Dunkin' Into A New Season

[00:00:00] You're listening to the Planner Girl Chatter podcast with your hosts Jamie Marcus Bratcher and Colleen Phelan. Grab a fresh cup of coffee and the closest planner, start unboxing your latest Etsy order because it's time for Planner Girl Chatter.

[00:00:15] Welcome everybody to a fresh episode of Planner Girl Chatter and welcome to season six. Six! The podcast! My name is Jamie and I'm here with my lovely, beautiful, warm co-host. I mean arguably warm. It's cold in Tucson too.

[00:00:36] I'm sitting in 54 degree weather in the RV right now. So My house is at least 67 degrees. So yeah, I'm winning. I'm winning. You win the warmth fair. At least for a little while Jamie, at least for a little while. At least for a little while.

[00:00:55] Very soon. I won't be saying that but more on that later. Welcome to season six. Colleen and I are lining up some interviews for this season. We had a blast with the closeout of season five.

[00:01:09] There were a lot of people that had some feelings and opinions not only about the title of the episode but about some of the stuff we discussed in it. So it was super exciting for us to, you know, read the feedback on how y'all felt about

[00:01:22] the planner community being dead. Yes or no? Yeah, and I mean, I think that there's at least a few people alive and kicking. Yeah for sure. Man well and we also

[00:01:37] had a blast with what you know, we're gonna share on this episode when we went to the main Wicked Planner event. Yes, for those of you that may have missed it. We went up to Maine and

[00:01:50] we had a blast at the Wicked Fun weekend with the planner girls of southern Maine and we had a little adventure ourselves. We did, we did. We not only went to Salem and honored our witchy ancestors

[00:02:04] but we also had clam chowder in the most amazing places and lobster rolls. Lobster rolls. Lobster-shuh. We went to the casway. We also left really obnoxiously with like trying to do a northeastern accent at every turn the entire time that we were there.

[00:02:29] It was like the first time that we've had an adventure together in so long and it like began by me barely getting to the airport.

[00:02:38] It began by Jamie barely getting to the airport and if we get on the airplane and Jamie's like and mind you we booked our flight and our tickets at the same time, but you know what Jamie did?

[00:02:48] Jamie is a fucking hot mess of a planner girl and clearly either doesn't listen or change his shit without communicating and so Jamie got stuck sitting next to this very chatty person that was not me because she

[00:03:03] took the row behind me instead of my row so we could sit together. Yeah. Yeah, I still blame Kendra. I think she changed my seat because she checked me into my flight. But I think that is a likely story that you want to believe.

[00:03:14] She is giving me the meanest eyes right now because it was you and we know it was you because also your return ticket was a day earlier than it was a day earlier as well. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, it's clearly me.

[00:03:26] It's clearly me. Yeah, I think that we can put the blame on the booker on that one and that wasn't Kendra. But what about when we got to Boston? And we go to pick up our rental car and we got the wild card manager special because

[00:03:39] haven't traveled recently. It's really like challenging to pick a like reasonable vehicle in a reasonable price range. So we decided I just I took it upon myself

[00:03:50] again to just see like let's see what the manager special looks like they can pick any car for you and the price was a little bit discounted and We got to our car first and we got to the wild card manager special

[00:04:02] And we got to our car first and we were literally in what was that car even? It is the small a spark maybe a Chevy Spark Yeah We couldn't have the backseat up and have our luggage in it

[00:04:15] You had to put the backseat down to put the luggage in the car But we go to pull out and the car attendant is like nope You guys can't have this car and so we're looking around at the vehicles and we're like, oh

[00:04:25] We're gonna get something nicer and then we ended up in the most bomb Huge mom van that I have ever driven and she doesn't mean bomb as in like da bomb She means it was like we had the radio. We didn't even have

[00:04:42] Bluetooth it didn't even have a cape. We didn't even own a cable with us. It'll allow us to play the video There was no I did not bring an aux cable. It was not happening for us

[00:04:55] So we had to find like radio stations as we were driving around in the mom van where people are mean to people driving mom vans and so We're in the Northeast and the van somehow has California plates You just got dirty looks

[00:05:14] Old time plus I'm brown driving in the Northeast. So obviously I'm from California The looks we got from people we had people like riding our butt at times like it's just cuz they think we're from California

[00:05:31] And every time Jamie like messed up a turn or turned in front of somebody was like it's good thing We're from California those stupid Californians and they're bad driving So it was good that we could blame it on ourselves Yeah, so we you know

[00:05:46] We get there we end up getting to our hotel and like for those of you guys who have had a chance to travel post Cove it Depending on the hotel you stay at depends on how much?

[00:05:58] Disinfectant they used in your room and we literally walked into our first hotel room and they had poured a bottle Of whatever the fake smell is to make you think everything is clean and there can't be cove it there. It was horrific

[00:06:13] So bad, it's just like some of these hotels take it to a place where it's like I don't think it needs to be any more disinfected. Otherwise, I'm gonna be disinfected and die Yeah, like you're gonna disinfect my entire immune system

[00:06:29] Killing it so adventures were had yeah adventures were had we ate amazing food. We saw the amazing coastline fall For days, I mean we just we just kept driving

[00:06:42] I'm surprised we didn't wreck the damn car because we were just looking or I was looking I was gonna say we I was like look at all look at all the fleas. Look at all the leaves

[00:06:57] It was just so pretty everywhere and the day that we drove up to Maine was foggy outside Like it was a light drizzle and we figured out very quickly on our drive back because there was no rain on the drive back

[00:07:11] That the fall drizzle is what makes the colors pop And magical it made it just magical with like the mist and as we turned corners And standing on the coastline. It was amazing. And for those of you guys not in the

[00:07:27] Planner girl chatter Facebook group, you will not know that Jamie and I also Were almost abducted because of Jamie's choices at the original Dunkin Donuts that we went to because this is what we do And we followed this man to a graveyard So

[00:07:46] In the RV travels one of the things that I like to do with Kendra is look up on this website called Atlas Obscura all these like random things that are like unusual attractions that are around an area and

[00:08:00] So the night before we went to go adventure around in Boston I realized on this website that we were super close to the original Dunkin Donuts and Because we've been to the original Starbucks. We had to go to the original Dunkin Donuts

[00:08:14] So we go there and in the parking lot this guy tells us, you know the person that invented donuts is just around the corner and He sounds a dead person. Yeah

[00:08:26] Dead person. So we're like, okay. Well, like we'll go check it out. Like this sounds like a solid we're in We're in and so we follow this guy to this neighborhood And we're like, uh, maybe this was not a great idea and then

[00:08:45] We he pulls up and he's like it's somewhere around here. Thank you. Can't find it. He's over it He's like that's too hard. I'm out. We google it and figure out it's behind this elementary school and

[00:08:57] Sure enough. We walk behind this elementary school. We're creepy ladies creeping on a school in like, Massachusetts I'm probably like triggering all kinds of alarms, but sure enough at the back of this school There is a graveyard and in it

[00:09:10] there's like it you can see it from the fence that the person that invented donuts is there and it was like Look at this we're adventuring The gentleman was probably in his 70s was retired Navy with his wife

[00:09:23] So we're not completely insane with our choices, but still slightly questionable. It was so funny Oh, it was a great way to kick off an adventure. So it was it was we were fully in for the adventure

