29 Dec 2013

my week #89

Due to my brief hiatus, this is a scheduled 'my week' post. When I return from my hiatus, I will be doing a post where I show this week all filled in :)


How has your week been? I hope you have had a good Christmas. Wishing you all a happy new year!

26 Dec 2013

review: Plannerisms planner

Imagine the amazing opportunity of being able to design your own planner? Well, Laurie at Plannerisms did just that - and here is the result.


It comes in a range of colours: black, blue, purple, pink and teal. The cover feels like PU leather and seems quite hard-wearing, yet malleable: ideal for something that is going to be thrown around a lot for twelve months!

There is a quote at the front:

"Twenty years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

I think this is a great quote to be met with every time the planner is opened.


One of the standout features of this planner are the goal setting aids. I love me some goal setting so these pages are heaven to my planning eyes:


Of course, no planner is complete without actual planning pages, especially year planning pages:


It is also great to see a double page spread on how to use the planner as it can all be a bit overwhelming to new paper planner users. And for the more seasoned planner users, this guide is just a springboard to how the planner can be used.


Before each month of the actual planning pages, there is a double page spread for any monthly goals you may wish to set (I love this!):


And also, a double page month to view:


The actual planning pages are vertical week-to-view. You can use these boxes in any way you want: writing in times and jotting down appointments is just one example.


At the end, there is an 'annual review' section. Ideal for reviewing how the goal setting went and what you might change or postpone until 2015.


At the back is a bio of Laurie from Plannerisms. It's nice to learn more about the brains behind the planner as I feel that with some brands, it can feel like a planner is an item made without the user in mind.


A nice addition is a secretarial pocket at the back and inside that, there is a small notes booklet:


Overall, this diary is a high quality item perfect for those who love goal setting and students. The goal setting pages are ideal for coursework brainstorming/ideas and the layout of the planner pages mean that the timetabled hours would be easier to see at a glance (as opposed to it being on a standard week-on-two-page layout, like my current planner). I can definitely see this planner aiding my studies next year and I look forward to using it in conjunction with my Filofax.

Thank you to Laurie and Olivia for allowing me to review this planner!

NB: Although these products were supplied as samples, it has not affected my opinion in any way. Also, I don't receive commission from any links from this blog post.

22 Dec 2013

my week #88

This is a look at my week before it is all filled in. I am on a brief hiatus (I need some R&R after an intense three months) but once I get back, I will show off the week all filled in :-)


How has your week been?

It is Christmas soon so, merry Christmas! :)

18 Dec 2013

what's in my bag #13 - the university edition!

During this first term, I have alternated between a Longchamp Le Pliage tote and the Zatchel you'll see in the next picture. Which one I use depends on the weather, how heavy it will be and also what I'm wearing (dresses and skirts with a satchel?! Bad idea...).


And here is what I carry in the bag (I try and keep it as minimalistic as possible):

From top left, clockwise: A4 refill pad, Garnier handcream, ID card (we are required to wear these at all times on the campus as the medical school is connected to the hospital), earphones, Smythson binder, Paul and Joe sister medicines bag, bottle of water, box of snacks and lunch, pencil case, phone, glasses, Oyster card holder and Halls mints.
I have a locker at university where I keep a bottle of contact lens solution, some snacks, my dissection room coat and some other essentials that I may need whilst on campus.

I'm sure what I carry around will change as the year wears on but this is all I find myself needing at the moment.

What do you carry to university?

17 Dec 2013

my week round-up #50

Here was my week and here are the blogs taking part in this week's round-up:

{1} Properly Made Up
{2} Filofax Is My World
{3} Amy's World
{4} Hop Skip Jump
{5} Sailor Mouth
{6} Life of Kitty
{7} Lucy Wonderland
{8} Little Red Moose
{9} Askatla
{10} Everything IB
{11} Right Brain Planner
{12} Innocent and Twisted
{13} Addicted to Stationery
{14} Making Life Beautiful
{15} Coffee & Stationery

This list is shorter than usual because as of yesterday morning, I commenced a two and a half week hiatus where I only have scheduled posts.

