What's In My Bag: The Cambridge Satchel Edition

The Cambridge Satchel is the new addition to my weekend wardrobe as I have been looking for something a little smaller and more casual than the Michael Kors suitcase that I lug around during the week. It took a little while to arrive but I am thrilled with my choice and have fallen instantly in love with the gorgeous colour, practical size and the quality of the bag.

This is the 13" Cambridge Blue satchel. 

It's not the most roomy of bags which means decanting and downsizing for those laid back weekend days where minimal make up and fuss are a must!

So the essentials that I carry around with me are:

• iPhone 5 in white with Accessorize case
• Ted Baker Elonka Wallet in gun metal.  I managed to pick this up in the sales after my last Ted Baker wallet gave up after 8 hard wearing years. It is large so takes up a lot of room in the bag but I can't be faffing with a separate wallet for weekends as well! Plus it's silver and shiny *heart eyed emoticon*. 
• Teal notebook from Paperchase. God knows I do not need another notebook but this is a handy size, a pretty colour and was in the sale.  This lets me jot down any little random thoughts that I think deserve pen and paper rather than a digital life. 
• Ray Ban sunglasses because I am the eternal optimist that the sun might just come out!

As it is the weekend I try to wear a slightly paired back make up look. This little silver bag from a Xmas hair gift set a number of years ago gets a de-clutter to face the weekend. No where near full on a Saturday and Sunday it squashes down to fit in the bag before being ceremoniously refilled on a Sunday night before the Monday morning commute / train make up scenario happens again.

 My weekend essentials include:

• Mini Hairbrush for on the go grooming
• Hair band and grips
• Hand Sanitiser
• L'Occatine hand cream
• Nivea Hydra Care Lip Balm - I brought this after watching this Lisa Eldridge beauty solutions video
• Benefit lip gloss in 'nudie-tude'
• Rimmel mositure renew lipstick in 'To Nude Or Not To Nude'
• KIKO natural concealer in shade 2
• Calvin Klein Euphoria roller ball perfume

As I said I like to keep the weekend edit as minimal as possible but I am still covered for almost all eventualities with this selection whether it be a trip to the cinema, meeting friends for coffee or shopping. 

I love reading 'What's in my bag posts' so please link yours in the comments below so that I can have a good nose and I will also plan a week day edition. 

The Lovely Lady Lena

I haven't been living in Bristol a long time and can probably count my friends on one hand so I was thrilled to be invited to a new chums hen party. I was even more excited when she said it would be in Bath which is fast becoming one of my most favourite places ever!

It was such a special day with an intimate crowd determined to let this bride to be enjoy her last day (well almost) of freedom in style. The maid of honour booked us on a river cruise that was just a little bit special so I wanted to share. 

 From Bath Top Lock we were met by the most beautiful boat, with its blue and white awning, carpet and crystal glassware. This little boat has serious character. Owned by Jenks and Helen who have lovingly restored her to her former glory she effortlessly glides between Bath and Bathampton along the Kennet and Avon canal. 

 

A pop of the champagne cork and we were off. Treated to wild life, a fine cream tea and many a stag party easing their way into the morning and heading to their next watering hole.

  Helen was a wonderful host, and the couple are clearly well thought of along the water way stopping to grab teas from a floating café and waving at many a boat owner. 

We gentley chugged our way along, enjoying the scenery, the sun and the hen party goodie bags. Helen told us the story of the Lady Lena and the times they have had on it. Of course we wanted to hear about the proposals and the one that got a 'no' - awkward on a 2 hour boat ride!

This couldn't be a more perfect treat for a blushing bride and her hens particularly if you are serious about vintage style. 

After leaving the boat we headed to the Thermae Bath Spa to relax a little more before our night out. No pictures allowed in there I'm afraid but I'm happy to report it was as wonderful as ever. 

Have you been to a hen do in Bristol and Bath? What did you do? 

Stationery Love - Moleskine Passion Journal

I love stationery. There isn't much that I don't love about it to be honest, but its mainly the promise those empty pages give, the organisational possibilities and sometimes just how god damn pretty it all is! I totally geeked out when I saw the passions collection from moleskine and so may have gone a little crazy with an Amazon order.

My first choice was the Wellness Journal. I actually first saw this on Rachel's blog, Notes From My Closet and knew that I might have to get a sneakly purchase in.

Like all moleskines this is covered in a (faux??) leather black casing, but this series are embossed with images that match their purpose. So the wellness journal has people in various athletic poses. It has an elastic strap around it, to hold everything in place, and 3 different coloured ribbons (grey, charcoal and black) so that you can mark 3 different pages (very handy).

The journal starts with some basic info, such as conversion charts for sizes, seasonal foods and a list of basic foods along with their nutritional information, which are a useful reference. The smooth off-white pages are then pre-tabbed into different sections, such as Personal Goals, Diet and Exercise Log. These sections have pages printed, to help you record the information in the best possible way.

I have used the diet pages (blank pictured below) to create daily meal plans. There are not enough pages for you to really use it as a food diary long term, but I thought creating 'perfect' days and meal ideas would be a useful reference for those days when I'm getting a total food blank.

The exercise log would be fantastic to use if you had a particular goal in mind e.g. a certain length of run or the ability to lift a certain amount of weight. Marking down every run or little work out, would over time allow you to reflect on just how far you have come.

After the 6 tabs, there are a further 6 blank tabs with relatively standard pages; some blank and some in empty tables. The back wallet (a standard feature of all moleskine notebooks) contains some stickers that give you some ideas about what you might want to record in these sections, such as inspirations, challenges and meals. I have actually created a section called meals, as I think this will be a good place to actually write out whole meals with ingredients, instructions and nutritional information. I have then cross referenced my food plan days with the meals in these sections.

The notebook also comes with a set of grey and green stickers, that you can use to highlight your notes. Who doesn't love a sticker!

My second notebook from the passions collection is the book journal. You may recall that I have set myself a challenge of reading more in 2013 (not going too well), and I thought this would be a great way of recording all those great stories.

This would be a great gift for any book-worm, and once again has those lovely smooth moleskine pages, ribbons, and handy wallet at the back (which I have photographed below). It also has the colourful stickers to help you take notice of certain pages or notes.

The notebook contains a tabbed A-Z index, and it is up to you whether you record your reads by title or author. Each page contains a dedicated space for you to write your favourite quotes and your opinion on the book as well as how you rate it out of 5.

After the Z, there are again 6 tabs with blank pages for you fill with whatever musings take your fancy. Once again, there are some stickers with suggestions, and I have created a section to record the names of my favourite books, the books that we have read and are going to read at book club and my 'To Read' list. I'm sure that I will think of a use for the other 3 sections as time goes on. I really do love this little book and can't wait to get it filled in.

I brought these journals from Amazon for about £12 each, and there is a huge variety including a fashion and style journal and recipe journal that might also interest other bloggers. Have you got a passions journal and do you use it? Are there any other companies out there that have things like this?