Talk About Your Purse

Welcome to our first themed Talk About Tuesday! If you are new, check out the Guidelines before posting. Thanks for joining us!

This week we are talking about our purses. We want to hear all about yours, what works for you, what doesn't and we want photos. Pretty please! If you have something else you are dying to talk about instead of your purse we will forgive you.

Are you sure you're ready for this long post? This is how I organize my purse.

First of all I don't carry a fashionable little purse. I carry a Mom bag. My Mom bag used to be the Sweet Tomato but it got old and ragged so I bought the exact same bag in dark brown so it wouldn't show dirt and would last longer. You can find it here at bagsbuy.com. Don't pay full price because if you sign up for their e-mails they will send you 10-20% off coupons every week. I love their discounts and free shipping.


Like the Sweet Tomato, my new bag goes everywhere I go. You can read more about it here.

This is the inside. I keep some tic-tacs and unmentionables in the zippered pocket. It was a pain getting my cell phone in and out of the narrow cell phone pocket so I use it for pens. I use the clip for my patented key system.

The key system includes a very high tech baby link toy, connected to a springy thingy, connected to a key ring, holding my van door opener. It's easy to find in my bag and I can easily unclip it if I'm leaving my bag behind. The coil is great for putting around my wrist so I don't lose the whole thing which I will if it isn't attached to something and I can clip the baby link to a shopping cart or pocket or such. I am personally giving you permission to copy this very complicated system for yourself. You're welcome.

This pocket holds my MP3 player as you can see. The player goes under my pillow at night and in this pocket during the day so it makes it to the gym with me.



This side used to be one big pocket. That didn't work for me so I sewed vertically along the strap lines and made three narrow pockets. One for my water bottle, one for my extra small Organizing Bag that holds my credit cards, and one for my planner.


On this side one pocket holds a little notebook where I write down ideas, one holds my weight lifting gloves, one holds my cell phone and one holds my gym card. With only one thing in each pocket it's easy to grab what I want. Everything gets put away in the same place every time.

Inside my bag I have a smaller bag to organize more Organizing Bags. How exciting is that!

If I don't want to lug the big bag around I can fill this smaller bag with what I need and take it with me. I hardly ever do though because I just can't part with my Mom Bag.

The pink bag holds a bag for receipts, a bag for tissues and one for my camera which of course I had to take a picture of without the camera in it. You understand.

Another bag holds a little container of Play-Doh lotion. It's really just lotion in a tiny Play-Dough container but people seem to get excited about my Play-Dough lotion. There's an idea for you Play-Dough marketing people. It also holds a cute little leather measuring tape that I bought at Target several years ago, a comb and elastics for hair emergencies and a container filled with band aids, Advil, cough drops, safety pins, etc. I bought the container at The Container store. I tried to find it online for you but no luck.

One more extra small Organizing Bag with goodies in it. How cool are you when you're the only person at a Scout meeting with a pocket knife? Take that you unprepared Eagle Scouts!

See how nicely everything is contained in there? Nothing is getting smashed at the bottom of my bag. Love it.

One more thing I always have with me is a book in a medium Organizing Bag so it doesn't get wet or ruined. I keep sticky notes in the label pocket for bookmarks and marking things I want to write down later.

It all fits nicely in the Mom Bag with room to spare for snacks, a sweatshirt, library books, a knitting project (also in a bag) or anything else I want to shove in there. Pretty soon it will be holding diapers!

So now do you want to know how much this bag weighs? Today with a full water bottle and the two books that I'm reading and can't go anywhere without, it weighs 10 pounds 8 ounces which happens to be the exact weight of my first child when he was born. When this new baby is born it will be like carrying twins!

Actually I don't carry everything in the bag every where I go. I pack it up with my books, projects and what not before I leave the house but I unpack it when I get into the van. That way when the kids are in art class or we stop at a park I can read or knit while I wait. When we get home I pack it up again and take it all in the house in one trip. It's fabulous. If you are a tiny bag woman you don't know what you're missing!

Anyone who participates in TAT this week will be entered to win a free extra small Organizing Bag. You have until Wednesday to link up. Now let's see what's in your purse!

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