The things they carried: an exploration of a woman's purse

The things they carried: an exploration of a woman’s purse

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . May 26, 2009 . 12:56PM

Ever since I was an undergrad and read the story The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, I’ve been fascinated by the things people carry with them and the reasons why they carry those items. I spend some of my free time looking at the “What’s in your bag?” Flickr feed and perusing at InStyle to see what is going on in their bag. In fact, if you google the search term “What’s in your bag?” you can find all kinds of interesting goodies. So, in honor of that fascination, I’m going to allow you a small glimpse into the things I carry and you can feel free to analyze those items however you choose.

EDIT: After I wrote this post, I realized that I forgot to add my phone to the mix. It’s a beautiful Blackberry Pink Pearl 8130. You may notice all of these items are lying on the magical blanket.

First, we have my purse and it’s basic contents(counterclockwise): My black purse, which was a gift from my husband for Mother’s Day this year.

My black organizer, which you already know that I have a somewhat abnormal obsession with and refuse to lose.

My black pill case which holds a mini pharmacy for any unexpected need. It has bailed me out for many unexpected headaches.

My debit caddy is wonderful! It’s so much lighter than a checkbook and I really only use my debit cards. It’s big enough to carry a little bit of cash and a couple of checks, too, “just in case.”

My Plantronics 320 bluetooth earpiece, which is the best fitting earpiece I’ve ever found, and yet, has been discontinued.

My keys on their lovely keychain, along with a blue Bic stick pen.

My Sephora lip attitude glamour lipstick in 09 Mauve Emotion. I have been looking for a moisturizing lipstick that goes on like a gloss for a while. I’m happy about how reasonably priced this stuff is.

My ebags mini bag and my card holder, which actually holds my flash drives.

Here comes the fun part: What’s REALLY inside?

In the red case, I carry: MAC Studiofix powder, Wisp mini toothbrushes, Stila lipgloss, Clinique lip balm, Neutrogena sunscreen, Aveeno moisturizer, Eucerin lotion, dental floss, tweezers, hand sanitizing wipes, my smashbox mirror, sunglasses to put over my glasses, Annik Goutal perfume vial, hair ties, Orbitz spearmint gum, a heart calculator and some mints. Yep. Everything on that left hand side FITS. Barely. OH! As do the mints in the blue container and my little necessities kit that I ordered from mytagalongs.

The rest has all been described.

Now, the gauntlet has been handed. What’s in YOUR bag? It doesn’t have to be a purse. What’s in your gym bag, your bookbag, your briefcase, your lunch pail? Write your own post or comment here!

Eventually I’ll hit each of those here. What’s stopping you?