{"id":17044,"date":"2026-07-08T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=17044"},"modified":"2026-07-07T19:54:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:54:58","slug":"2026-mid-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2026-mid-year\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Mid-Year Check-In"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;re over halfway through 2026. How is this even possible? My year has been flying by, and mid-year snuck by me. But, better late than never, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I want to check in on more than just pens this year, but we&#8217;ll start there and then cover a few other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My pen goals for this year are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Add 30 pens max to my collection (including non-fountain pens and gifts).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Limit mainstream brand acquisitions to 14.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Save up for pens rather than buying on credit and paying them off.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>List all of my for-sale pens or consign them somewhere.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Evaluate my current collection for pens I can sell and list any that I identify as ready for new homes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use my pens more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And how am I doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far this year, I&#8217;ve added 17 pens to my collection, with 1 commission in the works. Interestingly, that puts me at exactly where I was <a href=\"\/blog\/2025-mid-year\/\">this time last year<\/a>. Which means, once again, I&#8217;m 2 pens over what I should have at this point, assuming half of my limit for half of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Type<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Jan<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Feb<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Mar<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Apr<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">May<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Jun<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Total<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>FP<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">1<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">0<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">8<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">0<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">1<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">3<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">13<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>BP\/RB<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">0<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">0<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">1<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">0<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">1<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">2<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">4<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Total<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">1<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">0<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">9<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">0<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">2<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">5<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">17<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of my acquisitions, in no particular order and with several instances of overlap:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1 was purchased last year, but attributed to the month it arrived,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 was a <a href=\"\/blog\/wish-list-jan-26\/\">wish list<\/a> commission,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>3 were gifts, one of which was completely unexpected,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>4 are indie-made,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 is from a small business,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>and 2 are new colorways of a pen I collect.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m not sure I&#8217;ll manage my majority indie-made pens goal, since I can only purchase 2 more mainstream brand pens. Then again, with some of my favorite brands raising their prices so much, maybe it won&#8217;t be that difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I thought I was doing alright with saving up for pens, but when I looked over exactly what I&#8217;ve purchased so far this year, I realized I&#8217;m not doing well with <em>that<\/em> goal, either. Although, most of the pens I bought then paid off were from BWIPS, so maybe it isn&#8217;t that bad?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve succeeded in making my pens available for sale. They are consigned with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/happyhourpensandgifts\">Happy Hour Pens and Gifts<\/a>. You can see what&#8217;s for sale at the 3:10 mark (about halfway through) of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZL2f3jTa7Z\/\">this video<\/a>. Currently, they&#8217;re available at pen shows, but I&#8217;m sure if you reach out, Adam will be happy to give you information about what pens are still available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have yet to review my current collection for additional pens to sell. I really need to work on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I <em>am<\/em> however, using my pens more, mainly in my doodle book, but I&#8217;m trying to write more, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ink<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My ink goals for the year are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Don&#8217;t buy any bottles without trying a sample first, or at least seeing a swatch in person when it\u2019s not possible to get a sample.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Don&#8217;t buy any inks that are similar to those I already own.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Compare more inks to weed out everything that is too similar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use every &#8220;for use&#8221; sample at least once.