Today’s guest post from Serena of The Everyday Minimalist is part of Simple Black Coffee’s Favorite Things series. Submit your story to share.

When Craig asked me to list ONE favourite item, I think I might have had an “oh HELL no” moment, because I was pretty sure I couldn’t pick just one item.

True to form, I didn’t and here are my five favourite items

#1 – IPOD TOUCH & THE AWESOME NOTES APP

I absolutely cannot live without a personal data assistant (PDA).

When I was a little girl I had a paper organizer that I would spend hours writing out my friend’s telephone numbers in neat printed block letters, and fill up my calendar with important little girl things such as remembering to pester my parents for an electronic PDA.

I’m using an iPod Touch as my PDA, and the #1 application on there for me is the gorgeous AwesomeNotes Application which I use religiously.

I put everything on the iPod Touch, from Tasks to Appointments to Recipes to Notes and I’ve even started listing what’s in my wardrobe in photos! It is my time for when I cook, my alarm clock, a calculator on-the-go, a library of e-books and a great calculator for when I am comparing prices in stores or trying to figure out the tip.

Without my digital assistant, I can still remember a good chunk of what I have to get done, but the human brain (especially mine) can only hold so much, and pieces of hastily scribbled-upon paper get destroyed or lost when left in my hands.

If I don’t record it, there is an 80% chance I will remember, but that isn’t good enough.

#2 – USB DATA STORAGE DEVICES

I’m not sure if you know how much of a data hog I am, but let’s just say a girl doesn’t earn that title lightly without owning 8 external hard drives and 5 USB keys.

My most important USB keys are the ones that hold my life’s documents.

I store my filing cabinet of documents on my USB keys, holding about 60lbs worth of information from when I sat down and powered through scanning each and every paper document I had.

Since I travel so much, carrying a filing cabinet was not an option (plus, your back hurts).

Now I have everything backed up twice on my USB keys, and whenever I need to see or print something, I fire up my USB key and print the electronic version.

As for my other USB keys, they are for transferring data at work, at home or to back up my other information such as my blogs or my photographs.

As for the other storage devices, let’s just say I back everything up at least twice, and I haven’t lost a file I couldn’t recover since 1998.

#3 – EARMUFFS

This is a very odd thing to have on a list, but I have a love for these silly things called earmuffs.

In -30 degrees Celsius weather, with a high windchill, they are a must-have in Canada, at least for me.

Hats and headbands have never fit on my oddly shaped head, and all I really want to protect are my ears, anyway.

I see people walking around with frozen, pink ears and I think — why? For the love of all things warm and snuggly, WHY?!

I feel like plopping my earmuffs on them to get them addicted to toasty ears, just so they can see what they’ve been missing.

(Side note: They’re faux fur, not real. I would have gotten ones without a furry look to them at all, but they didn’t feel as warm. Actually, I think they’ve recently gone from being tacky to being in style right now which is always a bonus.)

#4 – STARBUCKS TRAVEL MUG

If you’ve never put your hot beverage (or cold) in a Starbucks travel mug, you have no idea what you are missing.

Glass interior so the drink stays hot as lava but doesn’t make the cup too hot to hold with bare hands, a wonderful lid that tightens down and seals tight without ever spilling a single drop (not even when it’s jostling around in my bag!) and a good size to it to hold just the right amount of tea.

The best thing of all is that my tea stays warm for hours in this cup. I never have to worry about it going cold on me as I am sipping it half an hour later.

It is so coveted that my father stole my first one and used it for coffee, which of course, permeates and soaks into the entire cup and makes drinking tea in it after, absolutely unbearable.

I had to hunt down a second one and was in despair until I found its replica in Toronto.

(Side note: I don’t drink coffee, the high amount of caffeine in it makes me extremely sick, and please don’t trot out that myth about tea having more caffeine than coffee — it doesn’t. Google it. )

#5 – TIDE-TO-GO PEN

If you are as clumsy as I am, or surrounded by equally clumsy people, this stain removing pen is a saviour.

I’ve used it to pre-treat stains, remove stains on the spot, and even lend it out to colleagues in the office who don’t have their own Tide-to-Go pen and are desperately trying to blot out a stain on their shirt before a big meeting.

It works wonders to grease the wheel, because I wave it in their face like a carrot on a stick when I want something done.

I always carry one with me, I have one at work in my Office-To-Go bag, and one at home.

And that’s it. My 5 favourite things. I have more, but I think it might have been too much for one post in one day

Today’s guest post was written by Serena of The Everyday Minimalist. She also writes for Fabulously Broke in the City. Follow her on twitter @brokeinthecity.

The next Favorite Things post will be from Cheryl Breuer of Peculiar Girl.

Previous posts in the Favorite Things series:

Sharpie Pen by Craig Keirstead of Simple Black Coffee

Clothing by Joshua Millburn of The Minimalists

TUL Pen by Kevin Lemere of Ground Up Life

Evernote by David Damron of Life Excursion

Nothing by Dusti Arab of Minimalist Adventures

Chrome Shoes by Seth Werkheiser of The Bike Nerd

Work Boots by Andrew Odom of Tiny r(E)volution

Safety Razor by Bernie Mack of Get Off This Wheel