Little things that please are what makes life livable sometimes. These are a few of mine from the past week or so.
1. The Sales. Sometimes I don't bother with the sales. I'm not one to thrust in elbow to elbow with fellow shoppers and fight over bargains. Occasionally, though, the mood takes me. This is how the mood took me this week:
What we have is: Bedspread from Laura Ashely (half price), golden, silky, utterly glamorous. I adore it. Handbag, also from Laura Ashley. Reduced from £45 to £12 and big enough to carry my sandwich box to work and a lap-top should I ever get one. Two pairs of sandals from Clarks. I only bought two pairs of shoes. Brian bought three. Clarks love us. Really bright skirt and brown linen trousers from Monsoon. Utterly gorgeous. If the sun doesn't shine, at least I'll have that skirt to brighten my day!2. I saw it and I wanted it. This is a Ben the Bin as seen on Dragon's Den. "Give him your money", I yelled at the Dragons in the style of Bob Geldof. Thankfully they did and I got my Ben the Bin.
Why did I want one? I hate smelly kitchen bins, so we've always just used a supermarket bag, tossed in the bottom of the cupboard under the sink. The Ben the Bin holds the bag. Simples.3. Lauren Bag. I wanted one of these too. Available from Pipany.co.uk in various lovely fabrics, this one is called bubbles.
I was lucky enough to win mine in a Pipany giveaway and it is as fabulous as I'd anticipated. I have a huge collection of various types of re-usable bags, but this one is king (or should that be queen?) It is very lightweight when empty and folds up into my handbag. The two pockets on the outside are perfect for water bottles or suncream or other such things (and it's a good place to hide bars of Green & Blacks chocolate). There's a big pocket on the inside too, which is where I stowed all the important maps and instructions for our London trip. In the picture the bag has swallowed: a toy horse, a toy goat, three waterproof coats, a magazine, a paperback book, a large tub of popcorn, a camera, a packet of hula hoops, three muesli bars and The Observer. The straps are wide and comfortable and (most important of all) it doesn't fall off my shoulder and clonk my five-year-old on the head (another bag is guilty of that). I love it.
I was lucky enough to win mine in a Pipany giveaway and it is as fabulous as I'd anticipated. I have a huge collection of various types of re-usable bags, but this one is king (or should that be queen?) It is very lightweight when empty and folds up into my handbag. The two pockets on the outside are perfect for water bottles or suncream or other such things (and it's a good place to hide bars of Green & Blacks chocolate). There's a big pocket on the inside too, which is where I stowed all the important maps and instructions for our London trip. In the picture the bag has swallowed: a toy horse, a toy goat, three waterproof coats, a magazine, a paperback book, a large tub of popcorn, a camera, a packet of hula hoops, three muesli bars and The Observer. The straps are wide and comfortable and (most important of all) it doesn't fall off my shoulder and clonk my five-year-old on the head (another bag is guilty of that). I love it.
