Some people love stationery. A lot. These are the people who browse stationery stores like others do cheese shops, picking up notebooks and greeting cards, smelling, weighing, pressing the pages between their fingers, thrilled by the possibilities within. These people are often diligent list makers, brainstormers, budgeters and recorders of funny expressions overheard in the subway.
I am one of those people. I carry around a total of four notebooks with me at all times: the day planner for appointments (never, ever trust your iphone to keep up with time-zone hopping), the list journal, the ideas journal, and the diary. I have slimmed down over the years, shedding the fuzzy-heart adorned secret-keepers of my youth in favor of lighter, more “mature“ versions. Ahem. I swear.
During my last stay in Paris, I met Joel Sadler, a kindred spirit and founder of Bound Custom Journals. He could relate to my stationery issues: it’s hard – no, impossible – to find a journal that does it all. Joel’s solution was to create a platform for the journal-obsessed to compose their very own notebooks, filled with pages of only what they need.
Bound’s customizable journals are pretty awesome. Not only are they good-looking (love the vegan leather cover), they’re sustainable (acid-free and made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials), and entirely customizable. You can create a journal tailored to your needs in about 10 minutes on their website, depending on how decisive you are.
I’m outfitting my first Bound Journal with a city map, a checklist, a micro-journal section (perfect for brainstorming), and blank pages (because I’m spontaneous like that). This is to be my on-the-go journal, but there is a section for you no matter your creative bent: staff paper, wireframes, blank storyboards, and even a throwback games section with classic time-killers like TicTacToe and Hangman.
What’s more, Bound For Anything has just teamed up with Parisian store Le Rocketship to offer locals the opportunity to customize their Bound Journal covers right in the Rocketship store. If you stop by, you’ll find a selection of 2013 planners specially designed for Le Rocketship (with the awesome Rocketship logo, a monthly planner, checklists and lined pages), as well as a special set of notebooks with blank covers that can be customized in the store using Yellow Owl Workshop stamps.
For those who are still scrambling for gifts: order a journal today and it’ll get to you (or your loved one) by Christmas! I can’t think of a more perfect gift. To prove it, we’re giving one lucky reader a $40 credit to make your own Bound Custom Journal.
Full disclosure: when I met Joel, he gave me two of his adorable Paris city journals (pictured above). I just love the tongue-in-cheek covers, so we’ll be giving away one of these as well. To win (and get it in time for Christmas!) leave us a comment below telling us the first thing you would do if you had just landed in Paris for a surprise vacation.
We’ve got one more!
We’ll give one lucky winner who sends us a picture of a custom-cover made at Le Rocketship a $5 credit towards making your own custom journal! Email us at bound@haveninparis.com
Happy Holidays!
Order your own Bound Custom Journal here. You can also find Bound Custom Journals at Le Rocketship, 13 bis rue Henry Monnier, 75009 Paris.
Written by Geneviève Sandifer for the HiP Paris Blog. All photos by Bound Custom Journals. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, London, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.
WRITTEN BY
Genevieve Sandifer
Genevieve was born in New York City and raised between London and Paris. Genevieve is part of the Haven in Paris team and is the editor of the Hip Paris blog. Unable to stay away from Paris for too long, she now splits her time between New York, Honolulu and Paris, where she keeps tabs on the Haven in Paris properties and service providers and scours the city for great bistros, cocktail bars and vintage stores.
Rush to market for a citron tart and cafe’ creme.
Let’s see…since I arrive in Paris at the Gare d’Austerlitz, my first stop would be my fav museum, the Cluny, and a visit to the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry. I would definitely make time to visit Le Rocketship…what a cool idea to create your own journal!
I’m currently living in Paris and my surprise vacation is spending Christmas in New York City..! However if it were reversed and I had the fortune to surprise someone with a vacation to Paris:
The first thing I would is take them on ligne 4 to St. Michel, exit on Rue Saint-André des Arts, wander down the street to experience the sensory overload, walk to Little Breizh to eat some crepes (salé et sucré!). Followed by a walk towards Rue de l’Ecole de Medecine, where we would stop to buy some hot chocolate à emporter to drink at the Luxembourg Garden!
Hot chocolate at Angelina. Mmmmmmm.
It is croissants and coffee for me- cafe au lait of course! Then strolling around the latin quarter to look at fabulous small shops- and as many bookstores as I can find! Then mussels and frites with some white wine- and more strolling as I just love the air and the lights and the architecture and the parks and the shop windows and EVERYTHING about Paris!
I’m flying to Paris tomorrow, actually…I will be racing to Shakespeare and Company and catching up with all my old friends–the books!
the first thing i would do after landing in Paris would be to have lunch at cafe george v on the champs elysees (a tradition) and them head to the Musee Rodin and take in the garden.
Rain, hail or shine, it’s a walk along the river, consuming my body weight in bread.
to the louvre!
cold weather means museums to me!
If I had a surprise trip to Paris, the first thing I would do is eat something quintessentially Parisian.
The first thing I would do…take the metro to Champs Elysees and have some rose and vanilla macaroons and a croissant at Laduree!!
A Surprise vacation to Paris? I would run (yes, RUN) up the steps to Monmarte and the Sacre Coeur Church and just breath it all in, then take out my sketch book and start drawing!
I would find a cafe with tables on the sidewalk, sit with my journal and write and sketch about my first day in Paris. It would be my goal to capture the life around me as I sip my cafe au lait and have a special sweet dessert while writing.
I’d grab a pain au chocolat quick smart, then jump on a metro to hear a bit of piano accordion. Probably follow this up with a crepe. 🙂
Stop by the nearest Patisserie and get myself a pain au chocolat!