I Want This + Vanity + Wearables

If I were a bag, what kind of bag would I be?

When Julie saw that I’d bought this triangle-print day bag from Bookhou, she said, “If you were a bag…” And she’s totally right. Really, “old bag” jokes aside, this is me in bag form. Aside from the perfect print (which I blogged about in tea towel form a while back), the size is ideal. I have a reputation for dragging around huge, heavy bags that make my back feel miserable, so I’ve been looking for a smaller, cotton bag for days when I expect to be walking around a lot but want something fancier than a tote. This is exactly it.

Of course, now I also want the matching loop scarf (thanks to Victoria, who knows an Anna-scarf when she sees one!), and maybe also this beautiful pouch to store the iPad I don’t have…

Speaking of Bookhou, have you seen founders John and Arounna’s Toronto home in the latest issue of Covet Garden? It’s every bit as lovely as you’d imagine it would be.

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43 Comments

  • Reply Grumble Girl January 12, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    Excellent bag, lady. And I love that store so much… my old city. L sigh. Great items in there… good score!!

  • Reply Natalie January 12, 2012 at 4:32 pm

    I want it!! Let’s match.

  • Reply lau January 12, 2012 at 4:33 pm

    ahhhh i want the lines one now. badly.

  • Reply Geninne January 12, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    Perfect match! 🙂

  • Reply Sherry January 12, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    I’ve been on the hunt for a new bag for so long, when you linked to this bag in a tweet I knew it was what I was looking for! It really is perfect. Hoping to be up in Toronto for the IDS, want to swing by Bookhou and Mjölk if I can time it right and pick up a few things (including the bag.) If not I’ll be ordering it online.

    • Anna @ D16 January 12, 2012 at 4:51 pm

      Yay, Sherry! It seems much more fun to shop at Bookhou and Mjolk in person. 🙂

  • Reply Samantha January 12, 2012 at 5:13 pm

    I kick myself regularly for not having gone into Bookhou yet, though I live in Toronto! And I too love that triangle print. I bought a triangle-print pouch (online) for a friend of mine recently, and coveted one for myself as well. I must stop being so lazy!

  • Reply Caroline January 12, 2012 at 5:35 pm

    I have the exact same bag! Isn’t it just perfect? I’ve used it non-stop for the last six months. Great size, not too big but carries a lot, and the leather pull just zips it open and shut so perfectly…in fact it’s right next to me now. 🙂 I never get sick of gazing at the triangles…

    The canvas is really durable too, and has stayed clean… Although I was just thinking I might take it to the drycleaners just to keep it tip-top.

    🙂

  • Reply arounna January 12, 2012 at 6:09 pm

    thanks so much anna
    for the kind words – I’m glad to hear you like it
    xx
    arounna

    • Anna @ D16 January 12, 2012 at 9:39 pm

      Thank YOU, Arounna! The bag is really beautiful, and I’ll be so happy to carry it with me for long, long time.

  • Reply erin January 12, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    i’ve been eyeing on of those sweet triangle bags myself. indeed, for days that call for something just a step up from a tote. glad to catch a peek into their lovely home, too!

  • Reply aliza January 12, 2012 at 8:18 pm

    I have the scarf and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. but what i love EVEN MORE is the wood alphabet, which is hung above my desk. i’ve gotten a million complements on it, and when ever asks where its from I tell them “this lovely little store on dundas with the warmest owner, and the cutest little kids”

    • Anna @ D16 January 12, 2012 at 10:47 pm

      I think I really need to get that scarf…

  • Reply maya January 12, 2012 at 9:06 pm

    Love it!
    i have the towel, well (had) someone gave it to us as a house warming gift, it survived for a long time, but for some reason, the day i gave birth, Mika decided its hers…. she knew its my favorite , she was kinda ad at me for bringing a new “puppy” home… 🙂

    • Anna @ D16 January 12, 2012 at 10:49 pm

      Maya, that is so funny!! Sad about the towel, of course, but really sweet that Mika loves you enough to be angry. 🙂

  • Reply Erin January 12, 2012 at 9:16 pm

    Beautiful beautiful bags. If they made a vegan version I’d be all over it!

    • Anna @ D16 January 12, 2012 at 9:38 pm

      Erin, I bet they’d be willing to send you one of the pouch-style bags without the leather pull!

  • Reply Alice @LAX TO YVR January 12, 2012 at 9:55 pm

    I got the tote bag with the same print from Arounna when she was in Vancouver for a craft fair last month. I’m so so glad I got it; I use it all the time. And I always get compliments on it. I love everything they make.

  • Reply Kate January 13, 2012 at 3:44 am

    I couldn’t resist and nabbed one too 🙂 So many covetable things in the Bookhou Etsy shop.

  • Reply Amber January 13, 2012 at 10:31 am

    I just got my bookhou 2012 wall calendar in the mail and I’m in love. Will definitely purchase more stuff from them 🙂

  • Reply Lindsay January 13, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    I’ve had this bag on my wishlist for some time now – I am glad it is as wonderful as it seems! I think it fits you wonderfully.

