About Me

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Recent retiree--35 year's experience teaching reading, English, adult basic education and volunteer leadership skills. Started this blog to exchange ideas and commentary with friends and others having an interest in joining the discussions. Greatest life accomplishments include: 1.organized my 3rd grade class to check out library books for me to get around librarian's weekly limit--Amazon.com, the Mullins Elementary 3rd Grade Class of 1956 is still waiting for "thank you" notes; 2. volunteered in the Peace Corps, island of St. Kitts, West Indies; 3.taught adults to read, earn their GEDs., and speak English as a second language; 4. bought a border collie puppy for $6, got evicted rather than give him up, and began a life-long love affair with all things "Dog"; 5. joined a physical fitness boot camp in my mid-50s--don't mess with someone who's been doing regulation pushups in wet grass at 5:30 a.m.; 6. walked across Northern England with best friend Sally--over 80 miles from the Irish to North Seas; and 7. travelled to many foreign countries for pleasure and work.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Fashion vs Practicality

(What are you packin'? As a purse or wallet, that is. Our host for this week's Fun Monday is The Church Lady over at Living Life in Pa . Church Lady wants to see a photo of our purse/wallet and, if not too incriminating, wants a description of the contents. Well, I'm packin' practical,but longing for high fashion.)


The SAK Silverlake Leather Convertible Satchel in persimmon is what I'm longing for. First, I love this color and it would look great with my default wardrobe color choices of mostly black and brown. Like the way the bag conforms to your side when you wear it over the shoulder. The leather looks buttery soft. The braided handles and zipper pulls are nice touches. The straps make the bag look very sporty and about town. Very fashionable and fun accessory to have for everyday. It could be mine for around $100.

Chances are that I won't be getting this purse, though. Here's the thing. When you're retired, this kind of purse is just not practical--at least for my lifestyle. A good week for me is one where I don't have to leave the house except to do a few errands and take in a movie. For my week, a persimmon satchel would just be overkill. So, instead I use this common sense black microfiber Baggallini that is just large enough to hold what I need to leave home. I've had this purse for many years and liked carrying it to work because I could tuck it into a tote bag with all my take home work. If I went out for lunch, I could just take the purse. Here's what I carry in this handy 8 x 6 in. wallet on a string:

Starting in the lower right hand corner and going counter clockwise: 1. keys for my retirement car, a Toyota Scion xB, my little "breadbox on wheels"; 2. a plastic baggie for "sister fixing"--I take care of my older sister's business since she's housebound so, this bag contains cash, lists, receipts, meds prescriptions so I can get her situated when I go out; 3. reporter's notebook with a running grocery/errands list--remember the goal is to limit the number of times I have to pull the car out of the driveway per week; 4.cash and plastic; 5. Origins lip gloss in natural and raspberry, eyeglass cleaners, and Colgate wisps disposable toothbrushes; 6. watch--stopped wearing one every day since retiring; 7. cell phone and a love/hate relationship with it; 8. Altoid minis, checkbook, and ticket stub to latest movie-- "Easy Virtue",very stylish adaptation of Noel Coward play starring Colin Firth who does a mean tango :-).



Finally, the Baggalini is the only purse I carry for travel. The rule is that you only take two pieces of luggage, especially for international travel. First, there's a duffel bag with wheels that gets checked. Then all my in-flight supplies and "toys" go in a backpack so I can move about hands free to deal with security, take photos, etc. The Baggalini goes in my backpack and is large enough to hold passport, cash, maps, and camera if I want to travel lightly when going out in the evening. This particular pile of stuff was what I needed for a European trip last year. As you can see, I was ready for all contingencies!

Now be sure to get over to The Church Lady's place and check out other Fun Monday purses. "Isn't that special?"

19 comments:

Pamela said...

you are so organized.
I never know what I've got in my bag. I can never find anything in my bag.

m (the misanthrope) said...

Wow! You and I have mirrored each other yet again, with our small black purses and our circular (clockwise/counterclockwise) arrangement of our items.

I have noticed that several people carry notebooks with them. I think I'm going to start doing that too, since "I have a mind like a steel sieve" (my mom's quote about herself, and like mother, like daughter). :-) Thanks so much for sharing, and happy FM to you!

