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:
