Annie's Wishlist: Back to School Essentials Pt. 1

things i would buy if i had an endless amount of money.

Going back to school is something I view with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. On one hand, I hate to give up all my free time lazing around in my bed to having to wake up at 7:40 again and have a highly regimented schedule from 8:50 to 3:15. But on the other hand, I do love seeing all my friends and favourite teachers again and having something to do with my free time (hmm so maybe I don't hate it all that much?) and of course, going to back to school gives me the opportunity to do the best thing in the entire world: back to school shopping.

Each year, there is only one thing I look forward to doing at the beginning of September and that is hitting up Staples to get all the school supplies I need. This year I was a little overeager and finished it two weeks ago so currently I have pretty much checked off everything on my stuff-that-I-actually-absolutely-need-for-school list which leaves me with only my list of things-I-don't-need-for-school-but-would-really-really-like-if-I-somehow-stumble-upon-some-more-money-one-day. There are quite a few items on that list as I really like to fantasize about things to buy that I can't actually afford but what I have pictured down below is the bulk of the list! Just some things that I would like to have for school but don't actually need. Although I do believe that everyone should have these items ready and prepared for going back to school in some form or another. Like maybe not a pack of Wopex pencils in particular because they're quite pricey but obviously if you're going to school, a pack of pencils would be useful! Okay I think I've gotten a bit sidetracked so I'll just stop dragging out this introduction...

(And yes I do know school has started for about two weeks already. In fact that is the whole reason why this post is so delayed. I HAVE NO TIME but even so, there is never a bad time to muse about all the cute stationery + school stuff you can buy.)

annie's wishlist: back to school essentials.

1. fjallraven kanken backpack in ox red.
A friend first introduced me to these backpacks and since then I have been OBSESSED. I love the simple design and am in love with the array of colours these backpacks are available in. I am partial to the colour red, especially a darker red which I find looks good with practically every single colour combination on this planet so it's versatile! Not that it really matters since a lot of my clothes are in the black, white, grey, navy blue range but like say I wanted to get a shirt in burnt orange, this backpack would also look good with that shirt. I've seen these backpacks in store and they don't look super big but they'd be the perfect size to have for school trips or just days where I don't have to lug my binders with me to school. Anyway I just really like the look of these so they're definitely at the top of my wishlist this school year.


2. muji gel pens.
Muji is one of my favourite stores EVER. You legit don't know how excited I was when a Muji opened in Toronto even though its selection is very poor but like, BETTER THAN NOTHING. I love the minimalist design approach that Muji has and how they choose to focus on function and simple, intuitive designs rather than something that has a complicated design and has horrible quality. Everything I've gotten from Muji so far has been GREAT quality. Their notebooks are decently priced and are so hardy. My favourite of theirs would have to be the A5 dotted notebook with the elastic around it. THE PAPER IS SO SMOOTH. Anyway yes I do love Muji a lot and their gel pens are something I've had my eye on for a really long time. I talked about my stationery obsession in my last Latest Obsessions and these Muji gels are on my list of pens I want to buy. I've heard great things about them from so many people and from seeing them and testing them in stores, I find that they have really great colour and are really smooth when writing as well! Pens are so important for school OBVIOUSLY and if they write nicely and come in fun colours, I promise you'll be 1000x more motivated to take notes and do your work.


3. zebra mildliners.
I AM OBSESSED WITH THESE HIGHLIGHTERS. It's so hard to find cute highlighters you guys but THESE HIGHLIGHTERS FIT THE BILL. There are three different packages of these highlighters, each with a slightly different colour theme but all equally pretty. You definitely won't find the classic highlighter colours here! THEY'RE ALSO DOUBLE SIDED. (On a side note, if you would like a highlighter recommendation, I really really love the Staedtler Textsurfer Classics. They have great bright colours but they don't bleed through papers and they're not overwhelmingly bright. They also glide on paper super well. CHECK THESE OUT.)


4. kate spade classic nylon lacey wallet.
I literally salivate over Kate Spade wallets every day. Initially I had my eye on their Cobb Hill from a while ago and their recent - but now not sold anymore - small green scalloped edge wallet as it was the perfect size for pocket change or just for when I don't want to carry a large wallet (like when I'm going to school or to a party, YOU KNOW) but BOTH ARE GONE NOW so I had another look around and I think this is my favourite wallet that they carry right now. I love how this one has a little zip inside for pocket change which is an absolute must for any wallet. I don't think I could live with a wallet that either just had one pocket or only billfolds. WHERE AM I GOING TO PUT MY LOONIES AND TOONIES? Also love how many card slots there are. Basically in love with this wallet in general. This would keep me so organized. I would never ever lose my money or my student ID or my library card ever again.


5. studio oh! 2016 planner.
As soon as I saw this at Indigo, it was pretty hard for me to stay away even though I get an agenda from school. BUT IT'S SO CUTE. I didn't buy one though and I don't think I will but I definitely think a planner of some sort is very important for school. Especially if you're in high school and even more especially if you're in grade 11+ when you start to get more homework. Things WILL go to shit if you don't keep track of what you have to do each day. I can't tell you how many times my agenda has come to my rescue. MORE THAN I CAN COUNT HONESTLY. I like to look for agendas that have a monthly view and have an interesting design. I also like it when the Saturday and Sunday sections are the same size as the other days. Honestly it pisses me off when they're half the size because honestly Sundays and Saturdays are just as busy for me. And of course if they're CUTE that's a bonus. This planner evidently checks off all the boxes.

6. staedtler wopex pencils.
I despise using graphite pencils - I'm a mechanical pencil through and through (but only 0.5 lead please) - but I make an exception for the Wopex pencils. They are BY FAR my favourite graphite pencils. They're made of a plasticy material which makes for such comfortable gripping. They are really solid and also write super nicely. I hate writing with graphite pencils because they dull so easily and I like sharp points and thin lines but I find these pencils last really well and write really great even when they do get a bit dull. Definitely my favourite graphite pencils!

I had no idea how long this post would get although WHY AM I SURPRISED so I've split this into two parts! Honestly I'm as ruthless with splitting posts into two parts as Hollywood is with splitting the last movie of a franchise into two. But I didn't want to post another giant wall of text again so instead of having ONE giant wall, I'm going with two slightly LESS GIANT walls of text.

Now for question time! What are some of your back to school essentials? What do you absolutely NEED to have? Do you like stationery and pens as much as I do? What are some of the best pens and pencils you've used? Tell me in the comments!