What's In My Bag

Ah, a lady’s handbag… It used to always be such a mystery to me why my momma’s purse was so darn giant and so darn heavy.  Now that I’m an adult I understand completely why, and my purse is actually even bigger and heavier than hers.  #Woops

I pretty much live by the Boy Scouts motto Always Be Prepared.  Maybe it’s the Type A in me, maybe it’s because of my love for material things (don’t judge), maybe it’s the OCD in me, or maybe it’s just because of my irrational fear of getting stuck somewhere without access to anything.  I don’t know, but I have to have my stuff.  And my purse holds 7 lbs. of stuff.  Like, for real.  I just weighed it.  #BackProbs

Here’s a look into my purse AKA my whole world.

1/ Planner

This has my entire life in it, and yes, it’s paper. 

My name is Lindsay and I have a paper planner. 

There, I said it.  I’m a very visual and hands on person and electronic planners just do not cut it for me.  I’ve never even tried one because I couldn’t find one that was versatile enough.  I live and die by this planner and it goes everywhere with me.  It’s because of the planner that I am able to be so organized and efficient with my time.  The planner is large – 9” x 8” – and it’s thick so it’s by far the heaviest thing in my bag.  I keep everything in there:

• Monthly calendars for appointments, meetings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
• Weekly schedules and to do lists
• Short term and long term to do lists
• Reference lists
• Credit card spending
• Christmas gift lists
• Vacation tracking for work
• Blog calendar
• Blog checklists
• Post-its/stickers/labels
• Address labels
• Stamps
• Blank thank you notes

I use it in conjunction with an app on my phone called Listmaster.  Listmaster houses all of my lists that are too hard to keep up with on paper – grocery lists, wish lists, bucket lists, etc.  But that’s a whole other post for a different day.

2/ Pencil Bag

I color code my planner, so yes, I have to have my special colored pens with me at all times.  Pink, red, green, blue, purple, black, and a black sharpie marker.

3/ Wallet

I still carry a checkbook because, surprisingly, there is a need for it again now that we have a kid in real school.  Between fundraisers and extra-curricular activities they nickel and dime you to death.  So anywho, since I still carry a checkbook, I still have a full size traditional wallet to hold that plus my ID, credit cards, gift cards, etc.

4/ Coupon Wallet

This is actually very thin and it only has two slots.  I use one side for restaurant coupons and one side for store coupons.  That way they’re always with me in case we’re out and about and an opportunity arises!

5/ Makeup Bag

While I do put on “the works” at home every morning, I don’t carry it all with me everywhere I go.  I just carry the basics:

• Powder for touch-ups
• Lipstick
• Lip gloss
• Carmex (I never go anywhere without my beloved Carmex)
• A tiny brush (gotta do what ya gotta do when you have long hair)
• Nail clippers (if I can’t clip a hang nail I will pick at it until it bleeds. #Disgusting)
• Tweezers
• Hand lotion (I have extremely dry skin so I can’t go anywhere without it)

6/ Medicine Pouch

This is where I go a little overboard.  I carry lots of things that I rarely even use, but it’s always good to know they’re there in case I need them:

• Ibuprofen
• Immodium
• Pepto (redundant much?)
• Bandaids
• Feminine products (well, duh.)
• Antibacterial hand wipes, for the germaphob in me
• Inhaler
• Epi-pen (just in case)
• Tide pen
• Tissues

7/ Random Things

These next items are all dispersed in various pockets and compartments throughout the purse (but organized, of course).

• Pen, pink highlighter, and pencil (and no, I do not keep those in the pen bag because I want to have easy access to them since I use them frequently.)
• Gum (I will always have gum. #NameThatShow)
• iPhone charging cable
• Ear buds (even though I never use them)
• Jump drive
• Chapstick for Jacob because he licks his lips like crazy!
• Cell phone
• Keys
• Sunglasses 

And there you have it.  A look into my back-pain inducing bag.  And if you want to see more details on how I choose a hand bag (because I’m incredibly picky), you can read this post that I did last summer.  The bag that I'm currently using is the one from that post and I could not love it more!  You can't go wrong with gold!

*Linking up with Momfessionals for Show and Tell Tuesday, Our Pretty Little Girls for Tuesday Talk, and Stang & Co. and Crown Me in Glitter for Talk About It Tuesday.