Valentine’s Cranberry Crush Competition

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and love is in the air!

To celebrate the launch of our brand new PacaPod Jura Cranberry bag we are giving away half a dozen of our dream valentine gifts (from our very own wish lists).

One lucky winner will receive these lusted after luxury products worth over £500 (we are already green with envy here in the office)... Top of our list is the PacaPod Jura baby changing bag (1) in our "crush of the day" cranberry colour, to pop inside and leave you feeling even more organised we have chosen one of the latest mobile devices on the market - an i*** mini, it’s a fruit and not a blackberry or an orange! (4). If that wasn't enough, a much coveted  leather heart shaped Pia purse (6) and of course Valentine’s Day wouldn’t be complete without champagne and chocolates and only the best will do with Laurent Perrier Rose champagne (3) and a heart shaped box of delicious Hotel Chocolat treats (5). Finally for a cosy night in by the fire there’s a Jo Malone luxury candle (2) with a rich romantic scent to set the mood – and we’ll have to the leave the rest to you!

So if you want the chance to win your hearts desire this Valentine’s Day then simply enter this competition by visiting our Facebook page. For our competition rules please click here.

Five feel-good ways to banish the January blues

Blow away the January blues with freedom and fresh air!

It’s easy to feel flat after the festive season when Christmas takes such a toll on our wallets and our waistlines. Instead of staying on the sofa and polishing off the rest of the Quality Street, here at PacaPod our resolution is to take small, but significant steps towards a healthy and happy New Year and the best bit of all - it’s pretty painless!

We’ve decided to embrace free exercise and fresh air which is a great way to beat the bulge, bond with family and friends and easy on the bank balance too. Here we have our five tried and tested tips to help lift your spirits this month.

Plan a weekend walk with your friends or your partner and stick to it! You will feel invigorated and upbeat afterwards. Search online for walks in your area - woodland, canal pathway or a rural ramble.

Alfresco eating - no we haven’t lost the plot we know it’s freezing but children (and adults!) love the excitement of eating outdoors and it can turn a simple outing into an adventure. Instead of picnics think of sizzling sausages on a disposable BBQ, toasted marshmallows on a beach fire or a flask of hot chocolate after an action-packed day - what’s not to love?!

Get Gardening! So it’s still soggy underfoot but gardening is a fabulous way to tone up your waistline and children can get involved and help to pile and bag up the leaves or pull up the dead wood.

Head for the seaside or riverside. There is nothing like wrapping up and blowing off the cobwebs at the beach. If the seaside is too far away why not find a riverside and teach your children the timeless art of playing Pooh sticks on a bridge?  Take a net and try to catch a fish or two - you’re sure to come back with plenty of tall tales about the one that got away!

Chalk it up to experience because you can literally have hours of outdoor fun with a box of washable outdoor chalks – no seriously! Draw out simple games on your driveway such as a circular target and throw bean bags and score points or hopscotch.

Most of all go out and have fun with your family and don't forget your PacaPod!

Golden Gatherings

We’ve been waiting for December as an excuse to pack away our wetsuits and dust down our sparkly heels, so we jumped at the chance to be involved with and attend the local Gold Charity Ball at Pickwell Manor.

We enjoyed a fun packed team building “Manchester meets Devon” coastal walk, with the perfect picnic of Champagne & cream teas over-looking the Atlantic Ocean - in glorious December sunshine!! Then it took just a quick a wave of a magic wand (and some help from our jam-packed make-up bags) and we were adorned in our glittery frocks and finery and ready for the ball!

This is only the second year Pickwell Manor have held a charity ball, all the people involved are local businesses and people volunteering their time and prizes with the aim of helping an agreed Charity.  This year it was for Surf Relief UK  & Umthombo Street Children South Africa.  Both aim to provide the opportunity to disadvantaged children by raising self-esteem through the experience of getting into the outdoors via surfing.

PacaPod gave time to help with the set up and we got creative with beautiful twiggy decorations and paper lanterns!  And of course we donated some of our lovely changing bags as prizes too.  All in all it was an utterly spectacular evening, attention to detail and professionalism to rival the Ritz and a wonderful example of a community coming together for a good cause (oh and the added bonus - the back of a matchbox tally so far is that over £6500 was raised).

Independent 50 Best Baby Buys

We were very honoured to have our Coromandel baby-changing bag featured recently in the Independent’s 50 Best Baby Buys.  And what esteemed company we were in!  Some of our favourite items are:

1. The fabulous book “Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell, which is still a firm favourite with my 5 year old!
2. The beautiful Bobby baby blanket, from Danish brand Lucky Boy, made in Bolivia from Alpaca wool.
3. Sophie the Giraffe – a best seller from the 1960’s and still a firm favourite today!
4. The Nomad Travel Bed from Holland that folds flat to fit into a rucksack and weighs less than 2.5kg – amazing!
5. Our friends Jojo Maman Bebe’s ingenious baby wetsuit.
6. Motties slippers, that are hand made from offcuts of leather and other fabric and are elasticated so they are easy to get on and off.
7. And finally, the gorgeous fleece overall from Swedish company Lindex which we think would be perfect for getting out and about in this cold winter weather.

Our customers were right (as usual) – following customer feedback , the development of our new PacaPod Oban changing bag has proved itself as another success.  We were a little nervous about updating our old faithful friend the Logan changing bag, but what a response!

