Material Girl

Anyone who knows me, knows my weakness for accessories, especially handbags & shoes. This bag in particular, holds sentimental value to me. It has gotten to the point where it was the first thing I grabbed when there was a fire next to our old condo complex. Sad, I know. But anyway, it was purchased by my wonderful Hubby on our first trip to Paris in 2009.

I remember walking into the Longchamp store to see the popular le pliage bags, and fell in love with this buttery soft doctor-style satchel. The price was beyond my range, so I admired it for a bit and handed it back to the sales lady. I was on the search for a classic bag from Paris, since that seems to be the frivolous thing to do when one visits Paris- that and I had sold an older bag I previously owned and wanted to replace it with something I would love for life. And Chanel bag was definitely out of the picture, due to their astounding price-tags.

On our last day in Paris, we stepped into Galeries Lafayette (a huge department store) and ended up browsing for a couple hours. They had nearly every hand-bag label imaginable, which didn't help my indecisiveness. I narrowed my selection down to 3 classic black leather bags. A couple were on sale and the third one (suggested by my Hubby) was the same bag I found at the Longchamp store. I steered towards the sale bag, since it seemed most practical, but in the end, the Hubby snagged the impractical bag out of my hands and told me he wanted to purchase it for me. If you know my husband, he is the most financially-savvy guy out there, which is why he also does it for a living. We record every receipt, down to the last penny, to ensure we stay within our "budget." Soo, as superficial as it may seem, I was on the verge of tears when he made the selection for me, saying something along the lines of, "How often can you come to Paris and select a bag? I want to buy you one you'll love and carry for life." After thinking about it some more (and sweating bullets from thinking about how impractical it was to buy a fancy bag), I let him show me love in the most superficial but still deeply profound way.

To this day, I keep the bag in its original dustbag and take it out occasionally, in order to savor its special aura.

BCBG nude-pink peasant blouse, Bongo striped denim vest, Zara pants, Dolce Vita for Target espadrille wedges, Longchamp doctor satchel, Forever 21 ring, vintage bracelets, mens Seiko watch, and Mocha- my other love

Had lunch with a friend today at Gypsy Den at the Lab in Costa Mesa. This place always reminds me of I Dream of Genie- the old show I used to watch as a kid (re-runs, of course!). Their soy chai latte was perfect on a overcast day in not-so-sunny SoCal, and being in this retro-esq cafe made me feel as though I were in another time period.

Below are some older photos that I was too lazy to post. I've gotten some good mileage out of my Zara pants so far!