You need a budget. Come on now, of course you do. We all do! If you are a long-time reader you will remember that I once wrote a blog post called On Money where I shared with you how I used to do my budgeting. Well, that post is no longer around. This new system is much better and I don’t want you to follow my old advice.
Enter: You Need A Budget.
The Bayswater is one of Mulberry’s most iconic bags. According to Mulberry it “is a timeless and classic style that celebrates the very best of understated and exquisite leather craft. It proudly features the signature postman’s lock closure, and has a soft, brushed interior, showcasing the exceptional level of leather quality”. Sounds good, right? I bought mine, a black buffalo leather version, in the summer of 2011 from Mulberry’s flagship store on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. It’s an investment piece, and if my calculations are right the price has increased by over 30% since 2011, so it’s even more of an investment if you were to buy one today. Which raises the question: is it worth it?
I recently mentioned that I had bought a new planner as a birthday present for myself, and here it is: a custom made leather planner from Van der Spek, a Dutch family company that makes and sells both ready-made and custom hand made leather goods. I discovered them through a Facebook group and fell completely head over heals for their planners, and in particular their ostrich-texture leather. I mean come on, look at that color! Teal ostrich? How completely ridiculous and beautiful is that? I have already told you all about my love for leather planners and I didn’t need a new planner at all, but it was my birthday and the stars aligned, and after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing I ended up ordering this little beauty.
Confession time: I didn’t give you the whole and complete truth back when I wrote On Depression: One Year Later. You see, there is one more thing I have done to slow things down and create some extra calm in my day-to-day life: I have taken up meditation.
Yup, I’m going to let that one sit there for a while.
Come on now, picture it. Me in the lotus position, in a meadow, surrounded by whale song and crystals and Enya, completely and blissfully free of thought. Pretty good, huh? Can’t you just picture it? Well, now you can erase that image from your mind because that is not what this is about at all. Nope. No whale song, no Enya, no crystals. Just me and my iPhone. Sorry to disappoint you.
I recently realized that I have never done a post about my skincare routine before. This is not really all that strange considering I have never been much into skincare in the past: I had a few products that did the trick – eye makeup remover, cleanser and moisturizer – and never really saw any point in advancing my routine any further. However, around this time last year I started using a brand new (for me) skin care range, and I also discovered a few other products that worked really well for me. I have noticed a massive difference in my skin, and now that I have used the same products regularly for nearly 12 months I thought it would be time to share!
A small disclaimer at first: What works for me might not necessarily work for you. My skin is very dry and sensitive, so someone with oily or combination skin will probably have different needs than mine.
After hearing rave reviews about the Paula’s Choice range of skin care products for what seems like forever – especially from the wonderful Maria – I finally got to test them out for myself when The Boyfriend bought me the Skin Recovery range (adlink) for my birthday back in October. I have never been a person who has fussed a lot with their skin care, and up until then I had been a three steps kind of girl: eye makeup remover, cleanser, moisturizer, done. I have very dry and sensitive skin, and have never been very prone to acne at all except for the occasional breakout around my chin, but I do suffer from dry patches as well as black spots on my nose. However, after hearing so many good things about these products I was ready to try a proper regime.
