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alexis giostra

Meal Planning with a Filofax

Although there are many things that we Filofax lovers plan and track within our binders, there are few things that can have such a major impact in our quality of life as meal planning. For a few years now I have been dabbling with creating meal plans for myself and my husband. I have gone through periods of great meal organization, where I have had dinners planned out for the month ahead, cooked in bulk to save myself time and money and felt in total mental and physical control! I have also gone through times where I felt too busy to plan meals, wasted hundreds of dollars a month on groceries just to turn around and order take out for dinner, leaving me feeling stressed, bloated and out of control! Now, I’m not saying that meal planning is the key to all of life’s problems, but as a planner, it’s certainly an important part of our day-to-day lives that can easily be organized in such a way that we are saving money, eating better, and reducing stress on multiple levels.

Like I said, I’ve gone through the spectrum when it comes to meal planning, and I recently decided that I was going to light a fire under my butt and jump back in. Of course, now with the help of my trust Filofax, I needed a set of meal planning inserts that could help me get the job done quickly and efficiently. So, I made myself a set of meal planning inserts that I thought I would share with you now. If you are looking to get into meal planning, I hope these inserts help you get organized and on track, as they are available for sale in my Shop in both A5 and personal size. However, even if you don’t have any interest in my inserts, I hope that this post will give you some insight into meal planning using a Filofax, and inspires you to get started if that is something you believe would be helpful in your life as well!

Okay, so to start off, lets talk about the inserts that I made that are available in my Meal Planning Bundle! There are three inserts total, a Meal Master List, a Grocery List and a Weekly Meal Planner! The Meal Master List is what I consider the HQ for my meal planning process. It contains all the meals I like to make for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks/desserts all listed out so when I sit down to create my meal plan, I have a variety of options for meals sitting in front of me. To me, this is step one of the meal planning process because when it comes to creating a successful meal plan, having a variety of options available helps create diversity in your meal plan, so that you don’t get bored with your food options and resort to take out!

The Grocery List insert is pretty straight forward. It’s a simple checklist where you can write down all the groceries you will need for your meal plan and of course any extras you need to pick up at the store as well. Having a complete grocery list may seem like a no-brainer, but your grocery list can be a make or break for you while you are at the store. Having a complete, well thought out list helps you to prevent missing any key items you need for your meal plan, and having that list helps you to excercise your self-control, teaching you to stick to the items on your list and not stray! Although this may be tough at first, an important element to the success of any meal plan is the ability to control your groceries so that you are buying only what you need and avoiding any items that may sabotage your meal plan by creating diversions for your appetite throughout the week. Making a complete grocery list and sticking to it has helped to save me hundreds of dollars a month on my grocery bill. Why? Because when you feel confident that you have made a complete list and know that you only need to purchase the items on said list, your mind begins to turn to autopilot and you don’t get any wild and crazy last-minute ideas for extra meals or new recipes you want to try while perusing the aisles of your grocery store! So get into the habit of creating a complete and thorough list for yourself and you will see that in the end, you will save time, money and a lot of hassle!

My final meal planning insert is the Weekly Meal Planner itself, broken down into a grid format so that you can easily plan out your meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner and of course snacks, for your week! Now, I think one of the great things about using print at home meal planning inserts like these, is really that you have an unlimited supply of these sheets on hand. Although the Weekly Meal Planner is roomy, even in the personal size, there are always situations where you may need to create more than one meal plan, especially if you have a large family to plan for or special dietary restrictions you need to keep in mind for separate meals. You could also use these inserts to actually track the food that you do end up eating, if for instance you don’t stick to your meal plan but want to track exactly what you consumed, in the form of a food journal. Again, just another reason why having a printable insert is so much more of a value than purchasing pre printed inserts or using separate journals or notebooks!

So now that you know about the meal planning inserts, let me give you a brief description of how I use them and my process for meal planning! Of course, you may use your inserts differently or have your own process, but this is what I do! First of all, when I am sitting down on Sunday to organize my grocery list and create my meal plan, the first thing I do is take stock of the items I already have in the house. I compare that with my Meal Master List and decide if there are any meals I want to make for the coming week that include those ingredients. If so, I make a note of the meals on some small sticky notes or page flags and then I add any missing ingredients to my grocery list. After I have decided on meals that are already stocked (or mostly stocked) at home, I check my master list to see what else I want to eat for the week. I consult with my husband and see what he has been craving and then we pick out the rest of the meals for the week and write them out on their own sticky notes. Again, I will add any items to my grocery list that I may not have in stock for those meals. Then, I will add any other miscellaneous items I know I need to buy before heading out to the grocery store! Finally, I will take the sticky notes with each meal listed on it and map out my meal plan for the week. I do this on sticky notes because often, my husband and I will change our minds about when we want to have a meal, and that’s absolutely fine, but I need to be able to switch around my meals so that I know what I have left to make if I bump up a meal that may have been scheduled for later in the week!

That, in a nut shell, is my meal planning process. Like I said, you could do it differently to suit your needs, but this is what works for me! I love having these inserts in my Filofax, in their own dedicated section, because it helps me to keep my meal plan at the top of my mind, making it harder for me to just ignore it and order take out! I was previously using a small Sugar Paper for Target bound notebook to house my meal planning/food diary, but I found that because it was separate from my planner (that houses everything important to me and current in my life) I found it easy to forget about it, forget I had a meal plan and forget I was prioritizing this process! Now, that leads me to the final little portion of this post, which is keeping inspired to continue on with your meal planning! The final goodie that comes in my Meal Planning Bundle is a set of journaling cards that you can use in your planner or around your home to keep this process on your mind. There are four designs of journaling cards in the kit, one is a great little portable recipe card that you can keep in your planner in case you hear of a great recipe while you are out and about and want to write it down (how often have you found an interesting recipe in a magazine in a waiting room but couldn’t rip it out and take it with you? Happens to me all the time)! The second card is a hydration tracker where you can track how many glasses of water you have drunk each day in a week! I know there are a lot of folks out there who track their water or want to do a better job of tracking their water, and this little journaling card is the perfect thing to get the job done- and it fits nicely into a planner pocket or can be punched and inserted into your calendar pages so you see it frequently! Finally, the last two designs are two inspirational quotes that I think sum up meal planning perfectly! I absolutely love these cards, having punched them and inserted them into my planner as a daily reminder of my meal planning process!

