Peek Inside the Simplified Planner 2016 Weekly Edition

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // July 23, 2015 // 28 Comments

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission from clicks and/or purchases made. BUT I purchased everything mentioned with my own money, and was not paid to review this product. I just love this planner!

I’m so excited to show off my brand new Simplified Planner 2016 Weekly Edition!

Hooray for a new planner! I’ve been itching for a new planner for quite some time, after I got tired of doing my own DIY version. I wanted something simple, pretty but not busy, and had a little structure to it. And this planner fit the bill perfectly!

Let me give you the quick specs for the Weekly edition (you can find more info here):

This planner runs from August 2015 – December 2016
Each week spans 2 pages, with a space for each day
Each day space has a space with open lines, and then a space with bullets
There is also a space for the dinner plan for that day
There are monthly calendar views at the beginning of each month
This planner comes in 3 different cover designs (all are currently unavailable)

There are plenty of pictures, etc, of the Simplified Planner DAILY edition, but I was having a hard time finding enough photos of the page layouts or even videos of the new Weekly edition. I’m guessing I’m not alone in this, and thought others might benefit from a little peek inside.

First of all, can we have a moment for just the overall look of it? It’s just a pretty planner. All of the 2016 cover options are beautiful, BUT the mint dot color just screams ‘Katie’. The cover is really quite sturdy, and unless it’s constantly being chucked in and out of a bag with dumbbells rattling around, I can’t see this cover getting damaged. TBD.

I also love the touch of gold with the hardware. The rings are very sturdy as well, and mine were perfect right out of the box. I’m also just a sucker for anything with corner protectors! This planner has them on the front and back.

Inside the front cover is a small slip pocket, perfect for tucking notes to remember.

The first few pages of the planner are just “nice to knows”. There is a letter from Emily, as well as a page on how to simplify your life (get it?) and suggestions on how to use the planner. Both helpful reads!

There is also a page dedicated to 2015 and 2016 calendar at a glance, and then a list of major holidays for 2015 and 2016.

Ok! That’s the “extras”! Let’s see the actual calendar/planning pages!

Pretty simple and straightforward, actually! There isn’t any color on the monthly calendar pages, which I prefer. Each monthly view has a small quote in the upper right corner, a pretty generously sized calendar, with plenty of space for writing down appointments, vacations, etc. And then there is a running Notes section on the left hand side. I plan to use that section for my Monthly Goals.

Each month’s calendar view is right before you dive in to that month’s weekly pages. That’s the way I prefer to plan things out myself. I like to see the entire month overview first, then start diving in to planning each week.

This is a complete week spread. The week days have there own space, while Saturday/Sunday have just one lined section. There is just a hint of color for the dates. Just enough for me!

Each day has a lined section as well as a bullet section, perfect for a to-do list. There is even a box for that day’s dinner plan! Genius. I plan on using the lined section for tasks or appointments that have times around them. The bullet list will be for to-dos, especially the “if I do nothing else, I need to do these” ones. You know what I mean?

Here’s one detail I love – there are reminders, in advance, that special holidays are coming! Perfect reminder for when you have to pop a card in the mail.

Speaking of holidays, here is how the planner highlights the holiday!

Love that touch of color to highlight holidays! And isn’t that weekly prep section on Sunday so great? I was already in the habit of doing those items, but it’s nice to have a reminder.

And all those cheerful colors for the tabs are great! It finished off the planner so nicely.

So once you flip through the planner to January 1, that’s it! Not miscellaneous sections (like horoscopes, address pages, or conversion charts) and no excess notes pages (kind of a bummer, but honestly I love my little Moleskine graph paper notebooks for extra lists!).

Isn’t this planner so spiffy? I’m so excited to really start to use it properly. If you have interest in an update once I really start to use it, let me know in the comments below!

For those that prefer to see it live in action, I have a video!

So what planner are you using currently? Are you a paper planner person? Or all electronic?
Let me know what system you use!

You may also be interested in my past post about my DIY planner or my daily schedule as a SAHM.

