Where to begin? I was tagged graciously this morning by my friend, Kate over at The Last Amazon. She's one of the strongest female writers out there in the blogosphere in my humble opinion and I often aspire to be as profound as she can be. So when she decided to unbuckle her purse and show us the inner workings, who am I to say no?
My purse...isn't it funny how we can feel so naked when we are not carrying this piece of cloth? From the time we're preteens, we've been toting a bag around of some sort. I remember being so jealous of the girls in high school who had the 'hobo bag' so popular in the 80s. We actually called them 'Bitch Bags' in my school, but oddly instead of the insult, it was a compliment at the time. I still think fondly of that Christmas morning in 1986 when I opened my presents and found my black 'bitch bag' and suede pixie boots. I was over the moon!
Now, fast forward and the purse I now carry is a bit of an extravagance to myself. This one and the one before it are Coach. Way too expensive for words, but trust me when I say I got bargains on both of them. Still though, over a day's pay on each. I like to tell myself that spending more on something that I use every day is smarter and cheaper in the long run. But if I was being honest, I just love them on a completely shallow level. They're pretty and they make me feel girly. I like that.
Inside my purse, you find some secrets about me. I'm a packrat. I'm not organized at all inside that little world.
I've got a wallet, but no cards in it. Over time, they've migrated to the bottom of the purse after I was too lazy to put them back where they belonged. What does my wallet have in it? A card from a restaurant where my friend sang her first solo with her new group. A handwritten post-it note from my niece when she was just 12 or 13 (she's 24 now) that says 'I love my Auntie Sue! She treats me like a reale person.' Ok, spelling was never her forte but I look at that note often when I'm needing a pick me up.
The rest of my purse is a miss-mash of papers, cards and memories. Two tickets to recent concerts - Great Big Sea on September 1, and Kenny Rogers on September 6. If you've been reading my blog recently, you know how I feel about the latter, but the former? Beyond amazing. Those boys know how to throw a kitchen party!
I carry my passport everywhere. I am not entirely sure why, but I do. I live 20 minutes from the border and my best friend lives right at the border. But we don't go across as often as we used to. Still, I carry it. I think it has to do with patriotism and my need to remind myself constantly of my country. Or maybe I've just been remiss in putting it back where it belongs.
There's medicine. Tylenol 3, which I need to take almost daily. Wish I didn't, but it's my cross to bear. There's Immodium, or as I like to call it Vitamin I. I don't need that daily but when I do, it's gotta be close by.
A little point-and-shoot camera. It doesn't take great pictures anymore, but it's something I carry around always. It's too hard to bring around my DSLR everywhere so this little guy slips quietly in my purse and is always there when I need it.
The basic are there. A pen, paper notepad for those lightbulb moments. A grocery list. Map printouts to places I've been lately. Frequent shopper cards for La Senza, Chapters-Indigo and a few other clothing stores. I'm a shopaholic, what can I say?
Lots of coins, or what I've found myself referring to as shrapnel. Not quite sure where I picked that vernacular up from but it seems to work. Lots of pennies...can't seem to get rid of those anymore. I recently heard a study that it takes 1.2 cents to even produce a penny. I suspect their days are definitely numbered.
There's hairspray. A friend gave me that last week after she'd been given it by her hairdresser. I thought it was so cute and immediately put it in my purse. The funny thing is I'll probably never use it. I don't for the most part use any styling products in my hair.
What's not in there? Pictures of my family. You'd think with my passion for photography there would be, but there isn't. I am always sending pictures off to friends via email, or printing them out for my less-than-technical relatives but I seldom keep them for myself. I always think I should probably save some for me, but somehow it doesn't seem right. My photographs are for others to enjoy, I guess.
And that, my friends would be pretty much the contents of my purse today. Today also being the day that I was switching to Summer Beige Suede Coach to Winter Chocolate Brown Suede Coach.
Tagging? I'm very curious to see what Monica, Karen and Shannon's purses hold. Care to share?
