I am highly amused by the packing play-by-play.

Um purses, yeah, totally separate from bookbag/briefcase/etc that I use for work. Also totally separate from tote/grocery bag/diaper bag that is sometimes needed, although I often use said tote in place of the purse. I probably have 5 or 6 totes too.

Y'all know my theory of why men ran the world for such a long time, right? Pockets.

Women had reticules and purses and handbags, something to have to heft and haul and keep track of. Men just...got up and went.

(am being little facetious)

I have one lumbering big soft canvas bag, large enough to carry my laptop sleeve and laptop, plus a few essentials, or to carry wallet, book, notebook, pens, tissues, water bottle, soft rolled up shawl (for cold theatres and restaurants), sometimes an umbrella, keys, lip goo, hand cream, manicure tools, sewing kit, nano, phone, charger--any and all of the above deemed necessary for the day's excursion. The strap works cross-body or regular shoulder bag, and when not packed-full, the bag itself conforms to the body and seems smaller. The insides are organized in zip bags so I can find stuff. And I will wear this bag until it falls apart, or I fall in love.

Tom's man-purse is fluttering its eyelashes at me.

Also, come home soon-ma to Juliebird's cat, and a little calm-ma to Juliebird.

I carry a bag until it dies. It's mostly for work or if I'm going to need sheetmusic. The rest of the time I can fit my wallet, phone, shuffle, keys and an eye/lip/cheek pencil in whatever jeans or cargo shorts I am currently wearing to death.

Purse-wise I have a silver evening bag and a blue evening bag. I used to have a black evening bag but my friend never gave it back. I've had them for years and years and years.

And I agree with Beverly about the pockets thing. Well, I've thought the same thought many times.

I carry a bag until it dies

Oh, I'll carry a bag from behind its grave. Ditto for clothing. I try to get rid of this habit, though, but I'm just very loyal to my stuff, you know?

Am. So. Tired.

I've got three,

Three in the carry on suitcase, one to wear. It would be one less, but I'm not sure I will be able to wear one for long because the heel is so high.

< delurk >

How do people really have that much stuff to carry? I've always wondered. As a guy, I deal entirely in pockets, and carry phone/wallet/keys and very little else. Occasionally, a DS (my pokemons. let me show you them), but really I cannot understand the Must Be Prepared for 5 Billion Eventualities mindset.

(Yes, I understand the ladies' need for small maintenance items. It's a general rant, and thus not meant to be collided with logic, although perhaps they'll do that experiment at the LHC when it opens in a week and see what strange logic particles are formed.)

< relurk >

Edit: I kept meaning to have something to Natter and do Nilly's "make an equation out of the post number" game on it, but when I finally do, it's a slutty number and thus really easy. 6*0=0

also, I do this same thing all the time with addresses, mile markers, and pretty much any other sequences of numbers.

As a guy, I deal entirely in pockets, and carry phone/wallet/keys and very little else.

I've had more than a few periods where relying on pockets alone was tricky. These days I manage by being very planny about what I'm doing and where I'm going.

Once I was a pockets-only girl.

And then came the army, and there were no actual pockets in the uniforms (except for in the coat, but given my country's climate, we only use it about 2-3 months every year), so I had to adjust. Plus, I got my grown-ups wallet then, and it doesn't fit any pocket (maybe to marsupial ones', but I'm not one, last time I checked).

Plus, you know, books. And music.

Well, for one thing, my pockets as a girl tend to be smaller than those a guy gets. So even my keys don't tend to fit (I have four house keys (two building keys, one door key, and a mailbox key) a car key, and a beepy car thing). Those won't fit in a jeans pocket unless they're dangling out. Girl jeans fit different than boy jeans. Now, if I'm carrying a jacket, that's different, but in the summer?

And that's before you get into the fact that my phone is not a Razr, it's a big PDA type one.

So generally, if I'm walking around town? I carry a bag (though not always a purse-type bag, usually a backpack or messenger type bag). (And if I'm already carrying a bag for the keys and phone, then I'll put in the iPod, the little thing with my migraine meds, some chapstick, a pen, my whole bulky wallet, maybe a book, some gum, eyedrops if I've got my contacts in, sunglasses...a notebook if it's a big bag...who knows?)

But if I'm going out at night, I'll often walk, so I can just take the house keys, and not take the whole wallet, and Seattle is cool enough that I can justify a jacket, to have more pockets, or I won't take the phone, so I can just have ID and cash in a back pocket, chapstick in a front pocket, and keys in another one. Maybe an iPod and cellphone in a jacket pocket if I'm carrying a jacket.

There are some necessities that I just won't do without:

Wallet
Phone
Keys
Book
Inhaler
at least 2 Lipsticks
Burt's Bees lip color (chapstick and color all in one!)
Powder Compact
Oil Blotting Papers
Mints and Listerine Pocket thingys
Immodium (I'm never w/o that stuff)
Tylenol
Extra daily meds
Manicure set (I hate not having clippers and a nail file)
Extra tampons
Pens

During the school year I also have my flash drive on me all the time and usually a script or two.

Now, if I'm going out for a fancy-ish evening, I pare that down to phone, ID, cash, keys, and lipstick. So they can fit in my little evening bags.