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.

Rain rain rain. We’re so sick of talking about it but we.just.can’t.stop. Much like the rain itself.

With every raindrop that falls directly into our eyes (which by some freak of nature is about 40% of the total annual rainfall) our dreams of escaping to somewhere warm and dry get a little more desperate.

For those of you lucky enough to be hotfooting it out of the UK and jetting off in search of our long lost sun, don’t forget to spend some time on the journey flicking through the in-flight magazine.

We’re very glad one eagle-eyed PacaPod fan did, when she told us she’d seen none other than our Coromandel bag inside Flybe’s Uncovered magazine earlier this year. Luckily for us Flybe publish their magazine online so we were able to see for ourselves – check it out here (the Katy Perry interview’s a good 5 minute distraction too).

N.B. Apologies for being whingey in paragraphs 1 & 2, we've been staring at grey skies for too long!

That first pang of excitement for Christmas can be triggered by so many things (we're pretty sure it is excitement we feel rather than dread...).  Digging out your thick winter woollies, a big steaming mug of mulled wine, or that Coca Cola advert (though we think it's easily outdone by John Lewis in the advert stakes this year). But what really fills us with festive cheer is the arrival of gorgeous Christmas catalogues, brimming with wonderful gift ideas for the whole family (but most importantly for yourself!).  The Red Direct team have hand-picked everything from jewellery and bags (including our own Coromandel) to home furnishings and toys for their festive offering.  You can take a look at the catalogue here and get ready to double the size of your wish list this Christmas!

We'd like to set the record straight.

Contrary to popular belief it does not always rain in Manchester.  And when the heavens do open over this magnificent city, it takes more than a little wet weather to dampen our spirits (get it?).

If you haven't already guessed, PacaPod's home is in Manchester, and boy do we love it here.  No congestion charge, great football and Coronation Street - what more could you want from your home city?  We're also lucky enough to have the support of local businesses and press (Manchester Evening News was the first publication to feature PacaPod - click here for a piece of nostalgia!).

Earlier this summer we found two PacaPod bags beautifully featured in Cheshire Mums Magazine - a first class move by the stylish mag to leave it's readers spoiled for choice!