Purse shopping

I wasn't a purse carrier until I developed allergies and started having to have my epi pen with me everywhere I go. When that happened, I started carrying a small purse that was just barely large enough to hold the epi pen and my wallet. I'd buy a black one or a brown one once every year or two, and carry that same purse with me every single day.

Then I saw the light.

I'd been eyeballing my friend Kat's purse for a while. I actually teased her and called it a Mom Purse because it was so big... and hey, she's a mom. I started thinking something bigger would be better, and then the Purse Lady came to the hospital where I work. I've probably walked past the Purse Lady a hundred times without stopping, but some of my friends there asked me to check out her stuff with them.

Let me tell you - those friends are bad influence on me.

They spend money. A lot of money. And they encourage me to do the same.

First, I found a green Mom Purse that seemed perfect to go with my green Muumuu spring coat.

I still can't decide if I love this coat, or if reminds me too much of Mrs Roper.

I tried out the new Green Mom Purse for a few weeks before the weather cooled off and I had to switch over to my winter gear. The truth is, this purse really is too big. I think that Mom Purse is probably a good description, because it's big enough to do double duty as a diaper bag. For example, one day I was going to the doctor's office and knew I'd have a bit of a wait. I grabbed a hard cover book and tossed it in; and it fit - with room to spare!

That's a wee bit of overkill, in my opinion.

Luckily, fall arrived and I've now got the winter months to think of ways to fill it up.
I suspect that this purse will be reserved for special occasions.... like all you can eat buffets, or shoplifting.

(If you didn't immediately realize that I was joking in that last statement, please stop reading now.)




30 seconds after I bought the new Green Mom Purse, I went around the kiosk corner the angels sang.

I found this little baby. And I loved it so much that I bought it too.

I'm not going to show you a picture of my winter coat because it really needs to be washed; but suffice to say that it's THAT colour of red with THAT colour of brown trim.
(Yeah - the brown in the top left hand corner that looks black because it's in the shadow. But, it really is brown, and it really matches my coat!)

Seriously, there isn't anything that that purse doesn't go with. No matter what I wear, it looks like I chose That purse to pull the outfit together.

I've been carrying it for about a month, and I get comments on it every day. Strangers tell me what a cool purse it is. And BELIEVE ME, I'm not a person who normally receives positive comments from strangers regarding my fashion sense. A friend of mine even loved it so much that the next time the Purse Lady came back to the hospital, she ran over and snapped one up.

Except.

It's about half the size of the Green Mom Purse, to it's pretty good that way. The problem with this purse is that it's so stiff that it doesn't close. It stands with the top wide open all the time. Even when I've got the handles in my hand or lay it on its side, the top of it is open and the contents are on display to everybody. That, and things keep falling out. A week ago, I realized that I'd lost my fabric swatches that I carry to match things for the house. Friday, I realized that I'd lost all my meds.

More specifically, I realized on Friday - as I was out having lunch with the guys - that my purse that used to contain a whole plethora of crap now only contained my wallet, my epi pen and two tampons. With the way that the top stays wide open, and since it's large enough for everything that was left inside to spread out, anybody who happened to glance towards it got an eye full.

Way to fit in with the boys, Janice.

...moving on now...

The thing is, I can't just keep going around and losing things out of my purse all the time. I'm lucky that my wallet wasn't one of the items that fell out; and I can't imagine that the pharmacists will keep refilling my prescriptions, no questions asked.

So, today I bought myself another new purse. It's small. It holds my epi pen, my meds and my wallet; and not much else. It closes all the way, so people can't see in; and stuff doesn't fall out. And it's red. I wasn't ready to go back to neutral just yet.

Isn't it pretty?


And, on that note, I am now officially banned from purse shopping for the foreseeable future.