Dissin' The Purse

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST WAS WRITTEN TOTALLY TONGUE IN CHEEK-- SINCE IT IS HARD TO CONVEY TONE, I WANTED TO MAKE THAT CLEAR FROM THE GET-GO!

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you might remember this post about my cute purse my mom gave me-- and how happy I was with it, and how handy it was with the ribbons you could change out to match the season, or what you are wearing I suppose, if you have that kind of time, which I so do not. So, anyway, last night we were leaving the movie theater, and Shari spots my purse.

Remember Shari? She is the fashion guru for those of us at P31 who care about those sorts of things. And I do care, to the degree that I have time to care. Which, admittedly at this stage of my life, is not a lot. I am doing good to be fully dressed, with hair that I have attempted to style and some makeup on. While I love Shari to pieces, we do not share a passion for fashion.

Back to the purse. Shari stops, grabs Renee who she is walking beside and practically gropes her heart in mock heart attack position. "Marybeth," she gasps, "Where on earth did you get that purse?" And she is not saying it like "Oh, that is a beautiful purse!" But like, "Why on earth did you ever let that ugly thing see the light of day??"

And so I proceeded to defend my purse. And my choice of a blue ribbon, which to me symbolizes winter. Why, I couldn't tell you. But to me, winter is blue. Maybe because it makes me feel blue as I hate cold weather. Shari made a few jokes about my purse. Then later apologized as she was probably worried that she was going to make me stay up all night feeling badly about myself because of what she said. On the contrary, I laughed right along with her. Because I love her, and I know she meant nothing by her reaction. She is compelled to make fashion corrections when needed. And she is trained to do so. She's pretty nice to have around... except when she disses my purse. I love my purse. I love the two interior pockets that hold my sunglasses and my cell phone so I can always get to them. I love changing out the ribbons. I love that the straps are the right length for throwing over my shoulder as I am running out the door. And I don't like change, so I don't change purses very often.

So, for those of you who love my purse along with me, I thought I should suggest that you head on over to Shari's blog, leave her a comment, and vote for my purse! Vote for freedom to carry what works for you! Vote for no longer being bound by fashionistas telling you what you should do! Vote for me, and my no fashion self-- just another mom who is doing good to have everything she needs in the purse-- who cares what it looks like?

After the movie, we went to Barnes and Noble to get a coffee and chat for a bit. We closed the place down laughing and talking. And I purposely sat right across from Shari and plopped my ugly purse on the table so she would have to look at it the whole time we were talking. Ah, sweet revenge.

(And a special thank you goes out to Renee, who hosted me and my five children for "lunch" yesterday, which drug out to an all-day affair. I got home at 5 pm, just in time to fix a quick dinner for my family and run out to meet the girls for the movie. Warning: do not invite me and my family over to your house... we might never leave! Thanks Renee for your gracious hospitality. Renee is discussing friendships over at her blog if you want to join in that conversation. But she might be amending some of her thoughts after spending yesterday with me.)