Getting "Purse"-onal*

I don't remember the last time I packed a purse - just a purse - for just me.

There are so many stages once you have kids that affect what you take when you go places. For example, in my own experience, newborns require the most thoughtful packing. You have to have diapers, wipes, spare clothes, blankets, and so on and so forth even for a short, half-hour excursion. Then once baby gets a little older, you can get away with less and maybe even just keep a few essentials in the car. Then there is the potty training phase where you're back to packing spare clothes. Then there is the school-age phase where you don't have to haul around baby equipment anymore, but you somehow end up with a purse full of spare toy cars, tongue depressors your kid stole from the doctor's office for an art project, and suckers you have accumulated from the bank and intend to use for bribery.

Since I currently have a 10-month-old, a four-year-old who frequently soils herself just for fun, and a six-year-old who steals from the pediatrician, I'm going through a phase where, no matter how little I pack, I am always loaded down with diapers, wet undies in a grocery bag, and random stolen goods.

Last weekend, I went with my mother-in-law and a few of my sisters-in-law to Logan to attend Time Out For Women.

As I was getting my bag packed for the overnight stay, I realized that I could pack a purse, just for me! With my stuff!

This was so exciting... and intimidating!

First, I picked my purse. I'm a fan of the cross-body bag because I like having free hands. 

I put together a few things to put in my purse: a phone charger (which didn't really have to be in my purse, but whatever...), lip gloss and chapstick (because I didn't know which my lips would crave), gum, hand sanitizer (not a personal essential, but I had some, so I packed some), and my wallet (a must).

I put my things in the bag, and it was just... so... EMPTY!

So I added a notebook, some pens, and my phone (how did I forget my phone?):

But I still had all this "free space" going on, so I grabbed a book even though I knew I wouldn't have any time to read:

And then, just for fun, I threw in a water bottle:

After I realized that photographing my purse contents is kind of lame, I swapped out The Book Thief for The Thirteenth Tale and added a green polka-dot umbrella. 

And after that, I took the book out and put it in the backpack with my clothes and toiletries and called it good (really, there would not be time for reading, but I still needed to have a book somewhere as not to feel naked).

In the end, I did not read. I did not charge my phone. I did not need my umbrella.

But I lip-glossed, chewed some gum, and drank eighteen gallons of water, and let me tell you, it was AWESOME!!!


*Oh yes. I went there.