What I Didn't Buy

If you were following me on twitter yesterday, you saw my morning speed-lap through Tyson's. In between dropping my car for major repairs (getting rear-ended is not fun) and a lunch date at noon, I had just over an hour. In that hour, I needed to find a new work bag. I headed to the "old" Tyson's, where I'd have more selection - in my price range of under $200 - in a smaller area.

When I want to, I can be a Shopping Master. I parked and entered at Bloomingdale's. Direct to the bags. Too many at just too high a price point to really be worth my while. Out I went to find the map. I'd done some online research the night before and found that Banana Republic might be my best bet for a bag that could handle a laptop and still meet my style requirements.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the path to Banana was long. I stopped at L.L. Bean. While they have many more stylish options and less lumberjack than you'd think, there was nothing I wanted. Except for two dresses I picked up - and then put down. They were great, different, and easily winter-to-spring-skip-summer-then-back-to-fall. But I put them back on the rack, remembering that I'm embarking on a "get healthy" plan, well, now, pretty much. Then and there, I resolved to buy no new clothes (note that accessories and shoes do not fall into this vow) until I'm healthy again.*

I stopped in Michael Kors. The nice boy there showed me some totes, and I fell in love. But as he didn't really seem to hear that, oh, I need a computer to fit in here, and yes, while I adore the vanilla colored leather, it's not really the best choice when you have two small children. As I described The Beans, his partner in crime asked sweetly, "So which of them is your favorite?" She was talking about my children. She was 22.

Though I had to sidestep the "Designer Handbags" pit of Fendi, Gucci, and Marc Jacobs (sigh), Nordstrom offered the usual broad selection, with a couple of possibilities. Since I wasn't sold, I wandered out to find Banana.

Sure enough, I ended up with a lovely grey bag, elegant and slim. It's even billed as a laptop bag - which I didn't really want to start. Practically speaking, I do need to wait to remove the tags until I confirm the laptop I'll get at my new gig (I start Tuesday - eep!) fits nicely inside. I am excited about how small the bag is. I'm hoping its slender height will keep me - and my poor neck and shoulders - from schlepping around the sun and the moon. In my laptop bag, anyway.