Letter from the Editor Archives

Letter from the Editor: Hello May!

Hello everyone and happy May! Let me tell you how excited I am about this month. It is finally bright and sunny on the North East Coast of the U.S. and I’ve been enjoying the sunshine very much! Starbuck and I have been going on walks, I’ve been hitting the gym in preparation for my trip to Aruba and I’ve been getting some serious work done around Strange & Charmed! So let me catch you up on what is going on at Charmed HQ!

Lately, I have felt like I am making some wonderful progress on so many projects. I have officially launched the third workbook for Empire Building, on the topic of Community Building! The workbook came out so great, I’m so impressed with it myself and I know my Empire Builders are going to love it! It feels so great to have only two remaining workbooks left to publish, and once they are all out, I can’t wait to start on stage two of my master plan for Empire Building! I’ve also been inspired to start a few new series on both my blog and my YouTube channel that focus on educating bloggers and business owners. One of them is going to be a Photoshop course over on YouTube, and another is going to be a business resource guide here on the blog! I’m so excited to get started creating some great content to help my fellow bloggers, YouTubers and social media fanatics learn and grow! I’m also hoping that this month I can finish working on a special passion project of mine that I actually started last year around May, but ended up having to put on the back burner. Obviously, I will explain more as work progresses on that, but never the less, get excited because I’m seriously pumped about May!

Now, speaking of May, did you download my FREE May Planner Insert? If not, I will link it here so you can check it out! It’s adorable, if I say so myself, and it’s actually a list of 31 awesome seasonal things to do in May! Definitely check it out if you are a planner addict like me! Speaking of being a planner addict, I recently posted a video to my YouTube channel all about my Filofax collection. So, if you have been curious as to my planners, you may want to check that video out and meet my 14 (yes, I said 14!) planners!

Finally, I’m sure you are curious to know what Lisamarie and I are up to for the summer! You may have heard that we are going on vacation together to Aruba in June, and we are super excited about that! We will be vlogging it, and we have some awesome things planned for you guys in June to help get you involved with out vacation and such, so make sure you are following both of us on Instagram! We also have one more fun thing to share! On Wednesday May 6^th at 9pm EST, Lisamarie and I will be doing our second Glampire Chat over on her channel! If you missed our last chat, I will link it here, but this time around we are discussing branding, so we hope you will attend the live chat, but you can also watch the reply on my channel if you can’t make it!

So, I think that about wraps up my news for May! Remember, schedule May 6^th at 9pm EST in your planner so you can hang out with me and Lisamarie! Come with your questions and make sure to join us in using the hashtag #GlampireChat to celebrate our second event and send us questions! Can’t wait to see you on Wednesday!

xoxo,

Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor: Welcome to Spring

Hello my Strange & Charmed Ones! April is here which means the first quarter of the year has come to a close. I’m not sure about you, but I had a wonderful start to the year and I am feeling energized for the Spring. The weather in the Northeast of the U.S. where I live has been slowly starting to turn from blistering winter to a much calmer spring like season, which I’m looking forward to! I can’t wait to go on daily walks with Starbuck around our neighborhood and finally leave the house without my winter coat and lots of layers. Although this winter was pretty brutal, I would say that it was still very productive for me. I was able to accomplish many of the goals I laid out for myself at the start of the year, which makes me proud! I hope you as well were able to make some headway on your goals as well, and if your start wasn’t as successful as mine, I hope you are able to regroup with the change of season and get down to work!

In case you haven’t seen it yet, my April free printable is up over on my shop. It is a Spring Cleaning Essentials Checklist with 30 commonly overlooked tasks to help get your home clean and in order this season! Tackle one task per day or spread it out over the next few months to get a fresh start feeling in your home!

Another piece of fun news I wanted to let you all know about is that today actually, an interview is going live with me on the Fearless Launching Show Podcast with Anne Samoilov! Anne is a business launching guru whom I have been getting to know very well this year, and she had me on her show to discuss how I was able to successfully launch my business using my social media community and no email list- which is something of an online marketing faux pas! I would love it if you would check out the episode of the podcast and let me know what you thought! I’m still getting used to doing live interviews so your feedback would be awesome for me!

