Update on Pens & Highlighters!

The old secretary desk

Growing up, I had a grandfather who was a college professor, and in his study, he had an antique Victorian secretary desk, which he kept closed most of the time. One of my favorite things to do at his house was to sit with him, look inside it, and play with his collection of pens and all sorts of fun office supplies - nifty gadgets, pencil sharpers with toys attached to them...  I think this sparked my interest in nice pens.  

I have always owned a couple of fountain pens and love to play with inks of different colors, but for everyday use, I like to have an assortment of affordable pens for school and note taking.  Using different colors while making notes on schoolwork helps me draw attention to different points I'm trying to make, and colors are fun!

A couple of years ago, I tested a bunch of pens and wrote a review, so I thought I should make a quick update since I discovered these pens on Amazon - Pentel Energel Deluxe pens.  I used them all year, and they are fantastic.  I now own every color with boxes of refills, so I never run out.  I really like both the bold and fine tip pens, though I have been favoring the fine tips (0.5mm) more lately.  These pens are smooth and comfortable. They write well without the need to apply much pressure at all.  I love the variety of bright, well saturated colors available.  Pentel liquid gel dries quickly, which is a nice thing, but it does not write well on glossy paper, and it is not waterproof.  There is a good sized window on the pen to see if the ink is running low.

I also switched my highlighters last Fall and now use these Stabilo highlighters.  I love them!  I bought this set last Fall, use them every day, and they are still as good as new.  Since buying these, I have found new uses for my highlighters.  They have been especially helpful with IEW's Fix It!  I use them every day, and the girls love seeing their pages light up with color.  They almost don't mind that they have some things to correct and more work to do because their papers are so colorful when I am done with them. :)