Bluestocking Catalogue #9
My Planner Dilemma, (royal) kids are cute & subtly-sweet zucchini bread.
‘Tis the season.
… Of planner dilemma, obviously. (If you don’t care to hear me wax poetic about which analogue planner I’m going to buy for next year, feel free to scroll down for zucchini bread goodness.)
A few years ago, I switched from Apple’s Calendar to an analogue planner. This switch coincided with the end of my overscheduled days in graduate school & the slow death of my beloved Mac laptop. I still use Google calendar for work, but I like the feel of an analogue planner and the capacity it has to be more journal-y.
I’ve tried four different analogue planners in the last few years, which I’ll outline below with their pros/ cons and then share who’s in the running for next year.
I loved the idea of this planner, which includes weekly, monthly, and seasonal contemplative practices. Drawing on the Rule of Benedict, the phenomenal female team behind Sacred Ordinary Days provides a structure to seek out how the sacred intersects with daily life. I learned from it and enjoyed their podcast, but didn’t buy it again because I struggled with feeling guilt for not completing all the pages. In some ways, I needed to see the structure, but then ended up feeling like it was too much structure for me. Also, the planner I got was huge - larger than most cookbooks- which made its portability factor go way down.
If you regularly work from home and could keep it out on the counter, and if you want an invitation to contemplative Christian practices as part of your daily or weekly planning, this planner would be perfect for you. SOD also has a lot of liturgical resources that are worth checking out if you’re into that sort of thing.
A bullet journal, ala The Lazy Genius.
I love bullet journaling: it’s inherently flexible and I could track the things that mattered to me: books I was reading, seasonal recipe queues*(this word has SUCH a weird spelling if you really look at it), my mental health, Christmas gift lists and ideas etc. I bought this journal, which I still love & will buy again. I found the Lazy Genius’ post SO helpful and would recommend it if you’re interested.
Once I started teaching high school, I had less time to create spreads and found myself wanting more built-in structure. Creating my own structure felt like more like a chore than a delight. So, I bought #3:
This planner is gorgeous, from the design to the paper quality to its hardback nature. It is simple inside, which is what I wanted. I bought the weekly one (I don’t need a page a day at my current life stage) and enjoyed the pre-work inviting me to prioritize and assess my goals. It’s fairly portable - and did I mention beautiful? I ended up wanting more flexibility and blank space than the Simplified Design allowed, so I moved onto #4 this year.
Erin Condren’s weekly coiled LifePlanner.
This is my current planner, and I love it. I always want to see pictures of the inside, so here you go:
The stickers you see above came with the journal.
I personalized the front, the layout, and the colors inside. Each week has a two-page horizontal spread (not pictured.) Overall, it’s slightly less portable than the Simplified journal, but allows for lots more customization and has more empty pages - like the dotted page above - which allows me the flexibility I loved about bullet journaling. Honestly, I would buy an Erin Condren journal again, except that I heard this news & feel hesitant about supporting her.
This analogue planner journey has taught me that what matters most to me are the following:
I care equally about style & substance. It needs to be beautiful & useful.
I want some customization and empty pages ala Bullet Journaling.
I want to try a vertical weekly layout (I’ve always had horizontal before.) This makes more sense for how I visualize my days.
Portability matters a lot, but I’ll put up with a slightly larger planner if it offers enhanced functionality.
Given these criteria, I’m considering the following two brands: PlumPaper and Passion Planner. Plum Planner has an almost-overwhelming number of customizations, but I know what I want now so this feels OK. (I’m considering their A5 vertical layout.) Passion Planner is built to help you align your days with your passions, which is appealing - but I like the layout less, I think.
I hope reading my criteria helps you consider what matters to you about a planner - or organization more generally. I’d love to hear your thoughts and recommendations. Simply reply to this email or leave a comment below.
Smitten Kitchen’s Zucchini Bread
If you are in the Western hemisphere like me, zucchini season has technically passed … but I bought some zucchini at Aldi last week and wanted to try a new recipe. I’m a big fan of Smitten Kitchen - she has never steered me wrong - and this zucchini loaf does not disappoint. It is not sweet or cake-y (both of which can be very pleasant; I’m merely describing this particular recipe), and the flavor is zucchini-forward. It’s a one-bowl, and she shares exactly how much zucchini to use.
Deb says it’s better the next day and to wait 24 hours before digging in, but who really has the patience for that?
I made this loaf on Wednesday, and then again this morning. Enjoy.
The Wives of Malabar Hill & Indian Matchmaking
This summer, I read Sujata Massey’s The Wives of Malabar Hill : a compelling mystery with a strong female protagonist set in early 20th century Mumbai (called Bombay at the time.) It was a 2018 Modern Mrs. Darcy Minimalist Summer Reading Guide pick, and I’m glad I finally got around to it. It checks all my boxes for mystery (discussed at length in BC #6) and I would recommend it, especially if paired with Indian Matchmaking.
Indian Matchmaking on Netflix follows contemporary matchmaker -Sina Taparia- as she works with young adults looking for a mate. I found the process fascinating and eye-opening, an interesting contrast to American dating shows (Love Is Blind, anyone?) Sina, the matchmaker, really made the show for me: she’s compassionate and passionate about what she does. I enjoyed learning more about this facet of Indian culture, especially after reading a historical novel set in India. Plus, sometimes the show was downright hilarious:
(Royal) kids are cute…
I couldn’t embed this video for some reason, but click here to watch it.
If you enjoyed this post, would you share it with a friend who’d like it?
I hope you have a very cozy Sunday afternoon.
This was a really informative post. I have considered ditching iCal but.....
Last year for a weekly bible study I purchased this planner from amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1725563282/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It is a simple, straight forward monthly calendar, its size is 8 1/2 x 11 and slim. It has large squares for days and it has pages between each month to plan or put ideas. I think I will use it to plan my family's summer next year.