[00:09:35] We went to Salem and we had amazing soup. We did real good I was not prepared for Salem. I did not realize like I didn't do any research on it I read one article about it

[00:09:47] but what I didn't realize is that people like get into it like they do at Disney where they like get dressed up and they like go with intention to go see certain things and

[00:09:57] The dressing up was the thing that I just was not prepared for the number of witches That were there. I was not prepared for the lack of witch hats

[00:10:04] I really thought I was gonna be able to get a cute little witch hat and it was much harder than I thought it would Be yeah, I thought they would be all over

[00:10:12] But yeah, it was kind of a weird place to be though to like Colleen and I just kept commenting how it's so weird that in Salem the people that live there are kind of like profiting off of this like Murders of all these people of their ancestors

[00:10:30] I never weird to walk around there all together Well, and then I find out that Jamie's not even into hocus-pocus So we don't even get to enjoy the fact that we're in the middle of the night

[00:10:39] So we don't even enjoy the fact that it was filmed there or that the friends opening scene was filmed there So we missed on all of that friends opening was filmed there. Yeah the house in the opening scene It's the same as the house Yeah

[00:10:56] No, I I wasn't allowed to watch which movies when I was a kid growing up so I didn't see them until I was like in my early 20s and then I saw hocus-pocus and I saw Practical magic the Sandra Bullock one and

[00:11:10] Practical magic is obviously a far superior movie to hocus-pocus if you're watching them back-to-back And so as a 20 something as a 20 something. Yeah, so I just didn't get the appeal of it And so I was like, oh that's

[00:11:25] And I wasn't allowed to watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch either So cuz someone else said that to me, but like Oh Sabrina the Teenage Witch I was like does that happen?

[00:11:34] I guess I don't know. I mean I watched it but like that was a long time ago and it's not like I memorized where it Was located. Yeah

[00:11:42] Clearly, I'm a very subpar TV watcher. I'm a little bit more Clarissa explains it all age. Oh, yeah, and I never watched that My watching time well, I will say so one of the best parts Is that you get to watch the whole thing

[00:11:59] You know, so when you go on these things like you'll joke about things happening and then when they do it's like kismet It's like magic. And so one of our friends Kate from planter bunny press

[00:12:11] She lives in the area and had mentioned to us that we have to stop at the red barn And she's like you will see it You can't miss the red barn and that's where you buy booze before you go to Maine because there's no taxes

[00:12:24] So I was like, okay, I'm gonna go to Maine And so she told us about this and we're like, come on the red barn but legit y'all the red barn is Its own stop and this may actually be in the recording. We did

[00:12:36] I feel like we probably talked about this in that as well. So Jamie may cut this out I don't know, but it's still a good story. We go to the exit because it's literally it has its own exit

[00:12:45] There's nothing else there. It's like a rest stop but for buying booze So we stop and Jamie like offhandedly says wouldn't it be funny if Kate was here Sure if I can you know

[00:12:57] Kate was literally walking to her car with her mother at the red barn at the same time It was like the most perfect timing and we just pull up in front of her car It was like the most perfect time meeting

[00:13:08] and we just pull up in front of her car. Yeah, start talking shit. We didn't take a picture because I never think to take pictures in that moment. I just get caught up in the moment. I'm so excited that like this is happening.

[00:13:23] And so she's like, see the red barn with the exit. And we're like, it's exactly as you described. It is unmissable. That is true. It is true. Yeah, we went up to Maine. We did the whole, we did the planner event because we got in kind of late.

[00:13:43] And so we went to dinner with the crew and then we went to the planner event the next day which you'll hear the Q&A in just a minute. And then we learned that the L.L. Bean store was just up the road.

[00:13:55] So we had to go stand next to the big boots that they have out front. And so I'll drop a bunch of these pictures. I've kind of been holding back on posting the pictures about it until we released the episode in the Planner Girl chatter group.

[00:14:07] So you guys could see all the magic all at once that we didn't share. Yeah, I'm sorry. But- And the incredible selfies that we got with the lighting that made us look gorgeous, Jamie especially. It was like she was, you know, watching the settlers coming to the land,

[00:14:21] stealing it from the peoples. It looks like there's some of the pictures that I took that look like I photo, it's like a bad Photoshop because my skin is like too- Perfect. In some of the areas, yeah. Too perfect, so it's gotta be fake.

[00:14:38] It's gotta be fake, yeah. But I was there, it was real. It happened. On the way back we did- Leaf peeping. We did some leaf peeping around a lake and we really tried to go to the flowers in the attic house but it was closed.

[00:14:52] So we had to settle for having another lobster roll, which- Which was phenomenal. It was so good. Not sad about it, not sad about it at all. Not sad- And then Jamie got to also witness the power of my cougardom. Oh my God. In full effect.

[00:15:08] Cause you know, I think she doesn't understand and she thinks I make shit up, but I'm just saying, what was the kid's name at the hotel? In the lobster- I don't even know! But it was like, we had this casual encounter with this guy.

[00:15:22] He got on the elevator at the hotel and he was- Oh yeah, in Maine that guy, yeah. These guys are not from here. And I was like, no. And Colleen starts asking about food. And the way that this guy is talking to her

[00:15:35] is like he's going to jump her in the damn elevator and like we need to leave. And then we were lashing about it while we were walking to the car and he was still kind of like visiting, but we were joking.

[00:15:46] And the guy, no shit, pulls back up to us and says, oh, one more thing. And I'm like, you could just jump in his Jeep right now. He was a hot little, well, hot tall Maine man as well. As in M-A-I-N-E, not as in a Maine.

[00:16:04] Yeah, that guy was just like about it. And that happened another time too. I was just like, Colleen just needs to move to the Northeast and she be solid. Yeah, so. So anyways, now that you guys got the fun recap of our main trip,

[00:16:28] we're going to let you guys listen to the Q and A that we did at the actual event. So enjoy. Enjoy. Okay. So welcome everyone to a fresh episode of Planner Girl Chatter. We are in season six. Season six opener. Is it the opener? Yeah. It's the opener.

[00:16:53] Yay. Yes. And if you can't tell, we are at a planner event which seems like the best way to open up the season because based on your guys' feedback, you wanted to know more about planner events, see more planner events and be at planner.

[00:17:08] We came all the way to Maine to make this possible for you guys. We did it for you. To Maine, which is in New England as well as in the Northeast. Yes. Both of those things. If you guys don't know,

[00:17:20] New England and the Northeast are two different things. Okay. Do you want to explain to us? Apparently I didn't know what New England was and Colleen told me it was made up of four states because she Googled it. And then the Northeast is, oh, six states.

[00:17:38] Who wants to name them? Someone else other than me. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Rhode Island is sometimes apparently based on my research. Yeah. Based on my research. The rest of the country doesn't agree with the people from New England.

[00:17:58] These are the heated things that we- AKA Wikipedia. Have learned. So today what we're going to be doing is Shannon, who is the host of the event, the co-host of the event, host, Maine person in charge. She has kindly assembled a Q and A for us.

[00:18:17] And so we are going to answer questions that folks have submitted. And she is the main person. Oh, she's the main person, which is boom, boom. Way to go, Kristen, with that joke. Oh, I bet they get so sick of that. I know. The Maine honcho.

