Calling all bag ladies.....

We have donated a Lifetime Membership. It looks like a fabulous evening..... xx.

An update

Loved the Christening, well, the whole weekend. It was SO romantic. The Christening was at Warsash, near Southampton, which is where I met James way back in 1994. So it was lovely to go back, with our brood, to show them and to dine at the Rising Sun, looking out over the Solent.
The Christening itself was great, too, and they are such wonderful friends of ours.
Aah bliss.
Though I can hear you dozing off now, so I'll get onto the bit you actually care about.... I took the Gucci twins with me, the two Hysteria bags from our Collection. The big, softie that is the Gucci Hysteria was my day bag, and a good job too, as it housed about 5 phones, a camera, spare batteries for aforementioned camera as they last a nanosecond, enough patch-it-up make-up to carry me through, 3 DS lites, one set of silver engraved cufflinks (boxed and wrapped) and the card to go with them, one cardigan and a weird assortment of shells, collected from the foreshore and one of which still contained a cockle, though that was of course removed before it started to whiff! Anyway, in the evening, I traded her in for her little sister, the Hysteria Clutch, which again was much-admired and subject to plenty of admiring strokes from various other guests.
I do love the Hysteria Clutch as it's got plenty of room inside, yet to the outside world it's a clutch and therefore only for minimalistas. Also, it's one that I saw in the ad campaigns and just knew we had to have for the site.

Once we got home, I had a yearning for a piece of English countryside amd I opted for our new Mulberry Roxanne. This roomy A4 was fabulous, really hitting the spot for a day bag. Every single rivet has the Mulberry logo on, it really is delightfully made with so much attention to detail. I was just thinking I'll keep a hold of this one for a while and then an exciting enquiry put paid to my plans. Ah well, ees no problem, back to the drawing board.... Look out for Roxanne, but that's all I can say for now. XX.

Time to move on....

All good things must come to an end and now I think it's time to say goodbye to the beautiful shiny mushroom that is the Chloe Bay. We have had a glorious time together and the cavernous size is very easy to get used to, but now I am going to have a go at down-sizing. There's something about having plenty of room that just makes me feel I have to fill it up to the top, using every last mm of space....

Anyway, the Bay has turned lots of heads with its pure designer splendour. It is so obviously an expensive bag, the quality is blatant. I was in M&S last week and this lady just came over and touched it, not in a I'm-going-to-steal-your-bag-and-then-your-identity kind of a way (yes, I do still watch far too much TV) but in a OH-is-that-a-Chloe-Bay-I-just-have-to-have-a-closer-look kind of a way. There have also been a few men who have approached me, saying "I know I should recognise it, but what is that....?" Resisting the urge to tease them and actually being quietly impressed (hiding it well, of course), I answered "It's a Chloe...." which meant nothing to them, actually. One guy even rang a female colleague, obviously a bag fan, who confirmed that a Chloe is something worthy of swooning over.

So now, time for me to minimise. I'm not really sure so I'm going off for a browse. We're off to a Christening on Sunday, so I'm after something suitable for a journey and an occasion. Maybe a mid-size bag.

I'll let you know.....

Jo XX.

CBay

Still loving it. The keenly-eyed amongst you will see it's no longer a Featured Product. That's because I might find it a bit hard to give this one up....
XX.

Welcome back, Surralan....

Oh, I'm so delighted The Apprentice will be back with us soon. I'll be stuck in a hotel room on my own doing a heap of paperwork, so I will be able to watch without distraction.....

Anyway, how did I get on with the Louis Vuitton Batignolles? Well, for a weekend bag it was lovely. It's small-to-medium size, so I only transferred the essentials - all my weekday essentials just wouldn't have fitted. I do kind of enjoy minimising at the weekend, though, having a decluttered handbag helps me to feel somewhat liberated!

I admit to a twinge of delight when I was paying for fuel and lady, who had just filled up her shiny blue convertible CLK, me gave that look of "aah, Louis Vuitton....nice....." and I did enjoy the open-top style of the bag, allowing me to fling my purse back in and flounce out to the forecourt. Of course, this isn't very secure and so it's not the bag of choice for an Oliver Twist Area and I wouldn't use it on the tube. For that I'd go for the Speedy, especially with its natty little matching padlock.

So, now I've moved on. I'm "testing" the Chloe Bay now. I'm already pretty obsessed with it actually, it's incredibly practical and I've got SO much stuff in there! I love the fact that the patent leather is virtually bulletproof and the mushroom colour works fabulously with my favourite Spring jacket. The Bay is one of our Featured Products at the moment, which of course I have done on purpose to assuage my guilt. A guilty pleasure, "testing" these beauties!

BFN - ooh, that reminds me - is it the last Paris Hilton's BBF this week?! Can't believe Flick didn't make it to the final....
Love,
Jo. XX.

Tittle Tattle on Twitter

Not one to have any willpower when it comes to getting sucked into fads, and certainly not ones that a host of celebrities are also into, I've given in without a fight and signed up to Twitter. So do have a look if you are a Twit too! I'm in as JOatHHHQ. See you there!

Now, on to more serious business. It's Friday today and in my world, Friday has always been Funday, so time to select a bag for the weekend. At the moment it's a choice between the MJ Palais Gray (we all need a little Marc Jacobs in our lives), the fabulously frivolous and shiny Gucci Hysteria or a neatly chic Louis Vuitton. Ah decisions, decisions.

Let's face it, they all have their attributes, but as I type I'm edging towards the traditional elegance of the Batignolles. Though the Gucci did just smile at me, I swear.....

I'm off to transfer my handbag-innards before I change my mind. Have an amazing weekend everyone,
Love,
Jo. XX.

Our Shiny Dior

This weekend I've been um.... "trying out" our smaller Dior Cannage, the black vinyl version. It's totally user friendly - the long, thick leather strap is also the drawstring on the bag - such a simple idea and so chicly done.
I love a bag that you can open up and delve into - my life is hectic enough without having to spend ages digging about in the murky depths. The Cannage opens right up, so you get to see everything inside.... perfectly practical.
The dangly D is pure Dior and the aged silvery metalware compliments the black vinyl and matt leather.

So, that's a glowing report for the shiny one. I've been a bit of a handbag-harlot this week actually, bouncing around from one to the next. It has been half-term, so the Mini Mees and I have sampled the delights of various child-friendly haunts. A Fendi on Monday, Gucci Tuesday with a Fendi in the evening to celebrate James' birthday, Marc Jacobs on my shoulder on Weds, I went a bit racy on Thurs and went for the zebra-print Ri2K, then Friday the Small Cannage beckoned. You know, sometimes this job really sucks....

So, that's me and my update for now, except to say we've had a couple of notable bits of press: an interview and photo in Management Today and we were on page 3 of Saturday 21st February's Financial Times. No lewd jokes about FINALLY making it to page 3 purlease!!

James is also being interviewed about life with a Cougar! More on that later....

Bye everyone, happy browsing,
Love,
Jo. XX.