This Pocket is personal!

This past week has been pretty filled with Philofaxy happenings.

It started with Yvotchka's Citrus Love Affair, followed by my attempt at making it work for her, (luckily she did it all by herself!), being promoted to administrator of the flickr Philofaxy group (still getting my ideas sorted...), and not to mention all those tweets from other happy Filofax users.

It's been quite hard to avoid the temptation of getting a new Filofax, especially after having found out that somebody had quite recently acquired the raspberry book that I have been coveting the most for the past year! The fact that my current economical situation doesn't allow me to splurge on things I REALLY DON'T NEED, does play an important part, though.

What's a girl to do then?

Simply, switch from her current Fins' to her unboxed black Chino.

The Chino or 'the one that got away'...'but was finally recovered with the help of a good Samaritan at the Filofax store'.

The first time I set my mouse on the Filofax UK site looking for a planner that would complement my life, I was torn by having to choose between the Chino and the Urban; two planners that perfectly seemed to fit my 'urban' and casual lifestyle, with their brushed or waxed fabric, their convenient zippered pockets and their whole 'laid back' attitude. It was a tough decision to make, so I decided to return after a few days.

Not five days had passed since my last visit, when upon arriving on the main page, I saw It.

The ultra-sexy, brand-spanking new Purple Finsbury.

It was love at first sight.

Pointlessly I clicked my way to the Chino's and the Urban's main page. It was useless. The black and the slate were no match against the Finsbury's purple magic. I was smitten!

No matter how hard I tried to reason with myself, there was no talking me out of it, and a week later I was finally holding it in my hands...

...but I'm getting side-tracked here!

Some time later, whilst looking to set up a travel Filofax, I decided to go back to my initial choices. To my disappointment, the Chino was no longer available. It was discontinued.

I looked at other European sites, and only few of them still had it. It was also available through the US site. But after working out the differences in price, in exchange rates and in shipping charges, I came to the conclusion that it was a better investment to get the Urban. And I did.

Fast-forward to May this year.

It's a windy Sunday afternoon and I'm standing at the Filofax store on Neal St. I have reassured my boyfriend that I am not going to purchase anything, no matter how good the sale is.

I look at all those pretty binders that need to be sold in order to make space for the new models! Some Domino's, Urban's... the rest I don't remember.

When all of a sudden one of them catches my eye. It's the Chino in beige. As I'm trying to stand my ground, I tell the store assistant that I do not fancy that particular colour, so she quickly pulls another Chino from somewhere I can't see, this time in black!

I proceed to open it, trying not to linger on the softness of the fabric, and notice that the tabs are pastel. I tell the assistant that I do not do pastels. She then leaves me to 'simply think about it and browse a bit more if I wish'.

Next thing I know, I'm handing her my 7GBP, after she's put a new black chino with IVORY coloured tabs (thank you very much :) ) inside that little white plastic bag.

The search is over. You are finally mine, Chino!