[00:18:30] I've called this event the Maine event multiple times in multiple conversations. Yes. Everybody in the room is like, yeah, that pun is old. Kristen, we thought it was funny. A little bit. Yeah. So, all right. So we've got some questions that we're going to do.

[00:18:45] And I know that there was some online. So we're going to, I think, start with those maybe. I don't know. So we're going to start with a question that was submitted by Kristen. How does it feel to be together at a planner event?

[00:18:59] Is your heart warmed and your planner full of stickers? Well, so here's what I can say. That last night, Jamie and I went to have dinner with some of the planners from the event today. And it was such like, just like going back

[00:19:14] to like old school plannering where, you know, like everybody has different personalities and we're talking about different things and we all strong feeling. Well, I do about certain things, like some new pens that are coming out, whatever. And it's really nice, is the short answer.

[00:19:30] And I can't wait for us to keep doing it. So, and as for stickering, I have been able to procure stickers from multiple people at my table to make my spread work for this week because my spread is not very filled in.

[00:19:45] I've had the pleasure of going to one event before this since like the pandemic started. And I can just tell you that it's so nice to be back with planner people where we can be like, whatever did happen to Foxy fix? And does anybody have a wine sticker

[00:20:00] that's a specific color and then somehow it magically appeared inside of the room. And so being back in that energy is really, really, really awesome. And for those of you who listen to the podcast, you know that Jamie's a fucking spreader

[00:20:13] and you don't mean, I don't mean like germs. I mean that she just spreads her stuff everywhere. Like, in fact, her planners on my side, not next to her because that's how much she spreads and people gave me washy to help with that. I thought I was kidding.

[00:20:26] She took my spot, so that's on her. But she put down the washy immediately when we sat down. So give me back one planner. She's literally like, I would like for everybody to understand just how much she's spread across this table.

[00:20:38] Like she's all the way to that water bottle over there. Not the first one, the second one y'all. It's a big spread and you know how much I'm taking up? I'm taking up that, just that, that's it. So it is like coming home again,

[00:20:50] being with Jamie at a planner event. And I had to have the conversation with her about how much she was gonna spread in the hotel as well. And it's really worked out for us though. But Shannon, how about you? Like you, she shared when the event opened

[00:21:02] that this event was gonna happen in April and then you had to put it off. So originally this event was supposed to happen in April of 2020. And I mean, we all know how 2020 turned out, right? So we had it postponed for August and that didn't happen.

[00:21:20] And then kind of been definitely said, well, maybe someday. And many of you know in PGSM that I attended West Coast Planners event in March. And that was kind of my first event following COVID which that event also had been postponed twice itself.

[00:21:43] So from my side of it, yes, it's amazing to be at a planner event with like-minded people again. It's a lot different being on this side of it where West Coast Planners, I didn't have to plan a thing except for Lana and I's table that we sponsored.

[00:22:04] But it's definitely like, this is what I needed to get back into my side of it. So yeah, for sure. And my planner is full of stickers. Mine is getting filled up. Not so many plans. All right, what's next? So the next question is also from Kristen

[00:22:27] and she wants us to tell her what planners we are using. Notice that was plural. What planners we are using for 2020-30? Okay, so I'm probably going back to a HOCO for work. So Hobonichi Cousin, AKA HOCO because that's what I wanna call it

[00:22:45] and I'm gonna make it a thing, HO fucking CO. So that's what you should call it. So I'm gonna do that but I'm not sure for my personal planner at home. So I know I wanna be six size but I've been hearing like little whispers

[00:22:59] of different B6s I might need to look at. So I don't know if I'll be going back to an LPA or if I'll try someone else. I've gotten to Black Friday y'all so I need suggestions. So, but B6 spirals what I need.

[00:23:15] I need a spiral and I need it to be B6. Are there a lot of people in HOCO still or like Hobonichi's in the room? No, HOCO specifically the cousin though because I do not support the other size. Oh no, for the other one HOCO is the win.

[00:23:32] What are you gonna do with the checkbook? That's just bullshit still, it's still bullshit. Everyone in the room is like- I know everybody hates me right now. I don't even care. Come for me, come for me. Tell me that you can write in that thing

[00:23:45] and actually see anything. People just wanted all the sticker kits because the sticker kits were cute. So I like it's fair. Very important that you know that we're in a church right now. I didn't know you were gonna be at a church

[00:23:59] or maybe even, but I've heard from church people that you're allowed to swear. I did hear somebody else not part of our group that did drop a- People swear in Maine though, right? Like wicked curse thing, wicked curse thing. All right, Jamie, your turn.

[00:24:16] So this last year I used an Agendio planner and while I have built the Agendio planner I have not ordered the Agendio planner yet. I'm thinking about it. I'm like back and forth cause I think I may want a day designer daily mini.

[00:24:29] I just, the paper is very thin. And so that makes me sad. So I'm still a little bit undecided but I will probably end up in the Agendio that I built. So, cause I like the customization of it. And Shannon, how about you? What are you using?

[00:24:43] So I'm undecided as of right now but after seeing Lana's baby stickers on dated planner it literally has everything I love in a planner. Lana let us see the layout, bring it over. Literally plain as can be. I like how you wanted to say plain as fuck

[00:25:04] but you didn't. I did want to say plain as fuck. But I do see, I see a lot of disc bound planners in the room when I peeked around there's still a lot of coil bound planners. I'm not judging you.

[00:25:14] So, you know, it seems like discs and coils are still a thing. So they have undated and dated. I'm undecided which one I will go with but I think I'm leaning towards this. All right y'all. So here is the Sadie's plans. Sadie's sticker co. Sadie's sticker co. Oops.

[00:25:34] You can't trust me with shit right now. Okay. All right. Thank you ma'am. Oh, and if you want to show the back of the room. Oh. I want everybody to be included. Lana like Vanna. Yes, Lana like Vanna. All right. So yes.

[00:25:52] And you know, using a checkbook is okay if you're using a checkbook but not as a planner is all I'm saying. Like I can write small as fuck too. I feel like I'm swearing more because I'm in a church. I feel like- You are. Sorry guys.

[00:26:08] This is the place for me to say. It should be a safe place right? All right. The door's closed. So this question I think is specifically for you guys. How do you determine what your podcast subjects will be? That, so I don't. I don't.

[00:26:28] Jamie has ideas and she thinks of things and she brainstorms and I show up and then I'm like, you know what I want to talk about? The Mantae Tayo documentary. So let's talk about that today. Or let's talk about my dating life

[00:26:41] because that seems like something I should plan for. I think, like, I just think everybody here has been a or most people have been a planner for a long time. So like there's like an evolution as you begin this where it's like, you have a lot of structure

[00:26:53] and you have a lot of plans and you want to do all this stuff. And then it becomes like, oh, we've done that. Oh, we've done that. Like, ugh, do we want to talk about that again? Like, do we want to talk about planner lineups all over again?

