My Beautiful Butterfly filofax :-)

Hello Hello
I hope you have all had a wonderful week! I have been meaning to post about my other work filofax, my red pocket Butterfly for a while now and I apologise for only just getting around to doing it. Initially I had bought the Metropol pocket for this purpose as I didnt want to carry around my lovely Adelphi (see here) when I was attending meetings away from my office base, conferences, workshops or tutorials. However the fact that it was not leather annoyed me as I didnt think it looked professional enough (DH says I am such a snob). Also, the choice of raspberry was probably not the best for projecting seriousness! Anyways you will be happy to know that I have found another use for my Metropol so it wont be wasted. I will use it as an inspiration filofax and will definitely feature it at some point :-)

So back to the Butterfly filofax. This planner comes in just two colours red and pewter. I wasnt sure about the pewter so I went for the red on eBay and it was a steal at £24.99. It only came with a 2010 diary so I had to poach the one from the Metropol (I replaced the one in the Metropol with a pink week on 2 pages). I really like the raised butterfly design and actually when you order you never quite know where the butterfly motif will be placed. I was happy that mine was actually centrally positioned. It is made of Italian leather which is soft (but not as soft as the Chameleon previously described here) and I think it is a nice mix of girly and professionalism! It does not lie flat when opened but it does not close either so overall it works out ok.

The Butterfly has a nearly identical set up to my Adelphi. Here are some pics.....

Isnt the butterfly motif lovely? I bought the silver filofax pen from eBay as well. You can see there is also a little bit of the butterfly motif on the flap. The red is not too bright so it doesnt look garish.

Inside the front cover I keep the most recent train times for easy reference. I also have the assorted sticky notes from filofax.

This is a close up view of the sections which are
Diary (a week on 2 pages, my preferred diary format),
Notes (where I keep my log on details and some important phone numbers),
Information (which holds my travel list on to-do pages- this is extremely handy for conferences as I like to travel light and dont want to forget something like underwear or toothpaste! Trust me this has happened before. Sometimes you burn to learn),
Financial (where I jot down costs of train tickets, meals etc) and
Addresses (only important ones are kept here).

There is also a
STU index- which keeps my London Underground Map
VWX index- which holds my World Map
YZ index which holds my Map of the British Isles. I wasnt born in the UK and although I have lived here for 7 years my knowledge of geography here is still rather poor. Whenever I go somewhere new I find it on this map.

Travel list

London Underground Map

British Isles Map and back zipped pocket

For safekeeping I keep my receipts in the zipped back pocket and then transfer it to my Adelphi when I get back home. 

Exterior width pocket

I really love the exterior width pocket as it is so useful. I hold conference agendas here as well as maps that I have printed with directions from Google Maps. I would love to know which other filos came with this exterior pocket. Can anyone help?



Closed back view with bits of the butterfly motif.

So that is how I use my work/travel filofax. The pocket size makes it much more portable than the Adelphi when I am on the move. Also it means that there is usually more space in my bag to hold my iPad (described here and here). So why dont I just stick with the pocket for everything work related? Simply because I need a bigger space to write down everything about my appointments, and I have quite large handwriting. Also I jot down reminders and deadlines as well in my Adelphi and the pocket size is just too small for all of this. The Adelphi is more substantial and I guess it makes me feel more important! It is useful to have both and the set up works very well as it is quite easy to keep them both up to date! So I have never had a planner fail.

How do you use your pocket filofaxes? Is the pocket your favourite size? Have a lovely weekend :-)

Update 31/10/10 Yvotchka has posted on her pewter pocket Butterfly filofax see here.

Inspirational quotes: success

This quote by Amelia Earhart (American aviation pioneer and author)

Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take OFF! But if you don't have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.

Enjoy your Friday!

