Coffee with The Plannerist

Zara jacket (similar)
Le Chateau top (c/o) (similar)
Paige jeans (c/o Shopbop)
Christian Louboutin heels
Celine bag
Keltie Leanne Designs ring (c/o)
Keltie Leanne Designs earrings (c/o)
Blacklist planner
Paper goods via The Plannerist
Location: Maison Marie – Paris, France

Social media never ceases to amaze me. We didn’t even have the internet at home until I was fifteen. (Before that, dial-up connections meant you could have the internet or the phone running, not both; in retrospect, I understand my parents’ decision to wait until better connections were available.) While my junior high friends chatted on MSN Messenger after school, I was left out of the loop. But I mostly didn’t mind, because MSN Messenger only really allowed me to talk to the same people I’d spent the whole day with. Fast forward a decade, and the landscape of internet communication had changed beyond my wildest imaginings. I started a blog and, suddenly, I was making genuine connections with people from all over the world via Twitter and Instagram.

Once upon a time, the internet was just another way to connect with people you already knew. Now, it’s the way I’ve made most of my friends in my adult left. One of those friends is Seheno. We first connected in our early blogging years, but then lost touch. We reconnected via Instagram and, when I was in Paris last year, decided to meet for coffee. The first coffee date with someone you only know online is a lot like a blind date. More often than not, the experience is a bit awkward – but occasionally, everything goes perfectly. With Seheno, I got lucky; we hit it off, despite having to change coffee shops almost immediately, and spent the whole afternoon laughing and chatting over lattes. I learned that she was starting a business, and I’ve been able to follow along over the past nine months as The Plannerist has evolved.

So, what is The Plannerist? It’s an online shop offering tools to keep you organised that are as lovely as they are functional … a community for lovers of paper products and people who want to show they mean business while maintaining their personal style … a small business in France, a country where it is notoriously difficult to start working independently. And it is run by a wonderfully creative, enterprising and funny woman I am so proud to support.

While we were in Paris, Seheno and I met up regularly at a variety of coffee shops. The morning these photos were snapped, we were chatting specifically about organisation; what’s on my desk (besides a mess…!), why I rely on the products I do (including my deep love of PaperMate 1.0 M blue pens) and how I stay organised. If you speak French, you can visit The Plannerist blog to read all about it.

I can’t imagine a life where I don’t write things down by hand, so pens and notepads are essentials for me. But not everyone is like that. So tell me – what’s on your desk?