Heather said...

How do you get so much in that little bag! I am so impressed! I used to carry small purses, but once I started having kids, my purses just grew and grew to accomodate all of their stuff!

Tracy said...

I had a feeling you would think of everything and somehow manage to fit all of it neatly into your oversized wallet/purse.

Jan n Jer said...

Being a world traveler you have to think ahead of what your going to need. I see you have done a great job. You are well prepared and organized. I take praticality over fashion anyday. Happy FM Faye

Living Life said...

It truly is "special" and I thank you for sharing. My Faye, it looks like alot of things fit into that compact purse! You are a girl after my own heart - ORGANIZED!! I love that Satchel you have pictured! The buttery leather, the bright color, but just a bit too big for my liking. Happy Fun Monday to you my friend!

Ari_1965 said...

I like saying the word persimmon in different tones and accents. It's especially good in a sibilant hiss or your best Peter Lorre.

Sayre said...

I like your dream bag, but I wouldn't find it terribly practical unless I were traveling. That would be my carry on bag.

While I carry lots of stuff daily, when I travel, I go as lightly as possible. I did England for 10 days with a large purse and a small rolling bag. And I still had a couple of pairs of shoes i never wore - so I learned that I could go even lighter!

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Great bag. I always pack as if the worst will happen, and end up never having to use most of it, thankfully.

Sandy said...

I stand in awe of all of the organized women out there - so sad that I am NOT one of them!

Sandy said...

I stand in awe of all of the organized women out there - so sad that I am NOT one of them!

karisma said...

Im am finding it amazing how much everyone is fitting in their bags! LOL! I just take a bigger bag!

Long time no see, Hugs, hope you are well.

Faye said...

pamela--no worries just dive in and find your handy flashlight.

misanthrope--yes, I did notice that we were the only two FMers who felt the need to give precise navigational directions. :-)

heather--good to hear from you. Mommy bags aren't all bunny rabbits and kittie motifs anymore, or so I saw recently when I met a young friend and her new little charmer.

tracy--yes, must have the comforts of home with us at all times. Thanks for stopping by today.

janis--I agree on practicality over fashion, but still get the urge when I see a really cool assessory.

church lady--those baggallini purses are amazing with what they'll hold--downside, they won't wear out.

ari--better in English or French?

sayre--that photo of all my backpack stuff on the bed was taken at the Marble Arch Hotel in London.

debs--remember when we were such travel novices that we actually thought we had to take our own food since we couldn't get peanut butter in a foreign country? Little grannies with our special tea bags.

sandy--there's organization and then there's fussing. Unfortunatwely i'm the latter.

karisma--I'll bet you've got some really cool knit purses--made to your own specifications.

Gattina said...

So you don't carry a "shop" around, lol ! I don't like big purses, I never find anything in them.

ChrisB said...

You have made me realise I need to be much more organised, especially when I travel, although I do get quite a lot in a small bag.

Faye said...

gattina--we're finally beginning to use re-cyclable bags for shopping instead of plastic or paper in the U.S. None as cute as your modern art kitten tote, though. I'm still smiling over your being able to travel purse free since your "fixer" is willing to carry the cash and comb for the occasional hair tidying.

chrisb--I noticed that you went with a backpack for your recent holiday abroad. They're great if you get a lightweight one--mine was microfiber. Now I'm wracking my brain trying to remember what my English friends call a backpack. Help!

Lane Mathias said...

I think I love that bag:-) The colour of the model's t-shirt is very nice too.

Bags are my biggest weakness but on practical days - which means most days - I go for a bag very similar to yours which although small, manages to hold a great deal of very important 'stuff'. Well, notebooks and lip balm are very important aren't they?:-)

gracie said...

You seem so organized! wish I could cram everything into two bags for an international trip. I have to come back with the whole store everytime I go back home so two bags aren't enough. thanks for sharing, will be thinking of you next time I pack

Swampwitch said...

I didn't see Paris and Lindsay in there...Good idea. I'm going to take your advice the next time I drive 300 miles a day for 2 weeks straight.

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