Well, this was a very comprehensive blog post and I hope it gave you some good inspiration for beginning your own meal planning process with your Filofax or planner system! In case you found this post too long to read, I also filmed a video on the topic that I will go ahead and link for your convenience! If you are currently meal planning in your planner, please let me know about your system in the comments or if you would like to start, feel free to ask me any additional questions and if I can help, I certainly will!

xoxo,

My Productivity Playlist

My Productivity Playlist #6 {Love You like a Love Song}

This month has really been like the greatest February of all time! Well, maybe not of all time, but it’s shaping up to be a really cool month! Not only is it the perfect calendar month with four straight weeks from Sunday to Saturday, but Valentine’s Day is also on a Saturday this year, which is very convenient! Speaking of Valentine’s Day, I decided to theme this months Productivity Playlist with some great love songs! If you’re a fan of romantic tunes or just need a playlist on hand for your Valentine’s evening, definitely check this out! As always, you can listen to my full playlist for free via Spotify!

Here’s what you’ll be enjoying in this months playlist:

A Thousand Years by Christina Perry
Such Great Heights by Iron & Wine
Somewhere Only We Know by Keane
The Scientist by Coldplay
Unforgettable by Nat King Cole (duet with Natalie Cole)
At Last by Etta James
Dream a Little Dream of Me by Ella Fitzgerald
Someone to Watch Over me by Ella Fitzgerald
These Foolish Things by Nat King Cole
Come Away with Me by Norah Jones

These are probably some of my all time favorite love songs! I know I could have chosen dozens upon dozens of great classics, but these have been on my mind lately! I hope you like the selection and that you use it this Valentine’s Day, either as some nice music to relax to or something to add a little ambience to your evening! Let me know in the comments your favorite love songs and if you also share a particular love for the ones on my list!

xoxo,

Solutions

The Key to Finding Love

I know February can be something of a controversial month. Most people in relationships claim this month as a chance to celebrate their love, while those currently in between relationships complain that February is nothing special and that Valentine’s Day is just a product of the greeting card, chocolate, floral and jewelry industries! Whatever your stance, I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to share my wisdom with my readers when it comes to what I have learned about love thus far in my short existence! I don’t claim to be a professional or highly schooled on the subject, but I have a few common sense lessons to share that will hopefully help any of you out there who are looking for a deep, meaningful relationship. Whether you are currently single, or in a relationship lacking that special something you are longing for, I submit this post to you like an old love song dedicated to the lonely hearts club!

First Key to Finding Love: Stop Looking

You know the old adage that “you find love when you aren’t looking,” well it is completely true! I have said it before and I will say it again, but love is invisible (obviously) so you can’t go around searching for it. It’s not a shoe that you lost in the back of your closet, it’s not the perfect little black dress hanging out on some rack in a department store waiting for you to spot it, and it certainly isn’t something you can concoct with a spare guy and a quick recipe! Love, in fact, is an energy! Which means it must be attracted! Because of this basic principle, it is possible for you to repel love through the act of searching, the way a magnet repels another if it uses a similar charge. So, if you have been searching high and low for Mr./Mrs. Right and have come up short, this is why! So, halt all efforts immediately and jump straight into the next lesson!

Second Key to Finding Love: Self Love Means Everything

If love is an energy that can only be discovered by being attracted, the best possible way to find it is to love yourself. Why? Because if you are truly, madly, deeply in love with yourself, who the heck wouldn’t want to also fall in love with you? Self love is everything when it comes to finding true romantic love. First of all, to love yourself means to truly know and understand yourself and your own mind and heart. Once you are in tune with that your heart and mind want, it actually becomes much easier to identify Mr./Mrs. Right once they are inevitably attracted to you! Secondly, when it comes to love, you will attract that which you believe you deserve deep down inside. So if you loath yourself inside and have a laundry list of flaws that you like to dwell on, and generally don’t have much esteem or confidence in yourself, guess what? You will find someone who is attracted to that weakness in you and they will latch on and exploit it! We’ve all see it before, maybe it hasn’t happened to you personally or to someone you know intimately, but I bet you know someone in that situation. Where they didn’t have any self esteem or self love and they got into a relationship because they were desperate for one and they ended up being used and abused. So, if you want to find a relationship, one with someone who thinks you are wonderful and amazing and will love you to the moon and back, you need to feel that way about yourself. You will attract a partner who will treat you the way you treat you, so make sure you are loving yourself to the moon and back first!

Third Key to Finding Love: Put Yourself Out There

One of the major barriers to finding love these days really stems from a lack of accessibility. If you don’t put yourself out there, you will never attract a loving partner. Common excuses for this range from work, to family obligations, to having too many friends, but when you boil it down, the truth is you are not prioritizing yourself and putting yourself in the situation to have love find you. This may be because you are truly a busy person, or it may be because you are afraid to put yourself out there, but either way, you are making no progress and should therefore not be surprised when no one comes knocking on Friday night! Another common defense I hear is that you do put yourself out there but there are no good available guys/gals. Untrue! The truth to this situation is that you are going out, usually with friends, and you are not actually putting yourself into the right setting. Putting yourself out there doesn’t mean going out to bars and clubs and to the movies with friends, it means prioritizing yourself, and your hobbies, and getting yourself involved in external situations without the crutch of a friend or another security blanket. The best way to meet people to start a relationship is to join a regular activity or group that interests you. Join it for the fun and for the heck of it, but make sure its something you like, whether that be spending time outdoors, or joining a book club, following your passions will always guide you in the right direction! Get involved with something, put yourself out there, be open to new friends and new experiences, that is the key to finding love!

