smythson of bond street

i love getting paper (books, stationery, journals, etc.) for gifts.  my bff soph is the same way, and almost every one of our care packages to each other has included some type of paper product.

as i was putting together the components of soph's winter/christmas package a couple weeks ago, i knew that one item had to be a pretty notebook to keep in her handbag.  and i knew that it had to be from smythson of bond street.

in the world of paper, smythson is legendary.  the first shop opened on bond street in 1887, and clients went on to include the current royal family, Queen Victoria, Madonna, and Grace Kelly.  in my work world, we like to say a company is successful if it has managed to stay afloat for five years.  well, it's safe to say that smythson is pretty darn successful!

everything in the store screams luxury but not all are stuffy.  i adore the line of "panama" notebooks bound in fun-colored leather, and stamped with cheeky sayings.   i browsed through the selections such as "me me me", "blah blah blah", and "profound thoughts", and ended up selecting this:

perfect for my bff, a new mom with a wickedly cool sense of humor.