One of the fun perks of writing this blog is that between all the recipes, recaps, and stories, I end up with a bit of a personal journal. Having been writing for almost three years now, it’s fun to look back and see what I was doing at this time back then…
On February 11th, 2008, I had just started blogging for the Cincinnati newspaper, and I was writing about training for my first marathon. In a post about my “favorite things” for running, I included Old Navy running shorts and Under Armour tech tees. Three years later and that is still my favorite running outfit!
By February 12th 2009, I was finished blogging for the newspaper and had started my own personal blog called Marathoning, Marrying, and Milestones. It was more for my family and friends than anything else, but even way back then, before the content was food focused, I was writing about oatmeal trying to convince people to eat like me.
Fast forward a year to February 13th, 2010, and my blog had changed names once again (to The Front Burner). I was living in Charlotte, North Carolina and woke up to a blanket of snow!
Sounds like I worked on school work all day with a snuggly pup under my desk…
Crazy to think that was just a year ago and I was still in school! This year, on February 13th, my blog once again has a new name (and definitely the last one) – Daily Garnish. And this year I live in Alexandria, Virginia! Our day was very relaxing and low key. We spent the morning working at home, running with the dogs, and then headed out to work around town this afternoon. But the point of all of this is not to relive my past Februarys, but to show you a new personal project I’ve taken on…
Casey and I went out to dinner on Friday night, to celebrate an exciting week (including the Recipage launch!). We headed to one of my favorite spots in Old Town, Pizza Paradiso, and when we got there we discovered there was a 15 minute wait. So we grabbed our buzzer and headed next door to one of my other favorite Old Town spots – Paper Source.
Paper Source is an amaaaaazing stationary store that has beautiful cards and gifts and other fun treasures. While we were browsing, I found this book “One Line a Day: A Five Year Memory Book.”
I’m keeping it on my bedside, and planning to write in it every night.
But it’s not like a normal diary – instead the concept is just as it is called, one line a day…
Each page has a date at the top, followed by room for five years of thoughts. I’ll start by filling out the first line (2011) for one year. Then next year, I’ll start over and fill out all of the second lines, and so on and so on.
Casey thinks it is crazy to make this long five-year commitment, but I think it’s really fun. It’s literally one sentence at the end of each day, and I like the idea of summing up a day with just a few words. It’s also fun for me to have a reflective place away from the Internet (even though I love you guys!).
For those of you who asked, it’s also available on Amazon! Has anyone else done a project like this? I wonder what my 24 year old self would have written today. I’m planning to carry this project out so that I will know for sure what my 34 year old self is thinking down the road…
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Having a personal journal is definitely one of my favorite things about blogging. That 5 year memory book looks like it needs a place in my life! :)
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Whoa! What a neat idea/project. Paper Source really is a bad place to “browse” as I always leave with something. It’s like whole foods, I could spend my pay check in there with no problem…
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Oh I saw a similar book on a Canadian wedding blogger’s site once and almost ordered it! Super fun that you found one in Old Town! I think it’s such a wonderful idea and way to look back.
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That sounds like a fabulous idea! Definitely a nice way to reflect about the day and to look back and see what changed over the years.
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I think this is wonderful. It may seem trite to sum up a whole day into one phrase, but I think that it could be cathartic. To be able to boil down one days’ experiences into one lesson might allow you to find value in an otherwise insignificant amount of time. You should congratulate your efforts every day, and this experience might make that easier.
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That is such a fantastic journal! I love the idea!
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I love that idea. I’ve tried journaling so many times, but I honestly don’t like to write. The idea of writing a single sentence is very doable & actually more interesting. Capturing the day in one perfect sentence is fun.
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What a really NEAT book! I would love that. I enjoy looking back and reflecting on how things change over the years.
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Squeee, I love that “journal”! I might have to go grab one for myself. I really love journaling, but I can’t seem to keep up with writing a ton.. one line a day is perfect!
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I have one of those About Me type books that I filled out when I was about 22. It’s so funny to see how I’ve changed in the past 10 years.
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I love the idea of that 5 year book! Where did you get it?
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chelsey @ clean eating chelsey Reply:
February 13th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Yup – I need to be a better reader. I just saw that you said where you got it from.
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Lili Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Hey Chelsey and Emily – I found it on Amazon as well. I just ordered this one for myself and another one for a friend called Q&A a day. They are similar though :)
Thanks Emily for sharing this idea!
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i definitely like the idea. i recently moved back home and was cleaning out old stuff. I found journals as far as 10 yrs back. It was so funny what my preteen/teen self thought was important back then. And still now. I don’t right very often but I find the stuff I took the time to write was stuff I needed to remember.