I hope you found this post informative and helpful! Like I said in the introduction, I am no love expert, but these lessons aren’t ones you need a degree in to understand. For some people finding love is easy, its the part that comes later on that is really the difficult stuff! If you start to understand and practice these three simple tips, I think you will surprise yourself with the amount of attention you will begin to receive and theamount of eligible individuals you will start to notice!

xoxo,

Productivity

7 Lessons Learned from #GIRLBOSS!

Last spring the book #GIRLBOSS debuted on bookshelves in a marketing whirlwind. All of a sudden this book I hadn’t heard of was everywhere from blogs to the news and if you could judge a book by its cover, it looked seriously awesome! It was also written by a seriously awesome woman, Sophia Amoruso, the twenty something CEO of the wildly successful Nasty Gal online (and now brick & mortar) clothing retailer! Being a twenty something entrepreneur myself, I jumped on the bandwagon with the book and ordered it, read a bit of the book and then, like many books that had come before it, I shelved it and forgot to finish reading it!

Fast forward to the beginning of January when I spontaneously joined a book club organized and ran by my friend Lisamarie, of the blog and YouTube channel Paper & Glam! Her January book was #GIRLBOSS and I thought this would be the perfect time to pick the book back up and finish it, so I did! Now, you can read many a review of this book all over the internet, so I am not going to add one more opinion about the book out there, however, I did find that while I was reading the book, there were passages that really resonated with me that I wanted to share. Love it or hate it, this book did have more than a few insightful moments and so I wanted to share those with you in a post! So, here are the 7 Lessons Learned from #GIRLBOSS!

1. It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.

In the book, Sophia briefly explains the “business model” she used that brought her success with Nasty Gal when she was first starting off with her eBay vintage shop. Although there were many shops that sold the types of items she sold, hers was more successful for one reason, she put a lot of hard work, effort and thought into each and every item she listed for sale. From finding and styling models to wear the clothes, a good photographer to take the thumbnail shots, to using her knowledge of fashion and style to write awesome listings filled with styling tips, Sophia put effort into each and every aspect of her sale. This is a great lesson to learn because it really doesn’t matter what your job is, or what your business is, if you think about and put real effort into what you do, it will pay off! There is no substitution for hard work, even on the internet!

2. You don’t get what you don’t ask for.

This is a powerful one, especially for women to learn and really understand. I think ladies have a tendency to shy away from asking for things because we don’t want to come off one way or another, but when you boil it down for your business you won’t make any money or get any customers if you don’t ask for the sale or ask for the business. Sophia seemed to get everything she asked for, and while that may not be a fool proof strategy for your business, sometimes asking is the first step to getting what you want.

3. Never live above your means.

As someone who lives in a capitalist society, I witness commercialism and marketing all day every day! Things from food to luxury goods are thrown in your face and to be honest, I often find myself wanting everything I see, but that is no way to live. Sophia really does a nice job explaining that while she was building her business, she was very frugal and almost refused to spend money. Although she doesn’t really analyse this decision much, I believe it had something to do with her previous freegan lifestyle, mixed with a sense of apprehension that at any moment the rug could be pulled from under her and her business could fall apart. At any rate, this is a great lesson for young women (all women, and men too) to learn! You can’t spend money you don’t have, and you shouldn’t spend all the money you earn either. It’s common sense, but I think coming from a nation in massive debt, it’s apparently an important tip we are consistently missing!

4. Find ways to keep your goals in your face so that you’re manifesting magic!

This lesson is one I employ and believe in, whole-heartedly! I do believe in magic, and I believe that magic is something you make for yourself. How? Well, by keeping your goals front in center in your face, as well as hidden strategically within your daily life, you begin to ingrain them into your psyche and over time that results in you actually taking steps and actions to make those goals real. For example, in the book, Sophia talks about making specific goals into short phrases that she would use as her passwords for her computer. Unconsciously, everyday, she would be reaffirming those goals whenever she typed her password. Eventually, those goals in password form became one with her mind and her mind started acting accordingly so that she could achieve the goals. Now, none of this is science of course, that’s what makes it “magic” because it’s unknown. But boy does it work! Give it a try in your own life and see what benefits you reap by making your own dreams come true!

5. Don’t waste your time obsessing over people and things you can’t control.

This is another one of those difficult life lessons to learn, especially for women, whether you run your own business or not! The world is a really big place and there are billions of us living on it. Of course, from time to time, we are going to come across people and things we don’t like, and unfortunately, sometimes these things are unavoidable, as much as we wish we could just run away from them. They may be people or problems right in front of us that we can’t escape, and it’s so easy to fall into the trap of obsessing over them, wasting our own precious time thinking and worrying and guessing about outcomes we aren’t a part of. If we stopped focusing on the things we can’t control and started minding our own business and focusing on our own lives and the things we can control, we could do so much more. I know this is hard, I struggle with it too, but keeping your nose down and focused on your own work and your own life will really yield you so many benefits!

6. Define failure and success on your own terms.

In the book Sophia explains that failure is a concept of our own design. To fail means something different to each person and that definition is something you have established for yourself. When you go into a situation open-minded with the intent to learn and grow and experience something new, there is no failing at that. Letting go of expectations and results that are weighing us down really help us to lighten the load and soar higher. Likewise, success is also something we define for ourselves. If I asked each and every one of you to give me the name of a successful person in the world, I bet I would get more than one name. Why? Because what success looks like and means to each of us is different, so define your own success and redefine failure to something that doesn’t exist!

7. You can’t take back your actions, so be smart about what you do!

My favorite quote from the book was when Sophia wrote “There is no AutoCorrect in life— think before texting the universe.” This was a very powerful message in my opinion because in our digital day and age I think many of us do and say things online and forget that our words and our actions have meaning in the real world. In life, there is no going back, the only option is forward, so it is so important to make sure you are thinking before taking action. Sophia documents some unsavory parts of her history within the book, things she’s done that she isn’t proud of, and these are things she has to live with. We all have things in our past that we wish we hadn’t done, and hopefully if we are lucky, these things didn’t have permanent or ongoing repercussions. Life isn’t easy, it just wasn’t designed to be, so it is very important that if you want to be happy in life and achieve all your goals that you stay focused, learn from your mistakes and try to make as few as possible of the bad kinds as you go along.

