Bicester Village Shopping Haul #2

Last week during a day off of work my mum and I took a trip to Bicester Village shopping outlet to once again snap up some bargains for ourselves.

I don't think it's any surprise to any of my regular readers that I love a handbag so when I saw the Michael Kors bag for 34% discount I couldn't resist treating myself to a new Christmas bag. Red is my favourite colour and the size and style of the bag will be perfect for the festive season. One of the chain straps can be worn long on the shoulder, across the body or both for a shorter handheld style. 

I can actually remember admiring this bag in the Michael Kors store on Regent Street on a shopping trip with my mum some time ago so it was great to pick it up for a bargain price and was certainly cheaper than the Mulberry bags I spent some time swooning over.

I always have an idea of the sort of things I'd like to find at Bicester Village. Of course as a shopping outlet it's not something you can rely on but I try to think positively and send some good vibes out to the shopping fairies and on this occasion they were smiling down on me. 

I wanted a thinner, lighter Swarovski pen to use in my filofax (original post here) as the one I already owned (original post here) is quite heavy to use but I love writing with it. I really hit gold on this occasion as there was a gift set, original intended as a wedding gift available for the same price as buying one pen direct from a Swarovski store - a whopping 40% discount - bargain.

And the final treat for myself was a hand cream from Cowshed. For only £5 compared to the usual £8 and as a lover of hand cream how could I resist?

You can find my first Bicester Village shopping haul here

The Swarovski USB Pen in Fuchsia

Last year my cousin was given a fabulous Swarovski pen for her birthday which immediately sent my mum, aunts and I into frenzy about how we all wanted to own one. My mum received one for her birthday and I subsequently requested one for mine way back in April. Mum ever the extreme shopper went one step further and brought for me the extra snazzy USB pen instead of the simple ballpoint. Lucky me!

I must confess I have spent a lot of time simply admiring this pen in it's box but since I picked up a Filofax in an effort to organise my life better (post coming soon) it's now never far from hand. The USB stick has proved handy especially for storing photos of my niece and nephew which are subsequently printed off when doing a supermarket shop rather than languishing on my laptop for months on end.

As a pen it's a simple ballpoint which whilst I'd love to style things out with a sophisticated ink the humble biro proves most popular for my scribblings. Luckily it is also supplied with replacement inks so I don't find I have to use sparingly for fear of it running out.

It is a heavier pen, which I quite like but some may prefer the simpler (and significantly cheaper) version, filled with only 100 crystals compared to the 400 in my version.

My boss once told me to always hold a pen in meetings as it'll give you something to do with your hands although I think I'll keep this pen at home rather than the boardroom.

And what about you, simple biro or do you prefer something a bit special when writing your to do lists?