Want to join in? Click the button below for more info :)




NB: Inclusion on my weekly round-ups do not mean that I endorse any of the products or services sold by readers in the list and I do not get commission from any sales that may be the result of a click-through.

two week hiatus announcement

So, there is no 'weekly round-up' today as I am taking a brief two week hiatus for the holidays. I have had a very busy term where I have had no time to rest and I need some R&R to recuperate and be fresh and ready in the new year.

I will be back in two weeks and I have scheduled my weeks in (pre-filled) for the next two Sundays and when I return from this hiatus, I will do another post with those weeks filled in.

The next 'my week round-up' will be on the 7th of January :)

Have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year - see you in 2014!

15 Dec 2013

my week #87

This was my last week of the first term and boy, am I happy about that. I had two exams and the beginning of the week was filled with revision; with the end filled with a massive to-do list of life admin. 


How has your week been?

12 Dec 2013

my studying necessities

Today, I am going to share the things I need or prefer to have around me when studying. To me, I need the perfect food, drink and environment, as well as stationery and the right frame of mind.

Stationery

I need colour, and loads of it:


And I also need items that aid productivity: tipp-ex mouse, post-it notes and washi tape...


Water

I'm constantly guzzling water when I work as the toilet breaks help me clear my head and allow me to get up for a little bit of a walk. Of course, I'm careful not to drink too much in one go - I know that too much water can be lethal!


Goal Setting

I have a maximum of three sticky notes on my desk at one time. Usually, they have my goals on them and I tick them off as I go along.


My Desk

Apologies for the appalling picture quality but it was the best I could do in low light. My desk looks like this during revision periods:


I try and keep it as minimalistic as possible but of course, sometimes, I am a bit lazy and there is some paper build-up!

With studying, I definitely believe that having a tranquil environment combined with the right frame of mind is the way to go. Add in some goal setting and you have a winning formula. Sometimes, my goals are small ones, like 'define physiological' or something 'silly' but crossing them off is really satisfying and motivates me to keep working at the other goals I have set myself for that studying session.

What are your studying necessities?

10 Dec 2013

my week round-up #49

Here was my week and here are the blogs taking part in this week's round-up:

{1} Miss Mai's Adventures
{2} The Simple Life
{3} Innocent and Twisted
{4} The University Project
{5} Twenty5Seven
{6} Little Red Moose
{7} Addicted to Stationery
{8} She's Eclectic
{9} Lucy Wonderland
{10} My Purpley Life
{11} Hop Skip Jump
{12} Coffee & Stationery
{13} Amy's World
{14} Ginger Fox
{15} Break of Light
{16} Everything IB
{17} Star Gardener
{18} My Organized Mayhem
{19} Life of Kitty
{20} Making Life Beautiful

Want to join in? Click the button below for more info :)




NB: Inclusion on my weekly round-ups do not mean that I endorse any of the products or services sold by readers in the list and I do not get commission from any sales that may be the result of a click-through.

8 Dec 2013

my week #86

Exams are so close now (as is Christmas) but this term has felt like a complete marathon. I'm completely exhausted and all I'm thinking is that there is just one final push until the holidays! 

It's all about revision at the moment so not much to report on this week but I like how minimalistic my pages now look though.


How has your week been?

5 Dec 2013

my november review

It feels like that all of these posts are about my studies, but to be fair, studying is my life at the moment. They say that the first year of this course is the worst and they really aren't lying so far.

This month's essentials:

Flashcards

I tend to use flashcards to remember things that are a bit harder to memorise. Making them can be time consuming and I usually prefer to write out my notes, rather than condense them into flashcards. So far, I have made cards for the clinical skills side of the course:


And I also cheated by buying some anatomy flashcards (best £20 spent ever):


Technology

Earlier this month, I got my hands on the new iPad Air. It has proved invaluable as iBooks holds a few of my essential textbooks and the apps you can get for medical students are just amazing. It isn't half bad as an entertainment source either...


Stationery

Finally, these two items are permanently on my desk at the moment:


MT washi tape (the thin one) and a Muji pot of (mostly) Muji gel pens. All for prettying up my revision notes of course...

