Working Girl

Sadly, this post has nothing to do with the movie.  It has everything to do with my new work bag!  (Because I need another bag.  Honestly!)

If you’ve read my bag posts, you know that for a while I have been carrying seasonal designer bags for work and more casual bags during the weekends.  This system has worked well, and probably would have continued to work well except that I found something new, which changed my whole way of thinking, as it tends to do.

Before I get into my new bag, I just want to say that it seems I go in phases as to the types of bags I favor.  For a while I was buying a new Coach bag every few months until I had one for every season.  (Fear not—I bought them at the outlet and usually with a coupon and/or gift card, so I never spent nearly as much as the retail price.)  I haven’t bought a new Coach bag for a long time since I now have a complete seasonal set.

My latest designer bag purchase was my red Dooney & Bourke bag (also purchased at the outlet).

For a while I was obsessed with Timbuk2 bags.  I still love them and still peruse their website, but it seems that I use their bags more for travel or for specific purposes.

For a few years I was obsessed with Vera Bradley.  I still own a few of her bags, but ultimately, the excitement of her collection has worn off for me.

Then there’s LeSportsac.  I have had an on-again, off-again relationship with this company.  I remember how cool it was to own their small 3-zip bags when I was in middle and junior high school.  The quality is great—these bags can last you for years.  Plus, you can throw them in the washing machine and they come out looking like new.  I have never not liked their products.  It’s more a question of whether or not I like the current patterns and/or styles.  There used to be a LeSportsac outlet about a half-hour away from me.  This made shopping easy and cheaper than going to their New York City stores.  But alas, the outlet has closed.  So now I must purchase through their website or travel to NYC.  Neither option is bad; it just means spending more money.  But when you come across something you know you’re going to love, you just have to go with it.

Enter their new Carryall tote.

While the seasonal designer work bag system was working for me, on yoga days I would leave the house with up to five (yes, five!) bags on my arm—my work bag and lunch bag (both leave with me every day); my bag with my yoga clothes in it; my yoga gear bag (carries my mat and props—this now lives in the car); and if I had library items to return, an extra bag for them.  I started to crave a work bag that could carry my everyday items plus the extra library items—music CDs, DVDs, books, or audiobooks.

This bag fulfills this very purpose.

There is an exterior zip pocket, perfect for keys and cell phone.

The inside is huge, but not so big that it’s overwhelming if I don’t keep it filled.

It has an interior open pocket, where I keep my iPod Touch, gum and pen.

In front of and attached to the open pocket, there is another zipped pocket.

I don’t really use this zipped pocket—the two pockets sag if there’s too much weight in them.  Plus, it’s not as easy to get in and out of the interior zipped pocket.  And honestly, I don’t have a need for this pocket.  So I don’t use it.

Even with all of my everyday items in it, you can see that there’s plenty of room to stash more in it.

There’s a zipper on the main compartment so that everything inside stays secure as well.  Every once in a while I do carry more library materials than will fit in the carryall tote.  I keep a rolled up reusable tote in there for this very purpose.  But it makes an appearance a lot less often now that I have a roomy work bag.

One of the reasons that I love LeSportsac bags is that the bags themselves are lightweight.  So if you put a ton of stuff inside the bag, it’s not adding to the bag’s original weight.  Even with everything in there, I can still carry the bag on my shoulder without it cutting off my circulation.  I love this bag so much I’m thinking of purchasing another one in a summer pattern.  We’ll see though.  (But who am I kidding?)

Upon purchasing this bag, I remembered how much I love the Medium Travel tote.  I have a light patterned one that I use in the summer.  It’s a perfect errand bag—I can fit everything I need in it but there’s no extra room for anything unnecessary.  This cuts down on wasted space so it’s easy to fit in the baby seat of a store cart.  Plus, when zippered, the top creates a little shelf where my pencil and shopping list fit perfectly!  (This allows me to keep my bag zippered and my wallet more secure while giving me a place to lay down my pencil and list while I’m picking up my items; a ridiculous need maybe, but one that I have come to value in a bag.) 

As any bag obsessed woman will tell you, you can’t use a summer pattern for the winter!  So I did a naughty thing and purchased this same bag in a more wintery pattern.  I bought it from eBay though, so the cost was lower than if I had gone through their website.  (I’ll do a post about it when it arrives!)  Too bad I won’t “be able” to use it until the fall.

I am currently using my seasonal designer bags for going out and about (dinner, parties, gatherings, etc.).  It makes them more special and hopefully will keep them looking newer longer.  I still like designer bags, but honestly, I’m not sure they’re worth the money (I hear your collective gasp).  It took me until my 30s to even consider one; I bought a few, and now I’m back to thinking I’m better off with bags that don’t cost as much and hold everything I need at once.  Only time will tell, of course.

Now I’m off to do another purge of bags that I haven’t used in a while, though to be honest, I’m pretty much down to using all of them at some point during the year.  I tend to change bags the way some people change clothes or shoes.  But I love them. 

Someday I’ll have to do a post on all of my bags at once.  But to tell the truth, I’m a little afraid to see what that number comes to…