Tag Archives: Journals

It’s National Notebook Day!

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Today is National Notebook Day and I am absolutely here for it!

I think my love of notebooks/journals began when I was a kid. I’ve always been a list maker—of things to do, places to go, and books to read.

As I got older and those lists began to encompass more and more topics, it was only natural to corral them into journals and notebooks.

Two of my smaller notebooks from The Happy Planner, they easily fit in my book bag.

I don’t use notebooks just for future plans. I also use them to document my daily activities. Doing so is my way of being able to get up from my desk at the end of the day and have tangible proof of my accomplishments—that I actually did stuff—and that’s important to me.

A few of my activity journals from past years.

So in addition to keeping a daily log of activities associated with my writing, I also use notebooks to:

  • Track healthy habits, like my daily walks, exercise routines, and hydration.
  • List places I want to visit on my next trip to England (BTW, I would have to take up residence in England for the next three years to visit all the places on my list!).
  • Jot story ideas and brainstorms, with notes about plots, characters I think would be interesting to write about, book titles, etc.
  • Reading journals for favorite authors or book series.
  • “Punch lists” for my new house. I moved last year, and because of COVID I put off making any improvements or changes to the new place because I didn’t want strangers/tradespeople in my house. So for the last year I’ve been entering tasks in a notebook, with a new page for each room. Now that we’re getting close to lifting restrictions, I can use the notebook as a checklist for all the painting, electrical upgrades, window-cleaning, kitchen remodeling, etc. that needs to be done.
  • Budgeting and financial goals
The notebooks I use on a daily basis stand ready on my desk.

Right now I have about 45 notebooks on my shelf, ready to be placed in service whenever I get a bright idea I want to write down; and the truth is, I’m always on the lookout for journals.  Hardbacks, paperbacks, spiral bound, 3-ring, and disk-bound—all are equally desirable because it’s typically the cover that speaks to me when I’m deciding whether or not I want to buy a journal.

Did I mention I have a lot of notebooks? Here are a few I haven’t used yet.

Do I have a notebook hoarding problem? Absolutely not! I just prefer to celebrate National Notebook Day every day of the year.

And if you love using notebooks and journals, too, I raise my ribbon bookmark to you!

Related Post: New Journal Find

Happiness is a Trip to Target

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Sometimes you never know how much you enjoy doing something until you can’t do it anymore.

Like a lot of people, I’ve been hunkered down in my home for the last year, only leaving for the essentials. For most of the last ten months, my world has consisted of my home, the path I walk my dogs down three times a day, and the grocery store. That’s it.

So when my grocery store stopped carrying my preferred brand of dog food, I had to get online and try to find it somewhere else. Target came through for me. Their online inventory showed they had five bags in stock.

Bravely, daringly, I donned nitrile gloves and two masks, and drove to Target last week. My plan was to go directly to the dog food aisle, grab a bag of food, zoom through checkout, and be back in my car before any germ, virus, or lint had a chance to settle on me.

But a funny thing happened when I got inside the store. As I walked past one of my formerly favorite aisles—filled with stationary, journals and office supplies—I heard a siren song I could not resist.

Short story, short: I ended up buying (in addition to dog food) three journals and three matching pens. Aren’t they lovely?

And the really amazing thing was how happy these simple journals and pens made me feel!

Until I saw them, I didn’t realize how much I missed shopping; how good it used to feel to wander through a store, looking at pretty things, wondering how they’d look in my house, or getting inspired to use them as a starting point to create something fresh on my own.

Buying these journals and pens reminded me of all that; and reminded me that one day I’ll get to enjoy shopping again. Just not yet. In the meantime, I’m happy with my new purchase. I keep looking at them and wondering how I’ll use them, and that makes me happy, too.

Thanks, Target, for making me happy.

What made you happy last week?