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve done better this year with inks. I&#8217;ve only acquired 14 bottles of ink \u2014 <em>only<\/em>, that&#8217;s still too many \u2014 to last year&#8217;s 26. However, I&#8217;ve purchased 9 of them without seeing a swatch in person or buying a sample. To be fair to myself, though, 5 of those inks were exclusives where I wouldn&#8217;t have been able to see a swatch, and 7 of them could not have been sampled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, only one ink I purchased turned out to be similar to one I already owned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of my comparison goal, I&#8217;m doing better at using my ink samples. So far, I&#8217;ve used 29 different samples \u2014 of 109 \u2014 and have relegated 10 to the &#8220;for dupes&#8221; bins. I&#8217;m not sure the 109 is correct, I need to double-check my inventory. I&#8217;ve completed 15 comparisons, which, surprisingly, didn&#8217;t result in any ink bottles leaving my collection. I&#8217;m planning additional comparisons, though, and I have a zentangle\/doodle notebook that I&#8217;m using to better &#8220;learn&#8221; my inks and get rid of any I don&#8217;t love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wish List<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve basically ignored my wish list so far this year. The ideas are still there, but, other than getting one of my commissions \u2014 I think the other will be ready soon \u2014 I haven&#8217;t checked anything off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Paper<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I finally used up the last of my Franklin-Christophe Firma Flex paper \u2014 I&#8217;d cut apart my last journal to use the paper in my binders. I&#8217;m also slowly working my way through the Maruman Giuris paper I have. I&#8217;m 99% certain that once I&#8217;m out of my massive stock of paper, I&#8217;ll just stick with Muji paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve been finding uses for my M5 notebooks, so I&#8217;m actually working my way through some of the extra paper I have for those.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My journaling use has been going OK, though still not as regular or as useful as I&#8217;d like. I think part of that is that I always feel like I need about 30 hours in a day to get everything done. Maybe someday I&#8217;ll feel like I&#8217;ve caught up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I definitely feel like I&#8217;m, overall, doing better this year than last year, but also that I could still be doing better. Let&#8217;s see how the second half of the year goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How have you been doing with your stationery goals this year? Let me know in the comments! I&#8217;d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks for reading to the end, I hope you enjoyed my post. Make sure to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.us16.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=d9c28d9c11226013eb8c0544e&amp;id=fb56c60d55\">subscribe to my blog<\/a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/randomly_._rachel\/\">follow me on Instagram<\/a>&nbsp;so you don\u2019t miss any posts. I generally post at least once a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the year more than half over, it\u2019s past time to check in on my various stationery resolutions and wish list. Find out how I&#8217;m doing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2026-mid-year\/\">Keep Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">2026 Mid-Year Check-In<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[54],"tags":[169],"class_list":["post-17044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fountain-pens","tag-retrospective","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/checkIn2023_featured.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Z77k-4qU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13189,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2024-mid-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":17044,"position":0},"title":"2024 Mid-Year Check-In","author":"Rachel","date":"July 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"With the year half over, It's time to check in on my continuing resolution to purchase no more than 36 pens this year. Find out how I'm doing.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Fountain Pens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/checkIn2023_featured.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2243,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/fp-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":17044,"position":1},"title":"Fountain Pen Series Wrap-Up","author":"Rachel","date":"October 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This is it for my fountain pen series. I've gathered links to every issue of the series into one, easy-to-share post. Enjoy!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Fountain Pens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fountain Pen 101: So you're interested in fountain pens?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wrapup-101.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wrapup-101.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wrapup-101.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10644,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/mid-year-check-in-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":17044,"position":2},"title":"2023 Mid-Year Check-In","author":"Rachel","date":"July 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"With the year half over, It's time to check in on my resolution to purchase no more than 36 pens this year. Find out how I'm doing.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Fountain Pens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/checkIn2023_featured.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15545,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2025-mid-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":17044,"position":3},"title":"2025 Mid-Year Check-In","author":"Rachel","date":"July 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"With the year half over, it\u2019s time to check in on my various purchasing resolutions and wish list. Find out how I'm doing.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Fountain Pens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/checkIn2023_featured.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1782,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/fp201-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":17044,"position":4},"title":"Fountain Pen 201: Indie Pen Makers","author":"Rachel","date":"August 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome back to Fountain Pen 201. This issue I cover indie pen makers. I've also included a list of indie makers I know about.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Fountain Pens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My Pen Collection","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/collectionStarred-300x176.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5723,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/fp-series-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":17044,"position":5},"title":"Fountain Pen Series + Updates","author":"Rachel","date":"November 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I finished my last Fountain Pen series post in October of 2018, I've written several updates. So, I've gathered links to them all into one, easy-to-share post. 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