Back in New Hampshire, when I had known Lena for approximately two weeks, I told her that she was one of those rare people I can see myself fighting with. I usually hate arguments with my friends. I’m just not good at fights – those with my sister not included. But with Lena, I thought, I could really enjoy a good argument every now and again. Boy oh boy, was I wrong.

How wrong I was with this assumption, I didn’t realize until almost two years later, when we went on a girls-trip to Budapest. Now, imagine four girls, each one with her own, very strong personality, sticking together for three days straight. You know as much as I do that something was bound to happen. Couldn’t agree on where to go? Not our problem. Hangriness? Not that either. It was the German language that got us started. The article of the word dumpling, to be exact. I am not even going to go into the whole thing again, or I’ll have to call Lena right now and start discussing this again. The argument went on for quite some time, ended in tears and I soon realized: I hate fighting with L.

Why I’m telling you this? Because I want you to know about Mimi. And Mimi came at the perfect time, reminding me that I love this girl from Upper Austria to bits, even though she frustrates the hell out of me sometimes. So who is Mimi? 

She is our first favorite find and the reason why we started flying floordrobe, but most importantly she is my favorite artist and an incredibly talented person. Mimi owns a not-so-little-anymore company called Papetri Paperworks and creates amazing notebooks, cards and as of last year, she also designs diaries for dm Hungary. Her illustrations are the cutest thing I have ever seen and her notebooks too precious to ever actually use them. Can you tell I’m in love?

We found Mimi the day after the dumpling incident, strolling around Budapest’s amazingly beautiful Jewish quarter and browsing a few market stalls that have been put up in one of the passages connecting Király utca and Dob utca. (Remember those names; you don’t want to miss out on Budapest’s Design Street – which would be Király utca – and all the courtyards and passages around there!) Naturally, the two of us got excited about pretty much everything – as long as it was handmade and special somehow. But then there she was, in a dark corner, showcasing her work.

how can you not love these illustrations?

I think Mimi was a little scared of the two crazy people jumping up and down in excitement just because of her notebooks. And I think that our fellow travelers were a little annoyed at how long we took just because of those notebooks. But Lena and I were in our own happy bubble, our day having been made a little better just because of Mimi’s notebooks. It also made me realize that I probably won’t ever find another person again that goes as crazy for those little things as I do.

I don’t have to mention that we fell in love with her stuff right then and there, but when we started talking to her we loved the company even more, because Mimi turned out to be a lovely person. Of course we bought some of her work that day. We also got her card, tracked her down on Facebook, went to see her when she was at a street market in Vienna, obviously bought some more of her stuff and are currently working on a very exciting project with her.

So that’s the story of how we found Mimi. If you want to check out her stuff – trust me, you want to – have a look at her Facebook page and her Instagram feed. And don’t forget to check out Király utca if you ever find yourself in Budapest. But bring enough money - you willl want to buy everything. Don't tell me I didn't warn you!

xx Kathi

Photo taken in: Budapest, Hungary