For those of you who have read #GIRLBOSS and even for those of you who have not, I hope you enjoyed this post and that it gave you some more perspective on the book overall! If this post has piqued your interest in giving the book a try, here is a link to where you can purchase it online! Let me know what you thought of the book in the comments below and if you didn’t read the book, let me know how you feel about the life lessons in this post. Did they give you any insight, or do you too struggle with any of them, like me! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

xoxo,

Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor: Love is in the Air!

Hello my Strange & Charmed Ones and welcome to the start of February! If you haven’t noticed, February is really setting itself up to be the perfect month. With its 28 days, it may be the shortest month of the year, but when you take a look at your calendar, it starts on a Sunday, and ends four complete weeks later on a Saturday, making it literally a perfect calendar month! I don’t know about you, but I’m taking that as a sign! I plan to make the most of this little month and fill it with love and laughter and I hope you join me.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I just released my February FREE Filofax printable task list entitled “28 Ways to Love Yourself!” I hope you will go and check it out and use it in your planner to add some extra meaning to the month. I know we all get wrapped up in Valentine’s Day and spreading love to our friends and partners, but we can’t forget about ourselves and this February I am going to be making myself a priority. I know that may sound a little funny, but I sincerely hope you do as well! One of my Instagram followers who downloaded the insert made a very good suggestion that we should start a hashtag and tag photos of our progress with the tasks to IG! So, if you would like to play along, tag your photos with the hashtag #28waystoloveyourself and of course make sure to also tag me @MissTrenchcoat so I can see your IG photos, comment and like them! Other than my free printable, I currently have another great piece of planner related content out for you, my latest YouTube video which is all about making reusable to do lists for your Filofax or planner! This video outlines a technique I use to create and utilize these awesome planner additions, and I even give you a peak into how I use mine!

So, you may be wondering what I have in store for you this month on the blog? Well, glad you asked! This month I am going to be doing a few very informative posts pertaining to blogging and youtube! You will be getting a very rare book post from me as well coming up soon that I hope you enjoy. I’m very excited about this months Picture Perfect post, which is going to be some helpful tips for you fashion bloggers & amateur photographers, so make sure to keep an eye out for that! We’re going to talk about love a little more this month (can’t help it, it is February after all!) and I even have a fun and delicious recipe to share for any of you who LOVE eating cooking dough!

Well, I think that is enough of a monthly preview for you! I don’t want to spoil all the fun, and there are even a few surprises I didn’t mention, so I hope that keeps you on the edge of your seat! One major thing I did want to say, however before I leave you, is how overwhelmed I am with the amount of love and support you all have been showing to my Instagram account! I work so hard to create interesting and beautiful images for you all and apparently you noticed because suddenly I am over 6,000 followers on Instagram! So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart! I feel so lucky to have a wonderful group of friends as supportive and encouraging as each and every one of you! Well, that will be it for now, so make sure you stay tuned for all of the great content I have in store for you this month!

xoxo,

Filofax

28 Ways to Love Yourself {Free Printable}

February is right around the corner, and so it is of course time for another Free Filofax Printable themed with a monthly checklist and made especially for you! So many of you have been reaching out to me to ask me about this month’s printable and it was so difficult for me to keep the details under wraps! I get so excited about each new insert I make, and I on one hand I want to scream it from the rooftops and see what you guys think, but then on the other hand I want to keep it secret until the very special reveal day! As you can tell from the title of this post, the free insert is themed for Valentine’s Day with a checklist of 28 Ways to Love Yourself. So this isn’t your traditional Valentine’s Day, lovey-dovey romance sort of list, this is all about you focusing on the number one person in your life: YOU! Yes, that is right, I said you! You are such an important person and without you, your whole world would go upside down! So, for February I thought it would be rather appropriate for this insert to focus on ways that you can show yourself love and focus on important self-care items!

To download your FREE copy of my 28 Ways to Love Yourself Personal Sized Filofax Insert, click here to head on over to my shop! As always, I do only have this insert available in personal sized dimensions, however, it is easy enough to scale the image up to fit into an A5! To print in personal size, make sure you are printing at 100% scale, and then increase or decrease the scale as necessary to fit larger or smaller planners!

While you are also over on my shop, make sure to check out another new printable, my newest set of Journaling Cards Titled Girl of All Trades! This beautiful set of 12 unique designs is inspired by the #GIRLBOSS inside of each and every busy women, and includes a variety of lists, quote and inspiration cards, as well as a few unique designs echoing the elegance and femininity of a woman who knows how to #HUSTLE! Download your set today for your planner, desk or project life collection at a special reduced price for a limited time only!

Of course if you do download my 28 Ways to Love Yourself OR the Girl of All Trades Journaling Cards, I want to see pictures of these beauties in your planners! Feel free to add washi tape and stickers to your insert, snap a photo to Instagram and make sure to tag me, @MissTrechcoat so I can like and comment on your photos! As always, I hope you enjoy your free insert, make sure to check out my shop if you are still on the hunt for some wonderful new inserts for your planner, and I hope you have a wonderful start to February!

xoxo,

On my iPhone

On My iPhone {January 2015}

On my iPhone is a monthly feature on Strange & Charmed where I give you a peak into what I have been loving on my iPhone for the month! Covering topics like apps, games, podcasts, music, websites, books and more, I hope this series helps you all discover new and exciting content out there that can be enjoyed from your iPhone! To stay up to date with this series, make sure to follow the On My iPhone tag!

In case you hadn’t noticed, I actually didn’t post an On My iPhone for December of 2014, so I am very excited to finally be catching you all up on my digital monthly favorites! I feel like I have been on a productivity roll this January with all the great new projects and ideas I have been working on for my business! It should come as no surprise to you then, that many of these awesome favorites may have played a role in that increased productivity!