[00:27:02] Because we've done it, like we've done it every year. Well, planner piece doesn't exist. Yeah, and planner piece doesn't exist. And like, so we've done episodes on this stuff. So as we've gone along, it's gotten a little bit more challenging over time to like talk about what feels

[00:27:14] like the same repetitive thing over and over. But then there's a lot of people that have started to come back to us or discover the podcast because we've been doing this since 2017. And so there's a lot of people that are starting to discover the podcast

[00:27:25] that want the recap of like how we feel about things currently. So I try to keep track of that as people DM me and message me. And then we have amazing patrons that also come to our planner meetups

[00:27:36] and they will tell us what they're seeing in planner world and what they like and don't like. And so a lot of times our planner meetups that we do online end up being kind of like a filter for us to be able to talk about things

[00:27:48] and then make some decisions on what people are looking for. And so we'll integrate those ideas into the podcast but they're calling realizes they're not. And this season, something that's new is we're going to start bringing guests back because we actually haven't had a guest on the podcast.

[00:28:01] You're the only guest Shannon's been on the podcast for like all of last season. Yeah, and so we just, when COVID happened, we just like started talking to each other and we didn't really have the organization or the patience to, we just didn't have much more.

[00:28:20] It was a global pandemic. We recorded a lot during a global pandemic initially. And then it was like, I think it's just like everything else we all got zoomed out. And for those of you guys who don't know we've recorded on zoom since 2017.

[00:28:32] So like when the pandemic came the ironic thing was because of the podcast, I was like, oh, this is super easy. And so I'm super natural now on zoom because we've had conversations for five years in this context.

[00:28:44] And so for everybody else in 2020, it was like brand new. And I was like, oh no, just click this button, that's fine. But there was a fatigue. I think universally we all felt right. Like there was a point where it was like, what? Nothing.

[00:28:56] I can see your face. I know we're just on the moment. Carry on, keep talking. I've lost the moment now. They're gonna hold hands and I'm gonna move on. Next question. Yeah, so that's where the ideas come from. We do keep a spreadsheet.

[00:29:10] Like there is a mild amount of organization. We keep a spreadsheet of ideas and then we solicit people to do ideas. And so, and in fact, if you've ever sent an email to us on our website, we switched our website last year. And I just realized this week

[00:29:23] that people have been sending us messages. And so you'll be getting an answer back here soon. But we figured out, we have a new website that we figured out that we can take like voice calls on. So we're gonna start taking voice calls

[00:29:34] from people that will integrate to episodes too because we do wanna hear. The biggest thing that we realized is that while we've all been apart, like so much of the community was built off of events like this, being together with each other,

[00:29:45] sharing ideas, looking at other people's planners, seeing what people are doing. And so if we can't all be together in that way, like we're slowly getting back to it but we want more community feedback in the podcast going forward. So on our long drive up yesterday,

[00:29:59] we talked about that for three minutes. I was gonna say, we did talk about some things. So Kristen, here's the thing with the, so the question is when is the next anti-haul? So some of you guys may know our anti-haul.

[00:30:11] The problem is there's not a lot of new stuff. I can't hate a lot of new things because there's just not that new stuff. So it's like, how many times do you wanna hear me talk about the really stupid things like the Hobonichi that's not the cousin.

[00:30:23] Yeah, so those of you guys that don't know, one of the most popular episodes that we do is called the anti-haul podcast. And it's basically where we talk about all the trendy things that we hate. Like scallops. Yeah. Always hated those.

[00:30:36] It's one of the favorite episodes that people do but we were just like, I don't know, there's not a lot of new stuff. Yeah, like we need you to send us new things because I don't know what to hate now.

[00:30:45] We really feel like this is a planner community issue where you guys have not come up with enough stuff for us to make decisions on about whether or not we want it. So it really needs to be a community effort

[00:30:55] for you guys to buy more stuff, tell us about it so we can decide what we don't like so that we can do an anti-haul. Yeah, so we can judge the shit you like. Let me get back on you, Kristen. Yes. Let's back on you.

[00:31:04] Yeah, so basically it's everybody's responsibility for me to be able to judge you. And I can't possibly do that without your help. So if you can provide me with some guidance. And that's how the planner community works.

[00:31:14] No, Kristen, I want you to send me the stuff you like not that you hate, because then I wanna judge the shit you like because I think it's funnier. Yeah, yes. So Kristen says in the comments,

[00:31:23] so you are saying to spam you with all the shit we hate. Okay. Oh, I like that follow-up. I would like just to note since you guys can't read this right now in all caps Kristen got real passionate real quick.

[00:31:37] And she's like, you like the shit I like bro. We literally, Kristen and I's relationship is just sending screenshots. Are you gonna buy this? Do you like this? What do you think of this? Oh, buying it, buying it, buying it. Random iPhone, I'm not answering that question.

[00:31:52] So the next question is what are some good things that planners and the planning community have brought into your life? Oh man. Friendship. Yeah. Let's say friendship. Yeah. I mean, I think that for me, the planner community really came at a time when I needed friends.

[00:32:13] Like you get this point you're in your thirties. That you didn't work with. That wasn't work people or family. And so like you get to a point in your thirties where all of your friends have gotten married and have children. If you're not one of them,

[00:32:24] you're not friends with them anymore. They move away. And then all of a sudden you're like, I only have people I work with and I don't want to see those people on the weekend. I don't. And so planning came and became like a way for me

[00:32:35] to make friends along with my book group. But planning was a little bit bigger because book groups don't have planner conventions like this. Yeah. I think- They don't have stickers I think. And for me- They do, but they're just boring because it's like you own this book.

[00:32:49] And for me, the biggest thing, like when I found the planner community, like my family had kind of moved away and I had left working a corporate job. And so I didn't really know people in my community.

[00:32:58] So it was a neat way for me to connect with people in a way where I didn't have to be like, oh, I'm so-and-so's mom. And I'm here at this school's function where I have to like be a specific role

[00:33:10] or like participate in PTA in order to have friends and things like that. Cause like, where do you meet friends? Like, it's so hard to meet friends. You know? So for me, it just became like a big friend group.

[00:33:19] And now like we have all these friends all over the country that we've come and seen and been able to visit with and these fun travels that we've done. Oh my gosh, yeah. It's insane. The planner stuff is neat and you know, it does a cool job.

[00:33:31] But like, if you are not, if you have not made friends in the community by showing up to events like this, in my opinion, like you're missing the whole point of the planner community aspect of the planner community. Yeah. I mean, and I think that, you know,

[00:33:45] one of the things about having a hobby like this, cause I mean, some of you guys know I have a super heavy job that's really, really intense. So for me, this is the stuff where it's like, nobody gives a fuck what I do here, right?

[00:33:57] Like at work I have to really perform and do all these things. But when I'm doing planner stuff, it's like, no, no, I just need a sticker that matches and everybody gets it. And everybody's like, okay, I guess you're right.

[00:34:08] Like you need that color to be the same. But like nobody, you know, it's like that kind of dynamic where there's no judgment and it's really just inviting. And it's just, I mean, look, it's silly fun y'all. It's silly fun. Well, and it's not heavy.

[00:34:20] Like the world can be so heavy. And when you're at home, there's just so much that's asked of you, at least in my house, they just ask so much to be fed every day. And to cook a meal every day,

[00:34:31] three times a day these people want to be fed. And so when I come, no one asks to, you know, well, Colleen asks me to feed her when I still have to care for her. But you know, outside of her, there's very little responsibility in the world.

