Rather than doing ‘Currently Loving’ posts , which I’m bad at doing, I thought I would share my October Buys instead. Well, monthly buys. This way, you get to see what I have purchased, usually after much deliberation).
October Buys
It has been a bit of an expensive month as everything has needed replacing all at once. By everything, I mean my coat and my phone. The other bits are stuff I needed or were a treat. I’m not a big spender on stuff as I prefer experiences over material things, but we are minimising our kit and that sometimes means buying something to replace other things or to make travel easier.
I’ll share below the details of the items below so you can find out where to buy them too.
October Buys
Rab Firewall Jacket
For the past few years I have been wearing my Tog 23 waterproof and although it has been OK, it had a plethora of seams which caused leakage. So as winter is approaching, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a new coat. I use my jacket all year round in all four seasons so it has to be good enough to last and fit all of my layers underneath comfortably.
This is actually last season’s coat. I pretty much chose it last year but ummed and ah’d about the price. I even taped up the seams of my old coat to make it last longer.
After one too many days of soggy sleeves and soaking pockets, I decided to go for it. I bought the coat on eBay from someone selling ex-stock. I could have had the teal one but with a £40 price difference I decided ‘Jam’ and a night in an Airbnb would be better. (It was less than £40 per night in Brussels, a colour on my coat is nothing!)
So for £169.99 I had a new Rab Firewall jacket in Jam. Before I removed the labels though, I tried it on with all the layers that I might need in winter. This is no mean feat when it is actually not very cold at the moment. I’m pleased to report that they fit perfectly and I still have a ‘womanly’ shape.
iPhone 7
Some of you might know from my other posts and social media that my phone died the day after we returned home from Brussels. As you can tell from how long it too me to spend out on my coat, it took a few weeks (OK, months) to finally get around to buying and new one. I only did it because we were going to Poland, otherwise I think I’d still be ‘thinking’ about it.
I went for the iPhone 7 as I wanted the most storage for photos, videos etc. Also, the iOS updates are getting increasingly memory hungry so I wanted some futureproofing. I had wanted the Product [RED] phone where 50% of the profits go to help eliminate AIDs from African countries. However, the release of iPhone 8 meant that they stopped the Product [RED] phone. I did manage to get the case though, so at least some good came from my purchase.
iPhone 7, 128gb, matt black from the Apple Store £649.00
Hankies
Why do women get smaller hankies and men get larger ones? It isn’t as though one gender has a bigger schnoz or more snot? Anyway, I have both. Small ones for my jeans pockets so I don’t have a weird bum bulge and big ones for my coats. I needed a top up of hankies and grabbed a 7 pack of antibacterials in a range of blues from M&S. They are really soft and lovely and not badly priced at £12.50. If you’re looking for a little stocking filler for me… M&S pack of 7 hankies are just thing!
Little Teal Basket
I’m a lover of being organised for making life simpler and decided to treat myself to a little basket for organising my hankies in y underwear drawer. Yes, that does actually class as a treat for me. Small things and all.
These baskets are actually brilliant! I have them throughout the house for keeping together our ‘snackie pots’ (mini tuppaware), holding onions in my veg trolley and we also take two camping when we take the big tent for storing our veg there too. The mini ones are great for holding things tidy in big drawers or cupboard and keeping things like baking ingredients together.
My hankies end up all over the place in my undie drawer so this will be a life saver. Erm, well maybe not a life saver, but an easier way to find my hankies anyway.
These baskets are from Clas Ohlson and start at 99p for this small one.
Buff
As you might have noticed on Twitter, I have been struggling to find out cotton/summer Buffs. I have a spare one for my ears which Jit has been wearing, but had to get something to bide me by. There are some great sales on in town at the moment (all the Deansgate outdoors shops) and I managed to grab a funky Buff for just £12.50 (a theme of cost!)
It is also UV protective which will be great for hot days of 22 mile wanders while we are on holiday. I just love the colours and it is nice and bold so that it won’t show much dirt either.
The thing I love about Buffs is that again, I can use them all year round, they are flexible in how I can use them and they tuck easily into my pocket. So much easier than a scarf and dry in a fraction of the time too. This one has been getting a workout over the past week in the weird Manchester weather and I very much approve of it!
This Buff is from the Cotswold sale at £12.50
Eagle Creek Guide Pro Courier RFID
We have been on the lookout for a smaller bag to help carry our gear when in museums and art galleries. Or any other place that isn’t keen on you wandering about with a 32 l rucksack each. We came across the Eagle Creek Guide Pro Courier RFID in Rohan in town and loved it. (Not just because Jit gets a work discount!) We weren’t particularly fussed by the RFID protection, but it is a bonus I guess. We loved the size and comfort of it as well as the fact that it holds way more than you would think. Plus it is unisex so we can both wear it.
We bought it so that we can carry our document and bit in the airport, have easy access and only one bag while sitting on the plane and also for galleries. It saves having to carry everything in your hand while browsing a gallery.
Eagle Creek Guide Pro Courier RFID from Rohan £55.00
Jacquard Products ‘Kelly Green’ fabric dye
You will more than likely recognise my greeny/grey Levis cords that I wear all the time. Well, because I loved the size and shape of them so much, I bought a pair of the same ones in the cheap somewhere years ago. They were in pale washed out blue. Every time I put them on I would laugh uncontrollably and change into an alternative as pale blue just didn’t work on me for some unknown reason! So to give myself a new pair of trousers, I decided to upcycle them with a dye job.
I ran a poll over on Instagram stories and the winner was green (over grey) to which I was very pleased. I dyed the jeans ‘Kelly Green‘.
I chose Jacquard Products iDye as it is really simple to use. Chuck your clothes into the machine, add the packet then follow with some diluted salt in warm water once the clothes are sitting in water. And then ta-dah! You have new clothes.
You can buy Jacquard Products online or if you’re in Manchester, head to Fred Aldous to view the range.
So there you have it, my October buys. What do your reckon? Do you enjoy posts like this? Should I do more? Would you like some reviews of any of the products that I have mentioned?
Pop me some feedback in the comments below and let me know whether I should carry on or quit while I’m ahead! As you know, I’m no fashionista, but I do have fun pretending!