Recipe -- Apple cake

Hello,

There are Filofaxes, but there's honey too!!

This is a recipe I adapted from a bunch of others I read online, so I'll call it mine, but it's not all that original!

I don't know about you, but where I live we are having the Crappiest Summer Ever. Right now as I type this it's pouring. We also have an apple tree that makes a ton of apples, but they are too sour to be eaten on their own. So I backed small muffins, that taste of fall, that make use of my apples, and that are perfect to go with my cup of tea!

4-5 apples
25gr of brown sugar
175gr of sugar
200gr of flour
1/2 a packet of baking powder
2 eggs
2 spoons of cinnamon
2 yogurts (plain)
salt

Preheat oven to 180C (th.6)
Start by peeling and cutting in small dice the apples.
In a small pot, put 25gr of brown sugar and 75gr of white sugar. Pour enough water to cover it. Let the sugar melt, on low heat. When it's melted, add the apples and let them cook. Stir from time to time.
In a dish, mix the flour, the cinnamon, the baking powder and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
In a second dish, mix the eggs with the 100gr of sugar left, until the mix is white. Then add the 2 yogurts.
When the apples are done, mix them in with the wet mix first, then add the dry mix to it.
Fill the cupcake pan to 2/3 and cook for 25-30 minutes!

Enjoy, and let me know what you think of it!

Poll -- Your Filo & a job interview -- RESULTS!

Hello everyone,

I'm back from my interview! I'll tell you in a second how it went, but first, the poll results:

Thanks a lot for you 36 people who voted!

• 63% thought it was ok to take your Filo to a job interview, to use it to take notes.
• 44% thought it was ok to bring it to look up info you have researched before.
• And 16% wouldn't bring it under any circumstances...

If the matter interests you, please also have a look in the comment section of the original post!

So I did take it to the interview. Actually, it turned out to be 2 interviews... As we discussed in the comments, I took a not so cute Filo (the Chameleon), and got all the cuteness out of it (stickers and so on), so it would look professional enough. Rest assured, it still looked handsome!
I only used the notepad at the back both times, to take notes. Neither interviewer seemed phased by it, they treated it as they would have any notebook.
During the first interview (that one went really well) the interviewer said how much they would need me to be organized. I showed my Filo, and Leon made a good impression :) During the second one, which didn't go so well, we never talked about the Filo and the interviewer didn't look at it weird or anything.
All in all I would say the Filo itself made either no impression or a good one. Now pray for me as I'm waiting for their final answer....

Re: Poll -- Your Filo & a job interview

Hello everyone,

Thanks a lot for helping me with my Filo dilemma! I got a lot of comments on the post, and votes in the poll on the right side. Thanks a lot for sharing your insights on the matter with me! Given the discussion we've had so far, I'll take the Filo with me ;) (it's this one, which has all my notes about job searching. Of course my Malden will come as well, since it's my wallet!).

I'll be gone next week, to take this interview, so I won't be able to reply. But please keep the discussion going, and don't forget to vote! Also, send me good vibes :D

I'll try to comment during the week but can't promise. I'll make a post on how the interview went and if the Filo had any effect when I come back. By then, the poll will be closed, so I'll also be able to give the results. 

Thanks again everyone, and see you next week!

Malden, my Filo-on-the-go

Hey there,


Here is my second set-up! I hope you enjoyed the first one. Today I'll show you my Malden, which is the binder that's always with me. As I said when I described my Leon, this summer is a bit special for me in that I don't work and live at my parents', so my Filos are not as they would be in 'normal' life. Expect an update on the set-ups in a few months!

My Malden is my very first Filo. I had been expecting a Filofax for a long time, and this binder did not disappoint! It has a rich feeling, with its soft leather and beautiful color (to my eyes at least :) )
I ordered this binder in Pocket because it doubles as a wallet. To me, this is the best way to ensure I always take it with me.

Here goes!

This is what I see when I open the binder. I keep in the slip pockets my credit card, an ID, and some small business cards printed off of MOO.com. And I have a cute picture/quote to make me smile :)

I keep coins in the zip pocket. I was very surprised at how much fits, in this picture I had 20euros in coins, which is that much :

That many monies

Yes, it does say 'and act like Kate Middleton'. LOVE IT!

