Better late than never they say! My January list is one item lighter.

Ignore the ugly fingers on the photos.

I like notebooks, journals, planners, pads, diaries, etc. I don't collect them but I make sure that I have one somewhere near (in my bag, in my room, on my desk at work). When I was younger, I used them as diaries: where I pour all my angst and emotions, ask stupid questions, create impossible scenarios, draw random stuff, plan my life, curse at people to death, paste pictures, etc.

During college, it became my scheduler, notepad, a to-do list, a log book of really nice stuff that people sent me through text or something I heard or read, a collage of magazine and newspaper clippings, a doodle pad, and a place for really random things.

Now, it became one of those things that keep me sane. My journal keeps me in line: I write down what I've eaten, how much I've spent, stuff I have to buy and pay for, my daily and monthly goal, new words I've learned or have to learn, funny or really mundane stuff people said, things I have to look up in Google or what I should post here, awkward stuff I did during my classes, questions I wasn't able to answer or rules I couldn't explain well, how much I weigh, what time I arrived in the office, the list really goes on.

I really wanted to use just one particular kind of notebook (so that they'd look neat when you store them away) but I always end up liking one notebook after another. I always consider the price and the quality of the paper. For the past two years, I've been keeping a steno pad instead of the usual notebooks we know. I still have one now (for taking down notes during meetings and training) but I decided to get a 'real' journal so that it wouldn't be easy for me to just dump it anywhere when it's completely filled-out (I have no idea where I kept my old journals or notebooks).

For 2012, I promised myself that I'd be better at documenting and storing stuff. And I'm starting with my journal. Have a look at my very first Starbucks planner! Yey! Finally! I've been wanting to have one ever since but I didn't want to spend that much money just for a journal but hey, I'm writing my history here so why not splurge a little bit? It's cute, eco-friendly, the pages are really smooth and nice to write on, and it comes in a really neat pouch. I wish it was a bit bigger though. I like that the pages are bare so I can buy cute stickers and design each page the way I want. Coolness!

My pen writes really smoothly over the pages so I've got the pen issue covered. Now, about those stickers ...

P.S. Thanks Jenny!