[00:34:42] She gets angry. She gets angry. Like y'all don't even want to know, like Jamie just knows now to feed me and to ignore anything I say for a period of time because it won't be nice. Yes. Online Jamie says, yes, it's a perfect escape from the real world.

[00:34:55] Exactly. And it's also like a version, right? Of the real world where like you get to just be yourself, whatever that self is and you get to decide, you know, ooh, April, you did not need that energy. So she said, last boyfriend said I had too many stickers.

[00:35:08] I dumped them. I'm like, no, you're not. You're not. I had too many stickers. I dumped him. Yes, yes, yes. Dump that asshole. You don't need that negativity in your life. No. And buy some more stickers now. I would echo pretty much what you guys said.

[00:35:28] The planning community, as you guys, or most of you heard my opening. I mean, the planner community basically brought me you guys. So without having attended my first event or had that friend that got me into this in the first place. And I started with an art planner.

[00:35:47] If any of you don't know what that is, it's like a staples version knockoff of like the happy planner, not nearly as cute. It's a happy planner knockoff. Because I said, you know, I'm not gonna stick with this thing.

[00:36:02] I'm gonna throw stickers into this for a whole week and then I'm gonna forget about it years later. So without having been introduced to that, like I never would have started GGSM and I never would have started holding meetups. I never would have traveled to New Orleans

[00:36:25] and to Nashville and to Austin and to Vegas and from Milpitas to hang out with people who like stickers and pens and washi tape as much as I do. Because my friends here, well, some of them are into the same things I am.

[00:36:42] But a lot of my friends are like, you do what with stickers? You like what? So yes, I mean, happiness. It has brought happiness into my life. Yes, yes. I don't know that either of us want to answer this next question,

[00:37:02] but how much money do you think you have spent on planners? You know what? It's changed over the course of time. And I'll say this, when I think about my planner budget, because we have had the luxury of planning, like going to so many events,

[00:37:22] like in 2019, we went to six events. I don't remember. I think it was like six events that we went to. So I count the traveling to these events as like an expense of that. And I would say including the travel expenses is probably about $2,500 a year.

[00:37:38] Like if I'm being fair between the travel and then the buying of things. 2,500? Yeah. You're full of shit. It's so much more than that. Like that is bullshit. I'm saying today. Oh, today. I thought you meant 2019. I'm like six events, $2,500? There's no fucking way.

[00:37:52] Because back in the day- Like this cost us 2,500 probably. No, because back in the day, we used to, when I first started planning, I was just spending money all the time. It was like happy mail every day. And I mean, if you spend $100 on planner stuff,

[00:38:05] you can get a fair amount of stuff. But we used to always have subscriptions too. $100? Okay, so we need to talk about like a packet of stickers that comes to my house. That's like 50 bucks. 50 bucks and it is like nothing.

[00:38:19] And there was times when I would be receiving many, many, many of those 50 buck packages over and over every week. But think about like back in 2017. But like think about in 2017. I don't even want to think about it. You know, $1 Tuesdays,

[00:38:31] or they used to do like half off and stuff like that. We would still spend 30 bucks. Yeah. And we would still get four of those in a week. Yeah. Every week. We are looking for an actual number. We were constantly getting stickers. Look, here's what I can say.

[00:38:43] Is I made an investment pre-COVID in planning. And now I use all of the things I invested in. Last year. Really? It's just a gift that keeps giving y'all. But like last year Thanksgiving. Like last year for Thanksgiving. Black Friday. Our Black Friday.

[00:38:57] We have a specific number and it was $500 that we both spent on Black Friday. And we have like, cause we just hadn't done anything. Well, so here's the thing, right? Like I think there's a point where you've seen all the kits. You've seen all the things.

[00:39:12] You want a different color. You want this or you want that. And so you're planning sort of adjust. And so I do like a kit. Jamie doesn't really like kits the same way. So I want to have many kits. And so Black Friday has always been my go-to.

[00:39:23] I spend money on Black Friday. And in an ideal world, that will take me at least a solid six months, right? Because I'm going to buy a bunch of different things then. But there's also kits I've had that I haven't used

[00:39:36] because they just don't fit for certain things. Like, when do I use my Goonies kit y'all? When do I use the Goonies kit? I feel like October, but then is it October? And so, I don't know.

[00:39:44] I need to figure out when to use my Goonies kit next year. But I don't have any subscriptions anymore. And I think that was the thing that early on in Planner World, that was like really eating up your planner dollars was a hundred dollars subscription kit.

[00:39:58] Like, you know, and I won't name any, but there were some that ranged from, you know, 50 bucks a month. There was one that was 25 for a while. And then they went up to about a hundred dollars. So if you were spending that much money

[00:40:09] and you had two or three of those, I mean, it was easy for it to get way out of control. Where now, I mean, I know that there's people that are new to planning that are still like going on that journey

[00:40:18] where they're figuring out what it is that they want and they're spending a lot more money. But I don't know, unless I'm coming to an event, I usually spend less than a hundred bucks a month on planner related stuff. At this juncture for where it met with planning.

[00:40:30] Yeah, because I mean, now it's like, I've got my planner or my two planners for the year. Right? So I get that covered. And then I just have, I've got so many stickers, but I would say probably on a heavy month, a hundred bucks a month.

[00:40:43] And Shannon clarified that Goonies Day is June 7th. So next year will be in June y'all. That's when I'll use my Goonies gift. Thank you. That's all I needed. I knew somebody would know this stuff. Do you get crazy?

[00:40:53] I'm just going to say that sometimes the limit doesn't exist. I'm better now than I used to be because I like you have, you know, the hoard of shit that I look at, it looks pretty in its binders, but am I ever going to use it? No.

[00:41:14] So, and that coupled with other reasons, just, you know, haven't been buying stickers like I do. But yeah. But like in the town that I'm in even, the town in Texas that I moved to, I went to the planner section right before I came.

[00:41:31] And it was like this tiny little kiosk of happy planner stuff and a tiny little stack of like, one side was planners, the other side was stickers. And that was it. Like they didn't have the planners down the aisle anymore. They didn't have it.

[00:41:43] So at least, I mean, the money making is not the way it is anymore. Yeah. In the town that I'm in, it's like the whole thing has shifted because we used to have a whole damn aisle. You're talking about Michaels, right? Yeah. Half of the aisle at Michaels.

[00:41:55] And so it seems like it is like the whole thing is definitely shifting. That was the point I was just going to bring up too, but you know, back when I started, I didn't, I mean, Etsy existed. I'm sure standalone shops existed, but did I know about them?

[00:42:13] No, I was digging through like scrapbook stickers that I had from 10 years ago when I worked at a craft store. And that's how I started. Like I made my own makeshift kits. But the accessibility of planner accessories now compared to where I started,

[00:42:29] I mean, you can run to Michaels. You can run to Joann's. I mean, you can run to any place, wherever. Yeah. They get them, you know, in real time. I think one of the things though is like, because Jamie just, Jamie online asked a question,

[00:42:48] would you rather use stickers from Etsy small businesses or sticker books from like Happy Planner or whoever, right? Whatever business. And the answer for me is always small business because I have too many friends who have small businesses.

[00:43:00] So I am like my regulars where I go and shop. But for me, I, you know, one of the things I think that is both a gift and a curse of the planner world is that we know too many things about the businesses within the planner world, right?

