Mini Filofax Meet Up, New Hampshire Style

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that Yvotchka and I had plans to meet up and discuss all things Filofax. It was a good day.

First we met at a location in the middle of where Yvotchka lives and where I’m vacationing. After actually finding each other in said location, we headed out for lunch and beer to fuel up for Filofax shopping. We chatted about Filos, men, work, food, etc.

After lunch, we headed to The Country Cobbler, the only retailer in the area who sells Filofax. In terms of Filofax, this is one of the oddest stores I have ever been in. Its main product is leather goods for bikers. They also carry leather bags and wallets and the like. But mixed in with these leather items are tutus and shiny metallic leotards for children (see picture above*). And squeezed into the corner of the shop is one small kiosk for a very minimal Filofax collection. Most of the binders they have are older models, though some of them are in newer colors (Cuban in Ink, for example). The inserts they carry are very general – many you would see elsewhere, nothing out of the ordinary. I was hoping for a pack of personal blank tabs, but no such luck. I would have also bought A5 Financial sheets, but they were not available there either. Sadly, I walked out with nothing, though my husband was happy for this. Yvotchka, on the other hand, scored a personal brown Kendal, which she got at a discount due to some scratches. I’ll let her fill you in on the details there.

After a somewhat disappointing shopping experience, we headed to Starbucks for coffee and discuss the specifics of our matching personal black Maldens. At this point, my husband took off on his own adventure. Though he was a good sport about going with me and an even better sport at shopping with us, he was not about to listen to specifics of how we plan and what inserts we use. Yvotchka showed me her DayTimer week-on-two-pages inserts. I have seen these pages before but always wrote them off due their green color and their simplicity. But Filofax inserts are simple, so why would I not like them? I like the idea of them – space for notes on one side, time slots on the other for appointments. So I’m now thinking maybe I’d give these a go for 2011. Of course, I already bought my 2011 Filofax inserts. But why should that stop me? I need to think about it a while longer, but one never knows what will come about.

With the meet up today, there was a trade off of binders. I gave Yvotchka my light blue Finsbury and she gave me her damaged Ochre Malden. I have to say that I didn’t even notice the “damage,” so this is a new binder for me. It is a little cowboy-looking, but it gives me another color choice in the beloved Malden style. I might try it out for the fall. I can’t wait to hear about how Yvotchka is using her new Finsbury.

We did quickly discuss the idea of a US Northeast meet up – perhaps in New York City…? For those of you in the area, is this something you would be interested in? And what time of year is good? Spring? Any comments on this front are welcome.

I hope that the upcoming November London meet up will be just as good as today’s mini US meet up.

Finally, thanks to Yvotchka for buying lunch for my husband and me as an anniversary gift. It was very sweet.

*Photo credit given to my dear husband (aka grouchy pants) for surviving the Filo talk. He’s a good sport, however.