After the Dr Seuss picture I have two credit card holders, full of frequent flyer's card, debit card, social security... And then this picture, next to my post-it dash board. This is so useful. On the bigger post-its you see here, I can jot down whatever when I'm on the go, and later put it in either this Filo or the A5. On the back of the fly leaf I have 2 smaller post its.

This might be my favorite part of the diary: I write everything on this calendar, and it really helps me keep track of things (workouts, weight, travels, work, friends' visits, illnesses...) I had a hard finding blank months to show you :)

This is the diary itself. I use the week on 2 pages that came with the binder, but I think I might change to week on 1 page for 2013... not sure yet. Here I added a note page in the middle of the week to give me more room to write down info. Typically I only write appointments and some times grocery lists on the days :) This note page is actually from an A4 notebook I bought when I was younger and never used, because 'I had to save it for an occasion! I can't waste the paper!!'. Well I gathered all these precious notebooks and cut them down to fit in my Pocket, where the cute designs make me happy :)

Typical of this poor Malden : I write something down on a post it note, in a hurry, and slam it in the appropriate week. Then it never gets written down in pretty colors... I did use a sticker here though. The post it on the Today ruler has my weekly to-dos, so I don't repeat them.

This is the end of the diary part. On December 31st I put a post-it note on which I wrote things scheduled for 2013. They'll get written over when I get next year's calendar. After the diary we have a Notes section, delimited by this cute postcard I cut down to fit. You can see again some of the cutesy paper from earlier. Here I have notes I need to keep with me, mostly related to shopping! For instance I have a list of chemicals I try to avoid in cosmetics, or perfumes I want to try out...

After the notes I have some important phone numbers, and then a Finance section. For this section, I was too cheap to order Filofax' Finance paper, so I copied it by hand on paper cut to size... works perfectly for me :)

At the end of the binder I have this enveloppe containing souvernirs, then a zip-pocket with subway tickets for Paris. In the vertical slip pocket at the back I have my driver's licence, and in the horizontal one more note paper. The pen I use in this binder is a 0.5 Frixion, because it fits perfectly and because I need it to be erasable.

Last but not least, the reason why Pockets work so well as wallets to me: here I can of course stash paper money, but also letter I need to take care of, or doctor's notes... very useful.

There you go, you now know everything about my M.Malden!

Poll -- Your Filo & a job interview

Hello,

As you may know, I am currently looking for a job. It is lonely and sort of depressing, and I often find myself getting very absorbed in small details.
The question on my mind these days is: should I bring my Filo to interviews? As you may have seen in my A5 tour, I have a whole section dedicated to job search, which could be really useful during an interview. But I am concerned with the impression I would give to the interviewer.
What are your thoughts? You'll see a poll on the side of the blog, please participate, but also feel free to discuss in more details here in the comments! The poll will be open for 2 weeks.

Thanks for your help!

Leon, my Stay-at-home Filo

Hey there,

So here we go for my first set-up post/walk-through. I'm excited! Get ready for a lot of pictures, because picture-heavy posts are my favorites when it comes to Filofaxes :) I'm sorry these are a bit blurry!

In my first post, I explained that this A5 Chameleon was the second Filo I bought. I had been using the pocket size for almost 6 months by then, and I was starting to feel limited by the size. I love that the Pocket is so portable, but sometimes I would feel frustrated, especially when I was trying to write up my day in the evening. I tend to use my Filo as a planner, for future events, as an organizational tool, when my time is a little tight and I need to put more thoughts in planning the day, and as a record of what happened, gluing bits and bobs in it. So, I decided to get an A5 Filo that I would mainly keep at home. If my job were to change, I would then think about taking it with me to work, but that wasn't an issue at the moment (and still isn't). I will do a separate post where I describe my Pocket 'on-the-go' Filo.
I received this A5 Chameleon just as I was quitting my job and going to spend the summer at my parents' house, so I have some difficulties setting it up. Because, you know, I'm not in my 'real life' right now, if that makes any sense?? Anyway, except an update of this set-up when September arrives :)

On the left hand side of the cover, we have 8 credit cards slots, one bigger slot, 2 slip length pockets and one zipped length pocket. I don't keep a lot here. I have a few stickers in the slip pockets, some post it flags and Tracy's paperclip. In the credit card slots, I keep personal pictures that I printed on Moo to the right format. I don't use the pen loop because, as the binder stays at home, I have access to ALL my pens :) When I do need to take it with me, I usually take a pencil and a ballpoint pen with me.

