Purses...

 

I haven't gone back through the last 18 years or so of blogging to determine how many posts I have written about purses but I am betting there is more than one or two!  Purses (pocketbook if you prefer... an interesting side note the term pocketbook is used almost exclusively in the Eastern U.S. and even then, primarily in the South!) are very personal.  Much like shoes, I think they can say so much about personality; even more than clothing or jewelry. 

It is near impossible to buy a purse for someone  (now I am not talking about a cute, little, cocktail number or statement purse but rather those bags we turn to everyday)  unless you have specifically been shown what/which purse they love.  I believe this to be almost exactly the same in the buying shoes.  These items are not just decoration they have to work with our bodies.  The handles/straps have to fit "us" and our lives or even season of life.  I remember the years of not really carrying a purse but throwing my wallet into a diaper bag.  Now, I often forgo the purse and drop my wallet, keys, sunglasses into my computer bag and head out. Just like a shoe has to fit your foot to work in your daily life, so does the size, shape, and yes, even whether it has pockets, snaps, or zippers in a purse matter.  I can look back at my purse styles over the years, and although I have "tried on" different styles, I tend to navigate back to a basic style and fit... much like my basic black pumps that live in my closet as a necessity not an option  

In purses I am not brand loyal or even a brand snob.  If I see a purse I like, regardless of brand, and it fits...I will carry it.  My current bag is a lovely, pink patent, Kate Spade that I have carried in Summers past.  It is still in great shape, fits, and I love the pop of color... not to mention since it isn't current season no one else has the same bag!  One holiday season I carried a bag which had been the giftbag for a set of lotions but was made of red faux fur, trimmed in white faux fur with big, fuzzy, white pom-poms!  It worked and it fit.  It was festive, got lots of compliments, and no one was the wiser it wasn't even a purse.  I once had a friend who made delightful cocktail purses from wooden cigar boxes.  There is probably a great post about cocktail purses somewhere, I just haven't gotten around to it.

All this to say, that bag you haul around everyday says a lot about you.  If it is recyclable tote from the grocery or a Hermes Kelly bag, you are sharing more than you may realize!  Your purse is an extension of that arm it hangs from!

Coughing and Crowns, not to be confused with Crown Royale!

Yes, sickness has hit me.  I can't believe it....even with some major chronic illness issues, I really never get sick.  But today was my lucky day (hey, maybe I should buy a lotto ticket???) After much harassment from my son, I broke down and went to the doctor.  I love my doctor and he is a super guy but he has generally dealt with major illness with me and when he looked at my records he realized he had never had to treat me for like a "regular illness."  I was diagnosed with severe bronchitis bordering on pneumonia and if I don't improve in the next 24 hours I have to do chest x-rays because he feels sure I have developed full blown pneumonia. I don't know about all that but I do know I don't have time for this.  This is a super busy and pressure filled week at work and I need to be on top my game.  ARGH!!!

When I came home with my very large dose of steroids, antibiotics, cough meds, and an inhaler, I washed it all down with a chocolate Frosty AFTER I put on my crown because I have just determined life is just better with a crown.  I love my crown.  I wish it were bigger and sparklier but I am working on that!  I feel like after what I have been through over the last 2+ years I have earned lots of pretty sparkly things, especially a crown!  Oh, and not to mention it holds my hair back just as perfectly as the standard "Mom" headband called sunglasses!

Of course, this is a pre-sick crown day!  But see how it just makes everything look happier!  By the way did I mention I have found a new hobby....being eccentric in the most Southern of ways.  Tomorrow maybe we will talk about my Spring purse that is waiting patiently in the closet for Easter so that it can make it's debut (oh, and I think I found my Easter dress today as well!)