Currently Playing, Mind Genius: Since I have been trying to get off on a productive foot for 2015, I have been doing a lot of brainstorming and project planning for my blog, YouTube channel and of course my shop! Although I do love brainstorming on paper, I found that the number of projects I was working on was just becoming a little too much for my post its to handle and thought it would be best if I had an electronic system to help aid me in this process so that I could see all my ideas and order them into a logical flow. Enter the app Mind Genius! I have actually had this free app downloaded on my iPad for quite a while now, but I never used it much until now. It’s basically mind mapping software that helps you to arrange your thoughts and brainstorm through projects or problems you are working on. I highly suggest it if you are craving some sort of digital organization for your projects and thoughts and notepads or sticky notes just aren’t working that well for you!

Currently Reading, May Cause Miracles: I really enjoyed Gabrielle Bernstein’s book, Miracles Now, so much that I recently decided that I wanted to familiarize myself with more of her work. So, I decided to give May Cause Miracles a try and I haven’t been disappointed! I really love how Gabby is such a down to earth, straight shooting spiritual guru of sorts. I know she’s a life coach, but when she communicates, it feels more like a friend chatting with you than a professional. If you are looking for spiritual guidance or just want to get in tune with the universe around you, definitely try May Cause Miracles!

Currently Watching, Paper & Glam: Back in December I came across the Paper & Glam Youtube channel as I was searching for new planner videos to watch. The channel is hosted and run by Lisamarie Landreth, a 20 something professional gal much like myself with a penchant for organization and planners and I was instantly hooked! Lisamarie and I have since become besties because we share an alarming number of similar values and ideals, so if you like my content and my youtube channel, I know you will connect with Lisamarie as well. Her home decor and Erin Condren Life Planner videos are on point and she also runs her own blog and shop with much more interesting and fun content, so be sure to check her out there as well! If you do, make sure to drop her a line and let her know Alexis sent you!

Currently Surfing, Elle & Co Design: One of my goals for 2015 is to really dive deep and discover new sites and blogs filled with interesting and informative content, and I have totally started the year off with a strong start ever since I discovered Elle & Co Design, the personal blog of graphic designer Lauren Hooker! I think you’re going to see a pattern emerging with my latest and greatest faves, but Lauren is not only an A+ blogger, but she also runs her own design company and has a digital shop with awesome printables as well! I love that Lauren blogs not only about her design business, but she also gives really great branding and blogging advice as well! Again, if you like my blog, I bet you will love her, so make sure to add her to your bloglovin feed as well!

Currently Listening, Elise Gets Crafty: One of the things I have also been trying to do more of is find and listen to more podcasts! Since I work from home alone all day (well, not totally alone thanks to this lil guy) I feel like I need to keep my mind engaged while I’m working with more than just music. Because I love business and non fiction books so much, I thought it would be fun to find more business related podcasts and guess what?!? I found a podcast geared towards creative business owners called Elise Gets Crafty! It’s hosted by craft blogger Elise Blaha Cripe (who I also went ahead and added to my regular reads as well once I discovered her) and in each episode of her podcast, Elise interviews and engages in great conversation with another creative entrepreneur to help answer some of the big and little questions and issues that all creative business owners face. Definitely check it out if you have been thinking about starting your own creative business or if you already run one!

Well those have been my monthly favorites, but of course, there is always one final thing I know you all look forward to hearing about and that is which iPhone case I am currently rocking! For the majority of January I have been using my favorite black and white striped case from Kate Spade! I have been on such a black and white kick lately, as you can tell from the picture above, everything from my planner to my coffee mug is black and white! Love it!

So, now it’s your turn to tell me what you have been loving for the month of January! Any new YouTube channels or apps I need to check out? I am always on the hunt for new blogs to read as well, especially if they are centered around creative female entrepreneurs! Let me know your favorites and suggestions in the comments below!

xoxo,

lifestyle

Cliche Life Lessons that are Actually True!

I really feel like cliches get a bad wrap! When something is cliche, it’s often overused, or mocked as being unoriginal or stereotypical, however, I think cliches become cliche for a reason, because more often than not, they are true! Sometimes, when it comes to people, we can hear something over and over again, and never really understand what it means, but once you do, it can be a very powerful experience. This has happened to me time and time again when it comes to certain cliche life lessons. So, I thought today I would share with you some of the cliche life lessons I have personally had experience with, why they are true and why you should be paying more attention to them in your own life!

Who you were in high school doesn’t matter

Now, it’s been years since I was in high school. Heck, it’s been years since I was in college! But I still remember my grandfather blowing my world wide open when he sat me down to tell me about why it wasn’t important for me to be the best or brightest person in my high school class. “I take the fact that you don’t get straight A’s as a good thing,” he told me. “Because you never end up hearing about those straight A students after high school is over. It’s the one’s like you, who are flying just below the radar that end up doing great things later on in college and beyond.” Now, I was a very good student, don’t get me wrong. I was the kind of kid that got mostly A’s and then a few B+s or sometimes the unfortunate B, but it often worried me that I wasn’t a straight A student. This news sort of rocked my world, but it went to much beyond grades! In high school, you think its important to be popular and well liked, as if being popular in high school is going to ever mean anything later on, but it doesn’t. All the popular kids from my school are (to be completely honest) basically nobody’s now. I’m sure they have great lives and all, but when I check my Facebook feed sporadically, I see that they all still live in the same small town, have an underwhelming career, and (not so much of a shocker) still hang out with the same crowd of people they were friends with in high school. It’s clear to me that not much has changed or improved in their lives and it appears that their glory days are all behind them! But you know who does have cool and interesting lives whenever I check in on Facebook? The offbeats. The kids who were flying under the radar, the ones who were decidedly unpopular. Instead of worrying about chasing the crowd in high school, they focused on doing their own thing and then in college, they continued to blossom in their own uniqueness! To me, this is why the cliche is true! Who you were in high school doesn’t matter, it’s four years of your life that may be hard and painful and awkward, but seriously, it determines nothing for you!