Also speaking of live interviews, in case you missed it, you definitely need to check out the hour and a half long Google Hangout that Lisamarie from Paper & Glam and I had last night. We have started a series called “Glampire Chat” where we talk about building a business and firing it all in with a busy life, and last night was the first episode where we discussed starting your #sidehustle. If you are not familiar, the #sidehustle is a term for a side business that you may start as a passion project or with the hopes of building it up into your main job one day, but in the meantime you still have a traditional 9-5 or other full time job that is your main source of income. Both Lisamarie and myself started our businesses as a side hustle and while I was able to take my business full time, Lisamarie is currently rocking the side hustle as she works by day for a Fortune 500 company. If you are interested in starting a business and would like our advice, definitely check out the video!

So, I think that is everything new with me! Now I want to hear what has been going on with you! How did Q1 of 2015 pan out for you? Did you feel productive and energized or did you fall short on some of your goals? How can I help you to achieve your goals through blog posts and content in the future? I would love to know so leave me a comment down below!

xoxo,

Letter from the Editor

Letter From the Editor: In Like a Lion

In like a Lion…

As I sit in my living room writing this post to you all, I’m all bundled up in layers of pajamas, blankets, and a warm little puppy on my lap, also trying to fight the cold and snow that’s roaring outside. Like they say, March is in like a lion, and I hope it goes out like a lamb sooner rather than later! But it doesn’t matter how cold and icy it is outside because March is here and it’s one of my favorite months of the year. Why? Because my birthday is in March, which I am looking forward to. Friday the 13^th this year, which would perhaps be a bad omen for some people, except for me, 13 has always been my lucky number, and I consider Friday the 13^th an auspicious day! I think I may throw myself some sort of horror movie themed birthday party or at least dress up like Wednesday Addams that day! Feel free to leave me some good party ideas down in the comments, they would be appreciated!

This month I also have a few important projects going on, like my #CharmedGTD photo challenge on Instagram that you still have time to get in on! I was blown away to find that by the first day, there was already over 120 pictures using the hashtag and so many more added every hour! I’m blown away by the support of my friends in the planner community, so thank you all if you are participating. I honestly can’t thank you enough for helping me celebrate this month in such a fantastic and inspirational way!

Also, if you missed it, I already announced my March Free Printable entitled “Make Your Own Luck” which you can check out here. And of course, I also recently announced a new addition to my online shop, Printable Inspirational Wall Art. If you are looking to add some positive motivation to your office or home, check these out and start your own gallery wall!

Since March is such an important month for me, I have planned a lot of great content for you all on my blog and YouTube channel. If you haven’t already seen it, I recently started a series on YouTube called Plan Like an Entrepreneur, where I show you how I plan for my week and then answer your questions about business and entrepreneurship! On the blog this month, I have some great productivity tips coming your way, including tips on how to be a better photographer, books you need to read, and my take on staying inspired as a creative! This month is going to be packed with great content, so I hope you stop by regularly to see what I have created for you!

xoxo,

Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor: Love is in the Air!

Hello my Strange & Charmed Ones and welcome to the start of February! If you haven’t noticed, February is really setting itself up to be the perfect month. With its 28 days, it may be the shortest month of the year, but when you take a look at your calendar, it starts on a Sunday, and ends four complete weeks later on a Saturday, making it literally a perfect calendar month! I don’t know about you, but I’m taking that as a sign! I plan to make the most of this little month and fill it with love and laughter and I hope you join me.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I just released my February FREE Filofax printable task list entitled “28 Ways to Love Yourself!” I hope you will go and check it out and use it in your planner to add some extra meaning to the month. I know we all get wrapped up in Valentine’s Day and spreading love to our friends and partners, but we can’t forget about ourselves and this February I am going to be making myself a priority. I know that may sound a little funny, but I sincerely hope you do as well! One of my Instagram followers who downloaded the insert made a very good suggestion that we should start a hashtag and tag photos of our progress with the tasks to IG! So, if you would like to play along, tag your photos with the hashtag #28waystoloveyourself and of course make sure to also tag me @MissTrenchcoat so I can see your IG photos, comment and like them! Other than my free printable, I currently have another great piece of planner related content out for you, my latest YouTube video which is all about making reusable to do lists for your Filofax or planner! This video outlines a technique I use to create and utilize these awesome planner additions, and I even give you a peak into how I use mine!