Now that December is here, I anticipate a month full of Christmas-related cheer (hello Christmas songs, mince pies and thick-knit jumpers and scarves!).

3 Dec 2013

my week round-up #48

Here was my week and here are the blogs taking part in this week's round-up:

{1} Even Artichokes Have Hearts
{2} She's Eclectic
{3} Little Red Moose
{4} Hop Skip Jump
{5} Making Life Beautiful
{6} Break of Light
{7} Amy's World
{8} Miszapatosmetenruido
{9} Miss Mai's Adventures
{10} Star Gardener
{11} Lucy Wonderland
{12} My Summer Touch
{13} Addicted to Stationery
{14} Life of Kitty
{15} Everything IB
{16} The University Project

Want to join in? Click the button below for more info :)




NB: Inclusion on my weekly round-ups do not mean that I endorse any of the products or services sold by readers in the list and I do not get commission from any sales that may be the result of a click-through.

1 Dec 2013

my week #85

Just over a week until exams, eek! My revision plan is already drawn up (done weeks' ago) and now my life officially consists of medicine and netball. Not much different to how it was pre-revision anyway...

A bit of drama to end the week with: on Saturday, I spent the night at my local Accident and Emergency department as a girl on the opposing netball team (in that morning's match) decided it would be a good idea to deliberately stick her leg out while I was running at full speed (and without being boastful, my full speed is pretty fast...) so I ended up 'flying' for a few seconds. This resulted in bruised and sore elbows, hands and knees. My left knee was so swollen and painful that my mum took me to A&E to get it checked out.

Luckily, nothing was fractured and the nurse said that there is only a 'soft tissue injury' and just to rest it for a week or so. 

Having woke up in agony this morning (elbows and knees mainly) and still struggling to walk properly, I'm relatively annoyed at the girl who did this as none of this was my fault. Furthermore, the match was one of the dirtiest I have ever played in and some of the stuff they did was just dangerous (like sticking knees and legs out when people are running...). 

If you thought netball was a non-contact sport, I hope I've changed your opinion as I never come away from a match without at least a bruise or a scratch!

Anyway, enough of the ranting...


And as it is the first of December - pinch punch, first of the month!

How was your week?

28 Nov 2013

rhodia notebooks; substance over style

I'll be the first to confess that I used to be quite fickle when it came to notebooks but one notebook changed my opinion. The notebook in question is a Rhodia one I found in the sale at Paperchase.

Rhodia notebooks aren't ugly - they just appear a bit... masculine and macho. For some reason, black and orange are colours I associate with the male population. However, orange (on its own) is one of my favourite colours (hence why this Pantone notebook just had to be mine) and with these Rhodia notebooks at such a good price, it was one bargain I couldn't pass on.

The only ones in the sale were the black Rhodia A5 ruled hardback notebooks with the logo in orange.

The design isn't unexpected - it is a black notebook with the Rhodia name and logo in orange on the front. I like how it is quite minimalistic as it will lend itself well to being jazzed up a little.

I'm intending on washi-taping the spine to label the notebook.

As soon as I opened the notebook, I think I fell in love. The paper is a lovely bright white with a purpley grey rule and when you stroke the paper, it is so smooth. If I had to design my own notebook, I am pretty sure I would want the inside to look like this. The paper is quite similar to Oxford notepaper and that is definitely not a bad thing. At the back, it says that the paper is 80g in weight.


To end this blog post, I have done a pen test on the paper - after all, no notebook review could be complete without a pen test, right?!


Overall, I am very impressed with the paper quality, but with the Rhodia brand strongly associated with the Clairefontaine brand, I wouldn't expect anything less than a high quality notebook. And the not-so-pretty design? Not a problem - the spines will look lovely on my bookshelf once they are jazzed up!


I know there are a lot of Rhodia fans out there and I also know that I am very late to the Rhodia party but boy, am I glad I found these notebooks. Please note that I bought these notebooks earlier this year - I've only just started to use them; hence the delay in posting about them!