Love finds you when you’re not looking

For this next cliche, I have been something of a poster child! When I got to college, the last thing I was looking for was a relationship! I wanted to focus on my studies, get involved in the groups and activities that interested me, and the last thing I wanted was a boyfriend, but the thing is that love always seems to find you when you’re not looking. Specifically, when you are out and about, happy and cheerful, doing the things you love and letting your light shine on the world! I’ve watched so many lovely, smart and talented women waste their time trying to pursue opportunities for relationships all because that was what they thought they needed and/or wanted. All of them wound up empty handed, and you know why? Because love is not something you can find, it’s something you attract. It’s an energy like so many other intangibles in life and when you look for it, you can’t find it because its not something you can see! If you really want to find love and a meaningful relationship, try falling in love with yourself and your life and I bet you someone special will begin to notice!

Self confidence makes a difference

I think their is a misunderstanding in the world that confidence comes from experience. While I do find that many confident people have a wealth of life experience, when it comes to some people, no amount of experience ever seems to bring them confidence! I think I need to let you in on a little secret; confidence is a choice. Like waking up and choosing what shirt to put on in the morning, or what cereal you want to put in your bowl for breakfast, you must choose whether or not you are going to be confident. Now, of course, their is some skill to it, which is why practice makes perfect, but their is no reason why you shouldn’t be waking up each morning and choosing confidence. Why? Because confidence matters. Confidence is the difference between making decisions and being told what to do. It’s the difference between taking a comment as positive praise or negative snark. Imagine a life where you felt like you were in control? That’s the feeling confidence gives you, that no matter what life throws as you, you can take it! So, choose confidence everyday, in as many situations that you can. You will being to see an immediate difference and eventually it will become second nature!

Haters gonna hate

As someone who has been putting their writing, thoughts, and creative energy out onto the internet for years, it took me a surprisingly long time to understand this one! Whenever I would hear the phrase “Haters Gonna Hate” I would immediately ask “What does that even mean?” Well, I think I am finally beginning to understand. It is a true universally acknowledged that in life, there are some people who only spread hate and negativity. Now, these people may be very blatant about it, and hate everyone and everything equally and with sincere fervor, or these people may be very cunning about it, wrapping up their negativity in a sweet little package that looks so tempting you may actually want to buy into what they are saying. But the thing is, these people and their opinions (especially if the opinions are opposing you) do not matter. Why? Because their will always be people in the world who don’t agree with you. Even if you are the most innocent, non controversial being on the planet, some people will find something to dislike about you. Just ignore them, it is in their nature and you can’t stop it, nor can you change them or counter them in any way.

You can’t please everyone

Hands down, this has been the hardest lesson for me to learn and sometimes I still feel like I am learning how to live with it. It may be the most popular cliche ever, but its true, you can’t please everyone. Now, this is due to several factors, usually surrounding the fact that people come from different backgrounds and were taught to value completely different things. The most complicated element of this cliche, however, is not just that people are different, but that when you boil it down, people can have completely opposite view points and can still be correct. In life, there is no cut and dry right or wrong most of the time, and because of this, it is inevitable that you won’t be able to please everyone. The quicker you learn this, the less hurt you will be when people disagree with you, the less time you will waste trying to change people’s minds and the less effort you will spend trying to tailor your life and your choices to fit the opinions of others.

Now it’s time for you to tell me which cliche lessons hold the most truth for you! Let me know in the comments below or send me a tweet! I’d love to get your insight and perhaps even learn something new myself!

xoxo,

Career

10 Awesome Females All Millennial Women Should Know!

With so many of you that tell me on a day-to-day basis how much my work has inspired you to live a more productive and organized life, I got to thinking that I should perhaps share with you all the people, specifically, the women, that inspire me. I definitely go through phases where I become very interested in and inspired by the work of certain notable women, but for the most part, I find that I keep coming back to the same ladies and their work over and over again. So, here is a collection of 10 awesome females that I believe all millennial women should know!

1. Sheryl Sandberg

You really have to be living under a rock to not know about Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, her controversial book, Lean In, and her work promoting and supporting the roles of women in executive positions through her foundation Lean In.org. Sheryl Sandberg has been everywhere since her book released in 2013 and she has become something of the unofficial face of women in leadership, opening up an important dialogue within the U.S.

2. Marie Forleo

Marie Forleo is a very awesome lady whose work I just recently discovered early in 2014. Known predominantly for her eponymous website and business coaching practice, Marie is definitely a mover and a shaker, rubbing elbows with Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins and Sir Richard Branson to name a few. Through her weekly web series, Marie helps inspire her audience of entrepreneurial women with refreshing candor and a hit of sass! Oh, and did I mention she’s from Jersey? What can I say, she’s my type of lady!

3. Malala Yousafzai

Seventeen year old Malala Yousafzai has been making major waves on the international scene for years through her human rights advocacy and especially her support for the education and advancement of women in her native country of Pakistan. In 2014 Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Prize, making her the youngest ever recipient of the prestigious honor. This brave young woman already has accomplishments galore under her belt, and the world can only expect more great things to come from her in the future!

4. Felicia Day

So when you think of Felicia Day you probably think, geek girl, gamer, actress, writer, but what you should be thinking is web media innovator. In case you didn’t realize it, back in 2012 Felicia launched Geek & Sundry, a Youtube Channel featuring a laundry list of popular web series’ and has basically carved out a nice piece of the new media pie for herself, but then she turned around and sold that pie two years later after turning one single YouTube channel into a media entity in and of itself! She is one savvy multi-talented business woman who is building her media empire, brick by brick!

5. Brit Morin

Do you ever find yourself pining for a younger, more tech savvy version of Martha Stewart that would be accessible to the modern millennial women? Well, clearly you haven’t been acquainted with Brit Morin! As an entrepreneur and modern business woman, Brit has built up a lifestyle brand akin to Martha but with a twist. She is something of a digital homemaker with not only her own popular website and shop, but also her subscription based DIY box service that gives millennial women a creative outlet in their busy, often stressful lives! I’ve been following Brit for years back since the days where she was blogging under her maiden name and working for Apple & Google, and I have to say that it has been very exciting watching the progression of her brand into what it has become today, and I know there will be so much more in store for her in the future.

