I am loving this portfolio from Leatherology.  Not only is the color divine, but the leather feels incredibly soft.  And the texture is a bit pebbly.  When you open it, there are two larger pockets for 8 1/2 x 11 documents, as well as three smaller pockets.  Two are perfect for business cards (yes, I still use them!) and the other is a nice size for receipts, etc.  I use this portfolio to hold my rose-colored MacBook Air.  And the portfolio/laptop fit comfortably in my handbag when I am traveling to and from work.  The portfolio protects my laptop, but it also houses any 8 1/2 x 11 documents that I need to transport.

I continue to use my LV agenda, and I love how the two pieces compliment one another. The agenda is my work horse.  It holds my calendar, project lists, notetaking journal, my pen, my todo list and any important bills/receipts that I need to keep track of.  But my agenda doesn't accommodate 8 1/2 x 11 documents, so the portfolio is a perfect place for those things.

I love carrying, wearing and being around beautiful things. I definitely believe what Helena Bonham Carter said, "I think everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in, and all your dreams. The way you drink your tea. How you decorate your home. Or party. Your grocery list. The food you make. How your writing looks. And the way you feel. Life is art."  

It's been a week since I received my large LV agenda.  And I LOVE it.  Prior to receiving it, I was worried about the following:
-It would be too large to carry in my handbag (I carry my agenda everywhere!).
-It would be heavy.
-The agenda wouldn't lay flat.
I am happy to report that none of these things are true.  It comfortably fits in my LV MM Neverfull and doesn't considerably increase the weight of my bag.  And it lays flat on my desk.  As you can see in the above photo, it isn't too chunky either.  I keep a fair amount of information in the agenda, but not enough to make it difficult to carry around.

When I open my agenda, the first thing I see is a business card holder from Cloth & Paper.  Instead of using it for business cards, I use it to store stamps, highlighter stickers, and a variety of other stickers.  

The next section of my agenda is my daily calendar. It's a week on two pages format. I ordered some Cloth & Paper undated calendar pages, but I think I am going to go back to my L'Agenda Moderne a week on two pages format.  I prefer the paper stock and the design of the pages.  The only unfortunate thing is that I have to order them from Paris.  My weekly todo list is on a Cloth & Paper template.  I place my weekly todo list in between my week on two pages inserts.  That way, I have my calendar and my todos all together.
After my calendar, I have five dividers from 8Lotus.  The dividers are frosted plastic.  They add a nice elegance to the agenda, as opposed to a clear or paper divider.  My dividers include "school calendar", "projects", "passwords", "letters to write" and "blog planning." I ordered a passwords insert from 8Lotus.  It is a well-designed format and perfect for someone (like me) who needs to carry around a number of passwords.  

Next, I have some fun L'Agenda Moderne maps. I enjoy looking at these when I travel.  And the maps are followed by Filofax business card holders.  This is where I keep any business cards that I need regular access to, as well as photos of my family, ID cards, etc.

I like to carry colored pens with me.  I use them to address my handwritten letters (I strive to send at least one a week.).  And I use a colored pen to cross of my todos as I do them.  My favorite brand is Le Pen. I like the variety of colors and the fine tip.  The zippered pouch has 3 Le Pens and also some of my favorite family photos.  Originally, I had this pouch, as well as the other business card holders in the front of my agenda.  However, when I closed my agenda, they would stick out of the agenda.  They were too long.  So, I moved them to the back of my planner.  And the agenda looks much neater now when it is closed.

The last thing in my agenda is a Cloth & Paper notebook.  I use this in both my work and personal meetings to take notes. The notebook cover is incredibly smooth and has a high quality paper with a dot grid format.  And my Pilot Decimo pen fits snugly in the pen loop.
I am really enjoying this agenda.  It is a beautiful piece and I genuinely enjoy carrying it.  

I spend a lot of time thinking about the set up of my planner.  Over the years I've used primarily a personal size, an A5 size or an A6 size.  Most recently, I have been using a really wonderful agenda from L'Agenda Moderne, a French planner company.  The top photo shows this brand. I visited Bon Marche in Paris last month and took this photo in the store.  I ended up buying the orange planner in the bottom left corner.  The size is not quite an A5. It's a bit shorter, but the same width as an A5.  And I am loving it.  It fits very nicely in my handbag, and the inserts are beautifully designed.  I love having the extra space to write and take notes.  The size accommodates the phase of life I'm in right now.  I have a lot going on -- I'm managing an existing business, launching a new business, getting ready for my daughter's senior year in high school and eventual departure for college, spending time growing my Paper, Pens & Planners passion and exploring the next phase of life with my husband. I was using an A6 planner, but found that it didn't provide enough space for my notes, appointments (not just for me, but for my kids too) and the assortment of odds and ends I need to carry with me each day.  The only downside is that the company doesn't market to the US.  And getting inserts to fit this particular size of planner is very difficult.  While I would welcome the chance to order additional planners and inserts for this brand of agenda, it is not at all convenient and is proving to be more difficult than I realized it would be.
So, on Friday I ordered a preowned Louis Vuitton large agenda from Fashionphile.  It was $200 off the retail price and is in very good condition. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I decided to go with this model for a variety of reasons: 1-a number of IG planners carry this model and give rave reviews; 2-the LV large agenda keeps its value quite well; 3-the LV canvas and monogram are beautiful; 4-the agenda accommodates Cloth & Paper inserts which I am really into right now. The biggest downsides I anticipate are: 1-the size (I hear it is a very large agenda); 2- based on photos I've seen, some of the LV agendas don't lay flat (I'm hopeful the large one does); 3- it doesn't have business card slots, but I've ordered business card sleeves, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Over the next week or so, I will set up the new LV planner and do a blog post showing my set up.  I have ordered a bunch of materials from Cloth and Paper for this agenda: a week on two pages vertical layout inserts (this is my day to day planning tool for appointments); frosted plastic dividers for the 5-6 sections I use in a planner -- Cleaning, Letters to Write, Passwords, Blog Planning, Todo Templates; a few business card sleeves since the agenda doesn't have a place for business cards; a chic black folder to put at the front of the agenda for receipts and other pieces of random paper that need to be kept; a plastic sleeve for my various stickers, stamps and other planning tools; and two writing journals (one for business notes and the other for personal items). 
​Stay tuned to hear how it all comes together.