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I LOVE the idea of this :) And I think it’s an awesome project to begin! Even though I love writing on my blog, I also keep a private, paper journal for the more personal stuff ;)
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I think the journal is a great idea! One line is something that should be very manageable, and will mean so much several years from now! I might have to swing by Alexandria and pick up a book for myself. :)
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oooh I love this idea!! I think it is a wonderful thing to commit to.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by hungrybuds, Emily Malone. Emily Malone said: New post! Through the Years… http://goo.gl/fb/tQWXY [...]
What a cool journal. I love the idea of one line a day. I love journaling but it’s hard to keep up with. One line a day seems more manageable and it would still be fun to look back and read.
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I just bought one — what an awesome idea!! I love diaries but can never commit — I start one, then it gets lost. I love this idea.
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How interesting to look back. I have found, while writing a journal, that all I did was whine and complain. With the blog, I’m finding it much easier to focus on the fun and blessings in my life.
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I love the idea of that journal Emily! I have never done that, but I used to write in journals for years. My blog has become my journal now.
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I have this journal! I was pretty good writing in it when I first got it. I haven’t written in it for a while but I need to start! It’s such a fun idea. Have fun with yours :)
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I like that idea of the 5 year journal. Knowing myself, though, I probably wouldnt follow through with it everyday :)
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Oh my gosh, I have to find a journal like that!! I can’t even tell you how many journals I started that lasted for about a week…and then I’d rip out all of the pages and toss them (yeah, I’m weird like that). The one-liner is something I totally could keep up with, though!
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LOVE it!!! I kept a journal [which is so not like me] on our honeymoon..and it’s hilarious! There are so many things I wouldn’t remember if I didn’t write them down.
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What a great concept – I love Paper Source and always find something fun and different there :)
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What a great book! I’m gonna try to google search one for myself :P This is something totally up my alley!
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How cool! I love that book! :D Definitely a good way to reflect back down the road (besides your blog!)
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Wonderful idea. I absolutely love the concept. One line a day is a commitment that I could certainly make and keep. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Ummmm… am I really the first to notice your February 12 entry says new Lexus??? Go Emily! That’s just as exciting. ;-)
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Elisabeth Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 4:05 am
I agree! I’d love to get a Lexus, but I do love my Honda.
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Emily Malone Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:26 am
I had a hard time saying goodbye to our Honda – such a good car!
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Sophie Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:36 am
I have a Honda too and know I’ll feel the same way when I get a new car (if I ever get something than a Honda, that is)!
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Emily Malone Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:30 am
Haha YES! We actually traded in BOTH of our other cars to get one really nice car. We plan to keep it for a LONG time. :)
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This is one of the main reasons I started a blog. I wanted to be able to look back at my life like a journal. You’re so inspiring with all you’ve learned in the kitchen and make me feel hopefull I’ll get there one day.
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I just noticed that too! I’d feel pretty fancy driving a Lexus. :)
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Emily Malone Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:30 am
I feel ridiculously fancy! :) But I love it!
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What a great idea! I always find the idea of a full diary daunting but I could totally just write a sentence everyday.
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I have that journal! I bought it last March on my spring vacation to Arizona, and have faithfully written in it everyday. Some times I pick a theme for a month to concentrate on (things I’m thankful for; meals I ate, etc), but since it’s only a few lines, it’s easy to keep up with. And fun to look back and re-read entries! (isn’t that always the best part of journals anyway??)
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Emily Malone Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:29 am
Love the theme idea.
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I love that! Who makes it? I’d like to find it online.
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Susan Reply:
February 13th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Found it on Amazon.
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I love the idea of writing one sentence a day. I can imagine how great it will be to read back and see what’s happened over the next 5 years…pregnancy, babies? :)
I’ve only been blogging since last June, but I love the personal journal aspect to it.
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You are going to loveee looking back on it!
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That is a very cool idea. Ive always “wanted” to start a journal but havent ever. A oneliner should be a pretty easy commitment. Im going to see if I can find one online now. Good gift idea also.
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My mother-in-law does something similar…it’s pretty cool when she calls my husband and tells us that 4 years ago he called and told her he had a girlfriend, or that 2 years ago we were all enjoying a leisurely waffle breakfast at their house, etc. I’ve tried, but have never been fully committed–I’d love to to it when I have kids.
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I am highly visual and love pictures, so I’m actually super stoked about having a blog now to double as a journal… even 4 months in I like to look back at old posts! :)
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This is such a cool idea! I tried to do something similar with a regular notebook and stopped after a few weeks. I need a nifty pocket notebook like you have!
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I absolutely love the idea of the the One Line a Day book. I kept journals through all four years of high school and even part of college. When I recently went through some of those journals, it made me wish I had kept it up, but I feel like I just wouldn’t take the same time now. I love the idea of writing just one line a day – I want to find something like this!
