Erin Condren Planner Overview (2017?)

I don't know if I can even call this planner "2017" properly because I just ordered it and got it and looked at it, but I haven't used it. I can't report on anything other than perceived functionality. I like that: perceived functionality. Isn't that why we spend so much on planners and organizers and the idea alone of planning ahead? We perceive ourselves to be better in the new year.

Anyway. I got a new Erin Condren planner. Edited to add: They were having a Black Friday sale. Normally, with shipping, this would have cost me about $65. On this day, with a 30% off coupon, and I didn't pay for any kind of priority shipping, it was $45. That was how I justified it. More in this post. 

I had a EC in 2012 and then I bought one in the middle of 2013 and that lasted from September 2013 until September 2014. This time, on my receipt, it said Thank you for your third order! which is weird because I always check out as a guest, I've moved twice since then, and I've used different credit cards. Erin Condren magic, I suppose. Since I've had two in the past and it's been a couple of years, I thought I could now report in on what I see (or perceive) the difference to be and what motivated me to go back to EC.

The cover is why I bought this planner. I couldn't find a Plum Paper cover I liked. I love the sturdiness and durability and designs that EC has available. I would have gone with a rose-gold coil, but it was like $10 more and that was definitely not a dealbreaker. 

Upon opening...

I went with the neutral color scheme. I like neutrals. 

The month-long layout pages. Last time I had this planner, I used the month pages to track work things, but I think it'll be for planning/tracking Pilates now, because that's the habit I've gotten into with my current planner.

Ah, the new horizontal layout. This was the selling point. They didn't offer the horizontal layer back in 2013, and the previous morning/afternoon/night layout didn't work for me. It might work for some, but I like this so much better. 

There's a notes section and a Thankful Thought space for each week too. 

After each month, there's a notes page and a quote. This is all in color, even though I went with the neutral scheme, which is nice. It doesn't mean that the whole planner ended up in black/white.

And then there's 3 separate types of notes page at the end of the planner...

Regular lined.

Graph paper. Maybe to encourage some bullet journaling? (shudder)

And a few blank pages.

There's several pages of stickers.

I admit that these will be (and always have been) wasted on me. I'm not into decorating planners, but they come with each planner purchase.

There's a pocket in the back, and I like the black and white pattern. There's also a clear zip pouch that I meant to take a picture of and forgot. #bloggeroftheyear

A perpetual calendar that also showed up with my planner.

And this back inside cover. Is that dry erase? Do we actually know what it's for?

And if you want to talk about "perceived functionality", I stood on a chair to take these pictures on our bar. Then I took a shot of the rest of the kitchen just to prove that perception is everything.

This was before I cleaned a few things up.

But the cookie ingredients are still out because I've yet to bake the cookies. 

What kind of planner are you *planning* on using in 2017???