26 Nov 2013

my week round-up #47

Here was my week and here are the blogs taking part in this week's round-up:

{1} Life of Kitty
{2} My Purpley Life
{3} The Simple Life
{4} Miss Mai's Adventures
{5} She's Eclectic
{6} Star Gardener
{7} Sailor Mouth
{8} Innocent and Twisted
{9} The University Project
{10} Little Red Moose
{11} Addicted to Stationery
{12} My Organized Mayhem
{13} Filofax Is My World
{14} Break of Light
{15} Coffee and Stationery
{16} Miszapatosmetenruido
{17} Everything IB
{18} Rain by XOXO
{19} Lucy Wonderland
{20} Ginger Fox
{21} Askatla
{22} Cider With Sophie

Want to join in? Click the button below for more info :)




NB: Inclusion on my weekly round-ups do not mean that I endorse any of the products or services sold by readers in the list and I do not get commission from any sales that may be the result of a click-through.

24 Nov 2013

my week #84

This week, I had nothing timetabled for Wednesday but it didn't feel that way. Because Monday and Tuesday were full days and evenings, I had left all my work (due on Thursday) for the Wednesday and that made my 'day off' less enjoyable. However, exams are in three weeks so I would most probably have been revising anyway!

Catching Fire was released this week (if my planner isn't lying to me) and my friends and I are hoping to see it sometime soon. Because we don't get each week's timetable until the start of the week (Monday at 12pm), plans are often shuffled and re-shuffled until a better week crops up. 


How was your week?

21 Nov 2013

review: introducting Katie Leamon

If you've never heard of Katie Leamon - don't worry. By the end of this blog post, you'll hopefully have heard of them and seen some gorgeous bits and pieces they have to offer. 

Katie Leamon are a greeting card and stationery brand but what sets them apart from other brands offering these products is the fact that their stuff is very pretty and I'm sure will be appealing to many of you (especially if your tastes are anything like mine). 


Georgia, from Katie Leamon, kindly sent me a small selection of the products they have to offer and it came packaged like this:


The (very cute) striped string is a lovely touch and the included products look like they were designed especially for my tastes (they weren't - in case you were wondering ;) ).

First up, I thought I'd start with the greeting cards. I was sent two:


And:


I definitely prefer the second 'You're lovely' card but that may be because I'm biased towards handwritten block letters. The quality of the printing on the front is very good and when you turn over and see the Katie Leamon stamp (no picture of this unfortunately), you can definitely tell that it is handprinted as it is slightly wonky on the first 'J'adore, amore, love' card.

Next up are the gift tags. They also feature the striped string but instead of being red and white, they have burgundy/brown and white stripes.


The tags are ten centimetres in height and 4.9cm wide. The prints are appealing too and when you turn them over...


They have a 'to' and 'from' section. The tags are made of thick card (the website says they are made from 350gsm ivory card).

Finally, a notepad:


Due to its size, this notepad is designed more to sit on a desk at home than something you would slip in your handbag and take out with you on a daily basis. It measures 22.7cm in height and 10.1cm in width. There are 100 pages in this notepad and the paper is ridiculously thick for a notepad (120gsm!).

With regards to the design of the notepad, I love the pink and white/cream stripes and also the design of the 'notes' section at the top. This is definitely one product that I think looks too pretty to use!

Overall, the products are high quality and are definitely geared more towards the female market. They would be great for personal use and would also make great gifts (stocking fillers, anyone?). Another thing is that the products have a premium appeal to them but they don't come with a premium price tag and are actually very reasonably priced.

Katie Leamon also offer notebooks but I can't comment on them as I've not seen one in person. From the greeting card, tags and notepad points of view, the products are unique and would make a lovely gift for someone who is into pretty stationery and things that have a tinge of vintage about them.

Thank you again to Georgia and Katie Leamon for sending me these products to review. This is one brand I will be hunting down in London as there are another few bits and pieces I want to purchase from the range.

NB: Although these products were supplied as samples, it has not affected my opinion in any way. Also, I don't receive commission from any links from this blog post.