So, you may be wondering what I have in store for you this month on the blog? Well, glad you asked! This month I am going to be doing a few very informative posts pertaining to blogging and youtube! You will be getting a very rare book post from me as well coming up soon that I hope you enjoy. I’m very excited about this months Picture Perfect post, which is going to be some helpful tips for you fashion bloggers & amateur photographers, so make sure to keep an eye out for that! We’re going to talk about love a little more this month (can’t help it, it is February after all!) and I even have a fun and delicious recipe to share for any of you who LOVE eating cooking dough!

Well, I think that is enough of a monthly preview for you! I don’t want to spoil all the fun, and there are even a few surprises I didn’t mention, so I hope that keeps you on the edge of your seat! One major thing I did want to say, however before I leave you, is how overwhelmed I am with the amount of love and support you all have been showing to my Instagram account! I work so hard to create interesting and beautiful images for you all and apparently you noticed because suddenly I am over 6,000 followers on Instagram! So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart! I feel so lucky to have a wonderful group of friends as supportive and encouraging as each and every one of you! Well, that will be it for now, so make sure you stay tuned for all of the great content I have in store for you this month!

xoxo,

Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor: Welcome to 2015!

Welcome to 2015

Hello Everyone and Welcome to 2015! I have to admit, I have been anxious for 2015 to arrive for quite some time now, as I’ve been craving the fresh start that the New Year brings. For what feels like the first time in a long time, I feel like my internal clock is finally in time with the real world because we both hit the reset button at midnight! In reality of course, there is nothing new or special about January 1^st that wasn’t already there December 31^st— it’s just another day— but the new year gives us reason to pause and evaluate our situations and mental baggage and decide what is going with us into 2015 and what is staying behind in 2014. If you had a rough year for one reason or another and have been feeling weighed down by pressure, stress or negativity that resided in 2014, now is the time to let it go (queue the ice queen)! Get a piece of paper out and a pen and write down whatever it was that happened (or didn’t happen) in 2014, all the negative emotions you have associated with the year and describe them on paper. Spill your guts as they say onto the paper in whichever style you prefer (journal, bullet point, sonnet, etc) and as you write feel yourself unpacking those events and feelings onto the paper like a mental inventory. When you’re done fold up your piece of paper into a nice little square and write 2014 on the outside. Now, I want you to dispose of this paper square in whichever means you find most convenient or cathartic. Burn it (safety), flush it down the toilet, rip it up into little pieces, send it through the shredder, take it outside and step on it, roll over it with your car, whatever will make you feel like you are destroying that paper and disposing of it along with all the mental and emotion baggage that was unpacked onto it!

Now, if you had a great year in 2014, or if you had some great moments and happy positive feelings, memories, etc that are associated with the year, I want you to perform the same example of writing it down, but this time in a more positive and permanent place. A page in your planner, a document on your phone, a notepad in your office, wherever you can write these good feelings down that is more permanent, do it! Why? Because I want you to be able to look at this list and reference it as you enter into 2015. Do you need to keep it all year? If you’d like, but really I just want you to have a record of all the good things from the previous year that you want to migrate with you into the new one. This list is going to be filled with all the emotions and memories you want to continue to manifest and live on in 2015! Okay, so what if you feel like you didn’t have any good moments in 2014 or any happy memories or positive feelings associated with the year? Well, if you feel that way, what I want you to do is write a wish list of events, emotions, positive moments you would love to achieve in 2015. Try to go into detail as much as possible and include a short brainstorm of things you can do or actions you can take in the new year that you believe will help you to achieve these happy thoughts. Use these as part of your resolutions or think of them as a blueprint for an action plan for 2015 and work them into your planner for the year. Like actually schedule out things to do on specific days to help you reach those happy feelings you want to manifest in 2015. If need be, get friends and family involved by sharing part of your wish list with them and explaining how they can help you achieve these goals by their support or cooperation. Remember, this is your list, so ultimately you are responsible for it, however, sharing with those close to you that can lend support and encouragement is a great way to help motivate and keep yourself in check!

