I am slightly bag obsessed. I would rather spend lots of money on one great bag than on lots of new clothes or shoes. Fossil is my absolute favorite when it comes to bags and I’ve been dreaming of one in particular for a while–the vintage weekender satchel. Well, guess what? It ended up under the Christmas tree! I’ve been thinking about why I love bags so much and wondering why women lug bags around with them everywhere. Why do we need so much stuff with us all the time? Men, after all, manage to keep everything they need in a wallet in their back pocket–why don’t women do that? Oh I know, because if we didn’t lug our bags around, where would men unload all their junk when they’re tired of having it in their pockets? My husband and I even struck up a deal: If he buys me a bag I want instead of having me take it out of my money, he gets to keep his stuff in it. So no complaining about his cell phone, wallet, keys, etc. :]

I’m fascinated by bags and what each woman finds important enough to keep with her at all times. I also find a woman’s protective “I will ninja you to death if you even think of getting in there” instinct pretty interesting. I mean, I have these two adorable nephews that I love to the moon and back. I also have an iPod that they love to the moon and back. They know I keep my iPod somewhere in my purse and they know they want to play games on it–so what do they do? They try digging through my bag to find it. There is one thing that even loved and adored nephews should never do; they should never dig through auntie Kari’s bag. The last time my nephew pulled this move, I sat with him and told him that going through a girl’s bag is like reading her diary and those are two things you should never, ever do. He replied with enlightenment, “where’s your iPod?” and continued wrestling me for the bag. What a good teacher I am.

So, here’s what I find important enough to keep with me and lug around:

• IPod and ear buds: It’s like having a remote brain in your purse with a calculator, address book, and lots of useful apps…oh, and games to entertain the husband and nephews. Darren got me the little leather case with a “K” on it to keep my ear buds in…nothing I like more than organization!
• Survival Kit: Ok, I probably never would actually be able to survive with a kit consisting of lip gloss and hand sanitizer, but if you think of it as a “social survival kit,” then the whole thing proves more useful. What with breath mints, hand sanitizer, tissue, chap stick and lip gloss, powder, lotion, and cough drops–it’s everything I need to freshen up throughout the day. Oh, and if I ever need to operate on you in the wilderness, the hand sanitizer and tissue will be quite handy. I can also use my ear buds as tourniquets and you can suck on the cough drop to get your mind of all the pain you’re in and the pings from my iPod will alert the local authorities to our location–you see, me and my bag just might probably won’t ever save your life!
• Wallet: Also Fossil of course and has all the really important stuff.
• Keys: Uh, ya, kinda self-explanatory.
• Day planner: Because I can’t remember anything anymore and it’s nice to write stuff down right away so I don’t mix up dates or forget something.

And that, my friend, is all this girl needs with her at all times. Please note, I don’t have a cell phone in there. Who would have thought a modern girl could survive without a cell phone! Well, the truth is, I spent all the husband’s money on the bag and can no longer afford a cell phone. Oh well, the smell of the leather makes everything better.

Okay, now you know what I keep in my bag. What do you keep with you at all times?