I'll admit it, when it comes to school supply shopping I have a slight problem. I buy more than I use and have to have things that match or in some sort of color scheme. Last year I provided a list of some of the things I purchased to be prepped for 1L year. Check out my former post 22 & Still Excited About School Supplies if you get the chance. This year most of the supplies have stayed the same because, well, they worked great the first time. But one thing that has been added to the list is the Plum Paper planner.
Plumpaper Planner - Last year I read a post by Nikki, author of blog Brazen and Brunette, about the Plum Planner (be sure to check out both of her posts on the plum paper planner - Professional Post Grad Planner & The Best Planner for Law School) I wanted one so badly after going through the website But I had already purchased my planner for the year and didn't really have the extra money at that point to buy one. Well this year I made sure to snag my plum paper planner && I am loving it. Actually better put, I am absolutely obsesssedddd with this planner. Be sure to use the code BLONDE10 when placing your order to receive 10% off your planner. The coupon is valid through October 31, 2017!
Size - 7" X 9" - its perfect, fits nicely in my bag with my laptop. The binding is sturdy and does not seem like it will loosen like ones from target, Walmart, etc.
Front Cover - there are so many options that you can use to create your front cover. I chose stripes - Rugby Dusk - and put my initials - in the "stylish" font - at the bottom in a Lavender color bar.
Layout - I decided to go with the Student Planner because well I'm a student and I personally like the vertical setup. It allows you 7 spots to add in your classes - you can either type them in or leave them blank (I left my blank because classes are different each semester). I also chose to the the colorful scheme and to have it punched and bound.
Inside details - My planner is a 12 month planner starting in August 2017 --> 2018. I decided to put the year on the cover as well. (it just looked cuteThe thing that drew me to this planner the most besides the layout were the "extras". I'm a list maker and a note taker on pretty much anything and everything going on in my life - my laptop is filled with sticky notes, my white board has about 10 list's on it right now, and my legal pad is just covered. I made sure to add in 2 extra pages of "to do lists" and "note" pages at the end of each month.
To Do List Dispersed Add ons -->
I also included a fitness planning section because I want to stick with my fitness goals that i discussed in my previous post.
Last minute things: Finally at the end of the planner there are pages for Contact Information, Passwords, additional note pages && a two sided pocket folder. Overall I am extremely happy with how this planner turned out and impressed with its overall quality.
Highlighters - These are literately the greatest thing everrrrrrr. I absolutely despise how bright the normal BIC or Sharpie highlighters turn out when using them in a case book - its blinding, distracting and they tend to bleed. I love that these are mild - they're super soft on the eyes and aren't screaming at you off the page. The one thing I will say is that I tried to use the same colors for all of my case book IRACS (I'll get to this in a bit) so they died after about 5 - 6 weeks. I think it'd be smarter and more efficient to choose about 3-4 per case book and use those colors only (until they die out obviously)
Legal pads & Notebooks- I've used legal pads more so as an intern than in law school. I tried to use them for class notes once and it was too much of a pain to write on that back of them while still remaining bound and I just flew through the pages. It felt wasteful. But when it comes to interning I've found legal pads to be extremely useful since I'm not jotting down as much information. its more or so a quick reference thing. Though if I cannot use my laptop in a certain class, I am still the typical cheap $1 college-ruled spiraled-notebook girl.
Pens / Ink (blue & black) - I am really pick with pens so I typically purchase the fine point Zebra F-402. We all have that one pen that makes our handwriting look, well, great. This is the pen for me. I have about 5 of these that I just constantly refill the ink with blue or black and I absolutely love them - I actually go a little nuts when I misplace them.
Pencil Pouch - It's extremely frustrating when you have to dump out your entire bag just to find one measly pen or pencil. I can't tell you how many times I have taken out every single thing in my bag to find a pen wedge in the side of my backpack or tote. I'm someone that likes to keep things in one convenient place so I prefer use a pencil pouch - or even a makeup bag - to store pens, pencils and highlighters rather than using the pouches inside my backpack or tote. It just makes it easier when I switch bags to just grab the small pouch from one to the other.
Extras:
Flash Drive - I put all my documents from the seamster on a drive - especially writing samples and outlines.
Flash cards
Loose leaf paper
Binders - pictured is a 4" binder from target. I use one binder for two classes. In each class section I print out class, homework and tutoring notes and put them in divided sections along with the class outline and any additional handouts.
Folders - Typically I use 1 for 2 classes.
Post-It notes -I use an un-healthy amount of these
Book Stand - you'd be surprised at how much your neck will hurt after looking down so much within the first few weeks
book light - I used this quite a bit while reading in bed or reviewing before going to sleep
Carrying Bags:
I have multiple bags that I use for school and it really depends on how many classes I have on that day specific day to determine which bag I use.
