Thrill of the Hunt.

@postaday 329; #postaday2011.

I have decided to participate in a holiday secret gift project and from a list of about 50 seniors, I chose to get a purse for a woman. Why? Oh, if you only knew the purse monster that is me.

Yesterday I went over to Ross Dress For Less on Keeaumoku and cruised the racks. Nothing pleased me. Nothing was worthy. And all that was worthy was about $40 or more. I wanted to keep this in the under $30 budget.

Here’s what I determined:

• It cannot be black, brown, beige, or gray. Why? Because if they lost it and all they could say was “It’s black, brown, beige, or gray,” that would be gone.
• It cannot be big. Why? Well, as a fan of big bags myself, I didn’t want to get something that might get very heavy for an older woman. Here I am no where near old and my neck and arms sometimes suffer for days because I treat my bags as though they were black holes.
• It has to have a shoulder strap and two handles. Why? A shoulder strap would be great for wearing it cross-body. The handles are handy. D’oh.
• It has to have a zip top and an outside pocket. Why? So when my senior rides theBus, no one can reach into her bag because it just has a little snap on top. And the front pocket is perfect for a bus pass and house keys.
• It has to have a light interior. Why? I wish all bags were made with fabric interiors that were light, such as white, beige, yellow, pink, baby blue. Purses with black interiors, are, yes, the black holes on our arms.
• It has to have four inside pockets along the sides. Why? I like organization.
• It has to be a color: Why? I’m looking at red, blue, green, even purple. So it’s easy to spot, find, locate.
• It should be functional and without needless decorations. Why? What’s with these bags with these giant ruffles and bows and fake belts on them? It’s just more stuff to get hooked on a door knob, easy for a purse snatcher to grab, another thing to rag up or fall apart. Messy. Skip messy.
• My friend Lisa suggested I get a quilted bag. Why? They don’t weigh as much and they’re pretty. I’ll have to put that on my list.

I love shopping for purses, and it is the ultimate thrill to peruse the purse departments in various stores. I can hardly afford all that many of them. My sister-in-law Susan is a champion and often manages to bag big bag game at second hand stores. As a result, I have some really nice Coach bags! (I have been known to actually buy them at a Coach outlet!). My latest favorites are Piel bags that I get from eBags. Oh, and yes, eBags and I have a daily email relationship.

But I do play hard to get. I find if you’re not coy, you don’t get the best deals.