I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a handbag junkie. I don’t only like to buy handbags, I love shopping for them in my favorite colors: purple, copper, pink and black. I enjoy a variety types of materials, too, such as tapestry, cotton, straw, leather and vinyl.
The style of purse I prefer is the tote size. This is because I have so many things I can’t bear to leave home without. I often carry my iPad and kindle with me, so a bigger purse is definitely in order. Not to mention items I carry back and forth with me to church, which is a huge part of my life as a pastor’s wife.
I’ve actually won handbag contests before. In fact, the last contest I won in four categories: “Most Unusual,” “Silliest,” “Prettiest” and “Most Elegant!”
My chicken handbag and matching baby chicken coin purse won “Silliest” and “Most Unusual” in a contest!
I try not to be obsessive but it’s hard when there are so many to choose from!
However, I’m thinking I may have a bit of a problem.
The other day when I put my handbag on the passenger seat, my car told my purse to put on a seat belt. Apparently my handbag is as heavy as a human!
After that happened, I became curious about the contents of my bag. Just what did I have in there? So I emptied it out and took a picture:
Now, admittedly, it looks like a lot. But let me explain the purpose behind it all:
- Wallet — for holding items such as credit cards, cash, receipts and driver’s license
- Hand sanitizer with a decorative little elephant on the outside of it
- Keys
- Flipper for my mouth (don’t ask)
- Three colors of nail polish. Okay, I forgot to take two of them out when I wasn’t wearing those colors anymore
- Sunblock–three containers. I only need one, I realize, but two of them were almost gone and I wanted to use them up. (I get sun poisoning and can’t have any exposed skin in the sun or I break out in boils.)
- Three notebooks for jotting down ideas. I’m a writer, yo.
- Business card case
- The twins’ medications (I hadn’t taken them out since vacation)
- Two pairs of glasses — one for computer, one for driving
- A pair of sunglasses for reading
- My kindle
- Wipes for hands
- Glass wipes for my glasses
- Post-it tabs
- Battery and cable to charge phone
- Dental floss
- Makeup bag in which there is two lipsticks, a compact, tweezers and blush
- Business cards from other people
- Glass cleaner for glasses
- Seven tubes of hand lotion.
- Large mound of receipts from vacation a month ago
- Bottle of Advil
- Latex gloves for taking my mother-in-law to the little girl’s room (it can get interesting)
- Pens
- My phone would be in there but I used it to take the picture.
Now, before you judge me for seven tubes of hand lotion, I didn’t know there were that many in there! I can’t stand for my hands to be dry. It’s a thing with me.
Hands down this is the best lotion on earth. Seriously.
Apparently I’m not the only one willing to divulge the contents of her purse. According to The Telegraph, the Queen of England (who is always seen with a handbag on her walk-abouts) has the following items in her handbag:
“…Buried alongside everyday items such as a mirror and lipstick, is always a crisply folded £5 note to donate to the church collection on Sundays.
Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Woman Behind The Throne, claims that among the bag’s other secrets are a portable hook, which is used to hang it discreetly under tables.
The 85-year-old monarch’s church donation sometimes increases to £10 but apparently that is as generous a donation as she chooses to make.”
So now I’m wondering–what’s in your handbag? If you decide to blog about it, I’ll edit this post and link to you! Just send me the URL when it’s up!
If you’d rather just leave a comment, I’d love that, too. I’m snoopy that way.
Tweet this: What’s in your handbag? @KarlaAkins wants to know!
Or tweet this: Seven tubes of lotion? Who does that?
Comments 11
I don’t carry a purse, except when my wife is power-shopping and needs both hands to browse. Or at the Harley dealer when she wants to sit on a bike and I stand beside her holding her purse. And all the big tough Harley riders look at me and I die a little inside.
But she does have a really cool 2D purse that I love!
Author
2D? I need to know what this is! I bet you look great with a purse, Tom.
This is like the one Janet has (an no, that’s not Janet)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13/kAylasNaps/New%20blog%20album/Picturescopy-2.jpg
And Janet said she’s going to list her purse’s contents later!
Fascinating blog piece! Along with my stuff I always wind up carrying things for my husband, as if. I am his secretary: banking info for his business, among other things. Actually, the receipts are handy for note taking since I never have mastered the knack for carrying a note pad.
Author
You’re right! I need to remember that use for receipts. Thanks for stopping by!
I left a nice long message about my handbag and when I hit submit, it said I had put in the wrong email address and it all vanished. 🙁 After dumping my purse out on the floor, I decided….NO…..I would not post any picture of it. Crazy items….why do I have two jack knives? Oh, and always an umbrella because of the weather every day. Thunder rumbling as I type. I did collect a pile of change. Nice surprise. Enough for two medium cokes after I leave the long line at the school…enough for me and one child. Maybe he can share with the others? Oh, wait a minute, I’m only picking up one child today. So, it all works out great. Thanks for getting me to clean out my purse. 🙂
Author
So glad I could help motivate you to clean out your purse! I was just thinking today it’s time to change from my summer purse to a fall purse. I’m going to carry black. First time I’ve had a black purse in the fall that I can remember! Love handbags, as you know.
Enjoy that coke! And thanks for stopping by, reading and sharing! Fun stuff!
Two jackknives? You’re well armed!
Here goes: cell phone & case, Kindle/phone charger/adapter, wallet with all my cards and very little cash, set of keys on monogrammed key ring, 3×4 small blank notebook 2 ink pens, 2 stylus pens, one of which is also a writing pen (3rd pen) and a flashlight, three tubes of emergency glucose tabs, 1/2 pkg cinnamon spice tic tacs, lipstick, swatch of fabric to match my latest quilt, plastic arm bracelet from the womens clinic that I got free with a mammogram (woo-hoo!), a zippered pouch with all my blood testing supplies, extra pump battery, extra syringe, alcohol wipes, and lancets, another zippered pouch with 3 more lipsticks, one peppermint, one package of listermints, and a contact case that has hair pomade on one side and hand lotion on the other side (I do not wear contacts ;), a small pill box with tylenol and advil, and last but not least, my Smith and Wesson 380 bodyguard in a holster. And yes, they will all fit in my 2D purse. http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Unisex-Lovely-Drawing-Cartoon/dp/B00F5GZQ76/ref=pd_sim_misc_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=027FS6ZH5DSAPPT7GZ48
Author
Woo hoo! You go, Janet! Girl after my own heart. So far someone with knives in her purse has posted and now a girl with a concealed carry! Love it!!!
Oh! I’ve wanted a 2-D purse for so long! I may just have to indulge. I’ve had a tough time deciding which one, though. I thought perhaps I was getting too old to carry something that full of humor, but you’ve given me the courage. 🙂 It’ll go great with my silly purse collection.
You sound like a gal after my own heart. I can’t wait to meet you and Tom. Watch out, wherever we are when we do get together. Me thinks the place will never be the same!
I’ll let you know which 2-D purse I choose and when. And when it arrives, I’ll tell my husband, “Janet made me do it!”
Can I ask you what brand the tapestry bag is? I’ve been looking for something similar for a while!
Author
Jen, unfortunately, I don’t have any idea what brand that bag is. It’s gorgeous, though! Some sites I recommend for tapestry bags are ebay (they have lovely ones at time), etsy, Victorian Trading Co., and Soft Surroundings. Also, a google search with the tab “shopping” sometimes brings some great results. Try using “carpet bag” as the search term as well as “tapestry bag.” Let me know what you find! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by today!