[00:43:12] So there's a lot of like controversy that's happened. I would rather just support small businesses. I want to support my friends and that's where my money goes. So I want to put my money to people I know. And that's just my way of doing it.

[00:43:26] I think you should plan within your budget though, right? So the sticker books from, you know, Happy Planner are much more affordable than having to get kits for every week, you know, and like, and what that adds up to being.

[00:43:40] And the reality is, is I spent a lot of money between 2015 and 2019. And so I have a lot of stickers because I spent a lot of money and I don't have that income to spend now. So now I adjust. Yeah, and it's a bougie hobby.

[00:43:53] I mean like, that's what you have to understand. It's a bougie ass hobby to be doing. All of you are bougie, whether you think you are or not. You know, and so it's like, if it's a bougie ass hobby, then you're going to enjoy what you can enjoy.

[00:44:05] But like, this is the disposable income thing. Like there was a point too, where like the planner community was at its height where we had people that were like, ooh, should I like get the new release of whatever or like pay my electric bill?

[00:44:17] And it's like, bitch, pay your electric bill. This is fucking stickers. Like don't let this impede your life and shit. And so that's the thing that I think that has been nice about seeing the community die down is that there's less of that frenzy,

[00:44:28] like for you have to have the latest of everything else and you're like prioritizing your life. Cause like, there's no point in doing all this stuff if you're not going to take care of your main ass business and that is your house and shit.

[00:44:39] Like stickers are not that important. Yeah, and the whole point of being a planner is to plan shit and know what's going on in your life. So if you're not planning your bills, it's part of your life. Yeah, and no judgment for people that were down.

[00:44:50] But I was just like, when people ask me, I'm like pay your water bill girl. Like this is, that bill beautiful. I don't even want to think about what my PayPal is. May not ever sell for $300. Or when people bought like,

[00:45:02] no judgment if anybody is like this in the room, but like people who bought like thousand dollar Louis Vuitton planners, like to have rings, come on, just fucking. Actually what I want to put a shout out for is that, you know, if you're like, what is it?

[00:45:15] A Giglio. Oh Giglio. If you're buying like 10 Giglios, you can adopt me. Yeah, I'll be your next child. Yes, exactly. And I think we have one minute Shannon. So we got to go quick on this one rapid fire. Our last question is functional or decorational? Both. I...

[00:45:38] So my watch let me know that rapid fire Shannon family showdown is available if you are on my watch. What? So that even I have no fucking idea. I think it's family feud. I would say more recently I've been a functional planner

[00:45:56] than like, it makes my planner look so sad right now. I've been way more of a functional planner than I have been a decorating planner. And I just needed to write stuff down, get stuff done, track what the heck is happening. And life has been busy recently.

[00:46:12] So it's really just been pen and maybe I'll throw a little mild liner in there. Oh yeah, she's got some good mild liners. Tear it up, I got that new mild set of mild liners. They're so nice. Sage. And I'll move that too. I'll probably get a...

[00:46:26] I mean, I think what I'd like to point out though for those guys who maybe are new to me is that because of the work I do, planning for me is a way that I release. So when I say functional, for me, it's about self-care

[00:46:36] and it's about a... I know I'm using my hands. Look. This is what I do when we record. I know, so funny. Carry on. She's releasing. Some people are just dicks. Plannering is what you do to release. So for me, it's a release

[00:46:57] and it's a way for me to take care of myself. So when I think of functional planning, it's about that. It's about how do I do things to take care of myself? So for some people it's making lists and for me, it's about putting stuff down,

[00:47:07] getting it out of my head and letting go of it with my hands and my mind and all of the things. So that's what I think. Shannon, you. Absolutely decorative. I really enjoy my stickers. I made the comment earlier that my planner is full of stickers.

[00:47:27] There might not be anything written on those stickers but it's full of stickers. So I think the stickers... And I think a lot of people would agree with this that do decorative planning that the stickers help you write down that stuff.

[00:47:41] But if I'm opening my planner and it's pretty to look at, I'm more apt to write something in it. Okay, but is anybody doing digital planning here? Like on your iPad? I tried it and I stopped. Thank you. Okay, so they tried it and they sucked at it.

[00:47:58] So I bought a digital... I have to tell you guys that I bought a digital planner because I'm like, maybe I'm ready for being a digital planner. You didn't tell me this. I bought a digital planner and I put it in GoodNotes

[00:48:07] and I went to go set it up for one day and you could go see it. It's just basically like, I had such a hard time writing down. I really wanted to write with my handwriting and I had a hard time writing it down,

[00:48:18] getting it squared up into the thing. And I was like, this literally takes longer than decorative planning. If I'm gonna take the time to do the digital planning, maybe if I did it a bunch, I could get the hang of it.

[00:48:28] And I thought it would be a good idea, but I was like, I'm glad that I only made a $10 investment in this and not like the thousands of dollars that I spent. On paper planning. I know, once I did it, I was so crazy

[00:48:40] and buy all the digital stickers and all the pens that you can get. And then I just like slowed my roll and I was like, I'm gonna give it one week and if I can keep up this for one week, then I'll start buying some stickers.

[00:48:50] I made it like four hours before I would just like rage quit and was like, paper planning, it's great. So, you know, I do try new things, but I just need it right now. I just need things to be functional and on occasion, decorative.

[00:49:06] Well, with that, we've got to wrap up because we have other things we're doing at the event. So thank you everybody. Jamie? Yes. Keep planning. Stay awesome. Adios, bachachos. See guys, we just need to be in person. No, it's bullshit. You fuck it up on purpose every time.

[00:49:27] Usually I do. Usually I do. I know you do. She's totally like, she thinks I don't know. She's like, just like poking me and then she pokes and she pokes and she thinks I don't know. But I do. It's like having a little old mom

[00:49:41] because she's littler than me. I'm a full three inches taller. I'm like a giant. By four guys. I'm not, I'm by three actually, two inches. That's the longest ending ever. I'm going to cut it all out. That's fine. All right.

[00:49:56] So those, you guys stay here and we're leaving. Bye. Well, so we hope that you guys enjoyed the insanity of our Q and A. I would like to note, because I can't remember if I said it, but there was a lot of swearing in the church

[00:50:18] probably because I had some spirits. And I don't mean the Holy Spirit. I mean the other kind. The little New Hampshire stop that we had we had to pick up some booze. And then we realized. Which we didn't even really drink except for in the church. Yeah.

[00:50:38] And we only drank it in the church in our coffee after we went to Holy Donuts. Yeah. Oh my gosh. The Holy Donuts. Can we even talk about those cider donuts, Jamie? Yeah. I had heard people talking about the cider donuts

[00:50:52] and I didn't know if they were good or not or if it was just something that people were blowing out of proportion. And then I had them and they were so good. Yeah. They were Holy Donuts for sure. Yeah.

[00:51:05] So if you guys ever make it up to Maine, you have to go there. You have to do the bucket list of things. You know, the lobster rolls was on my bucket list for RVing. And when Kelsey was, Kelsey is, I've been traveling a lot

[00:51:18] and Kelsey was very annoyed a little bit about this Boston trip because I had other work trips that I'd been at like literally the week before. I was only home for two days before I went to Boston. So he was a little bit annoyed at me

[00:51:30] and I just kept telling him, I'm like, you know, it's your fault that I have to go to Maine anyways because if you would have taken me there in the RV instead of moving me to Texas, then we would have been doing this together. Yeah, exactly.

