I love to get planners with pretty covers. The one where the whole month is laid out in front of you and you have a few other pages to write more notes in. I also use them similar to journals. I can go back and see why I had to change plans. I have to have a pretty pen, doesn't need to be expensive but pretty and feels good in the hand. I get the 'Lil Fat Notebooks" also. I go through those a lot. Funny too, I get either purple, pink or a magenta (line). I use pencil also in my calendar/planner.