So Pokemon Go really sucks your iPhone battery dry. Yep. We're playing Pokemon Go. Little M loves it and whilst we go on monster hunts together when we can, I also pick them up on my way to work. (Can't believe how well he remembers them, pointing out all the new ones to me every evening!) Anyway. Back to the fact that my phone needs constant re-charging whilst we're out and about. You might remember that I pondered over power purses from Knomo in September. Reduced to just £59.50, this Bond pouch is a bit of a bargain, considering it's real leather, fully lined and includes the power pack.
So I bought it a few weeks ago. Way before I never even thought of Pokemon. It just fits so nicely even in my smaller bags (here in my Mulberry Small Del Rey) that it's the perfect work companion.
And now I finally got around to do a quick video to show how I'm using it (apart from re-charging my phone during extensive Pokemon hunts).
The lovely people at Independent Fashion Bloggers chose my post for their Links à la Mode last week. Please check out some of the below!
***Thanks to Independent Fashion Blogger for shortlisting this post as part of their Links à la Mode on
7th July. I'm especially pleased as it was not at all about fashion but
about something that was (and still is) on my mind. Please check out
the other blog posts at the bottom.***
I know I usually post fluff: pretty handbags, work outfits... Well, maybe with the exception of my appeal to not drink and drive. But I just can't publish a covet post about a handbag after my mind has been consumed by something else all weekend. Ok, apart from little M having the 'chicken popps' and wrangling a slightly injured baby bird off our cat. [Thanks for asking: Little M is much better and the bird is with a lady who will hopefully be able to release it into the wild at some point.] Yes, that thing having consumed me all weekend was the shock of that "OUT" result on the EU Referendum on Friday morning. After tears, tantrums, denial and grieve I am just plain lost at the moment. Not being British, I actually wasn't allowed to vote. (By the way: I
came to England in 1998. Graduated in 2001 and went straight into a
job. Been working full time since then - paying my taxes! Been with Mr. G
for quite a few years. Had little M in 2012 and he has a British
passport. So I'm feeling pretty connected and invested in this country.
It's one of my two homes!) Maybe I shouldn't be saying anything. But anybody who knows me, knows that I'm really rubbish at keeping my opinion to myself. I understand that many of the OUT voters came from a place of frustration, from the desire of wanting to change something, anything being better than the squeeze over the past few years: erosion of public services, job security, quality of life and ever increasing divide between rich and poor have taken its toll. What I still don't understand is how these voters genuinely thought that leaving the EU would improve on this though. Well, maybe they were simply desperate to believe in something that was worth voting for - and the likes of Boris and Farage knew just how to harvest those votes. Or maybe it was just their way of sticking it to the government. So in really simple terms, why am I so upset about the threat of Brexit?
Living in England as a German might mean I will have to apply for a visa.
I might have to worry about what impact on said visa if I change or lose my job.
An economical downturn will mean less job security and if my visa is tied to my job, losing my job is more likely on one hand and will have more far reaching consequences on the other hand.
Mr. G works with Universities, who receive much of their funding from EU funding. Any impact on that might impact on him or his job?
Master J is studying Chemistry and I would wish for him to be able to come out of university and get a job. Not to be signing on and worrying about what the future will hold.
Traveling will get more expensive, be it back to Germany to visit my friends and family or anywhere else in Europe.
The Pound looks to be suffering, so being elsewhere in Europe will also become more expensive.
Getting across the border or through passport control at the airport is going to take so much longer.
I work in food retail and being able to trade across Europe easily and freely is pretty essential. Things are going to change and become more complicated.
Bringing back wine from my hometown Heppenheim won't be as easy anymore. What will be the limit? A bottle? Maybe two?
Ditto any gifts after Christmas or birthdays.
Buying anything from other European countries will be come more expensive, be it by retailers increasing prices or by paying customs charges.
Posting anything to other European countries will become more cumbersome: welcome customs forms!