I hope this little exercise is helpful for you as we move into 2015. Remember, I’m all about this year being the best year of your life (and mine!) and if you want to keep that message at the forefront of your mind as well, make sure to grab a set of my tech wallpapers for your gadgets! In case you were also unaware, I just recently added a new printable product to my Shop, a set of 2015 Monthly Journaling Cards. They are an elegant month at a glance design that you can keep in your planner to help with no-spend months, photo challenges, health or life tracking, etc, or use in a scrapbook or project life spread! Since they are printable, you can go ahead and print as many as you need each month for various projects! Of course, if you’re still in need of a new calendar system for your Filofax or equivalent planner system, make sure to also check out my offerings for Monthly, weekly, and daily planner pages, as well as my selection of task trackers and project planning inserts that will help make your life more organized and your goals more achievable in 2015! Oh and don’t forget to download my January free insert, a Resolution a Day to test out a variety of popular resolutions in January to narrow down your own!

Well, like I said earlier, I have been anxious for this year to begin and perhaps you have been too, so I will let us go now so we can go ahead and make out our lists and action plans and get to work making 2015 the best year yet!

xoxo,

Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor: Holiday Cheer!

Happy December my Strange & Charmed Ones

I know I say this every month, but WOW, I can’t believe it’s December already! Where has the time gone? I feel like I have officially entered that stage in life when you begin to notice that the days, weeks, months and years are passing quicker and quicker! This is exactly why I think it’s important to stay on top of your plans and goals and to celebrate the little things throughout the month and December is just another wonderful month filled with exciting opportunities for memory making!

First off, if you didn’t see it, I do have a December FREE Filofax printable up on my shop, 31 Days of Merriment & Cheer is your monthly checklist of festive and seasonal to-dos and prompts for special moments to create and share in your own life! You all seem to really be enjoying these printables, so I am glad to create them for you, but please make sure to share pictures of your inserts at home in your own planners via Instagram (make sure to tag me, @misstrenchcoat)!

Second item on the agenda for this month is VLOGMAS! In case you aren’t aware, Vlogmas is a daily vlogging challenge for the month of December, where you put up a vlog (video blog) everyday in the month leading up to Christmas. I did it last year and I am doing it again this year. It’s one of my favorite daily vlogging challenges and I hope I am successful this year in my endeavor. I won’t necessarily be posting my videos here on the blog everyday (one or two key vlogs may make it into a post) so make sure you are subscribed to my YouTube Channel to follow along with my daily adventures. I will also be kicking off a really fun little event for Vlogmas this year starting in my first video which will be up today, so make sure you check that out to see what I have planned!

Next order of business for the month is my vacation! Yes, Mike and I will be going on vacation this month to Las Vegas. We have never been, so we would really appreciate your suggestions for things to do, great places to eat and all that jazz. Please leave me a comment below with your suggestions- I would really appreciate it.

Well, that was a lot to update you all on! Other than that, it should be business as usual around here. I will be posting during my vacation and of course I will be putting up some lovely photos on my Instagram account, so if you would like to follow along on my adventure to Las Vegas, please feel free to follow me on Instagram! I have a lot of great content planned for the blog this month as well. I’ll be writing about why YouTube is better than TV (and even movies), providing a guide to taking great photos of friends and loved one’s during the holiday season (and year round!), and even sharing my fashion necessities for winter!

So, go make yourself a cup a hot cocoa, snuggle up with your favorite blanket and your tablet or laptop and enjoy the content I have for you this month! Happy Holidays!

xoxo,

Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor: Thankfulness

A Note on Thankfulness and the Holiday Season

Well, well, November is here and I have to say, I wasn’t really wasn’t expecting it this soon! This is an important month for me and my family. For one, my wedding anniversary is in November, the 10^th to be more specific, and I am slightly ashamed to admit that I was sitting around watching TV with my husband the other day when we got on the topic of upcoming holidays and events and totally forgot that our wedding anniversary was around the corner. It’s not that I forgot the date of the anniversary, but more like I failed to realize that it was not months away as I had been thinking, but just a few short weeks away. For the past few years, my husband and I have gone on vacation to celebrate the day, but this year we were rather late to the game when scheduling our vacation and instead of going away in November, we are going away in December, so that may have something to do with the whole not remembering thing. November also happens to contain a heck of a lot of birthdays. My husbands for one and then a handful of other miscellaneous family members. For a few years, November was also very important to me as I had regularly participated in Nanowrimo, so I still get anxious at the end of October in anticipation for that, even though I skipped Nano last year and may very well do so again this year. Of course, last but certainly not least, November means Thanksgiving and Black Friday, at least it does in the U.S. I love Thanksgiving because I love to cook, and for the past few years I have been happily preparing Thanksgiving dinners for my family. This year, I am even hosting my first Thanksgiving at my apartment for part of my family, so this will be a pretty important holiday for me this year! Then of course, the next day, all bloated and hungover from food, I will partake in a mini shopping spree and then come home to set up my Christmas Tree!

