Weekend Picnics at Dolores Park

Mission Accomplished.

As everything Anjuli does, she gives 110% heart, and this Saturday at Dolores Park was no different. She secretly coordinated a picnic to welcome her boyfriend, Adrian, to the quarter century club.

I got there about an hour and a half before the reveal to help, and both her and Mary were already well on there way having things set up. She really thought through the the smallest details, and it all came together nicely. From the wind tent, to the endless food...from the plaid blankets and picnic trays, all the way down to the fluffy throw pillows.

When he finally got there, we popped up with a big "SURPRISE!" Adrian's reaction was priceless; definitely caught off guard.

For a 'Fog'ust day, it was all sunny skies. We enjoyed the warm day playing music, making drinks, laying in inflatable couches, and eating food until we couldn't anymore.

Congratulations to the Michael Phelps of girlfriends, Anjuli, for planning such a fun day at Dolores Park for Adrian, and everyone else in attendance!

A Behind the Scenes Tour on Alcatraz Island

Tigran and I ran across the street with few minutes to spare. After playing frogger across the Embarcadero to Pier 33, we luckily made it on time to board and we didn't miss our boat.

Thanks to my work, I had the opportunity to bring a guest to Alcatraz Island for a behind the scenes evening tour.

We hopped on the boat with a few other employees and their guests. Normally, the ferry holds hundreds of people at a time. With all the extra room, we got the best views on board and had quite a comfortable ride.

Just a few days away from what San Francisco residents call "Fog-ust", we were lucky enough to catch blue skies! Like always, it was short lived... and the sky eventually faded into a grey hue.

Behind The Scenes Tour

I've been to Alcatraz several times before, but this tour took us into areas most other tours don't feature. Many of the these fenced off areas we went through probably wouldn't accommodate the masses.

See, Alcatraz Island is one of the most visited National Parks there are, and this summer, the tickets are selling out further in advance. This tour we went on is considered a VIP tour and visitors can now buy tickets for the same experience.

From prison escape stories, to the history of Alcatraz, Tigran was interested and asking questions all through the tour. I was pretty happy to see him genuinely engaged.

Locked up in D block. This was Robert "Birdman" Stroud's cell.

THe Audio TOur

After the guided tour, the general public started to trickle onto the island. We joined the hundreds of people for the audio tour. For an audio tour, it's pretty dynamic, and the narration is far from monotone. 

As the evening carried on, the wind really started to pick up. Thankfully, that evening, we spent more time from inside the prison walls. That didn't prevent my hair from getting in my face for the one picture we took outside.

After about 4 hours on our feet, we walked down to the dock, and caught the ferry back home. 

The ride back was a lot more cozy in comparison to our ride there, but at that point our feet were just happy we could sit down and make our way across the bay. 

All in all, I'm thankful that working with National Parks has given me special opportunities to explore places like Alcatraz Island, especially when I can share those experiences with others.

Passion Planner v. Happy Planner

When your week looks cute as hell it's hard not to be a tad more excited about it.

Passion Planner and The Happy Planner. (The Happy Planner is the Picture Quote style, and shown with mini disks)

Although I'm currently managing google calendars for a living, there's nothing better than a great paper planner to prep for a productive week. 

There are two types that give me planner peace; 

The Passion Planner

and

the Happy Planner.

I think there is no right planner to have, it's all dependent on your needs. For me, the top 3 most important things about choosing a planner are:

1. size must be compact and lightweight

2. weekly layout functionality

3. overall cute factor

These two made the cut for me, and I know you will love them too!

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1. Passion Planner Compact

My 2016 #stayGOALden Passion Planner compact weekly layout before the pen

($24.99, purchased online only)

Link to buy: Passion Planner | Instagram: @passionplanner

This planner is perfect for: the goal digging multi-tasker who doesn't want anything falling through the cracks. I can't stress enough how much the Passion Planner has helped with time management.

Weekly layout: It's vertical hourly layout has kept me on track while balancing work, social life, gym time, and other varying commitments in between. The wide hour range from 6:00am to 11:00pm is helpful, whether you are a productive early bird or night owl.

It's goal oriented. From the very first page, the Passion Planner system guides you through a road map of goals and then walks you through how to break those goals into steps. These steps help you integrate them into your weekly to do lists. YAS, that is how you get sh*t done.

• Favorite Features: weekly gratitude and goal setting, monthly reflections, open space for random notes and personal and work to do lists are split up

• Pros: functionality, goal-oriented, structured for busy life

• Cons: minimal room for washi and stickers, and lack of flexibility with how to use layout differently

I love my Passion Planner to death, but with a steady Monday-Friday office schedule, I haven't utilized the hourly breakdown lately. I realized it's a good time to try something different and get crafty with it.

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2. THE HAPPY PLANNER

My Happy Planner weekly layout before the pen

($29.99 both in store at Michael's and Hobby Lobby or online the MAMBI website)

 ...and with 40% off coupon, I picked mine up at Michaels for $17.99. 

Link to buy: Michael's | Hobby Lobby | MAMBI | Instagram: @the_happy_planner

The Happy Planner is perfect for: the ever-changing creative and the planner sticker and washi tape enthusiast. 

Weekly layout: The Happy Planner has a 3-box vertical layout, similar to the fellow $65 Erin Condren Life Planner. The beauty of this type of layout makes it absolutely flexible in function, but you do have to experiment and create a system that works for you. This part got overwhelming to me at first, but once I figured out my routine (events | to do | health and gratitude), it was smooth sailing.

Tons of options. Initially, I thought the Happy Planner was too thick and heavy for me. To make it the right size to carry on my commute daily, I had to take out a 12 of the 16 months included. I purchased the mini discs (here) and only carry 6 months at a time. Now, it's perfect. That's only one example of many options there are to make it your own. There are so many design options, sticker packs and inserts. Creative customization is definitely their niche. 

• Favorite features: The disc system is life changing! It's so easy to pull pages out and put them back. Also, the Happy Planner accessories are so cute and tempting.

• Pros: Affordable, easy to find in stores, and customization is endless

• Cons: Not intuitive; you will need to create a system that works best for you!

My planner decorating partner, Socks! Next to my 1557 seasonal sticker book (MAMBI), my Happy Planner and my 20 pack of Staedler pens.

Honestly, I love them both and easily see myself switching between the two depending on my pace of life, and how many things I need to juggle at that time.

Hope this helps you find your planner peace! Let me know what planners you love!