On With Belle de Jour for 2013 :)

Happy 2013 guys!! New Year new bloggie name! I've always loved the statement "Once We Hit The Top There's No Stopping Us", it's actually lifted from Jason Mraz's song and is one of my favorites. It feels empowering and is very positive. However the statement is waaay too long for a blog title. Hahah.

So for the start of the year, we're working with a brand new title: "Live with Delight!". I also changed the font a bit. Wee!

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Anyhow, for a start, towards the end of last year i blogged about my planner dilemma. I've been thinking of going over Quezon City to check out the Moonleaf Planner already, but during the last week of December, I went to Powerbooks Festival Mall and got hold of the Matte Leather cover version of Belle de Jour and man I just DROOLED. It’s sexy sexy sexy! So I threw all my other qualms away and just grabbed one. Hehe!

(Heheh sorry for the photos, they're taken by my 5mp samsung wave 1 :p)

I super love the cover. I'm not much of a kikay type so I wasn't a huge fan of the bright colored girl on the covers of the previous editions. But this one is just simple and elegant :D I love how they embossed "LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST" at the front. It just really reminds you of what matters most. I also love the texture of the matte cover because it's soft and has a premium feel. It tends to get scratched easily though, so I still had to cover it with plastic.

It's really almost the same planner as last year. I think they changed the font a bit, it looks more laid back and friendly now. And the pastel colors look happier. Heehee!

 

I use almost all features of BDJ, my favorites are the Bills/ Expenses tracker, Cashflow tracker, Vacation Planner ( I appreciate how they added more pages to this one, more planned vacations for us!), and Dream board. My biggest gripe over here is that they removed the "Letter to Self" portion and replaced it with a Wardrobe checklist. :( :( :(  It almost felt like fashion was chosen to replace self-reflection. I hope this isn't a step towards a more materialistic BDJ, because I know alot of other people won't like that.

My 2012 Letter to Self was super packed!!

The coupons are almost the same, my usage is normally limited to Ace Waterspa, Coffee Bean and SM/ Parisian. Speaking of Parisian, weee they now included BAGS in the coupons! I was pretty excited when I found this out, now you can get 4 coupons with 10% discount each for both bags and shoes :D :D. The "The Spa" coupon also now has a massage-for-php500 coupon. This used to be just a discount coupon for a minimum purchase of php1000 and that's already too pricey for me. There's also a couple of freebies that girls can really enjoy. :)

10% discount for bags and shoes!

Lastly, my major issue with BDJ was really the weight. And well, as you might expect, the thing is quite heavy. The leather and thicker cover added to the weight. But then again, I figured that my three-year love affair with BDJ has already been a comfort zone for me. I like the familiarity and convenience of knowing what my planner does and where I can unload most of the clutter in my head. I guess I'll just continue with my routines and have more discipline in updating my planner instead. I just won't be able to carry it around as much as I want to though.

Seriously, BDJ, I hope you could just come up with an idea that could retain all the well loved features and cut the weight, even just a fourth of it. Thinner cover maybe? Or maybe do something with the spine? I dunno. Heheh.

Anyhow, I'm still excited about this and I'm looking forward to filling up the pages again. I cross my fingers that I'd be able to sustain this 'til the end of the year. Heheh. Thanks Belle de Jour! :) :)