Tote - On days that i have one or two classes where the books are light i prefer to bring my michael kors tote. It fits my laptop, books, folders, notebooks, charger and planner perfectly without being too compressed.
North Face - On the days i have more than 2 classes or large books to bring (like Con law) I use my north face back pack. I love this backpack but i do get nervous putting my laptop in there with my books because its not as big of a bag as I would like.
Small Drawstring Backpack - I also am about to purchase a smaller drawstring backpack from amazon. Somedays I get annoyed with the tote bag if I have extra things to bring to school - change of clothes, gym bag, lunch bag, extra books, etc. etc. so this smaller backpack will be great for those days to make carrying everything less chaotic. If anyone has some good recommendations for bags let me know!
Lunch Bag
All last year I would bring my lunch in a plastic bag that you get from a grocery store. It was efficient and not a pain in the ass until my lunch spilled on my text books more than a few times - having red wine vinegar spilled all over my con law book was something I think my classmates hated me for, for about 2 weeks.
When I started my summer internship it took one spill in my tote bag for me to give in and by a lunch bag (I put it off for so long because I felt like an elementary school student with one) I found one at TJ Max for $10 and I made sure to get one that fit my tupperware because a lot of them only fit smaller containers. I also wanted one that zipped, I was fed up with the spillage at that point. So far so good and free of spills.
Pens / Ink (blue & black) - I am really pick with pens so I typically purchase the fine point Zebra F-402. We all have that one pen that makes our handwriting look, well, great. This is the pen for me. I have about 5 of these that I just constantly refill the ink with blue or black and I absolutely love them - I actually go a little nuts when I misplace them.
Pencil Pouch - It's extremely frustrating when you have to dump out your entire bag just to find one measly pen or pencil. I can't tell you how many times I have taken out every single thing in my bag to find a pen wedge in the side of my backpack or tote. I'm someone that likes to keep things in one convenient place so I prefer use a pencil pouch - or even a makeup bag - to store pens, pencils and highlighters rather than using the pouches inside my backpack or tote. It just makes it easier when I switch bags to just grab the small pouch from one to the other.
Extras:
Flash cards
Loose leaf paper
Binders - pictured is a 4" binder from target. I use one binder for two classes. In each class section I print out class, homework and tutoring notes and put them in divided sections along with the class outline and any additional handouts.
Folders - Typically I use 1 for 2 classes.
Post-It notes -I use an un-healthy amount of these
Book Stand - you'd be surprised at how much your neck will hurt after looking down so much within the first few weeks
book light - I used this quite a bit while reading in bed or reviewing before going to sleep
Carrying Bags:
I have multiple bags that I use for school and it really depends on how many classes I have on that day specific day to determine which bag I use.
Tote - On days that i have one or two classes where the books are light i prefer to bring my michael kors tote. It fits my laptop, books, folders, notebooks, charger and planner perfectly without being too compressed.North Face - On the days i have more than 2 classes or large books to bring (like Con law) I use my north face back pack. I love this backpack but i do get nervous putting my laptop in there with my books because its not as big of a bag as I would like.
Small Drawstring Backpack - I also am about to purchase a smaller drawstring backpack from amazon. Somedays I get annoyed with the tote bag if I have extra things to bring to school - change of clothes, gym bag, lunch bag, extra books, etc. etc. so this smaller backpack will be great for those days to make carrying everything less chaotic. If anyone has some good recommendations for bags let me know!
Lunch Bag
All last year I would bring my lunch in a plastic bag that you get from a grocery store. It was efficient and not a pain in the ass until my lunch spilled on my text books more than a few times - having red wine vinegar spilled all over my con law book was something I think my classmates hated me for, for about 2 weeks.
When I started my summer internship it took one spill in my tote bag for me to give in and by a lunch bag (I put it off for so long because I felt like an elementary school student with one) I found one at TJ Max for $10 and I made sure to get one that fit my tupperware because a lot of them only fit smaller containers. I also wanted one that zipped, I was fed up with the spillage at that point. So far so good and free of spills.
LAPTOP - Check out my post on the Laptop Dilemma for a bit more background info on why I decided to go with the MacBook Pro for law school. Long story short, I had nothing but issues with Dell laptops in undergrad - I went through about 5 of them in 4 years. When it came time for law school, I wanted something reliable, easy to navigate, worth the investment and something that would last. I love apple products and while it was a bit pricey, it was completely worth the purchase. I've had it for a year now and I have yet to have one single issue with it - other than the occasional forgetting my iCloud password.
If you are interested in purchasing a Mac I would definitely look into the promotional deals that Apple offer's around back to school time. I took full advantage of the promotion/deals last year and got my Mac at a discounted price and received a pair of beats head phones with my purchase. It was a great deal.
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