Fabulous Finds 3: The Make Lounge

Here is my 3rd feature on pink items that I own and love for Think Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Month (see previous posts here). Now I made a conscious decision to explore my creative side a while back and take up Scrapbooking (see an introduction to scrapbooking and one of my layouts in a beginner's guide). However before that I had also planned to learn to sew (my mum can sew curtains and bedsheets as well as crotchet) and so last year I asked DH to buy me a sewing machine as a birthday present/ Christmas gift. When I had announced this on facebook I received some very unhelpful responses such as 'what are you going to do with that girl' together with what I could only assume were fits of hysterical laughter! Who needs enemies with friends like that? Humph :-) But they were right. They knew me and knew I would not have any idea of what to do with a sewing machine! So the sewing machine (a Janome Decor Excel 5018 to be exact) languished for almost a full year under a table in my home office until I decided to book myself onto a beginner's sewing course.

With the help of the trusty internet and Google I came across this fabulous site called The Make Lounge (see here). They sold me on the offer of contemporary craft workshops with a social twist with an invitation to

-Learn a new skill in a short time.
-Take home a gorgeous completed item.
-Relax in a fun, friendly atmosphere.
-Enjoy drinks and nibbles as you work

This seemed delightful so I promptly booked myself onto one of their workshops in Islington. It wasnt cheap at around £40 but for 3 hours of tuition with all materials and equipment included I thought it wasnt bad value for money. 

So overall I have to say I was pleased with the half day I spent there although I arrived late (the annoying taxi driver dropped me off at Barnsbury Road instead of Barnsbury Street and as I have no sense of direction it took me ages to find the correct place). The tutor was fantastic and helpful and the other ladies in the session were quite nice. I learned some basics about sewing, including threading, winding the bobbin and sewing a straight seam along with back stitching and I came away with this very delightful tote bag (DH was well impressed.... maybe he has dreams of me mending his clothes one day....... although he shouldnt hold his breath!....hahaha).

I need to iron it but I hate ironing so I apologise for the creases. My next lesson will be done locally where I have booked someone to come and show me the ropes on my own machine. I have kept the pattern for the tote bag so I may try making a couple more as gifts. I will probably never be a great seamstress (I can be a bit clumsy- hence my choice of public health and not surgery or obgyn) but I think this is a step in the right direction! If you have any useful tips let me know.

Enjoy the rest of your day :-)

The Incredible iPad: Part two

Hello hello

This is part two of my review of the wonderful iPad (for part one see here). In the last post I reviewed its usefulness for work but come on, we all know that the iPad is really for fun!! This is where it really comes into its own and I have to admit it is one of the first things I reach for in the morning. Here is how I use it for play :-)

Web browsing- Nothing beats the iPad for convenient and casual web browsing. I catch up on all of my favourite blogs (see my links) and emails without having to go to my laptop or strain my eyes on the iPhone. Responding to emails is so easy and fun to do on this device. I also spend a lot of time looking at craft and scrapbooking websites.

Internet shopping- Ahhhh the bliss!! With my credit card and/or Paypal there is no stopping me........ well except for the fact that recently I decided to be an adult and put away 20% of my salary in savings :-( I can still sneak in some good deals though and I really enjoy browsing my favourite eshops! I love internet shopping just as much as the real deal.

Music- iTunes is great. I dont keep my entire music library on the iPad though (it sits on my iPhone) but I have a selection of a hundred of my favourite songs.

Youtube- There are some really funny clips on youtube. I tend to watch clips from my favourite comedians or music videos. This is how I keep myself amused or cheer myself up if it has been a long hard day. Lately I have been watching funny medicine related cartoons on interactions between surgeons and anaesthetists, psychiatrists and internal medicine residents etc (see here). They take me back to my hospital medicine days and are so hilarious, well at least if you have a slightly morbid sense of humour! (Thanks ChK for the link)......

Facebook- This is how I keep in contact with my friends and family who live all over the world. It brings them closer to me...... I use the facebook friendly app for the iPad.

iBooks- As a child I LOVED reading and I still do. I have downloaded all of my favourite childhood classics such as Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre and they did not cost me a penny! I should admit that I prefer the real thing but this is excellent for when I am bored on my commute home and dont want to listen to music or read the BMJ.