If travelling is on your mind then Oban’s nimble nature at less than 1kg – seems to have been a hit for Australia and New Zealand Magazine along with Jet Away in flight Magazine, extolling its organizational virtues for air travel with babies.

Baby London Magazine have seen fit to offer an Oban as their star letter prize for this month, and in Holland the Oban has been shortlisted for the Baby Stuf Baby Innovation Award for 2013.  We are very honoured.

And, as if that was not enough for the humble Oban, it has also been spotted by the lovely people at Body Fit Magazine who think that not only is it a great baby changing bag but could also be perfect as a gym bag, holdall or air travel bag.

PacaPod owner and designer Jacqueline Waggett has set up home in Devon after falling in love with life by the sea during a family holiday in the area.

Although the decision to leave Manchester wasn’t easy, with a brand new design and development office up and running, plus surfing lessons for the whole family, Jacqueline hasn’t looked back since!

Jacqueline explains; “We only visited Croyde once, fell in love with the area and by the Monday had an offer accepted on a house. It’s still hard to believe the beach and all this gorgeous countryside is on our doorstep. We are settled into the new office in Barnstaple, with a new team and will be recruiting for more staff shortly.  We have new products in development, increasing worldwide distribution - it’s a very exciting time!”

And it appears that the local press, both in PacaPod’s old home and new, are fully behind Jacqueline and her business.

We will certainly miss being down the road from Cheshire Mums Magazine, who have supported PacaPod since our humble beginnings all those years ago…

Jacqueline looks set to become a local celebrity after being featured in the North Devon Journal this week!

Looking every inch the contented young mum, Peaches Geldof was spotted on a family outing in London this week with her baby son Astala and husband Thomas Cohen.

Along with this season’s stylish oversized coat and midi skirt, Peaches complimented her look with her new PacaPod Firenze changing bag, seen here carried on her shoulder.

A source close to the celebrity told us that “Peaches loves her new Firenze changing bag”, and who could blame her?!

As well as being stylish, the clever ‘baby organisation system’ hidden inside Peaches’ PacaPod means that anything baby Astala needs can be found in a matter of seconds!

You can check out more photos of Peaches with her PacaPod here. We think the new mum is becoming quite the trendsetter these days, what do you reckon?

News just in…

Have you heard the latest rumour? A trusty source has told us new mum Sienna Miller has her own PacaPod Firenze changing bag too!

Competition

Fancy getting your hands on the new celebrity favourite changing bag for free? Junior Magazine is giving away a PacaPod Firenze to one lucky reader this week. Click here to enter!

When we get chatting to our customers (and we do love a good chinwag!) we always like to ask them how they first came to hear of our changing bags.

And with more and more customers telling us they looked us up after seeing a great review on a parenting blog, we think it’s high time we gave these fabulous bloggers the praise they deserve!

When it comes to parenting blogs there is nowhere for us to hide; bloggers always offer the most honest reviews of the products they test-drive (leading us to feel a teeny bit nervous every time we come across a new PacaPod review!). Luckily for us the reviews so far have been positive, articulate and more often than not highly entertaining!

We’d like to say a big thank you to all the hard-working bloggers who have taken time to review a PacaPod bag. Here’s our pick of the best reviews in recent months:

Lucy at It’s A Mummy Look included the Sequoia in her top holiday essentials after a long car journey with the family to France this summer. Read Lucy’s review here.

Sarah at Simply Woman Magazine chooses the new Oban in glossy red as her Bag of the Day last month! Read Sarah’s review here.

Laura at The Life and Times of the Working Mum reviewed the Almora bag in Gunmetal, the latest colour for Autumn/Winter. Read Laura’s review here.

As the dark nights draw in and the thick socks and hot chocolate come out (bye-bye beer gardens and barbeques) we’ve found ourselves reflecting on the non-stop press coverage our new PacaPod Firenze bag has attracted this summer.

Distracted by a new office in Devon and busy designing beautiful creations for Spring 2013 we almost missed the Firenze’s moment in the spotlight! In case you did too we’ve created a quick rundown of this fabulous bag’s top mentions in the British media.

The luxurious leather beauty steals the show (and nearly the whole page!) in Now Magazine’s Mum & Baby Special this September

The celeb’s favourite (rumour has it Sienna Miller's got her hands on one!) makes the Lust List in OK Magazine’s little sister Star Magazine

Stylishly selected by popular parenting magazine Gurgle, along with some cracking tartan attire!

And before you start to think the other PacaPod styles have been sitting back and taking it easy this summer, here is the Mirano looking ever so elegant in Junior Magazine!

To celebrate the launch of our gorgeous new leather Firenze bag, we’ve teamed up with fashion & lifestyle website StyleNest, who are offering their readers the chance to win their very own Firenze bag worth £265.

At PacaPod we’ve been excitedly prattling on about the Firenze all summer, but if this is the first you’ve heard of it (we’ll assume you have been living under a rock) then head to our website for more information and lots of glossy photos of the luxury bag in action: http://www.pacapod.com/luxury/firenze-changing-bag.html

The competition is free to enter and closes on Thursday 20^th September so head over to StyleNest today for the chance to get your hands on this fabulous prize: http://www.stylenest.co.uk/competitions/win-a-pacapod-worth-265/

Good Luck!