2017 ban.do Agenda Review.

I've always been the kind of person to write everything down. Even though I'm always on my phone, I can't bring myself to use iCal or to-do list apps. I put entirely too much thought into which planner to use at the start of every year (and now the start of every school year), and I have to fight the urge to throw an extra $10 away for a Sugar Paper planner from Target.

For the last three years, I've been a loyal Lilly Pulitzer planner fan. This year, I was in the mood for something a little different. I went back and forth about splurging on an Erin Condren or Day Designer planner, but I couldn't bring myself to drop $50-70 on a planner...maybe someday, but not this summer.

With everyone getting back to school in the next few weeks, I figured I'd give a little overview of my newest planner addition: my 17-month medium agenda.

I came across the ban.do agendas and immediately fell in love with the brand. They're all about girl power and falling in love with your life and the plans you make for it. Plus, their designs are bright and fun...color me sold.

I desperately wanted this pink print, but I knew their small planner (while very cute) would be just a tad too small for what I needed. So I settled on the ice blue version in their new medium size. I may or may not have bought both the large and the medium size planner to figure out which one I liked more...okay, yeah, I definitely did that.

My favorite part about my Lilly planners was the stickers, but I love ban.do's planner stickers so much more. From mimosas to "ladies night," these little guys will be dressing up my pages all year. There's even a "secret code," with little messages scattered throughout the year. It's probably something I could have done without, but it's a neat little addition!

Beautiful (and humorous) designs introduce the beginning of each month, along with a bright, laminated divider, followed by a full two pages of notes. The notes pages are probably my most favorite part of the planner, since to-do lists are my favorite pass time.

 Something I wasn't entirely sure about with this planner was the unlined design for the weekly view. I have weird, loopy handwriting, and I can never seem to write in a straight line on my own. I was hesitant about getting another horizontal layout (I found that I ran out of room pretty quickly in my horizontal Lilly planner over the years), but the boxes provide plenty of space. I also bought a few rings of skinny glitter washi tape to separate plans, work shifts, and tasks. It definitely helps to split up all the blank space!

Overall, it's a little too early to say whether or not I'm in love with the agenda design. While I'm a big fan of blues, the light color makes it pretty easy to see scuffs here and there. The pages could be maybe a tad bit thicker, too. Having said that, this baby was only $28 (compared to some pricier options, i.e. Erin Condren, Day Designer, etc). It's a beautiful and well designed, and I'm excited to give it a shot this semester!

Are you as obsessed with planners as I am? What agenda do you swear by?

Tampa Things | Cask - Ladies Night!

Having a live-in boyfriend, I have a tendency to become a social recluse. Ryan is my best friend, so it's pretty easy to be content being curled up on the couch together with the pups watching Veep for most nights. I feel like (most times) when you're dating someone long term, making intentional plans with friends can sometimes fall to the wayside, if only for the reason of sheer laziness. Guilty!  I've been trying to make a point of designating girl time with my friends, from staying in/drinking wine/watching movies to lunch out. So when my friend Kaitlin told me about Cask Social's ladies night on Thursday nights, I fought the urge to "stay in and save money" and happily agreed to go!

Cask is a restaurant on Howard Avenue (the "bar district" of Tampa) with a somewhat southern cuisine and a fab drink menu. Ladies night featured several drink options, all for $5 or less. We sat out on the patio right next to the DJ, but it wasn't very loud at all, and we were jamming all night long. 

Drink wise, we both opted for Black Bubbles - "Ketel 1 vodka, fresh blackberries, St. Georges raspberry liqueur, fresh lemon juice, topped with sparkling wine," followed by a glass of French 75 champagne. With the purchase of a drink from the Ladies Night menu, we were given a free appetizer, which was a chicken taco with a tiny side salad. 

Obviously one taco each wasn't going to do it for us, so we split the mimosa salad (watercress and arugula, blue cheese, spicy candied walnuts, and fresh seasonal fruits tossed with champagne vinaigrette) and herb chicken flatbread (sun-dried tomato pesto, marinated roasted chicken, pearl onions, bleu cheese, and fresh mozzarella). Both were good, but I definitely had to add a considerable amount of crushed red pepper to my flatbread to give it a little bit of a kick. Story of my life.

No girls night is complete without dessert, and if you know me at all, you know that I'll never have abs because I literally cannot say no to sweets. I will never utter the words "I don't like cake," and chocolate would be a daily food group if it didn't make me break out like crazy. Thankfully, Kaitlin shares my very unselective palette for sweets, and was happy to continue to chow down. We decided to go all out and get the S'mores bread pudding. GOOOOD LAWWWWD, it did not disappoint. I know bread pudding is a bit of an "acquired" taste, but this baby was a winner for sure. I'm still thinking about it.

If you're in the Tampa Bay area and always on the lookout for specials (like this broke college girl), grab some girlfriends and head over to Cask on Thursday nights for ladies night. I got out of there for under $30 (before a 20% tip, of course), and certainly did not leave hungry. It was the perfect summer evening, and it's definitely worth a trip if you're in the area.

On that note, happy weekend! I'll be spending the majority of it working. Ah, life. But you know what they say: empty your pockets and gimme all da monies.