Purse Insanity

So okay, if you have a brain in your head, you can tell by the Blog's name that if you want in depth political discussions, you're in the wrong place. There are plenty of great blogs out there with, you know...substance.  I enjoy reading quite a few of them, actually. Am I saying that something (of substance) won't tick me off so bad I have to come here and vent about it one of these days? No, but that's not the general tone around here.

That having been said, get ready for even LESS substance than normal!  Purses, I gotz 'em.  I love them.  I collect them - sort of.  I may be wearing Payless shoes and a Walmart tank today, but I guarantee I'm carrying a nice purse to round out the ensemble! Why? I don't know. Maybe purses are to me as a Rolex or a Jag is for the 45 year old male in the throes of a mid-life crisis? Or maybe a nice purse is "the great equalizer?" Theories? I do own some nice clothes and shoes. Probably too many. (Probably?  LOL!) But they don't get out much. I'm likely to wear a really nice scarf several times a week, but in general, here in PoDunk, USA, I'm in jeans and a T-shirt. The great thing about a nice purse is that it goes with anything!

I'm not into "collectables." Chachskis just collect dust and they don't DO anything. But purses, well, they carry your life around every day! So no, I don't need another teapot or beanie babies or little ceramic angels.  Purses are where it's AT, Bay-Bee!

So make fun of me if you will. I'm a big girl and I can take it. I'm not overly "girly" or "princess-y" and I can change my own oil (and even catch icky snakes in my dining room!) so if I want to carry a nice purse, I'm going to. And I am going to do it for ME. Not for someone else. And certainly not because some "celebrity" has that same one. More like "in spite of" - IF I like it well enough. Unless I am carrying a knock-around-in-the-rain Louis Vuitton, no one around where I live even knows what I am carrying anyway. And I like it that way. Hermes? Celine? Bottega Veneta? 99% of the people in my lil burg have never heard of these. And I am fine with that. There aren't many questions that make me more uncomfortable than "how much was your bag?"  Sorry, but that's just rude. If you want to know, google it. And even then don't assume I didn't get a "deal" or it wasn't a gift. (And no, so far, only of my bags was a "gift" and NOT from my guy, either - but my birthday IS coming up next month *hint hint*) Mainly, it's just none of anyone's business.

Because I had so MANY purses that I'd collected over the years, and because my tastes got increasingly more expensive, I decided to purge. I sold a lot of them, "traded" some of them and donated a ton of them - mainly to a local women's shelter. I've gotten rid of well over a 100 purses in the last 2 years.  Most of them I don't miss at all. Right now, I've gotten it down to around 25. And yes, I use all of them.

I'm lazy when it comes to bags. I don't want to have to fuss with it to get in and out of it. So I love the birkin because it's an open tote (well, if you don't close it up properly, which very few do.) I love my picotins because they're wide open. Right now I'm loving my Tod's Ivy bag. It's a big lump of smooshy goodness that probably holds my body weight in stuff. It's a lovely neutral taupe/mushroom color and the straps are perfect for shoulder, hand or arm carry. Perfection in a bag.

Tod's Ivy Sacca Media

What it holds

Kindle Reader, Bottega Venetta (purple) case, Hermes (quetsche) GM Karo, Hermes (vert anis) PM Karo, Hermes (rose shocking) piccolo, Mulberry wallet, Moleskine (hot pink) notepad, small blue document "envelope," mints, breath freshener and cell phone.

And it's still less than half full!

So while I still switch up a lot, I find that I've been always going back to this one lately.  It's just too easy and pretty not to!



These are my other current favorites:

Hermes Picotins

My favorite charatreuse clemence Picotin MM

Hermes Bolide and Constance

Hermes Kelly

Hermes Silky City

Hermes raisin clemence PHW Lindy 30 CM 

Birkin - on a cruise last year for my birthday

Perspectives

The earthquake/tsunami news kept most of us riveted to the news all day yesterday.  We googled and we tweeted.  We cried and we prayed.

Today, those of us who weren't directly affected, mainly checked in with our various methods for "the recap."  Which is normal.  If you're not with the Red Cross or the news media, you basically went on with your life.  Again, normal.  Doesn't make us bad people.  Other than donating our time or our money, there really isn't anything we can do.  It stays on our minds for a day or two and we move on.

Reminds me of some song lyrics..."I guess the world didn't stop for my broken heart..."  and "...and this ol' world will keep on turnin'..."  No it doesn't stop.  Nor should it.

Every person has a different perspective on every event.  And every person's perspective can change in a split second.  A photo I saw yesterday afternoon really struck me.  It was of two young women who'd been evacuated from one of the office buildings in Tokyo. Being the handbag lover that I am, the first thing I noticed were the handbags they were carrying. One was a Louis Vuitton Monogrammed Alma and the other was an Hermes 31 cm. black Bolide with gold hardware. And then I saw the stricken, dazed, confused look on their faces and the sadness in their eyes and I suddenly felt horribly guilty for even noticing their bags.  I am sure they were as excited when they got those bags as I am when I get a new one.  And I am equally sure that, at the moment that photo was taken, their handbags were the absolute LAST thing on their minds.

credit: The Atlantic (atlantic.com)

That photo, and the particular meaning it had for me, stayed with me all day and all night and I am still thinking about it now.  Perspective is such a HUGE word.  It's everything.

When my husband was ill and then when he passed away, there were times I would just get SO angry.  I was angry that our worlds were turned upside down and no one around us seemed to even notice.  Everything went on around us as if things were perfectly normal. The sun even had the audacity to come up every day!  I couldn't wrap my head around it.   Sometimes I wanted to scream at them.  "HELLO!  Don't you people understand the tragedy that's going on here???  Don't you know that the world will never be the same???"  But it wasn't "their tragedy."  Their lives were going on as normal.  Now don't get me wrong, I would never wish what we went through on anyone and I don't really understand myself what I expected anyone to do.  Nothing, I suppose.  There wasn't anything they could have done.  My perspective was majorly out of whack.

I think that's why I got upset with myself for noticing their handbags in that photo.

But the world doesn't stop turning.

For anyone or anything.