[00:51:40] But instead it was his sister wife. This was on my bucket list. And so, you know, this is what's happening. But it was fun to have an adventure with you again. And I'm so glad. Yeah, we had such a good time. It was, yeah, we adventure well.

[00:51:55] We adventure well. And you got your ketchup chips and you got some Canadian official cookie crumbs and you got your mini coffee crisps. Yeah, the mini coffee crisps are the best thing in the entire world. Have you finished the box? I literally just ate the last one yesterday.

[00:52:15] I eat them out. I allowed myself three a day at most. I skipped some days to really enjoy them. Enjoy them all, yeah. Yep. Yeah, well good. Well, real briefly, one of the recent adventures that I had that I just got back from was last weekend,

[00:52:33] I was in Denver and I got to stop and see Danielle. Oh, nice. The thing that I forgot so much about having like fun planner dates with people is that there's some shops in Planner World that I just like stopped ordering from because of something petty.

[00:52:51] Or there's other shops that I haven't even looked at or I didn't know about. And that's the number one thing that I miss about like not only the community and the camaraderie that comes with hanging out with planner people,

[00:53:03] but also like being able to hang out with people and just like talk about planners. And so that was a really nice thing about this. Our main trip was getting to visit with people. They had some really good de-stash. But then when I got to go to Denver

[00:53:18] and see Danielle really quick, it was really cool to sit and go through all of her planner box of all these things. Cause I collected a bunch of shops that I'm gonna go shop with now on Black Friday where I really didn't have a list.

[00:53:29] And I also got to look at the Any Plans Small B6, which like, I'm like, maybe I need that. And then up at the event in Maine, we got a day designer. And so I've been playing around in that and enjoying that.

[00:53:45] It's a day designer daily that Colleen shared with me. So, you know, so it's kind of fun to like get to look at planners again, touch them, feel them, play with them. Like I just miss it so much.

[00:53:56] So I'm excited to have like a little bit of a shopping list for to talk about some new things this season. I actually like, so I think that I made a decision and we'll see how long I stick with it. But I think I might just be using

[00:54:12] a Hobonichi Cousin next year. Yeah, I think that I am going to just do that cause I realized I don't really want to buy planner kits. Like I haven't seen enough planner kits that I love. And so if I can't use a planner kit, what can I do?

[00:54:32] But I can use a lot of fun stickers on a daily. And like, so I just have to think about like the layout and I've seen some, you know, really fat ones. So I'm thinking that's my might be what happens. Ooh, dang. Yeah. That's a big decision.

[00:54:45] Well, I realized that I do want a weekly, like the biggest thing that I realized when I was having a conversation with Danielle and I was going, like when I moved myself into this day designer, the first thing that I did

[00:54:56] was I wrote down all this to-do list of all this stuff that I need to get done in it before I went on this trip. And I was like, oh my God, like there's so much stuff I'm behind on. There was stuff like my registration on my car

[00:55:09] was about to expire and I couldn't figure out where the plates were that were supposed to be mailed to me and I had to go track them down. And like, I had a bunch of like really big to-do list things that I had to get done that week.

[00:55:23] And so I realized the thing that's really missing now that we moved into the house is like the systems that I used to have in place. And I don't, I remember what they are but I'm not doing very good at executing them

[00:55:33] because I've been working out of this daily planner. And even though it has like a weekly one pager, it's just, I think I need a weekly two pager and I need to be in it more. And so I'm really glad that I have this.

[00:55:45] It's not even a day designer. I didn't say it right. I always say it's day designer because it's Whitney English but it's actually, I should be saying it's a Whitney English daily planner that was gifted to us at the Wicked Fun Weekend.

[00:56:01] And so the paper quality on this thing is super nice. It's like that big thick planner, spiral bound like I like, but it's undated. So on the days that I need to use it and I've got it sitting on my desk, I can use it.

[00:56:14] But I do think that I need, I might end up being a two planner person this year because I need a weekly, like to just jot down the stuff that I'm supposed to get done and there's stuff happening on specific days.

[00:56:25] Like just this week alone, I had four things that I had to get done that were people coming to our house to take care of something for us. And if I wasn't good about tracking that stuff which I haven't been lately, I'm a little bit overwhelmed by it

[00:56:39] and just not getting as much stuff done as what I need to. So I've got to put a bunch of systems in place is the biggest thing that I realized in that conversation in Denver. I gotta do some new shopping. I gotta pick finalize like next year's planner.

[00:56:51] So I'm getting real down to crunch time here without a lot of decisions made. And I'm gonna have to figure that shit out like probably in the next week or so here. So stay tuned for that in the future. I am excited to see what happens

[00:57:06] with that whole thought process. And I anticipate you're gonna end up in not a B6 and you will get a weekly, but you may also get another daily. So I think all of these things are possibly gonna happen. That's my prediction for season six.

[00:57:23] We'll see at the end. Well, my problems are not very huge other than me just getting them done. I wouldn't say that's a weird way to say that. That's a weird way to say that. I was trying to say that my plans are super minor

[00:57:44] compared to your problems. I know, but it's not problems, Jamie. It's just plans. It's not problems, that's why I've gotta rephrase it. So Colleen. How about you wanna say like, you know, you could always intro like- I think I've got it. I think I've got it.

[00:57:58] But Colleen, enough about me. I happen to know- Jamie, it's never enough about you. It's never, it is never enough about me. Do you know how big of a crisis my last few weeks has been? My dog got hit by a car.

[00:58:12] Like first of all, you have to lead with, but she's okay. You can't lead with the, like, come on, Jamie. The dog got hit by a car. She's okay, but she got hit by a car. So it's been a crisis for us nonetheless. Oh, absolutely.

[00:58:25] The event that I went to Denver to do, I had to switch the venue the day, like hour and a half before the end of business, the day before. I don't know. I've just had a bunch of crises in my life and it's been very stressful.

[00:58:38] So I haven't been able to get around to the podcast. But while I've been managing life, Colleen has had a bunch of exciting things happening that impact you all at the podcast. It impacts me personally, but it's very, very, very fucking exciting.

[00:58:54] And so I want her to tell you about it right now. Yeah. I mean, it's kind of a big deal. It's a huge deal. So in approximately, so depending on when this airs, but from the time of recording, I am slated in like, I am flying to Christchurch

[00:59:16] to deploy from there to McMurdo Station in Antarctica to work as an advocate. So literally from the time Jamie and I left Boston, I have been in the process of interviewing, flying, having 15 vials of blood taken, figuring out who can live at my house,

[00:59:45] making sure I still have a job when I get back, all of these things. And there was a recent report that came out in August about issues with sexual assault and sexual harassment in the US Antarctic program. So I'm going to be the advocate for the program

[00:59:58] on the continent out of Antarctica. Congratulations. Thanks. And literally like I was a few minutes late for us, for our meetup and for recording because some of you guys might remember I talked about the cruise I was planning on going to Antarctica.