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Love, love, love this! Thanks so much for posting Emily! :)
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Andrew (husband) and I do something similar, but the idea is to each write what we love most about the other person that day. Sometimes it’s specific, like “You always smell nice” or “You give great hugs,” but often it’s something about the day, instead, like “I loved spending the day working with you at the coffee shop” or “Thanks for letting me listen to my music in the car” or whatever.
We’ve been doing it since Thanksgiving of 2009, and it’s really fun to look back at our old journals and remember what we were doing when. Sappy? Definitely. But it’s also a great keepsake. I’ve always wanted to be a journaler, but I lack the dedication–one thing a day is much less pressure. Your journal sounds like JUST the thing!
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Emily Malone Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:28 am
I love that idea!!
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Erin Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Thanks! Sometimes, I like thinking about what our kids will think when/if they read them. (Especially on the nights when we praise each other’s…um…naughtier characteristics…) Might have to institute an age limit on this… ;)
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the 5 year diary put a huge smile on my face. my grandparents, both passed on years ago, but their 5 year diaries that they both kept for years and years remain…in my care. it is wonderful to read back over their years and feel like you were there with them…learning about what their lives were like…when i first inherited them, i read each and every one, including all their letter correspondence…enjoy your writing…your grandchildren may one day love reading about your day to day life as much as i love reading about theirs…
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Emily Malone Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:28 am
That is AWESOME. :)
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My first diary ever was a 5 year diary, really similar to that. I was 10, and I barely wrote in it at all – I still have it, but haven’t looked at it in years. I have, however, been writing journals every year for years though. I use engagement calendars and write about the previous day every morning. Plus I keep a private journal online at LiveJournal. Writing is a compulsion.
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I have a book just like it! I have a large journal that starts in 2010 and goes until 2020 and I write in what happened every day. It’ll be neat to see each day in a 10 year span. Hopefully I can keep up with writing in it! :-)
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I LOVE PAPERSOURCE. One of my favorite shops too! It’s funny because I actually saw that book there yesterday, and thought “wow what a great idea.. huge commitment though. I probably wouldn’t even make it past a few weeks.”
Maybe your post is a sign, so I think I will give it a go and pick it up!
Thanks for the inspiration!
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i haven’t done anything like that, but it seems like a great idea and will be great to look back on:)
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I got a journal for my birthday this year and I hadn’t thought of what to do with it. I think I’m going to use the book idea. It sounds like something that would be very enlightening. I’m not sure what 30 year old me would have said.
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i love the idea of the 5 year memory book! i’ve heard of the one line journal before – i think gretchen rubin talks about it on her blog (the happiness project). the one sentence a day is such a small commitment that i think anyone could do it.
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I think it’s a great idea! Have fun with it!
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My great grandmother used to have one of those books, and I found it after she died. I love reading it! That would be so neat to pass on to your children :)
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that’s a great project. i might just do that in a blank notebook. :)
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Yup! I’ve been filling out mine for just over three years now, so it’s weird seeing the blank space on each page get shorter and shorter, and to think that five years would have passed, just like that, even though so much would have happened and changed. Because we still know we’re the same person, even though we’re not exactly the same person… =)
It’ll be an exciting journey, Emily! Have fun! Swap ink colors, draw doodles, throw in stickers if you have room…
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Emily Malone Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:27 am
Love that you have it too!
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i love that idea! i need to go fine me a journal like that!
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oooh! cool idea! And CONGRATS on your new car (i know. i feel ashamed that i read your entry…)!
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Emily Malone Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:26 am
Haha THANKS!
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Those books are so special! My grandma gave me one once:)
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What an awesome book! I think it is wonderful to have a record like that – I know there are some things that maybe I don’t want to share with the entire world, and that would be the perfect place to do it.
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Love this idea! Whenever I find old journals, I love seeing how delusional my younger self was :) It’s always so entertaining.
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Emily Malone Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:26 am
Totally agree. My journals from high school are actually SCARY.
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I love that blogging is a journal to look back on. I have always loved journaling, I never tend to stick with it for long but I am constantly starting new ones- I have tons from when I was younger! It’s so fun to look back on :)
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I had something like that when I was in elementary and middle school. It wasn’t labeled “a line a day” though, and goodness knows I had no idea what to do with it. I still have it and it’s pretty funny to go through and look at what I wrote down at random points. Strange dreams I had (a lion on the playground!) and plenty of stuff about boys. Funny.
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I’ve seen these in catalogs and I was just about to order one this week…how strange you should mention it. There’s a very interesting book called The Red Leather Journal by Lily Koppel that you might enjoy. The journal is like this one and it’s a fascinating story. Thanks for encouraging me to send in my order!