Rightmove- I love looking at people's houses as much as I love looking at how people use their filofaxes. Maybe I am just a nosy person (honesty is the best policy) but this app is great!! Sometimes I give myself a million pound budget or even more to buy a house and see what I can come up with in my favourite locations (after all a girl can dream or maybe one day DH will win the Lottery).

Other apps- Include Videos for watching movies, BBC news, Amazon Kindle, IMDb (for movie info), Eyewitness (for a snapshot of pictures from around the world) and Wikipanion. I also have the Bible :-) and Pocket pond (I like feeding the fishes). Shazam is also useful for identifying songs on the radio and buying them easily. I dont like my iPad cluttered so I suppose this is quite minimalistic. I am not too fond of games and puzzles either but DH has loads of that kind of stuff on his iPad. It can keep him entertained for hours!

Basically this is such a useful device and I would highly recommend if you are thinking of a gift for a special someone (yourself included) for a birthday or Christmas. I have to admit it gave me a real scare by refusing to start a couple of days ago but a factory reset to my last backup settings sorted it out. I suppose that is the real downside of technology (that they can fail) and this is why I will never use my iPad for appointments or as a diary (it will never ever be better than my filofax!)

What do you think? What fun things do you use your iPad for? Are you planning on getting one for Christmas?

Have a great day!

Added 31st October
I have finally added Skype and Twitter to my iPad (coming out of the Dark Ages). Very useful (and free) apps which everyone should have!

The Incredible iPad: Part one

Good morning everyone
Another wonderful Monday is with us and to open the week I am finally going to review one of my most loved gadgets........ my iPad. Back in my very first post (here) I mentioned how much I enjoyed my Apple gadgets (although the rest of my family are BlackBerry fans). I decided DH was the one for me when his first ever present was an iPod (I kid you not, I remember thinking here is someone who understands me, finally! It was love at first sight between me and the iPod.......although love happened more gradually with DH! hehe) Back in September when I first got it, it could have been thought of as just another shiny new toy, a wonder gadget that to be honest was simply just cool.......... But now that I have owned it for about 2 months, the honeymoon period is definitely over and I have to admit, I love it even more!! Here is a practical review of my iPad (note I will be focussing on the positives of the device).

The specs
DH and I bought them while we were in Singapore for a good deal compared to market prices in the UK. We were supposed to be going on a romantic getaway to Malaysia that I had started planning to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary. Then I decided 'you know what, forget the romantic holiday, I really want an iPad'. It should come as no surprise dear readers that DH readily agreed! Anyways I got myself the cheapest version (I needed to have money left over for handbag and gift shopping) and went for the 16GB version Wifi only as I already have 3G on my iPhone. DH maxed out and went for the 64 GB Wifi version but he is usually quite frugal so I didnt mind :-) Plus you know boys and their toys!

The screen is simply amazing, well to be exact its 9.7 inch LED backlit IPS display is wonderful! (I am such a geek, for an explanation of what I am talking about see here). This gives the iPad an impressive viewing angle so that the device can be held in a variety of different ways without viewing angle issues....... It also means that you can have a quick nosy if the person next to you is using it on a train! Browsing the web is fantastic and a real pleasure as the images are so crisp. As with other Apple products, navigating on the touch screen is so easy and browsing the web or using your apps is usually just one click away. This is how I use it for work...........

Work
To justify the spend (and lessen my guilt) I had to be sure it would be useful for work. I have copies of all my important documents, including the oh so very important paperwork for my competency based progression through specialist training i.e. residency in Public Health (all the learning outcomes, workplace activity record sheets and activity summary sheets, as well as academic and educational supervisor reports), all of my academic outputs (presentations, seminars and papers) for the last 2 years as well as my health protection on call pack. The latter is one of the most useful features as if I had to print out everything in the pack it would be 2-3 folders thick and not very portable. This allows me to have immediate access to guidelines, policies, questionnaires, you name it, wherever I am which is so helpful as I commute long distances by public transport. I plan on adding all of the power point slides and handouts for my teaching sessions as well as papers relevant to my PhD when I start this in January.