6. Caroline Ghosn

As the daughter of international businessman Carlos Ghosn, Caroline Ghosn clearly comes from a background of wealth and privilege, but instead of using her families money and connections to get herself into parties, play dress up and live in lala land like some other privileged socialites might, she graduated from college and started her own business in her early twenties; Levo League. You have probably seen me talk about Levo before, I’ve written articles for their site and really love the work they do helping young women connect and network with resources and mentors that will help them advance personally and professionally. Although Levo is a new company and still rather small, I have seen them take on massive projects and make such an impact already that it is exciting to see what will come next!

7-8 Carly Zakin & Danielle Weisberg

Carly Zakin & Danielle Weisberg are two names on this list that I expect you are most likely unfamiliar with. In fact, I myself am still not familiar with their names although I enjoy their work and product on a daily basis. Carly and Danielle are the founders of one of my favorite email subscriptions, Skimm.com, a daily email that catches you up on the important news of the day. As someone who doesn’t really read the news (I know, it’s not something I’m proud of) their service has really helped me keep an eye on important events around the globe by providing a skimmed down summary of the important facts, key players and possibly impacts. Oh, and did I mention this is a free service? Well, it is, so you really have no excuse not to become an informed and educated citizen, thanks to Carly & Danielle!

9. Gabrielle Bernstein

Gabby Bernstein is one of my personal favorite modern spiritualists. By day, she is a motivational speaker, author and life coach, but really, the thing that makes her stand out to me is that she is a spiritual thinker, yogi, and all around kick-ass lady! You may have seen me talk about her latest book Miracles Now, which I love, it’s basically a how-to guide to solve life’s little (and not so little) problems in the moment by changing your mindset and using your body’s natural energy to help you live a better life. I always love thinkers that really seem to practice what they preach, and to me, Gabby is one of those authentic, do gooder types who works to empower people through spiritual methods rather than through gimicky or commercial means. She is just one of those people who really inspires you to live a better life by embracing love and light in your own life and letting go of all those insignificant things that often times trip us up. She’s definitely one to watch if you are into spirituality, meditation, yoga, and self-help!

10. Wendy Davis

I really thought that this list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning an inspiration woman who is part of the U.S. political system. Wendy Davis is a former Texas State Senator who came to national popularity when she took a stand on women’s rights and stood for an eleven hour-long filibuster to block a Senate Bill that would place harsh regulations on women’s reproductive rights in Texas. Now, no matter your political affiliation and no matter your stance on abortion and reproductive rights, you have to admit that one single woman standing up against the political system in one of the largest states in America and facing huge amounts of opposition for her actions is really, honestly, amazing! You really need a plethora of courage and strength to do what she did, and although her actions weren’t successful in preventing the legislation from passing, she did manage to bring national attention to the issue and help open a dialogue in support of the right’s of all women, and for that I think she is pretty awesome!

I hope this article helped introduce you to an awesome and inspirational woman who you may not have been familiar with before and if it did, please let me know in the comments below. If you have other great women that you draw inspiration from I would love to hear about them as well. Perhaps you can introduce me to someone great as well!

xoxo,

Filofax

{How to} Project Planning & Goal Tracking with a Filofax

Since we are now in the very beginning of January and I know many of you are probably pondering resolutions for the year as well as any projects and other goals you want to accomplish throughout 2015, I thought now would be the perfect time to share with you all my project planning and goal tracking process. As you may already know, I do use my personal sized Filofax planner to house and organize all my projects and goals for the year. You may even be familiar already with my printable project planning bundle that I sell in my shop and designed specifically to help myself (and others!) outline and monitor their projects in a productive way. If you haven’t seen my project planning bundle yet, feel free to check it out for yourself.

Now, when it comes to projects and goals, I think people tend to approach each of these items differently because they do tend to be different in nature. When it comes to projects, I view them as a collection or series of tasks necessary to complete in order to come to a desired outcome. In my opinion, projects usually arise as a result of external factors in our lives that prompt us to undertake these tasks. For example, you may find that the majority of your projects come from places like work, your household or even community needs. Since projects are often externally driven, I believe that we often feel a lot of pressure or stress to complete these tasks because usually someone other than ourselves is counting on the completion of the project. Goals on the other hand are things we as individuals work towards with the hopes of accomplishing. I find that goals are usually internally driven and very personal in nature and because of this, I believe we often put our own goals aside or on the back burner to other projects because the completion of our goals only affect us on a personal level. Therefore, I find that goals are usually the first thing to fall to the wayside when life gets busy because they can sometimes feel like something of a selfish pursuit. The truth of the matter is, that both projects and goals should be approached with the same system of organization in order to identify, plan and execute them to completion. No matter whether you are working on a project for work or trying to reach the goal of running a marathon, the same basic planning structure applies and neither a project nor a goal is any less valid no matter the factors surrounding it’s existence!

Okay, so let’s move on to the nuts & bolts of my project planning system. This isn’t any sort of revolutionary system by any means, and I certainly can’t take credit for doing anything other than developing it to fit my own needs, but it does work very well for me, and I thought if it works for me, it could work for you!

Step 1: Brainstorming

The first part of my project planning system is brainstorming. This shouldn’t be confused with brain dumping, because in a brain dump you are simply moving information stored in your mind onto paper (or another trusted input system) in order to store the information, reflect and review later. Brainstorming is like the opposite of a brain dump, because with a brainstorm you start with an empty mind and actively populate ideas. In order to do so, it can often help to first complete a brain dump so that your mind isn’t focused on holding on to any other ideas or plans already stored there, and you can focus simply on the act of creating ideas.

Tip 1: Define your problem

When you begin a brainstorm it is important to ask yourself what you are trying to achieve or what problem you are trying to solve. You need to be specific here and think about the who, what, where, when, why and how of your problem so that you can approach it from every direction.

Tip 2: Envision the ideal outcome

When brainstorming, it is important to know what the ideal outcome is for your problem. We are talking best case scenarios only! Don’t negotiate your ideal down to something diluted, but focus on exactly what it is that you want to happen. Don’t be afraid to dream big. As one of my favorite quotes says “Reach for the Stars, for even if you fail, you’ll land amongst the Heavens.” When you are brainstorming it’s a great idea to think like an overachiever! I follow this rule of thumb myself and I never fail to produce great things even if I don’t quite make it as far as I dared.

