Happy Show & Tell Tuesday, friends! Time to link up with Andrea!

Today’s topic is… What’s in Your Bag??

Well.. there’s typically a LOT in there!

This is the bag I’ve been carrying for about 6-8 ish months. I shared it on the #favefive several months ago. It’s leather and monogrammed from Oak and Blossom (this is the link to the bag on their website, but I actually ordered it through their Etsy store. I’m pretty sure it’s the same either way). It’s a deep, open bag with no pockets, but has a removable detachable zipper bag that matches. I took the zipper bag out several months ago because I wasn’t really using it effectively.

So, this is what it looked like today when I started this post…

AKA– it looked like a hot mess. It was definitely time to clean out, and I decided to take that opportunity to switch back to an older purse. The one big bag with no pockets ends up being kind of a mess pot for me, no matter how hard I try to keep it organized. I love, love, love the look of this bag, but I just have to take breaks from the chaos sometimes.

So, when I dumped it out, this is what I found…

Working from left to right, we have…

1. A random stack of receipts, coupons, bill stubs, and other important papers I needed to save. I went through this and threw away the trash, filed the important paper work, and put the coupons in my wallet pretending that I’ll remember to use them.
2. My wallet. It is Kate Spade, and you can find it here (mine is a few years old, so the colors are new, and it looks like the material is, too. I got mine on clearance, so they may have one for less that looks/ feels like mine somewhere!). This holds all my cards, cash, coupons I’ll never remember to use, receipts I save for whatever reason, loose change, our dogs’ rabies tags (am I the only one that absolutely can’t stand little four legs’ bo-jangle-ing around??), and probably other random things that I’ve forgotten about. Mine looks much fatter than the one in the picture for sale!
3. Zantac. I have both regular strength (75 mg) and extra strength (150 mg). This has become a pregnancy necessity.
4. Sunglasses and sunglasses case. Both are from Target, and note that the sunglasses are not inside the case because I am sub-par at basic responsibilities. This is why I never spend very much on sunglasses– the cheap ones work fine, and they are going to get beat up and potentially lost anyway, so I don’t invest a ton in them. I’ve had those since the spring, and they’ve held up pretty well.
5. Checkbook. I’m likely the only person on the planet that carries a checkbook around all the time, but you just never know. I pay all our bills by check, we tithe to the church by check, and sometimes, I give Girl Scouts checks when they are selling cookies because my cookie bills are high and I never have that much cash. It never hurts to have checks with you. The checkbook cover is Vera Bradley Hope Garden print, which is about 8-10 years old (literally), but still one of my favorites.
6. Pen Bag. The bigger Vera Bradley bag near the bottom is a Small Cosmetic in Clementine, and I have about 37 pens and pencils, plus sticky notes, flash drives, paper clips, and a travel size bottle of Tums. I can’t stand random pens and junk swimming around in the bottom of my purse, so everything is corralled in this bag. If you ever need something to write with, or write on, I am your girl.
7. Random Junk: there is a discount card we bought to support the Temple High football team, so we now get discounts at local restaurants, if we remember to use it (I have since popped out the actual card and put it in my wallet). I also apparently had a SeaBand for nausea/ motion sickness because someone said those help with morning sickness (I’m pretty sure it didn’t work for me, or I wasn’t using it on the correct acupuncture point, which is why it was living at the bottom of my purse).
8. Earplugs. I have custom earplugs that I wear typically when we are hunting or shooting skeet. They fit only my ears, and have a special drilled filter that allows voices to come in at an audible level, but cuts out excessively loud noise. I store them in that little blue polka dot macaron pouch. Hubby also has a pair that are camo. #audiologynerd
9. Gum. I didn’t realize I had 3 opened packages of gum, but I’ve been chewing it like crazy lately. I have a gross taste in my mouth often, typically after eating, so I chew gum pretty much all day. Orbit is my favorite.
10. Other snacks. When I had rough morning sickness, I could never be without a little something to eat, so I kept things like trail mix and animal crackers or teddy grahams with me all the time. Those are a little worse for the wear, so I threw them away. I keep snacks in my office now, and we have them at home, so I’m usually covered.
11. Lipstick Bag. The Vera Bradley Brush and Pencil in Lilli Bell has all my lipsticks and chapsticks. Just like pens, I don’t care to have those floating around my purse so they are all grouped together here.
12. Nail Polish. Okay, I don’t typically carry nail polish with me, but because I’m traveling for work each week, I threw these in one week thinking I would paint my nails/ toes while I was hanging out in my hotel room with nothing to do. I never used them. And I painted my nails and toes other colors this weekend while I sat at the dove lease, so these won’t be living in my purse any longer.

Whew! That’s a lot of stuff! I also typically carry these with me as well, sometimes in my purse if there’s room, or I just carry them in/out of the house/ office.

The book on the left is my Moleskin notebook that I use for everything- notes, to-do lists, grocery lists, recipes I need to remember, notes from the Sunday sermon, notes from Friday morning Bible study, etc. Basically, if it’s something important that I might need to remember, I’m going to write it in that notebook.

On the right is my planner. I write every important event and deadline for us in there. In pencil. Steven made fun of me at one of our OB appointments when they were making a ton of appointments for me because I couldn’t find a pencil, so I wrote all the dates down in pen in my Moleskin notebook, and transferred them into my planner later when I found a pencil (he asked who still uses pencils other than elementary school kids?). I do pencil because I can’t stand crossing things out, and inevitably things change. I’d much rather erase it than cross it out. And you know what? The very next OB appointment they had scheduled had to be moved because of my OB’s schedule, so I’m glad I waited to write them in pencil. 😉

So, I cleaned all the unnecessary junk out, and moved my necessities over to this purse. I got it a few years ago at Dillard’s, and I like the structure and pockets, plus it has such fun and bright colors. Everything fits neatly in it, and the straps make it seem not as heavy has the brown leather bag.

And that’s what’s in my bag!

Thanks for stopping by Show & Tell Tuesday! See y’all next time!