The work applications (apps) I use are

Notes- good for scribbled reminders
Math sheet and Big calculator- scientific calculators
DocsToGo- allows me to edit word and excel documents as well as power point presentations
Doc Reader- opens pdfs and power point. I keep relevant pdfs of papers for my research here
Good Reader- my favourite work app as I can store entire folders such as my on call pack and academic outputs on this app.

You may have noted that I do not use the Calendar app. This is because I have my trusted Adelphi filofax (see here) for that purpose and no gadget, no matter how snazzy will beat pen and paper for keeping me organised! Ode to Filofax. Anyways here are some pics.

Photo stream

Front cover in purple of course :-) Got the case from Amazon for £8!!

So very useful especially on the train

Folds up in a compact way to go in my handbag

My display screen

My home screen





Slides from Surveillance presentation



Meningitis guidelines only one click away

My Adelphi filofax and iPad are a winning combination for work!
I love the matching covers!



Now all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy so tune in to my next post for Part 2, where I will share with you how I use my iPad for fun (much more interesting I promise!)

I hope this has given you some inspiration for Monday :-) If you have one please share with everyone how you use it by commenting. I am always on the lookout for useful ideas.



Scrapbooking 3: Ally Scraps Layout

This weekend there was a lovely sketch on Becky Fleck's page maps site see here. 

Ally Scraps Layout

I decided to create my 3rd ever layout using this sketch and my favourite wedding picture. The kit was from K &Co (I love their stuff) and I really enjoyed making this. I used foam pads on the flowers to give them some dimension and added glitter to give them some sparkle! I also cut out the hearts from one of the patterned papers included. I added various stickers and embellishments and there we have it........



Third layout click picture to enlarge

 All in all a lovely way to spend an hour on a Sunday evening (so much better than watching X factor or Strictly Come Dancing- which always makes me feel slightly ill).

Until tomorrow......... have a good evening.

Scrapbooking 2: a beginner's guide

I hope you all had a wonderful week :-) I recently received an email from Izzie asking about how you go about starting Scrapbooking. Of course she had started doing her research but got overwhelmed by all the information available on the internet!! And I have to agree as there is such a thing as too much info.........

Anyways as a newbie scrapbooker myself I knew I could definitely help her out (I was also pleased to know that someone actually reads my blog! hehe) So here are excerpts of the email I sent to Izzie and I hope you find it useful too. To read a previous post on an Introduction to scrapbooking describing what it is about see here and this post will give you details of how I organised my A5 Domino filofax into a scrapbooking planner/craft-o-fax with some really cute inserts from Willow Tree Crafts.

Now the good thing about Scrapbooking is that it is really flexible so you can be as simple or as fussy as you like. A newbie scrapbooker needs to have some basic tools such as

-craft knife (9mm)
-A3 cutting mat
-paper trimmer or guillotine 12 inches (the guillotine is quite heavy and less portable- I got both)
-adhesive (double sided tape, anita's tacky glue, repositionable/replaceable herva glue dots, glue runners)
-micro scissors
-metal ruler
-foam pads
-chalk based inkpads
-12 x 12 album
-cardstock and patterned paper, embellishments, glitter etc (you can start off by buying a scrapbooking kit that comes with matching supplies- see ebay). K and Co do lovely kits.

I also recommend getting a scrapbooking tote such as this one and a little carrier for your bits and bobs like this. You can order online or get in any craft store. Also get some 12 x 12 plastic boxes. The Really Useful boxes are great and help keep everything organised.

Of course you need to identify your workspace, which may be an entire room if you're lucky (I use my home office) or the dining room table! Once you have sufficient storage you can work from anywhere.

Also start thinking about what layout you may like. For examples you can check this site called Becky Fleck's page maps. I would recommend the books on her site as well as they come with some really useful laminated cards.

