Wednesday, November 6, 2013

My New Filofax! Let's Start From The Beginning..

Oh Hello! I'm back! I've decided to dust off the old blog and start back up again. I'm still fiddling with code and layout so please excuse me if anything looks a little off. I've been putting off posting because I'm not 100% happy with the layout but that's an excuse to procrastinate. Besides, this is on my to-do list and I get super excited when I get to "tick" something off my list :)


Ok, let's start from the beginning.. I'm a gadget geek. I love electronics! I sleep with my laptop, Galaxy S3, and sometimes I snuggle with my tablet. Even though I'm all "digitized" I've always had a secret love affair with paper. Yep paper! That stuff made from trees. I freaking love paper, pens, sticky notes, stationary, binders, planners and stickers. I also hoard notebooks. Every notebook that I buy/hoard has a purpose. I usually justify the purpose to myself by making up an "excuse" like this Hello Kitty notebook will change my life, it's going to be my Youtube Notebook all my video plans will go in there! Or this will be my purse notebook. I have a bunch of notebooks that I buy for the purpose of journaling but I usually never follow through which is a shame because the super serious journals that I used to keep are HILARIOUS! 
I also have always had a love affair for planners. Just the idea of a special book to keep my schedule, calendar! Awesome! But I admit I usually start hard and fall off.. For the last few years I've always had the same work schedule. So no point in writing that over and over *yawns*. 
A few weeks ago a friend of mine from “down under” opened my eyes to everything that I'm missing in my life. The world of Filofax! A binder that's a planner, notebook, journal, to-do list, life planner! They come in pink and purple! (I’m not concerned with other colors, maybe red or black, maybe.) I couldn't contain myself! Then I did the worst thing a person can do. I went on YouTube. I watched videos on Filofax for days. I watched reviews on colors, textures, size options, uses, customization, decorating, making your own dividers. I think I've read every single post on Philofaxy! Jen from My Purpley Life became my BFF in my head. I was all over A Bowl Full of Lemons & Paper Love Story  While watching YouTube videos and reading blogs, I realized that I'M NOT ALONE! There are other people like me who enjoy this kinda stuff. Where have they been all life? How did I not know about this. What else can I learn? The most important question. Which Filofax do I want? 
For days I was torn between two sizes. 
Credit: Filofax USA Website Size Guide


Did I want an A5 or Personal Size? I narrowed my choice down to one of those sizes. Each has pros and cons. Would the Personal Size be too small? Will I feel comfortable with it? Do I want something bigger? I want to have lots of writing space. Will it feel to heavy in my purse? Can I commit to carrying a larger size planner in my purse? This thing is going to be my new brain! I watched more videos and more blogs. Someone has to have the answer. I learned there is no one size fits all answer. Some people have different sizes for different purposes. After a few days of studying sizes I decided to just go for it. I had about 5 different binders and accessories in my cart on the Filofax website. I forced myself to just pick one. 
I ended up picking a Personal Sized Saffiano in Raspberry (which is not available anymore). It was also on sale $10 off :) 

Credit Filofax USA 


So I ordered it and waited.. I kicked myself once I realized that they ship via FedEx Smartpost which means it's FedEx'ed to your city then delivered by the Post Office. :( ANIT NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT! Guess I didn't do all my "research". I'm also a spoiled Amazon Prime Member who tends to forget that everything isn't shipped and delivered in 2 days. When I received my confirmation email and looked at the shipping estimate it said 5-8 business days! So I did what any logical person would do. I decided to order another one and suck up the $35 overnight shipping charge. I was going on a business trip and I had to have my Filofax before I left. Problem, it wasn't available. Did I get the last Raspberry one? I don't know but I wasn't happy. So what's the next thing a logical person would do. See if there was a Filofax retailer near me. There are 3 but I didn't have time to stop by one before my trip.  I was disappointed and went on my trip without my shiny new "brain". 
I survived my work trip and decided to stop by Lenox Square Mall on my way home from the airport. There's a Filofax retailer in there called Paradise Pen. I decided that I could just buy one there and send the slow shipping one back. So after being molested by TSA in Tusla, OK,  I arrived in Atlanta picked up my car and headed straight to the mall. I used my Point Inside App because I've actually never been to the Lenox SquareMall and I didn't want to wander because I was on a mission (Point Inside is the best app ever for airport and mall maps). I parked my MACY'S and headed up to the third floor (if you live in Atlanta, I just did all the work for you). I marched into the store and looked for the magical F logo and headed straight to the back ignoring the displays of shiny pens and other brands of planners (I was Filofax oriented). I saw the color pink and became giddy with excitement then I realized that they didn't have anything in pink or purple in Personal Size, only Pocket and A5. I was so bummed.. The girl in the store was super nice and she’s a Filofax lover. I decided that the A5 is too big for me to carry in my purse every day. We did experiments, she let me put it in my purse walk around. We put some inserts in there to stimulate the added weight of paper. She let me put hers in my purse. It was too heavy in my bag (I have a what’s in my purse video on YouTube someplace). I did note that it would be a perfect home or work only planner. The Pocket size was just too small. So I left super sad with a bag of refill papers and some other Filofax goodies to make up for the sadness and headed back to my apartment with an attitude.
They have awesome bags!

I decided to check my mail because I ordered some washi tape and other small extras for my Filofax and figured I should clean out my mailbox so when my Filofax came the Mail Person couldn’t pull the there’s no room so I left it in the office or took it back to the post office excuse. So then the most awesomest thing ever happened. There was a box inside my mail box. The other items I ordered were super small. So I grab the box. IT’S SUCK! It was so stuck. At this point I was sleepy, excited, jet lagged (yes an hour time difference jet lags me, I think) and hungry which meant I was in no position to deal with foolishness. It was dark out. It was also freezing out! So I try and try to grab it out, wiggle it out, pray to Baby Jesus to release the box from the devil mailbox. I have no idea how they got it in there. Luckily there was a nice girl checking her mail and I asked her if she could help me. The same thing has happened to her and she claimed to be an expert! We had to open it but got it out. My Filofax came! Three days ahead of schedule! I was on cloud nine! I was also super tired. I brought her inside and looked at all the different sections she came with. Vlogged a bit. Instagramed and tweeted my bliss. I pulled out my list of sections that I wrote down and just marveled in her beauty. I couldn’t really dig into setting her up completely because I was exhausted. I think I had been up for 24hrs at this point and I climbed into bed with my phone, my work phone (I was supposed to be writing my report), laptop and my Filofax and fell asleep watching Filofax decoration videos on YouTube. That’s how it all started J

Out of the ripped smushed box!



Our first Morning Together :)
A peek inside before I personalized her :)
P.S. Her name is Dulce :)

4 ♥Say Something♥:

Mel said...

Came over via Planner Addicts. Loved your story! I just got my first Filofax a couple weeks ago, a personal aqua Saffiano, and am totally smitten! I look forward to future posts!

Mel said...

Actually it wasn't PA but I think Filofax Fans for US Only.

♥ Ms. Kendall ♥ said...

Thank you for stopping by :)

Unknown said...

Hi there! I just saw your post on Facebook so, I thought I would stop by! I'm so glad I did. I'm always happy to see someone mention me. Your story was exciting and I am happy you finally got your first Filofax. I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to more posts from you! Keep it up!