NYC Goodies

Last Saturday, a friend of mine and I went to New York City specifically to go Filofax accessory shopping. There are no stores on Long Island that sell Filofax products, so off we went. I had been looking forward to this trip quite a bit, dreaming about the loot I would return with. Here’s how it all unfolded.

The night before our big day was full of preparation – from my Guildford Slimline, I removed items I would not need for the trip (notes, projects, etc) and placed them into my Personal Jade Finchley for safe keeping. In my Slimline, I put my NYC Subway map and my Manhattan Street map. I also added my list of places to visit and their locations. I kept the current week’s diary in there too. I prepared my bag with planner, wallet, sunglasses and camera. (I also brought my iPod Touch hoping to update my Twitter status while on the move, but I could not get an open access point. Ah well. Another reason to get the actual iPhone next year…)

I was set.

In the morning, I met my friend at our meeting place (Starbucks) and together we were off to the great city of New York! We headed downtown and started there. Our first stop was Kate’s Paperie. They had a fair selection of binders, but none that I might have purchased. Many of the diary inserts for 2010 were sold out. However, I did find (and buy) the last Daily Diary pages they had. This was something that was on my list of things to look for. And (bonus!) it was on sale for under $10 (Filofax sells them for $21.50 at regular price). Imagine my excitement!

Our next stop was Papyrus, right across the street. They do not sell Filofax items, but I had heard they sell a lot of stationery and, being interested in all things paper and pen, we took a gander. I wasn’t all that impressed (at least in this particular store) but they had some interesting items. Nothing was purchased there.

Then we headed to Muji. (I don’t have a picture of this store – I got a little lazy with the picture-taking.) They didn’t have any Filofax specific items, but they do carry a number of items that fit the Filofax Personal binders (as well as other sizes) – blank paper, dividers, plastic binders that could be used for storage, etc., all pre-punched with the six holes in just the right places. I did find a set of dividers that are cardboard weight and texture with top tabs. I bought two packs of these (for only around $2.00 each). I haven’t yet decided what I’ll use these for. I did put one in the front of my Slimline to make it easier for writing. Just within the last few weeks I have noticed that writing on the left side of my binder had become a pain because the pocket makes the paper stick up in odd places, which makes for wobbly writing. This solves that problem! I now have a nice sturdy writing surface.

From there, we took the subway to mid-town for lunch. We ate at Patsy’s Pizzeria on East 60th Street. Yum! We had a very pleasant time dining outside on the sidewalk patio. After that, we went directly across the street for dessert at Serendipity’s where we both had the best chocolate mousse ever!

Once refueled, we headed to Sam Flax on 3rd Ave. This store has the biggest selection of Filofax items I have ever seen in NYC (though admittedly, I’m fairly new to the NYC Filofax offerings). I wanted to inspect each and every binder they had. Most of them were behind a locked glass door, so I didn’t get to even touch some of the binders, but I did get to see what most of them look like in person – they carry most binders in most colors. They had an array of inserts and maps too – I was surprised to see Dallas and Atlanta maps there. I guess they don’t sell very well in NYC though, since they were both 40% off. I would have considered buying them, but neither is a city I visit. I was actually very disappointed to walk away without having purchased a binder there. I was eyeing the Slimline Cuban, but knowing I could buy it for less money online I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was very impressed with what they offered there. Should I be in the market for new Filofax items from NYC in the future, I’ll be heading there first.

Our last stop was Kinokuniya on Avenue of the Americas. They, too offer a small selection of Filofax items as well as generic items that fit the Filo. But I did not buy anything there either.

I have to say that I was a little disappointed that I did not purchase more. I would have very much liked to (who wouldn’t?). But I was happy with my two finds. Maybe I would have bought more if I had unlimited money to spend. Like most people, however, I have to be careful of how much money I spend in a month and with all the other expenses we have, a new (wanted but unneeded) Filofax wasn’t in the budget this month.

At some point I would very much like to get to London to see the actual Filofax store. Now that would be a day of true excitement! I could spend hours in a store like that, thinking of all the possibilities, dreaming of new ways to organize and make my daily plans pretty.

One day, my friends, one day…