  • Reply Julie-White Tapestry January 13, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    I love the bag. really. and I definitely need to get on getting a subscription to Covet. have the loveliest of weekends!

  • Reply Cli January 13, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    Hi Anna, love the bag! Just want to say thank you for posting your vegan chilli recipe, I am sitting here munching on it on a cold Irish night! It’s my third time making it since you posted it and is a big hit with my boyfriend also! Adore your blog!

  • Reply hungryandfrozen January 13, 2012 at 4:08 pm

    I only ever have the one enormous heavy bag – I think this one could definitely change my ways. I love that print!

  • Reply Tania January 13, 2012 at 7:17 pm

    Love it! I have big bag syndrome too even though I’m only 5’1″ (there is definitely something psychological going on in my case).

    This shop is great, thanks for sharing.

  • Reply Kristen January 13, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    It’s funny how we are all lugging around these huge bags all the time. My bag is so big that I knocked over a whole display at Ulta with it. I wish I was kidding. Then later on I needed a tissue. A tissue! Surely I must have at least one in my bag. Sadly, no. What is in there anyway? So yes, I need to look for a smaller bag! I’m so glad you got one with triangles. Julie was SO right! It is perfect for you. I hadn’t heard of Bookhou (even though I’ve spent a ton of time in TO) so I was browsing a little on their site…oh the tote bags! Hmmm…

    • Anna @ D16 January 13, 2012 at 11:24 pm

      OMG, that Ulta story is horrible, hahaha. What was the display? Please say something small and plentiful, like 39487593475 nail polish bottles.

    • Kristen January 15, 2012 at 10:13 pm

      Hahahaha…sorry to disappoint, it wasn’t nail polish! 🙂 But it was all the sale items from the holidays – like all the big bottles of the Philosophy body wash that smells like Gingerbread and Candy Canes that didn’t see. So they all fell off with a gigantic thud, and then bounced across the wooden floor! 🙁

  • Reply Juli January 14, 2012 at 3:32 pm

    Loving all the Toronto love on D16 recently 😉

    Also love Bookhou.

  • Reply Raquel January 14, 2012 at 5:16 pm

    http://flavorwire.com/248615/punk-rock-posters-remixed-swiss-modernist-style

    Completely unrelated to this post, but the above link made me think of you immediately. Love your blog!

  • Reply Annie markantonatou January 15, 2012 at 10:19 am

    i love this bag! i watch it all the time at etsy!

  • Reply carrie olshan January 15, 2012 at 5:25 pm

    that house is amazing. so light, and the pottery in the kitchen is beautiful. thanks for sharing!

  • Reply Kristy January 15, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    Nevermind the triangle scarf didn’t you see the one with raindrops on it?
    http://www.etsy.com/listing/84863516/loop-scarf-rain
    That also seems very ‘you.’ Hurray for awesome Canadian stores/design! (I’m Canadian!)

    • BLB January 20, 2012 at 12:06 am

      Hey I love that Loop Scarf.. It’s really fantastic!

  • Reply NatalieTres January 15, 2012 at 10:12 pm

    Love the bag! P.S. did you know that Diane Keaton uses Sally Hansens nails stickers?!? She is just everything great!
    http://www.whosay.com/DianeKeaton/photos/113332
    http://www.whosay.com/DianeKeaton/photos/114938

  • Reply Betsy January 16, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    Love that bag, Anna! I’ve been wanting to purchase one for a while, now! Does it read as “black” in real life? It is hard to tell from the pictures. Sort of like your favorite black paint color? I wear so much black that I wouldn’t want it to read as blue-ish.

    • Anna @ D16 January 16, 2012 at 5:03 pm

      Supposedly it’s indigo, but to me it reads as black! It definitely wouldn’t clash with black clothing.

  • Reply June January 16, 2012 at 6:47 pm

    I have one of their bags too, I actually got a chance to meet the owner at CIrcle Craft in Vancouver, in November. I was amazed when she told me that she prints, sews and punches her bags herself. I have the one with the tiny pouch, with only enough room for my wallet which is pretty much perfect as I tend to want to fill all the space I have. Keeps me from carrying too much stuff.

  • Reply Mariah Danielsen January 16, 2012 at 8:42 pm

    In love with that bag!

  • Reply tracy February 2, 2012 at 7:55 pm

    saw this post today on another blog and thought of you!

    http://www.oldbrandnewblog.com/2012/02/love-triangle.html

    i know how much you love triangles 🙂

    • Anna @ D16 February 2, 2012 at 8:21 pm

      Cute stuff, Tracy, thanks!

  • Reply Charlotte April 2, 2012 at 4:32 pm

    Good bag tip. I have been looking for the perfect bag for so long – and have just ordered the waxed canvas one. Perfecto!!

  • Reply Bella April 10, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    Love that bag! I have to exert much self control knowing how easy it is to drop by their store, since I live in Toronto. It’s been great visiting your blog.

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