19 Nov 2013

my week round-up #46

Here was my week and here are the blogs taking part in this week's round-up:

{1} The University FF Project
{2} Little Red Moose
{3} My Organized Mayhem
{4} Hop Skip Jump
{5} Filofax Is My World
{6} Making Life Beautiful
{7} Coffee and Stationery
{8} Amy's World
{9} Roses in December
{10} Miss Mai's Adventures
{11} Life of Kitty
{12} Just A Girl Atlanta
{13} Askatla
{14} Addicted to Stationery
{15} Cider With Sophie
{16} Sailor Mouth
{17} Star Gardener
{18} Lucy Wonderland
{19} Innocent + Twisted
{20} She's Eclectic
{21} Ginger Fox

Want to join in? Click the button below for more info :)




NB: Inclusion on my weekly round-ups do not mean that I endorse any of the products or services sold by readers in the list and I do not get commission from any sales that may be the result of a click-through.

17 Nov 2013

my week #83

This week, we got our mock exam results and considering I had done no revision for it (as it was a mock and because I didn't want to waste time revising the wrong things as we weren't told what the questions would be like), I was very happy with my results. Hopefully, I can do better in the real thing after some revision!

At the end of the week, I developed a massive cold (again!) which is really annoying. I'm rarely ill and if I am, it's usually only one cold per winter season! However, it has appeared to have cleared up now - probably thanks to the flu jab I had last month.

Here was my week:


How was your week?

14 Nov 2013

revising my lecture notes

So, I know that not everyone is a fan of washi tape but I'm going to try and illustrate how useful washi tape has been for my revision notes.

On my course, we basically do a clinical case each week. The case can be something as simple as hearing loss to something more meaty such as puberty disorders. At the end of each week, we are given an 'official' list of learning objectives that the tutorials, lectures, anatomy sessions, clinical skills sessions and communication skills sessions should have covered. When I get this list, I try and go through it while writing out my revision notes to ensure that each learning objective is covered.

With so much to learn and so little time to make these notes, I could have made them quick and messy... but instead (and being the perfectionist that I am), there was no way I was going to let that happen and my notes have ended up looking like this instead:


I use thicker washi tape (10mm) for the titles and then the thinner 5mm washi tapes for the subtitles. There is no colour coding and I usually just pick whichever colour takes my fancy at that moment in time. In addition to this, I also use a lot of colour in the form of my Muji gel pens.

I try and make the notes as condensed as possible and to do this, I abbreviate things, write in note-form rather than in proper sentences and use tables or pictures whenever I can.


However, the notes can get a little messy as I go back to them and add in some annotations... This is especially true for my anatomy notes. Quite often, I will make the revision notes and then find out something new in the dissection room during the anatomy sessions. This will result in me returning to my notes and adding in new things!


For my anatomy notes, I cheat a little and tend to print out images as there is no way I will be able to draw a pelvis (as above) and make it look as good as those pictures!

Overall, my tips for good revision notes would be:

- keep it as condensed as possible and write in 'note-form';
- use pictures and COLOUR whenever you can!;
and...
- if you make them look a bit nicer, you'll find yourself 'enjoying' revision a little bit more.

I've actually ended up being quite proud of my revision notes and I have had a lot of compliments about them from fellow students and also lecturers and teaching staff!

12 Nov 2013

my week round-up #45

Here was my week and here are the blogs taking part in this week's round-up:

{1} Little Red Moose
{2} Hop Skip Jump
{3} Fi-Lily, Fi-Lo
{4} Ginger Fox
{5} My Organized Mayhem
{6} Lucy Wonderland
{7} Addicted to Stationery
{8} Filofax Is My World
{9} The Simple Life
{10} Star Gardener
{11} She's Eclectic
{12} Miss Mai's Adventures
{13} Sailor Mouth
{14} Innocent and Twisted
{15} Everything IB
{16} Coffee and Stationery
{17} Amy's World
{18} My Purpley Life
{19} Life of Kitty

Want to join in? Click the button below for more info :)




NB: Inclusion on my weekly round-ups do not mean that I endorse any of the products or services sold by readers in the list and I do not get commission from any sales that may be the result of a click-through.