Linked up with Tuesday Talk

Family Fun on a Steam Train | New Hope Valley Railroad

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // July 20, 2015 // 12 Comments

If you saw last week’s vlog, you saw a good chunk of the fun we had on the steam train with the New Hope Valley Railroad!

Elizabeth is 21 months, and I thought the train wouldn’t be so cool. Turns out, she’s a little train engineer in training now! She loved it.

There were just so many cute pictures that I thought the vlog didn’t cut it! So, if you will humor me with a whole lot of pictures, here’s our day of family fun.

If you’re in the Raleigh/Durham area, the New Hope Valley Railroad is only about 40 minutes from us in Durham (and probably just about the same from Raleigh) so it was an easy activity to do. The train ride itself was an hour. The views were mostly of woods and a few houses, which suited us just fine. They have a steam engine as well as a diesel engine. We chose to do the steam!

We got there super early ahead of our departure time. Thankfully, they had a cute model railroad right at the entrance that kept Elizabeth enthralled for about 20 minutes.

When it was time for us to head to the train, even the walk was so fun!

Once on the train we had lots of fun looking out of the window, eating snacks, and enjoying the breezes!

Halfway through the journey, the steam engine uncoupled (technical term. Look out!) and headed to the back of the passenger cars to take us back to the station. It was fun to watch it whizz by and shoot a lot of steam at us.

By the end of the trip, Elizabeth had the classic “choo choo” noise down, complete with hand motion.

We had SUCH a fun day and would do it again in a heart beat! We plan on doing it again in the Fall when the leaves are changing. It would also be a fun activity when we have family visiting.

Hopefully you have something similar in your area, OR if you’re in the Raleigh/Durham area, check this out! Tons of fun.

What family fun activity have you done recently? We had such a fun time with this that we need to add a few more ideas to our bucket list!

I was not compensated or sponsored in any way for this post. It was just such fun, and I selfishly wanted to share pictures with you.

High Five for Friday #28 (Vlog!) + A Train, A Planner and Baby Deer

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // July 17, 2015 // 21 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by Katie, Caitlin, Tif and Della! If you want to know more, read about it here!

First off, thank you so much for feedback and enthusiasm last week around the idea of increasing community and engagement with this link up! There may be a little survey next week just to see what people would like to do, so keep your peepers open.

And second, this week’s featured blogger is Saprina from What Saprina Says! I haven’t had a chance to meet her (which is what’s GREAT about the feature blogger part – you meet new bloggers!) but I seriously need to do a catch up. She has a few recent posts that caught my eye. You know I’m a baby bag/handbag fan, so I’ll be reading her round up of budget friendly baby bags! And even though I’m already married, there is so much gold and truth in her post about the things you should do BEFORE you get married.

So I hope you enjoy this week’s vlog!

PS – It was a quiet week on the blog this week, but this week’s menu has some yummy meals! And our 8 year wedding anniversary was this week, and I shared a 8 fun pics from the last 8 years!

Fellow bloggers – ready to join in the link up? Just write a blog post about 5 things that made this week awesome! Add your link to your blog post down below (make sure it’s your blog post, not your blog home page!). And then grab the H54F button to add to your post! And go visit at least 3 fellow link uppers AND this week’s featured blogger! It’s just the nice thing to do.

And be sure to tag your posts/pics on social media with #H54F! We really do try to make the rounds and like, comment, retweet, etc! It’s so much fun to support one another, isn’t it?

I’m also linking up with Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre, 5 on Friday & Diary of a Real Housewife

8 Random Photos From 8 Years of Marriage

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // July 16, 2015 // 18 Comments

Hi Friends! Happy Thursday!

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary! 8 whole years of fun, memories, and life changes, PLUS 3 moves in 2 states. In those 8 years, my husband has gone from Med School, to Residency and now is almost done with his Fellowship (medical training never ends). I’ve gone from a fun sales job, to a busy marketing job, to being a mom, and dabbling in blogging and consulting.

And together, we’ve done fun trips in California, England, Alaska, and all over the south. We’ve had ups and downs, highs and lows, but it’s been so glorious! Memories have been made, and we haven’t stopped laughing.