The very first page you see, behind the transparent fly leaf, is the registration number. I'm paranoid I might lose my Filo (which stays home...) After that, there's the personal information page (well, really, only my name and email address), and then the Filofax informational pages I decided I needed (EU Members, Religious Festivals, Notable Dates). That's the end of the 'introduction' part of my Filo.

Then we go into my 'objectives'. First I have a mind map of my main goals for 2012 (roughly). I made it cute with different colors and stickers, and put it in a homemade protective sheet (just an A4 plastic sheet cut in half and repunched. The washi tape is here to help punch trough plastic).

Then we have my first divider, on which I put one of the tabs Tracy sent me, and behind which I have my monthly goals. I've created a template for those that I adapted from Ray's monthly planner. I've been using them to set up goals every month and review them at the end since February, and love it so far. It's been very helpful, in improving myself.

My next section after that is 'sport'. I tried to keep it pretty vague. In it you'll find a Couch to 5k training plan (with the pink tab) that I printed off the internet, and that gets checked off every time I achieve a step, a Workout Log that I drew on some squared paper (4 columns: date, type of workout with room for comments, duration, distance if applicable), and a few interesting articles on fitness I punched and put here. I just put some washi tape on the tab of the divider, wrote the title on it and added some Winnie the Pooh stickers. As I said I'm fairly certain my set-up will change when I'll go back to the real world, so I tried to do tabs that I could easily modify.

The following section is my diary. I put one of Tracy's cute stickers on the divider (the character seems to be scratching his head in a sort of 'duh?' attitude; too cute. Sorry the picture is so blurry!).

I start with the year overview that came with the Filo. It's far from perfect, I very much prefer the horizontal calendar where each month gets a column, but I haven't yet found a way to print it out on my own. I know, I'm pathetic.

But then you can see the month on one page I did, adapted for Steve and Ray's template. I think I only changed the look, and added a Notes column. Oh and there of course you can one of Tracy's goodies, again :)

Then we go into the diary. I use Week on 2 Pages, column, because it came with the binder, but it's actually my favorite format, so that was nice. I usually first write down the appointments in front of the time, then the to do list of the day where there's room left, and then write about the day where I can!

The three next sections are dedicated to current projects. The first one is about the things that need to get done where I am now and during this summer. The second one is about planning after September. The third one has everything I need about my current job search.

After that, we get into a 'References' section, where I keep important information, a list of things I like, a list of Zen habits, a summary of Christmas gifts exchanged, and a page about my Filofaxes' structures. Then I have the alphabetical tabs behind which are my contacts (addresses, not email addresses or phone numbers, which are in the computer or the phone).

At the back I have blank paper, which I use to sketch, the business card holders (in which I keep mainly contacts needed in my job search). In the last pocket I have the Filofax notepad, which I use a lot, and I use the space left behind it to stash any letter or paper I need to take care of.

There, you have it, my Leon! I hope you enjoyed this post, as much as I enjoy reading about your set-ups! What do you think of him?

Filo Sighting #1

Hey there,

The other day I went to the doctor's office to book an appointment. This doc a pretty young energetic woman. When she went to check the date, I was very surprised: she put down her iPad, didn't turn to her computer, but instead turn to her other side and reached down. And then... she pulled an organizer out of her handbag! Imagine my surprise! I'm pretty sure it was a Filo, personal size. I thought I recognized the Classic, but the pink was much more like the Domino's hot pink than the Classic, well... classic pink. I ruined it all by yelling 'Oh my! A Filofax!!' real loud. She looked me weird and went immediately back to scheduling the appointment...

Malden in vacation!

Look what the Postman brought!

