It's My Bag, Baby

There's no way I could do this post without including an Austin Powers line!  (I'm going to need to see the original movie now that I've watched this clip - I haven't seen it in years, but it's hilarious.  And yes, I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old boy.)

Now, with all that out of the way, let's get onto the real reason we're here: you want to nose around my life!  That's what my survey said, anyway.  And I thought that a peek into my bag would give you an accurate picture of where I am right now.

No matter how many times I tell myself that this new bag or that new bag will break me of my attachment to my Le Pliage, I've carried one incarnation or another of the Longchamp standby since high school.  There's just a little more room in it than in any other purse, which is perhaps why things always seem to multiply at the bottom - receipts, napkins, pennies, etc - but which is very helpful when I'm out all day and need to throw in snacks and/or water bottles.

Today's bag contents are actually a perfect still-life of what I'm up to at the moment.  Yes, I staged the photo, but everything in there is exactly what I'll take when I leave the house for today's appointments.

I wore my contacts for too long yesterday and my eyes need a rest since I'm not really used to them anymore.  Today is a glasses day - I threw in my Firmoo shades in case the sun decides to come out.

We don't do family Christmas cards, so I picked up a few boxes at Target the other weekend.  I always seem to think of one more person who should get one while I'm out and about - hence these and the pen.

The small gray binder under the cards and sunglasses is my russel + hazel planner, which I found at The Container Store over the summer.  (It's a good thing I hadn't been to their website before now, because I can see myself spending a lot of money there!)  You can buy all sorts of fancy inserts; I just got the weekly sheets and the filler paper.  It's a very basic system, but it works for me!

Now that the annoucement has been made, my Us Weekly is totally out of date.  (Isn't that always the way with tabloids in hard copy?)  I still love it for all the gossip and fashion, though!

It's Christmastime and Clementine season.  There really isn't anything else to say about that.

You never know when you might need to bribe someone into being good - I'm not pointing fingers here so I won't say who - and it's always handy to have a little baggie of treats nearby.

I ran out of my beloved Coco Mademoiselle over the summer and can't bring myself to spend silly money on another bottle, so I've been living off perfume samples for the past six months.  Right now I'm on Marc Jacobs Daisy and, even though it's totally inappropriate for the season, I love it.

And then we've got the usual items - chapstick, keys, wallet, and checkbook.  I bought myself the Kate Spade Lacey in London when it was on sale to congratulate myself on deciding to quit my job - hey, it was a really tough decision and I felt I deserved a reward for making up my mind!  The checkbook, even though I don't use it often, is the one thing in my bag that makes me feel the most grown-up; there's probably some sort of psycho-analytical Mommy explanation for that, but it's just the way it is.

The only things not in my purse when I took that picture were my makeup bag (which was in the bathroom) and these Paper+Cup notecards, which I've been using as pseudo-business cards as I network my funemployed self around town.  Other than that... you've got a snapshot of me!

On a different note, I wanted to let you all know that, with my newfound free time, I did a major clean-out of my closet and put a serious haul on ebay - there are party dresses from Anthropologie, trousers from Banana Republic, sweaters from J.Crew, and premium denim, among other pieces.  There are items in US sizes 8-14 so email me if you're interested and I'll give you the link!  I'd love some of them to go to friends if possible.