But most of all: My little boy won't be able to grow up in a country that is part of something bigger. A community born out of the desire to live and work together closer and in peace. And to have the same opportunities such as I had of just moving to another country, studying there, creating a life for himself where ever he wants to. His world has suddenly become an awful lot smaller. And that's what truly makes me sad.
I know I'm swooning over lovely handbags and various other luxurious bits and bobs. However, there are, of course, things money can't buy and one of them is time. Time to spend with your
children. Time to read a book. Time to finish that task during which you
kept getting interrupted. Time to go on a holiday. Time to smell the
flowers. Or, maybe especially so if you do have small children, time to
sleep. For me, the biggest one on the list probably would be time to spend with your children.
Little M is racing towards his third birthday and I feel like the years
are just passing by. Working full time means he spends all weekdays at
nursery, which he does love but that bit of time we have at the morning
and in the evening is often filled with me trying to do 4 things at
once, not really being able to focus much on him. Of course nobody can just conjure up these extra few minutes or hours.
The day only has 24 of them. For all of us. However, I have a plan to
ignore reason and pretend that I can. Not by magic but by making a few
simple adjustments.
1. Get up 10 minutes earlier every morning
These
10 minutes sleep won't really do much difference to me being tired or
not and, lets face it, they are usually just lost by me pressing the
snooze button. But if I can get ready and get him ready and then have
those 10 minutes to just have a chat or read a book with him, I will
have spent some quality time with my favourite person in the world.
Right at the beginning of the day.
2. Get my Filofax sorted
I
am slowly moving into some DIYFish inserts, that I have received a few
days ago. My plan is to have them set up in a way that I will avoid
duplicating and re-writing lists as well as panicking and fixing stuff I
had forgotten to sort out.
3. Go to bed earlier, aim to be tucked in by 23:00
I work full time then
come home with little M, sort out his tea/snack and whatever else needs
doing when we get in. He then has a bath at 19:00, story around 19:40
and usually is in bed at 20:00. I'm very lucky in that my OH does all
the cooking and kitchen stuff, so we tend to eat around 20:15, which
means I start to look at my blog and various online things (such as my
bag obsession) from about 20:45. I probably get in a good 1.5 or maybe 2
productive hours. And then I should just go to bed. Instead, I faff
around and start getting lost on Facebook or some other page and go to
bed way too late. And then suffer the next day not being as productive I
could be, which means I waste even more time.
4. Use commuting time more efficiently
I spend a total of about
60 minutes on the train to a from work and usually end up reading daft
things on Facebook, Buzzfeed etc. Instead I'll try and get my Filofax
out, review what I didn't achieve yesterday, what's planned for the day
and how my week is shaping up. If I have a few minutes left, I might
allow myself a quick peek on Facebook or Instagram.
5. Make proper plans for the weekend
Quite often the weekend
flies by in a blink-and-you-miss it kind of fashion. Monday comes and
you feel like you haven't really had a weekend as all you did was run
errands and try to keep the kids happy. The last couple of weekends
though, on at least one day I took little M and went out. We're lucky
enough that we live right at the edge of the Peak District so there are
lots of lovely places to visit right on our doorstep. Last weekend
Saturday we went to a hidden valley in a village nearby and on Sunday
drove to Castleton. He climbed up all the way to Pevril Castle, we had a
picnic and hours' worth of running about. This weekend we spent
Saturday looking at a "big mountain", sheep, caves and then went for
icecream. On Sunday we chased the Gruffalo through Lyme Park. Not
only do I know that I spent some real quality time with M, I also feel
like I had a tiny little holiday. And we still talk about what we did
for weeks afterwards.
I know there are tons of
time saving tips out there but these 5 are what I'm starting with. They
should either give me more time or ensure that I feel like I've had
more. I'd love to hear what you do?
(PS: The irony of me posting this on a Monday evening at 22:49 is not lost on me...)