Use the internet to see if there are any local scrapbooking groups in your area. You can also search the Scrapaholix website for places in the UK, Australia, Canada and the US. My local group is not part of Scrapholix but they are still great!! You can even start your own :-)

Last but not least you need to choose your photos. To start off identify 5-10 of your favourite pictures in 6x4 (a mixture of portrait and landscape). Dont allow yourself to get overwhelmed as you dont have to scrap every single photo in your collection as of yesterday. Take your time.

Here is my 2nd layout using paper and embellishments from the K and Co Classic K Margo 12 x 12 kit. The green floral border on the right edge is a rub on that was included.

CP2 and CP :-)

The photos are from my twin sister's and parents visit to the UK for my wedding 3 years ago. We visited Blenheim Palace in Woodstock which is one of my favourite places. I was so happy she was here. Can tell from my grin? I am also wearing a dress that she bought me :-) It was my favourite dress for a time (as it reminded me of her) and I wore it to death. Actually I think it needs to make an appearance this season!

Close up so you can see the cute little embellishments and stickers that were included in the kit.

Another close up to show the decorative border I made on the patterned paper using a Martha Stewart border punch (you can get them on eBay).

So I hope you enjoyed my 2nd layout. It isnt fancy but I feel pleased that I was able to create it and it brings back such happy memories so well worth it!

Enjoy your Saturday :-) 

Inspirational quotes: The Holstee Manifesto

The Holstee Manifesto (see here) has been making the rounds around the blogosphere. I think it's great and the story behind it is inspiring so it is my choice of 'inspirational quotes' for today.

Enjoy............ (you can click on the picture to make it bigger).

The Holstee manifesto

I may have to put this is my filos!! I am off to a learn to sew class tomorrow morning so I am excited! I will become a domestic goddess........ I WILL!!!

Also Plannerisms is doing a BIG DAYCRAFT GIVEAWAY on her blog here for people in the UK. Be sure to enter! And have a lovely weekend.

Fabulous Finds 2: Nomads

In recognition of Think Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Month which I talked about in an earlier post here I will feature pink items that I own and love. I recently discovered this excellent online brand 'Nomads' when I was looking for a scrapbooking tote. They supply fair trade clothing and have a slogan 'Trade not Aid' and to be honest their section on Making Conscious Decisions and Thinking Responsibly (see here) really resonated with me. Now some of you may or may not believe in Climate Change but I think everyone can accept the view that the Earth has limited resources and that as our consumption continues increasing, we will eventually run out of these resources. Hence the concept of Sustainability and Sustainable development which simply means

"using our resources to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come".

I dont have any children (as yet!) but I would like my various nieces, nephews and godchildren to be able to enjoy the same quality of life (or better) than I did so we do owe it to the next generation don't we? I am as guilty as everyone else (with my 2 long haul flights a year to Singapore or the Caribbean) but in the UK I use mainly public transport and try to do basic things like recycling, not leaving gadgets on standby and using low energy light bulbs.

Anyways I decided to get myself one of their shopping bags to help organise my scrapbooking items as well as a few of their lovely accessories as Christmas gifts. I have a huge family (5 siblings) although to be honest I tend to buy stuff for the females in my family only and let my brothers and Dad organise themselves! hehehe.



Nomads shopping tote


It also comes in purple and green. The flower brooch is detachable so I plan on wearing it on my winter coat as well. The bag has zip fastening with a front pouch and inside pockets. It is a happy bag and makes me smile. Also I feel good as I know the policies behind creating it :-) So I get to shop for a good cause. A win win situation!!

I am looking foward to sharing my next Think Pink item which will probably be how I revamped my pocket Metropol for all things pink and fabulous........

Have a nice day!!

A week in the life of a Public Health Academic Clinical Fellow

Hello everyone
I cant believe it is already Wednesday. Time flies when you're having fun (or maybe not)! In a previous post I promised to talk about what a week in my life is like as most people are unfamiliar with the role of public health doctors. Here is a silly cartoon....

