Planner Layout + KSA Life Lately (aka: Trying to Get My Life Together, Again)

Sooooo… I’m really hoping January was just a trial month. You know, the “let’s see what works and what absolutely does not” kind of month. Because February? February is where I plan to be better at scheduling. No more last-minute deadline submissions (manifesting!!!), routine is back, fewer food takeouts and deliveries, less eating out, and no more skipping chores just because something is still clean-ish and technically okay anyway.

Lucky journaling with me

Also… I feel like I am way behind on blog posts. Like, embarrassingly behind.

And yes, I missed last week’s planner layout.

And actually… I kind of missed writing altogether.

For this week’s planner layout, I used Happy Planner’s Bookish Sticker Book, mostly because I really loved the Reading Journal I made last week (check it out here). This layout is also a little reminder to myself to keep reading this month, even though I’ve fallen deep into the rabbit hole of binging Chicago Fire on Prime. This feels very much like my Cold Case era all over again: finding a show I end up watching every single day. Haha. Hopefully this one ends better though.

I added sticker sentiments like:

“this life is good,” “you’re doing great babe,” “make life cozy,” “LOVE,” “you are magic” (twice), “you’re beautiful and intelligent,” “you are so great,” and “smile.”

And honestly? When I really thought about how all over the place I’ve been lately, I realized something surprising, I made 20 projects in one month.

Wait a minute… that’s actually not bad at all!

Maybe my scheduling is chaotic, but 20 projects is still a win.

Plus, for the past three weekends, we’ve been able to go out with friends too! So really, this is less about being unproductive and more about… time management that needs better time management. Haha.

So here we go, KSA Life Lately update!

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Projects I Somehow Managed to Finish (Despite Everything)

Over the last couple of weeks, here are the projects I crammed and finished:

• Miqueka Scrap “Maravillas” Collection Mini Album

  
  
  
  

  Maravillas means wonderful in Spanish, which makes total sense since it’s an Alice in Wonderland collection. I wasn’t 100% sold on the cover at first, but it really grew on me, and now I kind of love how this turned out.

• Printable, Cuttable, Creatables Waterfall Mini Album / Folio

  
  
  
  

  Simple, pretty, and just pink cuteness. Definitely one of those projects that sparks joy, especially for pink girlies like me! Read about this project more in PCC's blog, here.

• Traci Reed Designs Reading Journal (for myself!)

  
  
  

  And yes, I’ve actually started using it! I finished 4 books in January, which honestly surprised me. You can read about this project here.

• Bee Happy Weeklies – Week 1

  
  
  

  A Happy Planner Vision Board for 2026. Read about it here.

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Friends, Food, and a Mini Detour From Deadlines

Since my time management has been… questionable, instead of our usual weekend hangout in Dammam / Khobar, I invited our friends to Al Ahsa instead. A 4-hour drive is precious time I could use to catch up on deadlines.

What’s funny is that out of all of us, I was the most buried in work when they’re the ones with legit jobs. Hahaha.

We had brunch at Evoke Restaurant and Lounge, great food, great service, and a really nice discovery here in Al Ahsa.

We did all the touristy things:

• Al Qarah Mountain (aka Judas Caves) – supposedly where Judas hid after his betrayal. I want to make a separate post about this, so for now, here’s just a photo.

  
  
  
  

• Mount Shuba & the Hanging Bridge – and I finally crossed it fully. Third time’s the charm!

  
  
  
  

  This wasn’t originally part of the plan, but we finished early in Al Qarah. We skipped the Dates Festival (better in the evening anyway), got tired because… we’re old (hahahuhuh), and ended up at Half Lemon for food.

The hot soup was chef’s kiss after being out in the cold all day.

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More Projects. Because Why Not? 😂

The following week, I crammed even more projects:

• Polkadoodles Sliding Card

  Not published yet, so for now, here’s the colored digi stamp. This was another first for me, in terms of the mechanism, and I really love how it turned out.

  
  
  
  

• Kat Scrappiness Stamped Card

  All about cats, because obviously.

  
  
  

• Printable, Cuttable, Creatables 3-in-1 Gift Set

  
  
  
  

  I love love love this one! It includes a cute card, a personalized mug, and shrink plastic earrings. You can read about it here on PCC’s blog.

  
  

And somehow, at the 11th hour, I finished all four remaining Bee Happy Weeklies:

• Week 2 – Motivational Quote

  
  
  

  I wrote and drew on a canvas pouch using my Ohuhu Fabric Markers prize from Bee Happy’s Christmas party.

  Quote: “Your thoughts are colored by what you love, see, do, read, hear, feel, know, want.”

• Week 3 – Favorite Color

  
  
  
  

  A scrapbook layout all in pink featuring my KKK girlies—my favorite color + favorite people.

  This doubled as a Paige Evans Make With Me Monday project, and I even got a $10 voucher from it!

• Polkadoodles Mother’s Day Project

  Not published yet, so here’s a photo of me binding it using my rarely used thermal cinch.

  
  
  
  

• Week 4 – Traveler’s Notebook (Junk Keeper Edition)

  
  
  

  A TN not just for journaling, but for keeping junk! Pages with pockets and all. I’ll definitely make a separate post about this because it’s too cool not to.

• Week 5 – Mini Mini Album

  
  
  
  

  Still using PCC scraps (three projects in two weeks from the same papers—yaaay!). Plus, I finally used a Valentine’s sticker sheet I’ve been hoarding since the pandemic. 

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Weekend Crafting & Food (Because Balance)

Over the weekend, we visited a super cute crafting place in Khobar called Our Happy Place. Some friends made candles, while Ton and I made a mosaic frame and a coin bank. I’ll do a separate post about this too, but here’s a photo of our work area for now.

And of course… food photos:

• Lunch: Fatto, Al Khobar

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Dinner: Swiss Butter, Al Khobar

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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The end! haha!

Yes, I am absolutely cramming this post so it can go up on a Monday, and yes, I am determined to submit two projects due February 5 before the deadline because I’m officially turning over a new leaf 

Oh, and I’m also doing an unboxing of my 2nd and 3rd Cricut prizes from the past two weeks, so stay tuned for that too!

Here’s to February being a little more organized… but still creative