My Current Obsession - Notebooks
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Ever since receiving my first diary with a lock, jotting down bits and pieces of my everyday life has been a part of me. It probably started with the urge to write down something secretive, to justify having a lock on my diary. Maybe I rode my bike on the road when my mom specifically urged me not to, or bought bags of chips and hid them under the bed... I got busier at school, so the entries were less frequent but more dramatic, or so I thought at the time. Then I got busy dating, getting married, having a kid... yup, blame it all on the hubs. Eventually my full-blown storylined journal turned into a pregnancy log, consisting of a sentence or 2 of how I felt that day. Through my pregnancy and the first year of little man's life, I had the ugliest business looking agenda to keep a log - how much he ate, how long he napped for, poopy diaper or not. Then I got some nicer agendas to jot down some notable events through his daycare years.
But wait, suddenly he started talking and was saying the funniest things! We love documenting the progress of our home projects, but we're parents to this cute little monster foremost. We definitely can't miss taking note of HIS progress! I figured I needed something nicer than agendas to jot down his sayings and our conversations. Something that would be worthy as keepsakes. This was when my obsession with notebooks started...
I wanted to keep the notebooks in my purse to record our funny conversations whenever I have a moment. My mission was to hunt down notebooks that were small and light. I found my agendas too heavy to lug around, so I would forget those funny moments when I got home! I also looked for notebooks with a somewhat durable cover, since I would be carrying the notebooks in my purse. Of course, I wanted the notebooks to have nice, keepsake-worthy designs.
Sources: 1. / 2. fuchsia/ gold polka dots / 3. diamond/ green wave/ letters / 4.
The popular notebook brands that I came across through my search include Kate Spade, Lilly Pulitzer, and Jonathan Adler, just to name a few. I love Kate Spade home decor accessories, so naturally I've also come to love the gold foil designs on her journals. The artistic and summery patterns of Lilly Pulitzer and the bold graphics of Jonathan Adler are all apple of my eye... but the notebooks were too big. They would look great in an office vignette though!
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Some of my lunch hours were spent at Indigo or Papyrus. Who doesn't feel like they're at a candy store at their stationery sections? I always get a boost from checking out some beautiful stationery. And then I saw these...
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How incredibly cute is this notebook? 5 years in one place! And it would look so cute at my bedside table or on my desk at the home office... Then again, I realized it looks nicer ON THE TABLE, but too bulky in my purse. Mission failed...
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There's of course Moleskine, but I'm looking for something more than just notebooks. But then I found out they make a set of 12 monthly notebooks. However, I didn't like how half of the notebook were of conversion charts and whatnots that take up too much space. So I had to forgo that idea. Though they would look so cute yet sohpisticated on open bookshelves.
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And through some more searching, I found FIELD NOTES. They're exactly what I'm looking for. Small sized notebooks with somewhat durable covers. I liked the fact that they offer different designs and themes for each quarter of the year, totally made for suckers like me. Their notebooks usually come in a set of 3 in a series of quarterly designs, which work out to be around one per month for my light entries. Just perfect, and I have about half a year's worth of silliness in these notebooks now! Check out their latest designs here!
Even though my quest has seemingly ended, I'm still constantly infatuated by cute notebook designs. I couldn't believe that I didn't know about May Designs sooner! Their notebook covers are so on trend and sophisticated. Better yet, they can be personalized with monograms or emblemed titles.
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All of their agendas and notebooks are one size of 5"x8". They're also quite thin, so it's suitable to be carried in the purse. Yet, just an agenda a year isn't enough to satisfy my want of their beautiful designs! I love the Nantucket collection, and I think the whole suite would be nice for journaling through the summer!
I would love to get little man to start on a journaling habit when he gets older. This would be a perfect choice for him.
I got his daddy the Darth Vader and Son hardcover book. The two Star Wars fans had a blast going through the pages of parenting jokes together.
Kids grow up too fast (though admittedly, sometimes not fast enough), and there are too many things worth noting. Keeping a notebook handy in my purse has helped me quickly make these minor events a part of our memories. Mother's Day is coming up, these notebooks would be a perfect idea for those moms who are keen on memory keeping. In the purse or on the table, they're all beautiful and durable.
I love flipping through these notebooks (and agendas), and I hope little man will learn to treasure them in time. You never know, I may need these notebooks in the future to remind me of these cute moments... like The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.
Do you document your child's progress and funnies? How is it working out for you?
