A tour of MY purse!

I probably would have done this anyway, since I love voyeuristic peeks into the minutiae of other people’s lives, but after the wise and wonderful Jen F. went ahead and did it, I’m following her lead. 

First, the purse itself.

It’s a big, slouchy, handheld number, which is stylish and would have been great in my pre-Tink days. Now it’s a supreme pain in the ass. I get load of compliments on it, but it’s not at all practical. I agree with Jen that a messenger-style bag is key when you are constantly corralling little ones and navigating shopping carts.

I’ve been having a love/hate relationship with bags lately. I feel I need an extremely good-looking one to balance out my lack of daily style. You know, to say to the world, “I haven’t completely let myself go.” Sort of the Olsen twin school of dressing: No one will really notice the yoga pants and Uggs if you’ve got a killer bag. The bags I really like are way too expensive for me right now, and the others are just eh. So I end up buying eh bags and then find I need to declutter. So there has been some eBay selling, to thin the herd. (The above bag isn’t eh but a great find on one of those bargain designer Web sites. I’d post the name of the site, but now they’re selling fakes and I probably shouldn’t be in the business of pimping a site that sells knockoffs. Especially when they’re not expressly labeled as such, which, in my mind, is a shitty way of doing business.)

The guts of the bag are relatively constant. There is the occasional guest appearance by an additional agenda or a Netflix movie that needs to be mailed, but this is basically it. Other than a paperback. But I’m between books right now. (Anyone own a Kindle? Thoughts?)

My main wallet is a basic navy blue Coach affair, with checkbook. I write fewer than four checks a month, so my next model won’t need that. The cards I use most are my debit cards, Costco card, two insurance cards (me and the Chef on one policy, Tink on her own), my Barnes & Noble discount card, library card and license. Not that I really use my license, but, you know. It needs to be handy. (Notice the pink splotch. Was trying on nail polish at a Nordstrom’s and made a mess.)

Here’s a rarity. Cash in my wallet. Three whole American dollars.

My “overflow” wallet, with the credit cards I shouldn’t be carrying around with me as well as all those other frequent-user cards that would put a strain on my main wallet and be horribly unorganized if they lived there. I think the membership card thing is getting out of hand when you have to present a paper card that has been signed by the store manager and is specific to your child so said 3-year-old can get a free cookie at a boutiquey grocery store. (And is that MORE cash I see? What do you know? … I’m betting I’ll find a reason to spend $13 today.)

 The good stuff. An array of lipsticks and glosses in a hot pink, Gabor sisters-esque case. And analgesic.

Ask any reproductive patient about ibuprofen and she’ll get the same lustful look in her eye a dieter gets when you mention full-fat dairy products. After being denied Motrin for years I pop those orange pills with gleeful abandon now.

 My closest friend, upon seeing my makeup in my bathroom for the first time, gasped at the number of Bobbi Brown products and told me I should donate my eyeshadow to the poor. When I reminded her about it later, she had no idea why she made that statement. I mean, it’s not edible or anything.

Seriously. Donate makeup? But it’s so pretty. And an economical pick-me-up when you’re tempted to do Bad Things with credit cards because you’re so depressed about the paltry amount of time you get to spend with your husband. (To say nothing of the dwindling quality of that time, either.) But I haven’t purchased makeup of any sort since before the business opened, so I’ll be treasuring these beauties.

The Tink pouch. Always has stickers in it. The lollipops will be in there for months because I’m Scrooge-like in handing them out.

Writing and coloring implements for me and my girl. And Post-it flags for for organizing notes for my freelance assignment. How did I write before them?

Filofax. I also have an online schedule I maintain in my e-mail program but I need to jot things down all the time. Mostly in pencil because I like the way it sounds when I’m writing.

Rosary and how-to book. Because I’m still learning. I sort of can’t wait until I’m an old lady and can whip my rosary out when I’m on line or in the car, like others do their Blackberry, or their knitting. But I’m still far to self-conscious to be able to withstand that sort of attention.

What’s in yours?

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