BACK TO SCHOOL SUPPLIES

I go back to school in about two weeks. I've always been one who loved going to school... especially when it comes time to shop for new school supplies! I get excited being around so many choices of pens, highlighters, clips, and notebooks! :) See, I'm a TRUE NERD! Hehehe. I believe we should surround ourselves with pretty yet functional things. We're going to be using our school supplies constantly, so why not choose the colorful versions you like instead of the drab, boring default? Buy your school supplies in the colors, patterns, textures, designs you LIKE looking at! Make it all pleasing to the eyes! :) For example: Instead of getting a standard, solid-colored laptop skin, get a skin that's totally, uniquely you! Mine is pink with a flowery stencil design. My sweet boyfriend chose it for me (he bought me my laptop as an early Christmas gift... several, several months early!). And now I love the color pink even more! :) I always tell him that he got me flowers that won't wilt or die! He's very practical that way! :P Instead of getting a generic pencil, get a pencil with cool designs or awesome sayings or with a sweet smelling eraser and a colorful grip to help keep callouses away. The options are endless! You don't have to opt for the classic No. 2 style. Here are some fun ones! Instead of the commonplace, bright yellow Post-It note, get multicolored Post-It notes, so it never gets boring! My boyfriend bought me a whole box of different colored Post-It notes from Office Max when they were having a huge sale. Needless to say, I think I'm well stocked on the Post-It notes department for the next decade or so! :) See what I mean? Shopping for school supplies can be loads of fun! :)

Here are some links to awesome school supplies sales going on right now:

• Staples
• Office Max
• CVS

The three school supplies I can't live without (if you were to ask!):

1. SCOTCH TAPE I tape a piece of steno paper together during my practice sessions and just let the steno paper run over and over again. This eliminates my need to buy new steno paper dramatically (my school sells steno paper for $1 a pad)! It's such the frugal, practical thing to do! 2. ROLLER I can't get along anywhere without my roller that carries my steno machine, laptop, books, folders, extension cords, mouse, and other little school stuff. (I need to tell you about the great deal my boyfriend got when he bought me my new roller... but that's for another post! So stay tuned!) 3. BINDER CLIPS I use binder clips to hold together steno paper for various reasons, whether they're for a test, assignment, or to just read through later. I also use binder clips as bookmarks in the various notebooks and textbooks I have. It's a great way to separate pages in a book, so you can get to your spot easily and quickly. And I always get the colorful binder clips. No more boring black stuff for me! I get enough of that at my law office! :P Speaking of binder clips, I couldn't resist to share this with you! This dress is made COMPLETELY of binder clips!!! Very vogue, isn't it??? Umm, I think not!!! :P What are your three can't-live-a-day-without school steno supplies? I would love to see what your lists look like! Lastly, I recently bought a DYMO label maker for about $20, and I really need to get crackin' on labeling EVERYTHING with it! You know how it is in school. EVERY steno machine looks JUST LIKE THE NEXT! Unless, of course, you label your stuff -- steno machine, laptop, flash drives, coffee mug, backpack, lunch pail, and all the rest -- with your wonderful name and "Don't Touch Or Else" warning! I really encourage you to label all your things either with a label maker or the good old Sharpie pen. Marking our territory, so no one hopefully steals our stuff or even by mistake takes off with our stuff, is one of the more essential school items. I hope this post was full of great info for you! Happy school shopping, fellow steno students! Countdown till school begins yet again! I can hardly wait! WOO HOO! :)