New Posting Schedule...Let's Go!

Hey Guys!

Wow, only a few days into this new posting thing and already I'm behind. LoL. Nah, I just wanted to start at the beginning of the week instead of in the middle. So I wanted to take a minute to kind of explain the new posting schedule and talk about some changes that might be happening in the near future.

So the posting schedule can always be found on the left hand side of the screen. I'm working on trying to find categories and general topics that I can actually stick to so I'll be posting more often. I think this may work, so I'm going to try it for a couple of weeks and see how it goes.

Sunday:  Sundays are Week in Review posts. I like to think of my weeks as Monday thru Sunday. I know some people consider Sunday the beginning of the week, but I think it's the end of the week. So on Sundays I'll do a little summary of what I did during the week, if there's anything interesting going on, that sort of thing. (And I know this current post looks nothing like a Week in Review post but I didn't take any pictures of anything this past week so I'm doing this instead.)
Monday:  Mondays are my Nail Polish Pick of the Week posts. I'm going to switch the day I paint my nails (it used to be Wednesdays for some reason) and move it to Sunday afternoon/nights so I can get the post up on Mondays.
Tuesday:  Try-It Tuesdays. I like to try new things and share them with people. So this is like a product review day. If you have anything you'd like me to try (like food, products, etc.) let me know and I'll look into it. That being said...there's a whole bunch of new Chips Ahoy cookies that I got a glimpse of at KTA the other day...

So those may be experimented with. Haha.
Wednesday:  What's Going On Wednesdays. Okay, so I haven't completely figured out what to do on Wednesdays yet. This one is definitely a work in progress. (Work in Progress Wednesday?) We'll see what happens.
Thursday:  Random Post. Who knows what could happen? It may be observations of the world, it may be a recipe, it may be something completely off the wall that I'm not even sure what it's about. Only time will tell.
Friday:  Friday Five! This was something that I used to do with some of my friends. We used to e-mail each other five random things about some topic. Most of the time it was just five questions that we used to determine at the beginning of the week and answer on Fridays or just five random things about ourselves. Any questions you want answered?
Saturday:  I decided to give myself Saturdays off. Usually if I have any plans, they take place on Saturdays and I didn't want to miss a post because I had something else I needed to do. So it's the one day you won't see anything from me. Well...right now anyway. LoL. I may post anyway.

So that's the new posting schedule. We'll see how long it lasts. I'm hoping I'll be able to stick to it. You may be wondering where the craft posts are going to go. I'm thinking they may be on Wednesdays. Possibly Thursdays. Maybe both. We'll see.

One of the changes that I wanted to bring up is that I'm thinking of moving this blog over to WordPress. I haven't decided yet. I think I need to think about it some more. 

I will see you tomorrow (okay, okay, later today) for the first post of this new schedule. Take care!!!

~Jeni

Back Home, Revamped Blog!

Hi Guys!!

So, last you heard from me, it was February. And now it's July. Where did the time go?!?

Well, the first thing is...

This Happened...

Yep, the people at UNLV decided to give me my degree. I'm not sure if I ever specifically mentioned what degree program I was in. I received my Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies. LoL. The bulk of my time from February through the end of April was basically writing my thesis (entitled:  The End of the World Scientist and the Framing of Science in Science Fiction Films:  1950 - 2010) then defending and making all of the necessary edits. That was on top of working 30 hours a week and taking three other classes. But that's life! 

The next thing is, like the title of this entry says, I'm back home. It's a long story, but after I came home for summer last year, I started thinking about whether or not I really wanted to stay in Las Vegas after graduation. As much as I loved the people around me, I wasn't happy in my apartment complex, and there were two things I knew that would happen at the end of the Spring 2015 semester:  I would be losing my job since it was only a student position and the majority of my classmates were going to be leaving after graduation. I missed my family and my friends and just Hawaii in general and always looked forward to coming home for breaks. After thinking about it for a while, I decided that I need to come home. I haven't learned how to teleport yet and flying back to Hilo every few months was just too expensive. 

So I'm here. Now what? Who knows? Job hunting, unpacking, cleaning, and working on the revisions for a journal article I'm hoping to publish with some people from my program have been taking up most of my time. I'm enjoying being home and hoping to get back into crafting again soon. 

However, I've decided to revamp this blog a little. Looking back through my old entries, you have to admit that it hasn't been very craft-centric. I've mainly been just writing about my life and things that interest me. So that's what I'm going to continue doing. A separate post will be coming to outline the changes that I've decided to make, but crafting will definitely be a part of it. 

But until then, take care and I'll see you soon!!

<3,

Jeni

Oh! And in case you were wondering, I did get a full-sized Nature Box the following month. Sad to say, it was okay, but it wasn't amazing. I may try something else. :/