A couple of Thursdays ago I found myself in & Other Stories on London’s Regent Street with time to kill between a long day at work and meeting a friend for dinner. Have recently written about the Clare Vivier x & Other Stories bag Co-Lab on Rock My Style I hunted down the collection and started trying on the bags for size.

But which to choose? The tote bag which, with its Mary Poppins-esque proportions, would be a brilliant day bag. Also, it’s navy blue. I don’t have a navy blue bag! Or the red shoulder bag, which would add a hit of a colour to my mostly black and grey uniform and was just the right size for all the essentials. I don’t have a red bag either! And the pouches were cute too, big enough for a make-up touch-up kit and would double up as a night out clutch. Thoughts along the lines of, “Perhaps I should buy a bag and a pouch,” whirled around my head…

But then I paused for a second and had a word with myself. I already have several perfectly lovely well-used, but lots of life in them yet bags at home, as well as a couple of equally lovely but barely-used bags that need to find their way to a charity shop or possibly eBay and soon. I didn’t need another bag. “Oh but you don’t have a blue tote, or a red shoulder bag and you’ve work hard this past couple of months, you deserve this,” piped up my to hell with it, life is short, stick them on the credit card side. At which point I headed towards the tills. But then my sensible side piped up, “Yes, you’re busy with work right now, but you might not be soon and then where will you be with your fancy bag, but not enough money for a food shop?” Sensible side had a point and I put the bags back where I’d found them. At which point the colourful leather tassel thingamajig (above) caught my eye.

Ever since I left my (much missed Mango black studded black clutch) bag on a night bus in the run up to Christmas 2013 my keys have been kept together with the plain keyring from the key cutting shop. Does the job but kind of boring. The Clare Vivier x & Other Stories tassel on the other hand was anything but boring and would make a cute keyring (or bag charm) and, at £10, was £115 less than the tote bag. Yes, as you’ve probably worked out, I bought it. There’s been none of the buyer’s remorse that I might have suffered if I’d bought a bag that I don’t really need. I know I don’t actually need the leather tassel thingamajig either but it’s being used on a daily basis and makes me happy every time I pull it out of my bag.

My point, yes there is one, is that a small treat can bring you just as much pleasure, perhaps more, than a bigger one. Your treat could be a takeaway coffee from your favourite coffee shop for a start-the-week boost, or lunch from that cute cafe instead of bringing in your own on a Friday. It doesn’t have to be a thing, either, it could be finding time in your busy schedule for doing something you love, whether that’s sweating it out in a cardio class, reading a book in the bath or watching an episode of your current Netflix addiction (Pretty Little Liars, people!). Whatever your treat is, enjoy it. Savour it. Whether it’s for a job well done, having survived the day from hell, or just being your awesome self – you deserve it.

Treated yourself to something small but lovely lately? Got a favourite once a week treat? Anyone else have internal dialogues along similar lines in shops, or is that just me?! Do share below!