Now public health is a multidisciplinary field which simply means that many different professionals contribute to the specialty. Therefore my colleagues have varied backgrounds ranging from social work, environmental health, emergency planning and academia to general practice, microbiology, tropical medicine and pediatrics. This is exciting and means that I get to interact with people on a daily basis who work and think differently from me. It can also be quite challenging but at least I dont get bored! My official job title is Specialist Registrar in Public Health/ Academic Clinical Fellow (ACF) which means that in addition to training to be a public health consultant (you can read more about what that means here), I also need to train to become an independent researcher so my days can get quite hectic :-) Since August, the academic component of my training accounts for most of my time.

So this is what last week was like for me

Monday
AM - Go into Primary Care Trust. Meet with Child public health consultant about potential topics for Insight project management programme. Possible project discussed involving identification of factors which may improve uptake of immunisation in local GP practices. Do a quick scoping review of the literature and talk to the data analysts to identify the best and worst performing practices. Phone Consultant in Communicable Disease Control (CCDC) to set up assessment to go on the On call rota.
PM- Departmental meeting with Director of Public Health (DPH) on the White paper(which sets out the Conservative government's long term vision for the future of the NHS). Complete final draft of research paper on psychiatric epidemiology to send to collaborating authors. Masterclass with DPH on assorted topics of public health importance and catch up.

Tuesday
AM- Work from home. Near disaster on trying to open final draft of paper as file now appears corrupt and illegible (due to problems with compatibility with PCT systems. Rant to myself about how much I hate microsoft word and reference manager software)!! File eventually sorted out after couple of hours. Preparation for training committee meeting (teleconference). Preliminary analysis of audit of Masters programmes offered to PH registrars to present at meeting. Phone conversation with other registrar Co-Chair before the meeting.
PM- Trainee committee meeting teleconference lasts for 3 hrs!!! (my ears are ringing by the end of it). Post teleconference work on another draft of ethics approval protocol (for PhD project) for meeting tomorrow. Identification of codes for clinical outcomes. Email advisor relevant documents. Finish work at 7.45 pm!!

Wednesday
AM- Travel to London for meeting regarding access to primary care database for PhD. Begin on scoring abstracts for Public Health conference while commuting (there are 85 of them). Score each (except for 2 that I submitted) on scientific content and public health relevance.
PM- Meeting with advisor and database representative for 1 hour followed by meeting about training on database and discussion of code identification. Finish scoring abstracts during commute home. Entry of scores onto excel sheet and email to conference organisers.

Thursday
AM- Go into academic department. Update research paper with final comments so now ready for submission to journal for peer review. Preparation of first tutorial session on clinical epidemiology for 1st year medical students (first time that I have my own group so really excited).
PM-  Walk to tutorial location (get lost as usual since I have no sense of direction). Eventually end up in correct place and set up projector/ power point. Pleased as eveything actually works!! Clinical Epidemiology session for 2 hours -students are enthusiastic and bright and I really enjoy it :-) Remember how young I was when I started medical school.......... Now older and wiser (or at least older) :-(

Friday
AM- Commute to Taunton for abstract committee meeting. Discussion of overall scores and choice of abstracts for oral and poster presentations. Pleased that one of my abstracts did quite well and got selected for oral presentation :-) Get in trouble with one of professors for not scoring his so well when scores are unblinded!! All forgiven eventually........ hehehe (may have to avoid said professor for next few weeks).
PM- Lift back to academic department. Impromptu meeting with advisor over ethics protocol. Introduction to a 2nd year PhD student I will be working with from next year. Online submission of research paper to journal.

So is this anything like what you expected?? As you can see I have a lot of control over my time which I like and usually I manage to fit a lot in. Next week will also be completely different and I really like that variety! Also it shows that I need to be very organised as I am usually juggling several projects at the same time. For work I use my personal Adelphi filofax (previously described here) but when I am out of my base locations or travelling I use my Pocket Butterfly (which mirrors what I have in the Adelphi but with less detail and is much lighter). I will post pics of my pocket Butterfly in the future.

Two days til Friday. Yay yay yay!!! Have a lovely day.

