In The Bag

Steve Madden Tiffani Satchel - Burlington Coat Factory (buy)

Back in September I mentioned an unplanned stop at Burlington Coat Factory where I picked up the black Steve Madden Tiffani Satchel. Almost two months later this is still my go-to bag, it's got a cute woven design on one side, has the perfect not-too-shiny finish to it, and it's big enough to fit all of my daily necessities and my laptop!

Since Monday is a day off for me -- and therefore a day where I lounge around in leggings and a Vickie's v-neck tee -- I thought I'd share the things I can't live without that are always in my bag!

1. Kath Van Zeeland Apollo clutch. Despite this being called a clutch, it's been serving as a wallet for me for over a year. There was a period of five or so years where I would only buy Kathy bags. I loved her designs and the bags were just luxurious enough for me to feel like I was treating myself when I bought them, but I could also find them at Marshalls and TJ Maxx, so I didn't have to drop a lot of money on them. Lately, however, I'm not a fan of what she's been designing.

2. Petit Collage owl journal. After reading about Elsie's method of organizing her ideas over at A Beautiful Mess, I knew I had to start doing something similar. I stopped by Target and found this cute journal for $6 and used Post-Its to split it into sections. The first section is for miscellaneous notes, songs I want to download, websites I want to look at, etc. The next section is dedicated to E&O and is for outfit ideas, post ideas (this post was written in it!), and my list of items that I want to add to my closet. The third section is dedicated to crafts, whether it's ideas for a piece of jewelry to make or something to create around the house. The last section is for work, I use it to write down ideas for how to improve the day-to-day ways that things function, ways to decorate an upcoming event, and other things that I don't want to forget to mention to my boss. I love having this journal and can't believe I didn't think of doing something like this on my own! (Buy at Amazon.com)

3. Meadwestvaco leatherette planner. I can't remember a time when I didn't own a planner. Ever since elementary school when I got the school-issued planners, I have always been a big advocate of using a planner to keep things organized. Very recently I decided to upgrade my planner to something more adult, so I picked this one up from Target for around $18. I use it for everything, from keeping track of personal appointments like dental visits, remembering when big events are happening at work, and keeping track of my bills. I have this whole system of writing my bills down in the monthly section on the day they're due and again on a Post-It dedicated to the paycheck that I plan to pay it with. I have offered to teach my system to Matt several times, but he doesn't seem interested. (Buy similar at Amazon.com)

4. Calvin Klein makeup bags. I've gone through a few makeup bags in recent times, I just couldn't find one that was just right to keep in my purse. Either it was too big, too small, didn't have pockets, wouldn't stay zipped ... I finally said enough is enough and headed over to Ross. I found a set of three animal print Calvin Klein makeup bags. I use the medium and small sized bags, small things like brushes and eyeliner go in the small bag, and the small bag goes into the medium bag. Now I can keep my beauty necessities on hand and (mostly) organized.

5. Original Rayban Wayfarer sunglasses in purple tortoise. I got these shades at an awesome discount when one of my old roommates did her internship at Disney. When she first handed them to me and I tried them on I wasn't crazy about them, but it is now two years later and these are still the pair of sunglasses that I wear the most often!

6. Kellie Creates business cards. I created these babies on Vistaprint for under $10. I left a big blank spot so that I can write in coupon codes or thank-you notes, and now when someone says "hey, I really like that necklace," I can hand them a card when I tell them I made it!

7.  160GB iPod Classic. I sold my iPod touch when I got my first iPhone, it seemed a little redundant to have both. But then this craving for a classic iPod kicked in, and I just knew I needed one with the most capacity possible. When I found this one with a 40,000 song capacity, I saw it as a challenge. As with all other things in my life, I am super obsessive about making sure the music on my iPod is organized, so I am constantly labeling genres, creating playlists, making sure all of the information on every song is correct and making sure every track has artwork with it. And the case? I found it at K-Mart for $5. Score! (Buy at Apple.com)

8. iPhone 4. I have been an iPhone user since early 2010 and am already on my third phone. I started out with the iPhone 3 and had that phone until I left it in a bar bathroom stall and someone walked off with it. Then I upgraded to the iPhone 3GS until that one decided it didn't want to start up for me one day. I knew that the problem was an easy fix, but I was eligible for an upgrade at the time, so I headed over to Best Buy and used my credit card to upgrade to the iPhone 4. I don't think I'll switch to another type of phone for a long time (aside from upgrades when new models come out). I also absolutely adore the case that I found for my phone, you can buy it here on Amazon.com.

9. Tide pen. I've talked about my Tide pen before, and as you can see, it's pretty worn looking from being in my purse for so long. Being in an occupation where I work around food every day, this baby has been a life-saver many a time.

10. Vitamin Shtick. I have also mentioned my awesome Vitamin Shtick lip balm before. I am a big advocate for sun protection, so when I found a lip balm that was SPF 20 and smelled good, I knew I had a keeper!

And now you know the deep, dark secrets of my deep, dark bag.

Happy Monday!

xo, Kellie