I Want It All!
It’s a good thing I don’t live in Manchester because there is a shop there called Pad that I would probably spend a small fortune in given the chance. Half the stuff in my bedroom comes out of that shop. And my kitchen. And my jewellery box . . . With the aid of some cheap flights my Mum and I went shopping in Manchester in March. Pad was our first stop and because my Mum is friends with the lovely owners, David and Darren, we were provided with tea and chocolate croissants whilst we walked around. You know - the sort of pastry that’s so good it flakes off and melts in your mouth. This is shopping as it was meant to be experienced. Naturally I now refuse to set foot in any shop where breakfast is not included.
Here’s an example of some of the amazing goodies they have. I demanded these from my Mum for my birthday whilst we were in the shop:
And this magnetic blackboard clock is a great new surface area on which to stick up yet more pictures of Moose, and to occasionally write reminder messages to myself:
Pad does home and kitchen stuff as well as jewellery, garden and kids stuff. And it’s all so stylish, so retro, so cool. Hey, did I mention this shop is cool? Because it really, seriously is.
Actually, I don’t need to go to Manchester to spend money in their shop anymore as they now have a website at http://www.padwebstore.co.uk/default.asp. But until I have some spare cash, I’m going to try to pretend I don’t know about the site. It is the responsible thing to do, no matter how much I might covet these Marmite espresso cups:
Or the blue stripy monkey:
These things are not, strictly speaking, necessities (at least that’s what I’ve been told). And, having recently spent a frankly astonishing amount of money acquiring the most gorgeous Great Dane puppy in the world, I am not supposed to be buying anything that’s not a necessity at the moment. Still, sometimes I can’t help wondering . . . if I wasn’t supposed to buy those Marmite cups then why do I want them so badly? Eh? I mean, I don’t even drink espresso . . .
But for anyone who’s not on a self-imposed spending ban, or who needs a good birthday present for someone, I would heartily recommend this little treasure trove of a shop.
In other news: summer is here. I know because when I woke up this morning, Erin had put his summer outfit on during the night:
May 4th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Ooh, that is bad Alex. You’ve made me so tempted to click the link! I’m a student you know!
May 4th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
What’s tempting you, sweetie? The mugs or the monkey?
Click it! CLICK. IT! You know you want to!
May 5th, 2009 at 8:47 am
I do live in Manchester, and I’ve never heard of that shop! Where is it? I have monies that need to be spent.
May 5th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Here’s the address from the website:
pad-chorlton
105 Manchester Road (opposite Unicorn grocery)
Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Manchester
M21 9GA
If you go onto the site there’s a map there too.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Aloha, Erin, all you need now is a Margarita
and Marmite espres … *runs off to click link*
May 10th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Ahh, Chorlton. How very few times I’ve been there. I shall have to go exploring today. Thanks for that
May 11th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I live in Manchester currently and have suffered greatly over the years from the large amount of quirky and exciting items to be found in the streets beyond the main and bland ones.
I felt a need to see if you had a website, by the way, and was happy to see a way to give a comment. I just finished The Ninth Circle (Ten minutes ago in fact) and truly loved it. It moved me and your style is something I haven’t come across before. I like your voice and books like this inspire me to keep on with my writing also. Thanks for the words Miss Bell!
May 11th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Chris Cummings - thank you very much
Hearing that someone enjoyed The Ninth Circle always brightens my day. I hope you’ll like the other two books I have coming out this year as well. And I wish you all the luck with your own writing.
On that point - I can recommend the Marmite mugs from Pad as being very useful to the writing process, either early in the morning or late at night. All writers must have one.