The Charming Chameleon Filofax

Good morning lovelies :-)
Are you all having a marvellous Monday???? Come on...... don't be grumpy. At least next Monday is a whole week away!!! I have to admit that my filofax collection has increased exponentially (well quadrupled) in the last 2 months. Now I dont have shares in Filofax UK so I have imposed a ban on the purchase of any more filofax items until I have found a use for each one that I have. In a previous post I talked about how I got DH to use a reject filofax as a notebook, where I had also mentioned I was awaiting the delivery of my Craft-o-fax, an A5 Chameleon. Unfortunately the ebay seller had mislabelled it and in actual fact a Personal Chameleon was posted to me. Imagine my disappointment when I ripped open the packaging and saw it was the wrong size!!! Anyways I eventually got an A5 Domino for my scrapbooking planner/ Craft-o-fax so all's well that ends well. 

There is however just one problem. I did not need another personal filofax (I have a lavender travel Domino and a pink finsbury for journalling in addition to my work Adelphi). But Chameleon looked at me so imploringly that I did not have the heart to send her back. It would be too cruel. Plus she was beautiful and it was the first time that I had seen the pastel coloured inserts in a filofax!! I phoned DH to help me decide what to do........ He was no help whatsoever (actual words 'you do what you want as I know you will keep it') and of course he was right. I did keep it!!

Let me share some pictures of this beauty (I promised Jotje I would) and hopefully you will agree with me for not being able to part with it.

Boxed up

Front view

Open View note pen loop on front cover and pastel tabs 1-6

Close up of pastel tabs

A frosted ruler!!!

Matching pastel notepages and A-Z inserts

To do pages and notepad

Back zipped pocket

Back view

Close up I think the design looks like little hearts :-)

So my dear readers I have a dilemma. Although I admire other people's filo collections I dont like to waste filofaxes (as I believe that they should be used) or it feels a bit too extravagant (as if 9 filos isnt extravagant....., dont even try to understand how my mind works...... DH gave up ages ago). So would you help me??

Suggest a use for this filofax by posting a comment below. To tempt you I have a spare 2011 Week on 2 pages diary to give away although I will only cover postage within the UK.

Please help!! :-))

And have a lovely day!!!

Outfit inspiration: Workwear brights

Hello everyone
It has been almost 2 weeks since I posted anything about fashion so this post is definitely in order!! I have to admit that I am not one of those people who enjoy autumn and winter. I actually feel a bit sad when the trees start losing their leaves and the days get shorter and shorter. Mentally I have been trying to prepare myself for the inevitable darkness of this season and the daytime perma grey skies. However I was still shocked this week when DH picked me up from the train station in absolute darkness at 6:45pm. So I guess I havent prepared myself very well after all. Summer seems so far away now and it feels like ages since I was enjoying the sun in Singapore sniff sniff :-(

Anyways this blog is not about moaning or complaining so I shall share a few tips about how I am altering my wardrobe to give me a bit of a 'pick me up' when I wake up in the mornings!!!

You must have realised by now that I simply LOVE dresses (this is due to my pear shape, the plights of which I discussed previously here). Back in the Caribbean I had no problems getting trousers that fit me well and highlighted the best aspects of my shape. However I have had no such luck in the UK. So I stick to dresses and skirts and usually can fit into a size 10. I particularly like wrap dresses, shift dresses (depending on the material I may need to go a size upwards but heavy jersey is usually ok) and A line skirts. I have started eyeing my friend M's TM Lewin shirts which also look lovely but not sure if I have time for ironing! Anyways here are a few brightly coloured outfits and accessories from my wardrobe for you to enjoy.

Hobbs is my favourite store for workwear and this is one of their basic dresses. It is simple, structured and stylish. I have it in purple, poppy red and black.......I had been waiting months for the black version and DH let me get it although I shouldnt be buying anything new :-)



Liberty dress poppy red

I also have this lovely teal dress by Very. It can be a bit low (for work) but is easily sorted by wearing a little cami underneath or for those who are more talented, inserting a stitch.

