Tuesday, September 23, 2014

on the hunt: cross body bag



I've certainly refined my thoughts on handbags over the years. In high school, I had many different styles and colors (nothing fancy, of course) that got swapped out according to shoes and outfits. Be caught with brown shoes and a black purse? Absolutely not! (So serious in those days.) 

In college, I kind of lost fervor for the cause when I was focused more on schlepping drawings and models and chipboard around campus. No one in studio noticed if my purse matched my shoes. I tried to keep a few "going out" things meant to hold lipstick instead of history books but they rarely got used. 

Since I've moved to NYC, the city of designer purses and "it" bags, I've completely fallen off the radar. I have one purse at a time (typically no more than $100) that I use until it falls to pieces. Only one option means one less decision when getting ready in the morning. Only having one bag means I also have to looooove it, so I've really distilled what I look for in a purse to meet all my neuroses:

cross body--for hands free metro card wielding and subway bar grasping
smaller strap--for over the shoulder/crook of elbow holding at parties
colored leather (or faux leather)--for not offending either side in the ongoing black vs brown debate (but I also feel a rich caramel brown can reach across the aisle sometimes)

So I'm the hunt for a new, perfect bag for our trip to Italy. I'm looking for something on the smaller side--enough for my wallet, phone, bottle of water--so I don't kill my shoulder while out being a tourist all day. I want it to be accessible for quick gelato transactions but also secure enough to ward off pick pockets.

Any suggestions that meet my wildly specific list of requirements? Which one do you like above? I like them all, I'm not sure I can decide!!

Friday, September 19, 2014

buongiorno italia!

It's no secret that Kurt and I love to travel. We also love a good party. So when a couple NYC friends decided to get married in Rome (the bride's hometown), we booked our tickets without much hesitation. What a great excuse for an Italian vacation, right? (If you recall, we made a pretty similar trip back in 2010 for--you guessed it--another wedding. See all those posts here but please excuse the teeny photos!) We leave in less than 3 weeks (eep!) and are very excited about the 16 day journey. We're sticking to Italy and visiting the following places:

Rome
Naples
Pompei
Positano
Capri
Salerno
Rapallo
Merate
Milan
Lecco
Bergamo
Monza
Villasanta

Until we leave, I will be freaking out about packing (what's the weather like in October?!?!) and trying to cram as much Italian from the DuoLingo app I can (not sure how useful "the monkey eats bananas" is going to be but I'm sticking with it). And of course I always get the urge to buy new things before a trip (my old stuff just doesn't seem Italy worthy) so some shopping is probably in order.

If you have any travel tips or favorite spots, please pass them along. I'm all ears! 

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