Over the weekend I dreamed about the Mulberry agenda. I've had it for a long time. When I used to travel for work, I would sometimes seek out stationery stores, but in this case I think I bought it at a discount store like T. J. Maxx or Marshall's (back in the day when they were actually two different stores and didn't carry exactly the same stuff). I know that at some point I ordered a calendar refill and some blank paper; I threw away the used calendar pages, apparently, but the remaining flyleaf is dated 1999, so I bought it sometime prior to that. I have no idea how much I paid for it, but I would guess something like $25-30. I don't think I would have paid more than that, although I had a lot more disposable income during that period of time.
The pages are cream colored, printed in red. They have (of course, as Bob would say) stopped offering those refills. Mulberry no longer makes a page-a-day organizer refill (they only have a weekly one), and they don't make the cream-colored paper at all, only white with black. And it's pretty expensive--$14 for 25 sheets of lined paper. That seems excessive, but the binders are extremely expensive as well, ranging from about $500 up to $1500. Mine is very similar to one that retails for $600. So whatever I paid for it, it was definitely worth it.
Of course (again) other brands of refills like Filofax, Franklin-Covey or Quo Vadis, don't fit. The pages are kind of an odd size, being more square than most agenda pages, and the holes are spaced differently than, for instance, Filofax pages. As I went through a bunch of notebook blogs (you knew those existed, right?) looking for Mulberry info, there was a lot of discussion about how it was obvious that Mulberry was no longer producing the range of refills that used to be available, and discussions about what to do in order to keep using these incredibly expensive notebooks. There was even a graphic that someone had made showing the hole configuration of Mulberry paper compared to Filofax, and an even more extensive comparison of the various paper sizes of different brands.
One of the suggestions was to download and print templates, but that didn't really appeal to me. Part of the pleasure of writing in an agenda--for me, at least--is writing on nice paper, and copy paper doesn't really cut it.
In any event, I've really been enjoying setting up the notebook and using it. There are a lot of people listed in the contacts section that I don't even remember at all, and a lot of people have moved or changed phone numbers. But the phone number section consists of tabbed pages that fit into thin plastic sleeves, so difficult to change/replace. I think I'll leave them for now.
It's a little cobbled-together, but I kind of like that. It makes it easier to punch various paper oddments and put them in, and make it more personalized, and it looks (and is) well used and loved. Anyway, for now at least, I'm loving it.
I share the note book obsession but have a hard time writing without pain so I can resist buying them. I do go to Levenger and drool regularly. I wonder if Day Runner pages would fit.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dayrunner.com/dayrunnerstore/
I checked both DayTimer and DayRunner at Office Max, I think, and they didn't fit. I think DayTimer and Franklin Covey are the same, and DayRunner may be, too. Good idea, though.
ReplyDeleteI love notebooks, too, Willa. There are YouTube videos out there with ways people use their notebooks, and I am always drooling, looking at all of that beautiful colored paper and organization. Digital has so many benefits, but I just can't fully give up analog.
ReplyDelete♥ the Mulberry! My sinful purchase back when I had some bucks (a while ago!) was a leather Hermes notebook with refillable interior. I still have it, still use it, and so far, fingers crossed, they still make the refills same as ever. I have always loved the leather agendas- much more satisfying than trying to resurrect a phone from ten years plus. :-)
ReplyDeleteWilla, I still keep a paper agenda and you are completely responsible for my appreciation of keeping track of my days via paper. :) There's something wonderful about being able to look back on something tangible...
ReplyDeleteI still just do Moleskines. I used to have a Franklin Covey agenda and it's still kicking around here somewhere. I just have more fun making up my own stuff. I use Evernote to save pictures of stuff whenever I want a backup.
ReplyDelete