Nougat wrap front dress

I also have 2 versions of Boden's colour block dress (black and grey/ purple and navy). I love Boden as they are so quirky and their outfits always make me smile.



Boden colour block dress

I have my eye set on this Isabella Oliver shift dress in fuschia..... possibly as a birthday present. Still undecided though although DH seems to really like their catalogue!! Hmmm I wonder why??? 

Pink shift Isabella Oliver


I got myself a new winter coat this year and went for the black fit and flare coat from Next as I already have coats in red, purple/grey dogtooth and navy. The black is a bit severe but quite useful to have and so I have been brightening it up with these sweet little corsages from New Look. I got loads of colours as they are so cheap and chose red, pink, purple, silver, black velvet and navy with rhinestones. They are really flexible and can also be worn as cute hair clips :-)

Purple Large Corsage





Lochness green Diamante Corsage



I also have these beautiful leather gloves from M&S. They come in 17 colourways so you must be able to get a colour that suits you.

My wardrobe still needs a bit of an oomph in terms of handbags!! I do love my Radley handbags in brown and black as they are so functional and such good quality. However I need a pop of colour and plan to ask DH to get me a new one for my birthday/Christmas. The maximum spend will be £250 (DH may say £200 hehe) and so far these are on my short list........

LK Bennett Spain bag



LK Bennett France bag

However I am very open to suggestions. It just needs to be a shoulder bag, quite large (as I use public transport and carry around a lot of stuff) and in one of my favourite colours of purple, burgundy or wine, and red!! So post your thoughts with useful links and I will check them out :-)

Have a great weekend!!!

Inspirational quotes: life

To end the week this quote by Confucius

"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right."

Makes sense doesnt it? And to think he lived from 551-479 BC! Have a lovely weekend :-)

Think pink: Breast Cancer Awareness month

Good morning all :-)
Isn't it great to be past the middle of the week? Did you know that October is breast cancer awareness month? Many of you may either know someone with the disease, or suffered with it yourself as breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Worldwide in 2008 almost 1.4 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer and in the last 25 years, the number of new cases of breast cancer has increased by around 50%. However it is not all bad news as more than 75% of women diagnosed with it will survive for at least 20 years and 67% of women will now survive beyond 20 years.

Certain factors increase your risk of breast cancer such as

• Close family history- if your mother, sister or daughter has been diagnosed with breast cancer you have double the risk of having it yourself
• Obesity can increase postmenopausal breast cancer by as much as 30%
• Use of hormone replacement therapy can increase your risk
• Current use of oral contraceptives can also increase your risk
• Drinking moderate to heavy amounts of alcohol is another risk factor.

Factors that decrease your risk include having a more active lifestyle.

It is important for women (and men) to be breast aware as men can also be diagnosed with breast cancer. Being breast aware means being familiar with how your breasts look and feel so that you know what is normal for you. The breast awareness 5 point code is as follows:

1. Know what is normal for you
2. Know what changes to look and feel for
3. Look and feel
4. Report any changes to your GP without delay
5. Attend routine breast screening if you are aged 50 or over.

In the UK women aged 50-64 who are registered with a GP are invited for screening every three years. Since 2004, this has been extended to include women aged 65-70 years. Women aged over 70 can request mammography once every three years, but currently they are not routinely invited. If you have any concerns you should talk to your family doctor.

For more information you can go to the Cancer Research UK site or the Breast Cancer Care site. 

For filofax lovers there is a Breast Cancer Campaign pocket organiser which contains specially printed breast cancer awareness pages and stickers to remind you when to check your breasts. There is a more expensive version in leather. Also for every organiser sold, Filofax will donate £2.20 or £2.50 (for the more expensive version) to Breast Cancer Campaign.

Breast cancer campaign pocket filofax (Image courtesy Filofax UK)

Breast cancer campaign pocket filofax (Image courtesy Filofax UK)

Remember to think pink and enjoy the rest of your day.