So, this month I have a good many fun and exciting things planned for the blog and for my YouTube channel as well! First of all, I have put together a collection of must have apps to make your holiday shopping much easier, more organized and hopefully, save you some serious cash! I’m also going to give you all a run down of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes and the menu that I am planning on for my holiday party! If talk of menus and shopping is already giving you anxiety, I’ve got that covered too with a little pep talk about how to manage stress during this highly stressful time of year! Don’t worry, planner folks! I also have some wonderful plans in the works for you and your filofax! I’ve got some ideas for planner personalization and a number of new printables on the way! Excited yet? I know I am!

For now, take a moment to just savor this early November feeling. Maybe take some time to write down a few goals for how you can enjoy this time of year and also manage the daily mess of life in a reasonable balance! Go ahead, just write down three little goals you have for this month. Here, I’ll go first!

Goal 1: To create content of substance and of value to my readers to help them through the end of the year!

Goal 2: To find something good in everyday, no matter how crazy it gets and to reflect on how Thankful I am for my life!

Goal 3: To make reasonably healthy food choices during a time when I normally feel food takes control of me!

See, that wasn’t too bad? Now, if you would like to share your 3 goals in the comments below, feel free! I would love to see what you’re priorities are for this month and it may even inspire and influence some of the content I create for you all! Oh, one more thing I want to mention is that you can still download my free 30 Days of Thankfulness printable to help motivate you to live with more gratefulness in your heart during this special time of year! So make sure to hop on over to my shop and check it out!

Thank you all so much for reading and I wish you all the best of luck this month as you prepare with family and friends for what I hope will be a wonderful holiday season!

xoxo,

Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor: It’s October!

Hello Friends!

October is here and I am super duper excited! I know I mentioned this in my impromptu post yesterday, but October is one of my favorite months of the year, mainly because it’s the first official month of fall, and fall is my favorite time of year! October is filled with so many wonderful things, and this month I am hoping to share some of those things with you! You may be wondering, what the heck I am doing writing a letter from the editor to you, anyway. Well, the thing is, I am shaking things up a bit on the blog, as I tend to do from time to time, and I decided that at the start of each new month I would write a personal letter to you, my friends and readers, outlining my plans and the type of content you can expect! I know in the past you could never really tell what you were going to get from me each week here on the blog, and although I’m not going to reveal all my secrets, I thought giving you a sneak peek into the sorts of content you can expect would be a nice way for you and I to connect!

So, what do I have planned for you this month? Well, to start, food… lot’s and lot’s of food! Specifically, I have a couple of recipe posts to share with you guys starting on Monday with a very special seasonal experiment in baking that I have been very excited to share with you! If you follow my YouTube channel as well, you may have seen that last month I started a series called The Lazy Girl’s Cookbook, where I feature recipes for seasonal meals that are super easy and delicious! Well, that series is going to continue on this month as well with a few more of my favorite fall recipes! Moving on from food to fashion, I have a fun scarf tutorial planned just in time to keep you warm in the crisp fall air! Of course, since it is October, and I am obsessed with Halloween, you can expect a Halloween themed Geek Speak feature this month, as well as a seasonal installment of My Productivity Playlist! Rounding out the month, I am also planning a few new reoccurring features around planners and productivity inspiration!

I hope you’re all as excited about my upcoming month of content as I am! I also wanted to take this opportunity to say a sincere thank you to everyone who showed their enthusiastic support for my new shop yesterday and downloaded the 31 Things to Do in October printable! I am so glad that so many of you were as excited about it as I was, and I hope that throughout the month you will keep me up to date as you check those seasonal items off your list! Feel free to tag me in photo’s on Twitter and Instagram so I can follow along with the fun!

Thanks again everyone and I hope you enjoy the great things I have in store for you this month!

xoxo