Hey there,

I have a funny story for you today. See, I was reading Tracy's blog one day, and she was having a contest. We had to tell her what we would buy from JetPens if we had $25 to spare, for her and us to share. This is a very fun contest idea I think. First, because, well, it's JetPens. Like it's difficult to build a wish-list from that store. Anyway. It's also real fun because you chose things you would like Tracy to discover too! I had a lot of fun building my list, which amounted exactly to $25. And guess what, for the first time ever, I won something!! Exciting! Except... I didn't know I had won. You need to understand, I really like Tracy's blog, I read it everyday, I follow her on Twitter, and her blog is in my RSS feed... how could I miss the numerous posts she did about the winners, especially the ones not giving her their addresses (oops) ?! Anyway, I did miss them... I only realized I had won when Tracy understood who I was from chatting on Twitter ('You're HM??'). Now I don't know if you know, but Tracy is a very nice person. Of course I don't really know her, but from reading her blog, her interactions with people on Twitter, and exchanging myself some emails with her, I can tell you, she's super nice. You're still not convinced? Well guess what. Even though the day to mail out the contest gifts to the winners was long passed, Tracy asked for my address and send it to me. When I received it this morning, I was over the moon (is that the right expression?). AND, to top it all, she included surprises!! Now you're convinced, right?

Here are the pics, in situation, in my Leon (because of course, I use my gift in my Filo!):

Here it is! My beautiful elephant tape holder!! And look at that tape: one roll with animals and one with cars! You can find it here

And here are all the extra surprises I got! Some blue Martha Stewart notes, some purple Post It flags, some cute removable tabs, on which I put a golden sticker, a very pretty pink flower, a little sticker, some '!' flags, another cute little sticker, and a little hot dog!

Thank you sooo much Tracy for this package!

My Filo Background

Hey there,

I thought it would be good to start this blog by presenting myself and my history with Filofax. Oh my, I'm already talking about it as if it were a relationship...
First of all, I'm not a native English-speaker. I'm writing this blog in English because it is the main language of the wonderful Philofaxy community, but please be forgiving. Do not hesitate to correct me if you notice a spelling or grammar mistake, I'm very much willing to improve.
I've always love stationery, as far as I can remember. I have also always loved organization. I remember spending hours as a little going though all my crayons and classifying them in boxes according to color. My dad used to receive a bunch of promotional planners through his job that he never used, so I'd play with them.
I think I started wanting a Filofax when I was around 14. But I wanted to receive it for a significant date. I wanted it for my 16th birthday, but by then I realized that I couldn't be sure the type and size of the organizer I would need then would still suit me a few years later. I really wanted to have an object I could keep for a loooong loooong time. Something symbolic. Then I wanted one as a high school graduation gift, then one for my 18th birthday, then one for my 20th... Everytime deciding against it for the same reasons. I finally got my first Filo last year, for my 25th birthday. By then I had finished school and had been working for 2 years, so I decided I 'knew' myself and my organization well enough to do this investment.
Before getting it, I had been using the Moleskine planner (week on one page with notes) since high school, either in their A5 size or their pocket. Always with a red cover! I had been perusing the interwebs about Filofax for a while, and especially like to visit Flickr (pictures, which I just love) and Philofaxy of course.
As my birthday was approaching, I decided on a Vintage Pink Pocket Malden to be my first Filo. Choosing the size was the hardest part for me. I didn't want to use a Personal because I knew the size of the page would feel weird to me. I'm much more comfortable using something closer in proportions to A4. Also, I was used to always have my planner with me, so I needed it to be quite portable. To ensure that I would always have it with me, I also wanted it to be my wallet. I also knew I wanted my planner to be in leather (since I wanted it to last for a looong time, remember?), and in some sort of a purple (my favorite color). Then Malden's famous charms did the rest.

From filofax.co.uk

We had been very happy together for a few months when the beautiful sale on Chameleons appeared on Filofax' website. I had been thinking about trying an A5 (my work planner was an A4 of which I filled the pages, but that I deemed too cumbersome). I jumped on the occasion and ordered it, in Aqua. Now Filofax didn't offer delivery to the country where I was living at the time, so I had it delivered to my parents' and had to wait 6 months to meet my beautiful Leon... The agony! But then, it was love at first sight.

From filofax.co.uk

Finally, since I was loving this size so much, I wanted to get a sexy purple Finchley. Tracy was selling one on Ebay and I entered in the bidding war, using Ebay for the first time! Of course I lost... but a few days later I was able to get a Pink Finsbury for a decent price, which was thus my first Ebay win. Pink is not my favorite color, but I still love it very much!

From filofax.co.uk

So, there, you have it, my story so far with my pretty binders!