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I love watching YouTube videos of supermodels cleaning out their purses. I love to watch them pack a suitcase. I must not be the only one since these videos are pretty popular. That said, I always kind of chuckle a bit at how different MY bag is, especially once I became a mom.
I recently purchased the Brooklyn tote from Tentree. The Brooklyn tote is made of recycled water bottles and is designed for an on-the-go lifestyle. https://www.tentree.com/products/brooklyn-tote?variant=31442717999191&flow_enabled=false&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6sHzBRCbARIsAF8FMpVcA1azVxgEOJyVZ0voDFUCtTXy-Crj9FSoAdzI5SRKgl_X3bOCvB0aAkLzEALw_wcB
I bought it as my “work bag” because it can fit my laptop and organizers, but you know me. I have to multitask bags. That is just how my life is set up. When it arrived, I consolidated 2 other purses/bags into it; my everyday my-kids-aren’t-with-me-at-the-moment purse and my nylon backpack that I use when I am out-and-about with the kids. I still have a few purses for special occasions, but this is definitely my new, go-to everyday bag for whether I am out with the kids, at the gym, work meetings or running errands.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the loot in my old bag:
The green rectangle is my wallet. I turned it over because #strangerdanger. I have papers from our financial planners and doctor’s offices, coupons and receipts for days. Literally. In my striped bag, I have a travel tube of hand lotion and Purell hand sanitizer wipes. I have a bottle of Advil because I am over 30. This is only a sampling of the spare change I found. I typically have in my bag, no matter what, a diaper/training pants/panties whatever my daughter is in the mood for that week (no joke. Potty training is a bitch), I’ve got an umbrella, pen, pencil and highlighter pen, crackers, and an organic lollipop to bribe my kids to halfway behave when we are in public. In the black bag (that matches my daily purse) is my stash of feminine hygiene products and lipsticks. I also keep a rollerball tube of KORA organics aromatherapy oil/perfume in there as well. https://us.koraorganics.com/products/heart-chakra-aromatherapy-oilWhen I start to feel panicked or inexplicably angry, I roll it on my pressure points and take a big sniff. It smells the way a hug feels. I usually keep a couple of toys and matchbox cars in any bag I have on me, but as I was taking the picture, my kids wandered off and started playing with them because this is real life.
In my other bag I had some baby wipes in case of emergencies, a navy bag that I use for the gym with face wash, sunscreen, extra hair ties and back up feminine hygiene stash, metal straws, an Rx protein bar, 2 tubes of lip balm because your girl HAS TO have hydrated lips, and yes, those are 2 packets of sugar. I bring my own sugar in case I need an emergency cup of tea/coffee while I am out and the coffee place doesn’t have the sugar I like or doesn’t put the amount that I asked for in the tea/coffee. Plus, sugar is much easier to clean if it spills in my bag than honey or agave nectar. I also sometimes have an apple or raisins in my bag, because moms always need snacks, and I normally have some sort of Vital Proteins collagen product in there as well, either a pack of the powders or a protein bar. https://www.vitalproteins.com/collections/beauty-collagen/products/beauty-collagen-strawberry-lemonThe Brooklyn tote also has a compartment for a water bottle as well, so it is perfect for my #stayvital water bottle and a Beauty Collagen powder pack. I’ve got to stay hydrated, friends! You should too!https://www.vitalproteins.com/collections/merchandise/products/stayvital-trimr-bottle-24oz
One of the most famous ‘what’s in my bag’ pieces of all-time was detailed in a book about Janis Joplin called Piece of My Heart written by Rolling Stone journalist, David Dalton. He tells a story of Janis in a limo, flustered over having seemingly lost yet another item, this time a lighter, in a bar. In desperation, she dumped the contents of her bag out on the floor of the limo looking for it.
“Its contents are truly awesome. Janis has a baglady’s compulsion to carry her whole life with her. There are: two movie stubs, a pack of cigarettes, an antique cigarette holder, several motel and hotel room keys, a box of Kleenex, a compact and various make up cases (in addition to a bunch of eyebrow pencils held an address book, dozens of bits of paper, business cards, match box covers with phone numbers written in near-legible barroom scrawls, guitar picks, a bottle of Southern Comfort (empty), a hip flask, an opened package of complementary macadamia nuts from American Airlines, cassettes of Johnny Cash and Otis Redding, gum, sunglasses, credit cards, aspirin, assorted pens and writing pad, a corkscrew, an alarm clock, a copy of Time, and two hefty books-Nancy Milford’s biography of Zelda Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel.” -David Dalton, Piece of my Heart
I’ve had an affinity for Janis since I was a kid and heard her sing “Mercedes Benz”. I didn’t even know much about her except her name and her voice, but I was fascinated by her and her voice. My dad told me if I liked “Mercedes Benz”, I should listen to “Bobby McGee”. I did, and that was it for me. I was a bona fide Janis Joplin fanatic. What her voice lacked in skill and/or health, it made up for in enigma and charisma. She was one of those performers, like Kurt Cobain, who also died at age 27, who left it all on the stage. What you saw was what you got. There was no pretense. I felt like I knew her even though she died before I was born.
Like Janis, I also have a compulsion to carry it all in my bag. You know, just in case. I can honestly say I’ve had similar items in my purse before. For a couple of months (before I had kids), I had a full airplane bottle of Malibu rum inexplicably floating around in one of my purses. I might start carrying a corkscrew. Even though I doubt I would use it much, you never know. Plus, it could double as a weapon. I don’t have cassettes anymore, but I do have a Johnny Cash cd in my car and Otis Redding on my iTunes, which is on my phone which I have with me in my bag, so that’s kind of the same thing. My alarm clock is also on my phone, so that counts! I often have bags of nuts at various stages of fullness, and I own both of those books she had in her bag. I often have business cards in my bag as well, except for my own…
What is the weirdest thing you have in your bag?