I had a post in the works yesterday… and it just wasn’t jelling with me. Maybe it will seem right later, but I wasn’t loving it.

So, what better way to celebrate an anniversary than to share with you 8 fun pictures from the last 8 years? Plus, you can actually see a pic or two of my husband, who is usually referenced but almost never shown. This is proof he exists!

This is my FAVORITE picture of the two of us from our wedding day! We were married July 15, 2007, in Columbus, Ohio (my hometown, at my childhood church). The wedding was all fancy and formal. We had very formal pictures done, and they’re so lovely. The wedding was fun, but marriage has been so much better!

Fast fact – my mom made that wreath on the door behind us, as well as a lot of the church decorations. They were all beautiful! And that wreath is faux! (I wonder where that wreath is?)

A BONUS wedding pic – because it makes me smile. It’s the perfect behind-the-scenes photo – I’m just gabbing away (probably nervous chatting), putting on shoes, and probably moving around a ton while my poor hair stylist was trying to attach that veil. HA!

Where did you go on your honeymoon? We went on an Alaskan cruise – in July! I have a scarf on and am holding a blanket. PERFECT weather! We lived in southern California, right on the edge of the desert, and in the middle of July the highs were 100+. So a trip to Alaska sounded delightful. And it was!

This was a typical Saturday night while we were in California. HA! We normally had early nights on Saturday because my poor husband had such busy work days and needed all the sleep he could get. Our Saturday nights usually involved a movie and an 80s dance party, plus me TRYING to get my husband to laugh. Thankfully he’s always quick with the camera.

Look how young we were! This was our last picture in our California apartment, the day after my husband’s med school graduation. We flew out that afternoon for North Carolina!

This is one of my favorite all time pictures! We were on vacation in San Francisco, circa 2009. We are both ALWAYS laughing and goofing around. You should always have fun with your spouse!

Another example of my husband’s clever camera work, and another example of how we spend our Saturday nights. Aren’t you jealous of our Saturday nights? You should be – we’re pretty awesome. (This was our first home when we moved to NC)

And this last photo was maybe three weeks into my husband’s intern year in North Carolina. He was working one of his first 18 hour shifts, and said that when he finished that shift he would like to go on a hike so that he could stay awake. So I obliged – I whisked him away for a 3 mile hike in 90+ degree heat and humidity. A win! He still talks about how I took him on the most horrible walk (just joking), and that he was a walking zombie! Poor guy! But I was just following instructions. HA!

Thank you for indulging me 🙂

I’m so grateful to be married to a guy that makes me laugh, that takes care of me, and that is my best friend.

8 years of marriage just flew by!

Menu Monday #50

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // July 13, 2015 // 8 Comments

Hey hey! Did you have a nice weekend?? We did! If you read my H54F post last week, we basically did all the things on our list of activities. I even managed to crank out my big consulting project. I did it all Saturday night. I went to bed at 2:00am… but it was done! I slept so well. But more on that THIS Friday.

We are still in an anti-oven campaign around here. So this week’s menu reflects that. Lately we’ve been enjoying salads, sandwiches and tons and tons of fruit. Isn’t that the best part of summer? All that yummy produce!

And… confession… but I looked at the calendar to menu plan and realized that it’s our wedding anniversary this week! Shocker! That snuck up on me. Still TBD on plans that day, but hey! Celebration!

For more information on how I menu plan, look at this.

Monday:
Tagliarini with Roasted Tomatoes, Zucchini & Basil
(From my fav cookbook! Fields of Greens)

Tuesday:
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Gazpacho (minus the shrimp)

Wednesday:
Our Wedding Anniversary!

Thursday:
Spicy Black Bean burgers with Guacamole & Pepper Jack Cheese
AND my fav potato salad)

Friday:
Taco Salad

Saturday:
Leftovers

Sunday:
Thai Style Lettuce Wraps

Need more ideas for dinner?
Follow my Pinterest board – it’s where I save all of my dinner ideas!

Follow Katie | Cup of Tea Blog's board Good Eats | Dinner on Pinterest.

Linking up at Menu Monday with Org Junkie