[01:00:15] So instead I'm gonna be working in Antarctica and I had to cancel my cruise and I just got confirmation they'll move it to next year because otherwise I was gonna lose all my money for the cruise. So it's been a wild ride the last few weeks.

[01:00:29] So yeah, so it's very exciting. And I will tell you all being a planner girl puts me at great advantage in this process because y'all know how we like to make some lists and figure things out. And so thankfully that's been helpful

[01:00:46] but that's how I ended up boarding my Hobonichi cousin at 3 a.m. Because essentially like I wake up around two or three every morning with like what I need to do and then I do those things for a couple of hours and go back to sleep.

[01:00:57] So it's wild. It's all happening. Yeah, and so when Jamie was complaining about the cold I just wanna give just a quick preview of what I'll be dealing with. So for those who are not as familiar because look, I wasn't either

[01:01:14] it's astral summer or spring right now down in Antarctica where I'm gonna be in McMurdo and there's a link and we'll share it in the Facebook group that is a live feed of where I'll be. So you'll see that you should not be too jealous

[01:01:29] because it is not pretty there. The high today with wind chill is negative 21. Yeah, so you should be enjoying Tucson for the next four days. I am sitting in the sun as much as possible. Actually, the weird part is and I think this is the part that you

[01:01:48] like we forget because you know the way the world turns, et cetera, et cetera. I will not see the moon for the entire time I'm down there because it is on the South Pole, right? And so it is only gonna be sunshine for the entire nine weeks.

[01:02:04] The sun never goes down fully. So I won't see the moon the entire time I'm there. So I'm also really enjoying the moon until I get until I leave. That's so wild. Oh, I'm so excited for you. So yeah. So for those who, you know, just curious

[01:02:19] like what happens down there essentially it's all research. So I recommend on prime there is a day, a year on the ice. Antarctica, a year on the ice is a documentary all about the people who work and live in Antarctica but it's all science missions.

[01:02:35] And then the people who support that happening. So like you have to be able to eat and you have to have heat and you have to have all of those things. So there's about 300 people every year who go down to Antarctica and do research.

[01:02:49] And then there are like the 900 people who make it possible. So I'll be working for all of those folks but I can go to lectures about like the research that's being done. NASA goes down there to explore what it would be like to do things in like Mars.

[01:03:04] And there's all kinds of different things, but it is no cruise, Jamie. It is no cruise. No, it is not a cruise. I mean, when you wanna talk about what podcasts and planner worlds really bring in the bang for the buck

[01:03:20] I mean, an Antarctica season is pretty freaking wild if I say so myself. Yeah, yeah. And I'm bringing down the, yeah, I'm bringing down the HOCO. There's a craft room apparently. So I'm about to try to find out about that.

[01:03:39] So now I'm just trying to decide like, you know what planner essentials do I need? So I did also the night of the HOCO purchase. I purchased all of the new mild liners to take with me so I can set up my planner for the year.

[01:03:57] And also I'm gonna use it to document really, you know, kind of what I'm doing. So now I need to do a sticker collection to take down. The thing that I need to know is does Antarctica have a gift shop? There is a souvenir shop.

[01:04:11] If they have restocked postcards I will be able to send a few postcards out. I just wanna remind you that I loyally mailed you postcards from the road. Just in case I was wondering, you know, what you would like from the gift shop.

[01:04:29] A postcard is just a really easy way to remind me that you still care about me and that you're coming back. My goal is definitely to come back. That's definitely on the agenda. Definitely. So yeah. Oh my gosh. This is exciting though,

[01:04:47] because it's been so long since we've done like, it makes me think that we need to do like a packing essentials. Like what to pack if you're going to Antarctica, you know, it's been a long time since we've done one. So, you know, yeah.

[01:05:03] Yeah. I mean, they gave me a list. So it's not, I will say the most interesting thing. Impractical things that you're bringing. Oh yeah. So we'll do that probably when I'm down there and I'll say, here's the thing I brought that was stupid.

[01:05:18] And here's the thing that was genius. I want to know what makes the cut and what did it need to come? Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Well, I was like buying ski pants because, you know, somebody was like, yeah, it's good to have ski pants.

[01:05:32] And then I was talking to the woman who's down there. She's like, don't buy ski pants. Don't do that thing. You'll get some from like, they'll give you a pair. That's all you really need. And so, you know, cause it's not like you're, I'm not in the field.

[01:05:44] I'm not going to be sitting in negative 31 degrees, just like hanging out. Like I'm literally going to be walking from one building to the next. So as long as my face is covered. So I'm taking a lot of lotions and hand creams. That makes sense. Yeah.

[01:05:57] And a lot of different face moisturizers. Yeah. Oh, it's so exciting. It's going to be such a cool way to kick off the new year with you being in America. Yeah. Yeah. So it should be interesting. We'll see. Well, we're thrilled to follow along. Thank you, Jamie.

[01:06:12] I appreciate that. I appreciate your flexibility and participating with me on this adventure. Absolutely. I do what I can. I'll watch from my couch. I'll be supported from Texas. So. Also, my mom, when I first told her, she's like, well, do they need a therapist? I'll go down.

[01:06:30] I could go down. And I was like, no, I think they've got that covered. And then she watched the documentary. Cheryl, we don't travel with you anymore. Cheryl's not, yeah. Cheryl's not, yeah. So she watched the documentary that I recommended to you guys just a minute ago.

[01:06:46] And she got halfway through and she's like, oh no, I would never want to go there. Like the snow, like the thing with the blowing snow. No. But you should have a great time. She's very supportive of me going after that. But prior, she was real, real jelly.

[01:07:05] Yeah, so I'm basically like a walking zombie who has lost a lot of blood. And like, I just found out. So I mean, there's things that like, you don't necessarily know about yourself until you have to do a really intensive medical screening.

[01:07:17] So there's no medical facilities down there, right? Because there's just not the capacity. So there's essentially a community clinic. So they do this really, really intensive physical qualification, which includes a whole lot of tests. So apparently I am not currently immunized for months

[01:07:35] even though I had the MMR shot as a kid, probably multiple times. I don't know how many times you get that one. I am immunized for the rest, but the mumps ones didn't stick. So right now, like I'll find out tomorrow or Monday, I guess, you know,

[01:07:49] I think I have to get another mumps vaccine and then I should be good to go. But fascinating. Who knew? Who knew I could have gotten mumps y'all? I didn't know. Kendra had a vaccine like that. Her MMR vaccine apparently was done one week too early.

[01:08:07] And so when we moved here to Texas and had to get all of her immunizations like moved over, they said, you probably want to do this one too because they may make you come back to get it because it was not done in the right timeline.

[01:08:20] And I'm like, you know, sure, do it up. Yep. I know I'm like, give me all the things, it's fine. I definitely don't want mumps. And so it seems like a really good idea. So that's, you know, so right now it's just

[01:08:34] but like there's just so many steps. So hopefully the mumps is not a huge issue and I'll find out soon. Exactly. Oh, it's so exciting. I'm excited to follow all of this good stuff. So yeah, it's gonna be wild. Yeah. Yeah. So well, Jamie on that note,

[01:08:56] why don't you keep planning and stay awesome? Adios, bachacho. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to the Planner Girl Chatter Podcast. Subscribe to our channel so you don't miss a thing. Until next time, happy planning.