Fantasy bag: il Bisonte crossbody bag that came through Slowre (it sold last night…)
I thought about buying it for myself for a minute or two!
Rachel Comey slim legion jeans
James Perse slub crewneck tee
Birkenstock Arizona sandals
real-life bag: Marsell 4 Dritta bag
(I have two of these, one brown & one black and I bought them on sale for 50% off a couple years ago)
I may have mentioned that I have really been trying to downsize my bag situation lately. I find carrying less, and a smaller bag, appealing. But as it turns out (surprise surprise), it is not very practical for my real life.
Example: I go to Pure Barre every morning at 9:30. I don’t really NEED all the usual stuff I carry with me, so I put my wallet, car key and phone in my Everlane fanny pack and left. Maybe gross, maybe TMI, but I realized halfway to class that I forgot to brush my teeth after coffee. Ugh. AND I DIDN’T HAVE MY MINTS WITH ME. I also sometimes carry those little colgate toothbrushes with toothpaste in them in my CdG pouch. BUT I DIDN’T HAVE MY CDG POUCH EITHER!!! So I went to class and tried not to be horrified.
And that was the last time I left the house without ALL of my “necessities.”
The last time I did a What’s in my Bag post was January, but I have really pared down what I carry with me since then. Now, I carry my CdG wallet, CdG pouch, two baggu bags, sanitizer, mints, lip balms and that’s it. I generally leave my sunglasses in the car, but now that it’s 100+ degrees, I probably shouldn’t.
So I don’t carry a TON of stuff, but I like a tote bag so I can stuff things into it if I need to. Like packages for the post office, or the hydrogen peroxide I picked up from CVS yesterday and refused a bag. Or my water bottle, cans of sparkling water, etc. I’ve also started to carry with me a cloth napkin and stainless steel straw or two for when I eat lunch at my favorite place (Flower Child) and don’t want to use paper napkins.
Ugh. I sound like an old lady who has to carry everything with her because who knows what will happen? Oh wait, I AM THAT OLD LADY!! This shouldn’t be surprising though, given my control issues 😉
I must be prepared for absolutely ANY EVENTUALITY. Including forgetting to brush my teeth.
I give up. I am resigned to the fact that my dream life in which I would carry a smaller crossbody bag without a care in the world is unattainable. For now anyway. I literally feel anxious any time I think about leaving the house without a tote bag and all my stuff, so why try anymore?
It is what it is, right?
Please tell me I’m not completely alone in needing to carry all the stuff with me whenever I leave the house!! 😉
I eat my breakfast and lunch at work, so I obsess over those the way you obsess about other things… 🙂 What works for me is that I carry a tiny crossbody with my wallet, phone, keys and the rest of the day’s nesessities go into either my tote bag or a backpack. So I completely get you!
Don’t forget a water bottle! And you really shouldn’t brush your teeth immediately after coffee/juice/sugars anyway. Something about the acids/sugar and your enamel and maybe pH. Basically you should wait ~20min for your teeth to remineralize because your enamel is softened.
You are so not alone! I usually carry a faux leather tote with me because I have a lot of things I don’t want to forget. The big thing is that I always have a water bottle with me, so I need a place to stash it. I do have a cross body bag in my car most of the time, so I can use that while going into a store an event, but still have my big bag in the car. The pack mule life is a challenge!
You’re so not alone. I always carry a large tote bag b/c I gotta make sure I have my journal w/me (never know when the urge to write hits!), my sketch pad and pencil case (since i started drawing), hand sanitizer, hand lotion, makeup, phone, wallet, reading glasses, sunglasses, business cards, day planner(yes, still have one of those), …the kitchen sink, oh, and my wallet. What am I missing?
For work, I carry a tote, a purse, and a lunch bag.So…..
I can’t carry any purse that isn’t large enough to stick a water bottle in. Because I don’t go anywhere without one!
I’ve tried downsizing esp for travel, but the most I can do is switch to nylon instead of leather to save some weight. I need stuff. I give up.
You’re not alone! I’m a total bag lady and I hate it. BUT… I’ve accepted the fact that I need all the stuff because the minute I thought to travel light, I inevitably needed something I left behind at home. Vicious cycle.
I keep at small cross body at my office for the lunchtime jaunts, plus a tumble bag for the groceries I’ll bring home. For day-to-day commuting I have a backpack and sometimes a neoprene lunch bag and my water bottle. In that, I have more tumble bags and toiletries, pens, laptop, chargers. Oh and sometimes a pair of shoes because I like to walk part of the way to work. So I’m fully loaded.
I’m just not ever going to be one of those dainty girls you’ll see around town with the most chic cross body. If San Francisco streets are any indication, we’re all tote bag or backpack lovin’ people.
Although I use small bags quite a bit but I do change my bag out almost daily depending on my schedule. I know not everyone likes to do that. I think using using the same small or mini bag every single day would be difficult, definitely not a one size fits all scenario. I have some bags that are truly mini (like my Carven round crossbody) that only fit my key cles, phone & a lipstick (credit cards slide into pockets in the bag or onto the back of my phone case). Then I have other bags that have mini in the style name but are actually small in my opinion and can hold quite a bit (my kindle, a wallet, keys, phone, lipstick, a couple of baggus, a snack, etc). A few examples of bags that are named mini but are actually more like a “small” is my Gucci Soho Disco and my Givenchy Pandora Mini.
I can go to work with the “small” bags, no problem, but I keep many items in my car and/or office. Items like deodorant, dental floss, a water bottle, extra reuseable bags, tote bags, scissors, measuring tape, pen/paper, magazines, phone chargers/cables, flatware, dishes, hand lotion, tissue, sweater/jacket etc. are either in my car, my office or both. I also keep umbrellas in my car and in my office. I have back issues so it is not practical for me to lug stuff to and fro with me all the time just in case, particularly since my parking for home and work is a few blocks away so I have to walk quite a bit including up and down hills. If I need to take any of this stuff out of my car I just grab a reuseable bag/tote and use it to haul the stuff I need.
I use my mini bags more when I go to dinner or combined with a bigger tote for work. If it’s a day where I’m lugging camera gear, a laptop or workout clothes, then I have a mini bag plus a bigger bag. Mini is used to grab lunch or coffee during the day.