I suspect that this may well be the longest post I ever write in my life. It’s a review round-up! All of the items in this post have been sent to me, to review. And funnily enough, it’s mostly about bags. All sorts of different bags but nonetheless, bags….
First up, is this lush, lovely bag that I now can’t do without – it’s a silver bag from Mint Velvet. It costs £149, so it’s not the cheapest bag in the world, but nor is it Chanel. This bag has truly grown on me. Now, I love it. I take it everywhere. I’m regularly grateful for the zip on the inner of the bag – it keeps everything safe. I also realise though, that the cotton inner, is there to stop the bag itself wearing so quickly. The bag is made of some kind of very fine leather / suede and it rubs easily. The silver panels on the bag will not stay pristine for long either. Now to me, they are signs of use and love. But I’ve asked a couple of friends and they think it looks like a £20 bag at best. I’ll leave it to you to decide – for me, I love it. The handles take the strain for a macbook air, ipad, keyboard, cables, a couple of cans of Yoga Bunny from Pret and my Leucchtrumn1917 notebook and kit. So it’s holding up well so far. If it does give up the ghost I’ll come back and update this, as I do expect the bag to last quite some time given the price tag.
The bag went on holiday to Rhodes, has been to London, is used for work, and for play and for carrying everything when I’m doing post school stuff with the boys.
The second bag or rather bags I want to tell you about are these beauties from Trunki. We bought two gruffalo trunkies and they’ve been brilliant for the holidays we’ve used them on. They are good for going to Grandma and Grumpy’s house and even good for their first night away on their own, with Grandad, on a North Norfolk break a while ago. I think that E, who is now a very grown up 7 and a half, is getting a bit old for them now and the same could kind of apply to these Trunki bags. He felt they were silly, until his other friend – also named E, wanted to know if he could have one from us for Christmas. Now he’s more into his and uses it happily.
These bags are perfect for swimming. They really are – the small pouch for swimmers, ear plugs and googles, the zip to put your pound coin in, the inner material of the bags, the push through thingy to put your towel through and the hooks to hang them up. They are truly brilliant. Again, they aren’t cheap – think they are 25 or 29 each, but they are doing a great job. Our 6 year old is still very proud of his and wants to use it as a school bag. I’ve said no, as they are so good for the swimming stuff.
They get used at least 4 times a week, and we hang them with their school bags and kit on the hooks in the kitchen, ready to be re packed with fresh towels and kit after each swim. The photos below show us using them on different days of the week – some twerking, some on a Saturday – they’re in Kung Fu kit as we do that first, and then swimming and the other shows them hung up, ready to go. If you want to be cool Aunty, Uncle or someone who buys a present that can be used from 3 years onwards, to encourage independence, coolness and a passion for swimming lessons, then this is the ticket. Brilliant.
And finally, I know that I have mentioned this bag before, but seriously, this bag from baby mule is simply the coolest bag I’ve used for a long time. Thing is, that my family also likes it – Lovely Bloke uses it every weekend for the Kung Fu and swimming routine – his book, flask, ipads, snacks – everything goes in here. It’s brilliant. We used it on holiday in Rhodes and the inner sections were brilliant. Even though we don’t have babies any more, there’s a changing mat that we used for snacks and fruit, there’s a wet bag that was perfect for our bits and bobs and the changing uses of straps is just perfect. Brilliant. Fantabulous. Everything and more. Lovely Bloke uses it all the time. I love that he loves it so much. Just wish we’d known of it when we had babies!!!! It’s 89 and for the money, it’s worth every penny. I’ve had so many bags over the years, but this would have worked from day one – for me and Lovely Bloke and lasted us until now. This is the best baby changing bag I’ve ever tried, used or seen. It’s even better than my Skip Hop limited edition from New York – now that’s saying something.
So that’s me, bag lady extraordinaire, with my bag round up. I really quite fancy temporarily “loaning” one of the swim bags to take into London tomorrow – light, waterproof and interesting to use. Not sure it will fit in, but life’s too short for that, surely?
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