Mia Tui Grace – The Bag of Bags

If you are looking for a fabulous bag for yourself or are Christmas shopping keep reading!

Back when Mia Tui came to the UK I was offered the opportunity to review a couple of their bags and instantly fell in love. I’ve bought their bags and purses as gifts too. Fast forward to 2015 and I’ve been given the opportunity to try my old favourite (the Grace) once more. The Grace still sports the incredibly organised and useful interior however is in a softer more buttery leathery feel material (which is incredibly hard-wearing).

The huge selling point for the Mia Tui bags is the interior. I have tried and better tried to photograph the inside of my bag to show the insides off at their best and failed miserably so make sure you watch the short official Grace Bag video at the end of the post.

For me the space and organisation of the Grace is the clear winner. You have two internal side pockets, each of which may be used with the clutches provided, one which matches the outside of the bag and a clear one. The amount you can store in these is amazing. The “main” section of the bag is again very roomy as you can see here:

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Despite having TWO large jute bags, my personal sized filofax, large purse, phone, keys, a pen and more in the bag it still zips up comfortably and as you can see below still doesn’t look stuffed.

 

Ta daaa!
Ta daaa!

As well as the space the features such as the long elastic key clip (a saviour for people such as me who hate digging about looking for keys), phone pouch, space for your pens and the external roomy zip pocket make the Grace (and all of the Mia Tui bags) that little extra special.

Before posting this review I’ve tested the Grace well from school runs, to shopping trips and even a rush to hospital for tests. Despite this, the exposure to all weathers, the playground floor and my children she is still looking as new as she did on the day I received her.

I’m picky about what I will recommend to others however I wouldn’t hesitate to show off, recommend or buy for others anything from the Mia Tui range, particularly the Grace which is a reliable stylish every day bag.

*I was sent this bag free of charge in exchange for an impartial review based purely on my own experiences and opinions, Mia Tui have had no control over the content of this post.

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Things to Love About the Christmas Season 

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I am known online and off as being something of a Christmas fairy. When it comes to the Christmas season I really am like a big kid. There are so many things to love about the Christmas season and I am very vocal about been in love with the whole shebang!

The Smell

When autumn really takes hold you start to get the lovely wood-smoke smell which seems to remind me of cinder toffee; when Christmas comes knocking it’s pine cones, mulled spice, berries and cold (cold does have a smell!). We tend not to go overboard with home fragrance but I already have a spiced berry wax melt in the burner and it’s helping to build the festive feeling nicely.

The Food

We eat at home (Roy, the boys and I) on Christmas day and have a pork dinner (thrown in the slow cooker in the early hours) and of course there’s stuffing, cranberry sauce, proper meat gravy, Yorkshires, Shloer and all of the other lovely stuff that we look forward to enjoying at Christmas.

Sadly the bread oven doesn't work but it gets a good Christmas polish up (and is a very sneaky place to hide Xmas goodies).
Sadly the bread oven doesn’t work but it gets a good Christmas polish up (and is a very sneaky place to hide Xmas goodies).

The Family

We visit Roy’s family on Christmas Eve to say hello and exchange gifts and do the same on Christmas morning with my family (we all live nearby). It’s great that we all live close enough so that we each other regularly through the year and have managed to keep the tradition up of sharing Christmas together while still having our own time and building our own individual traditions at home. Of course at Christmas we get to spend so much more time with the kids as we are both off which is a huge bonus!

The Traditions

Our Christmas is jam-packed with traditions, from the purchase of my first (of many) Christmas magazine to the Christmas Eve boxes the boys open after tea. My youngest sister and I always go Christmas shopping and out for a Christmas dinner just the two of us, that’s our tradition and we all enjoy the Christmas light switch-on in town (we live in a rural market town with a strong community feel so this is always a lovely evening).

 

Decorating the house together as a family is always a great fun tradition. 
Decorating the house together as a family is always a great fun tradition.

The Gifts

Anyone who says Christmas is not about the gifts at all is a fibber or a scrooge! I love Christmas shopping, finding things I know will make people laugh, that they’ll appreciate or find really useful. I also enjoy the challenge of buying for the two large families (I’m one of six siblings, Roy is one of four, then there are partners and children….) without breaking the bank. I have a special notebook and tick people off as I go, using money saving coupon sites and cashback as I go. The more we save, the more we can buy while staying within budget!

The Music

I adore the music that comes at Christmas time, from the 80’s faves to the more classical tunes. One of my favourites is Oh Holy Night and never fails to put me in the mood! The boys both do a lot at school of course at Christmas and so Little Donkey and similar is played or sung throughout!

What is it that you love about Christmas? Do you have a special tradition? An outing you look forward to or are you like me, someone who thoroughly enjoys everything, from the arts and crafts with the boys to cooking, shopping, decorating and beyond?