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This is such a fun idea! I’ve tried to keep a journal a few times in the past and always failed miserably after a week. I just can’t keep it up. But one line a night? I might be able to do that.
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I totally love this idea! I want to do it – but I am horribly at journals – somehow the difference between typing and writing is HUGE for me!
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What a cool journal! That would be a great thing to pass on to a child too! Gonna have to check that out :)
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I love that journal idea! It would make a neat gift too! I wonder if it comes in red? :)
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Ohhh…I really like this journal. One line a day isn’t too difficult and I have been wanting to keep a journal for a while. LOOOVE Paper Source, and all card stores for that matter!
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I think that’s an amazing idea! I actually started to do something like this last month, but I am typing it in a Word document. I love looking back at my journals from 10-15 years ago and seeing where I was at that time.
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I saw this recently on a blog and I immediately bookmarked it. I just love this idea. I keep my old day planners to look back to see what I was doing in years past, but this is such a better way of doing things!
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I think it’s a really cute idea…5 years is a long time though and I think that at the end of 5 years, you may not even remember what your one line refers to. I think a few lines or a paragraph would be a little better :)
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great idea for writing in the book, I journal daily and that would be a neat kind to do!
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I have this same journal!!! My Mom and I both saw them in the Pottery Barn catalogue. I saw she had that page bookmarked (I had looked at it earlier and was going to order it), and I asked her what on that page she was looking at and sure enough, she wanted the 5-year journal, too. So, she bought it for both of us (me for my b-day in December), and I have been using it since January 1, 2011. I LOVE it and I love the idea of it. I tend to write a lot, so it is a challenge not only to write something daily, but to also be concise about it. So cool you have the same thing!!
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This used to be called a “Five Year Diary”. I still have one that my mom completed from 1946-1950. These are the years she was in college.. dating, getting married, knitting argyle socks for her beaus (can you imagine???) and such. I treasure having a glimpse at what her late teens / 20s were like in little snapshots (just a few phrases each day). EVERYONE should do this, even when it feels like you have nothing to write about!
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A friend of mine inspired me to start a “Things That Make Life Worth Living” journal (which, of course, I’ve slacked on) but for the first six months, it was pretty awesome to see what things stuck with you. I tried to be specific and was amazed to see how much beauty there was in the world.
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I’ve worked in two dog-friendly offices during my career thus far. I miss having pets at work!
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My friend just bought me a book like this for my bday….so much fun!
I also “gave tofu a chance”…and it was love at first bite…thank you so much! I love your blog!
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LOVE the idea of that book! I need to find one for myself!
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I love that idea! That book would make a great present also;)
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Great idea! I will have to look into it:) Thanks for sharing!
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I LOVE the journal! It’ll be fun to look back in five years and reflect on your daily thoughts. Very cool!
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I also love to read back in my blog and journals, it’s interesting how much we grow through the years.
My mom actually has a very similar book only it is a bit bigger and holds space for 10 years! I thought she was crazy when she and her friend started it, but she has stuck with it for over three years now.
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They have a journal like this for the 1st 5 years of your baby’s life too – great concept! I discovered it at one of the cute little shops near Busboys in Shirlington.
http://www.amazon.com/Moms-One-Line-Day-Five-Year/dp/0811874907/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1297766898&sr=8-2
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I think that one line a day book is totally awesome! To sum your day up in once sentence may be hard to do but just think of how fun it is going to be to read thru that when the 5 years is up!
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I just bought one from your store :) I’m so excited to get it.
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Love the idea of this book. I just bought 2 – one for myself and one for one of my best friends! Congrats on the car – so exciting!
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Love it! This is something I really need to start doing. My great-great grandfather actually did this for many years of his life. His father (my great-great-great grandfather) was the founder of Steinway Pianos, so his diary is actually quite a valuable piece of history- a great insight into the life of an entrepaneur turn of the century NYC. The Smithsonian actually just transcribed the every single volume (there were like, 10) and turned it into an exhibit in town. So hold onto it in case you get famous!
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Anna Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
PS please ignore the egregious mispelling of entrepreneur.
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I think there should be a sticker on the outside of your book saying: Warning! May be addictive.
I’ve been keeping a journal in those basic one-year date books since … well, forever. Each day gives me about enough space to write 4-5 sentences. I record the day’s highs (and lows) and I do it right before I go to bed every night. It’s relaxing and actually a lot of fun to read over entries years later. A perfect book of memories — enjoy!
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I love that journal idea so much, have already ordered one myself – very pleased they sell them on UK Amazon too!
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What a great post; I love this journal idea…so cute and it’s great to look back on year after year. I love your blog; have a great night.
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[...] I then wandered over to Barnes & Noble, where I invested in a five year journal, a la Daily Garnish. [...]
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