Tip 3: Track all thoughts

Start writing down any idea that comes to mind, no matter how small, how right or how wrong it sounds. I suggest doing this with sticky notes or index cards, because these will help you to organize all your thoughts later.

Tip 4: Brainstorm early & often

It’s never too early to brainstorm solutions to a problem that may have just arisen or even to brainstorm solutions to problems that you are anticipating. The more time you spend brainstorming and the more sessions you undertake, the better your ideas will get and the more prepared you will be to undertake the project!

Step 2: Organizing plans and ideas

Once you have spent a sufficient time brainstorming, it’s time to organize your ideas! If you used sticky notes or note cards as I suggested, this process will be easier for you, but make sure to keep a few extra supplies around because you may still have some more though processing to do!

Tip 1: Lay it all out in front of you

Literally, lay all your cards with ideas and plans and information in front of you and take a good hard look at everything.

Tip 2: Discover the Hierarchy of Ideas

Once you have spent time reviewing your ideas, you will start to notice a natural hierarchy of ideas emerge from your notes. You will see ideas you like, ideas you don’t like and you can begin the organization process by grouping these items into a logical order. Ask yourself as you do this if you see any gaps in information, if so, pull out another sticky note or index card and fill in the blank!

Tip 3: Do not discard any ideas

It is very important that during this process you do not discard any ideas, no matter how bad they may seem. Why? Sometimes good ideas can spring forth from bad ideas. Often time I find that by looking at the wrong answer, your mind naturally comes to understand what the right answer is, almost like a process of elimination. When you know what doesn’t work, you have eliminated a possibility and can therefore focus on what does work! Another reason to keep around those seemingly bad ideas is because although an idea may be bad for one project, it may actually work for another or give you a great idea for a totally different project. While you’re brainstorming, you seriously have no clue what is going to pop up but your brain gave you the idea for a reason, so give it some time before you decide that it’s not worth pursuing.

Tip 4: Give your ideas time to process

Project planning and organizing ideas isn’t something that should be rushed. I say to brainstorm early and often for a reason, because thoughts need time to process and stew in your mind. Even after your ideas have been organized into their proper hierarchy and gaps have been filled, you still never know what inspiration is going to pop up once you give your ideas time to grow. So, how do you know when you have given enough time to your ideas so you can begin to project plan? Well, I find that there are two things that happen to me when I am ready to move on to the next phase in this process. First off, I find that I begin to feel confidence in my ideas. It’s like a gut check with me, if I feel uneasy with my ideas, they need more time, but if I start feeling confident and excited, I know it’s time to move forward. Finally, when I begin to see that my ideas are following a very logical order, I know it’s time to move on because my ideas make sense, and that is really what you want from this process.

Step 3: Planning

Once your ideas are in order, you can proceed with the actually planning portion of the project planning system. Novel, ain’t it?

Tip 1: Process your ideas into actions

Once you have all your good ideas in front of you, you need to process them into actual actionable items. After all, a project plan is nothing if you don’t have actions associated with your ideas.

Tip 2: Fill out a project planning page

I like to keep track of my projects with a project planning page because it provides a nice overview of your project at a glance. The project planning pages I use come from a set on my shop that are sized for a Filofax, either personal or A5! The project planning page houses all the important information regarding the project.

Tip 3: Note deadlines and timeframes

On the action list of the project planning page, I make sure to note deadlines for tasks as well as provide a general time frame for their completion. This helps me when it comes time to undertake a task to understand the time commitment required.

Tip 4: Keep track of resources

When it comes to project planning, we often need outside resources or other materials to reference in order to complete tasks. The project planning pages I use have a special section for this so I can list out everything I need to reference or anyone I need to contact or work with to complete tasks.

Tip 5: Move projects to the Yearly tracker

My project planning bundle also includes a yearly tracker broken down by month of the year as well as spaces for short-term, mid-term and long-term goals. I consider a short-term goal to be something that can be completed in 1 month, a mid-term goal to be something I can complete in 1-3 months and a long-term goal to be something I need 6 months or more to complete. Once my projects are outlined in the project planning pages, I move them into my yearly tracker in their appropriate time frame so I can see everything I have going on in my life, project wise, throughout the course of the year.

Step 4: Implementation

Once your project or goal is planned out and organized, the most important part is still ahead of you and that is actually getting things done!

Tip 1: Schedule action steps into your calendar

I use a specific month at a glance insert to track my project tasks. This page (which is available alone in my shop or as part of the project planning bundle) is broken down into two parts. On one side of the page are the days of the month listed out one per line, and on the alternate side is a column of task boxes. I use the dated side to track tasks that have a specific due date or deadline and the side with the check boxes to list out all other tasks that belong to that month. That way when it is time for me to work on a project, I have a list of my next actions ready to go and I don’t have to spend any extra time looking up what I have to do! When an item is completed from this list, I check it off on the monthly page as well as on the project planning page.

Tip 2: Transfer tasks to a weekly or daily spread as needed

Sometimes tasks are very important and I need to make sure I don’t miss them, so I will move them onto my weekly pages to ensure completion. This is just an additional step I take that helps me to plan my workload for the week. Normally I will either add these items to a specific day that they need to be done on or leave them as a general task to be completed at some point during the week. Either way, having it front in center on my weekly view keeps it on the top of my list!

So that is my project planning and goal tracking system in a nutshell. This is quite a long post, so I won’t keep you any longer. If you didn’t happen to make it through the whole post, don’t worry, I did make a YouTube video on the subject as well to go along with this post in case you preferred to watch me in action instead of read a long form article!

Of course, if you did make it through the post, let me know what you thought of my process. Is this something that you may find helpful to you as you begin to plan your projects for the year? Do you use a similar method or another system all together? I would love to hear about how you plan out your projects especially if you use a Filofax based system as well!