About a month ago I went to the library to have my summer reading bingo card registered in their system. Just for participating they gave me a reusable bag. And for the first time I could remember, I thought, “Another freakin’ bag?!”
The bag I got from the library for participating in Summer Reading Bingo.
See, there was a time when I was all about acquiring bags. Backpacks, book bags, grocery shopping bags, tote bags, laundry bags, little bags, medium bags, casual bags, work bags, bags with a snap, bags with a zipper, bags with a bazillion pockets. I loved and wanted them all.
Now I have reached the tipping point and I am done with bags. I hope.
There is a stash in my trunk of bags for shopping. In the green bag I have five additional bags: an insulated one for frozen/refrigerated items, one with 6 compartments for carrying bottles, and three random bags.
The bags I keep in my trunk for shopping.
I use this green and white bag from Aunt Gigi’s ranch for groceries from Trader Joe’s. She likes Trader Joe’s a lot so she’ll appreciate that.
The logo for Aunt Gigi's ranch is on the other side, but I don't think she'd like it if I showed it here. Because then people might think she's accepting visitors and conducting tours, which she is not.
There are three other bags in my trunk that aren’t being used for shopping. This bag says it’s full of emergency supplies to last for 72 hours. As you can see I am well prepared for any emergency.
My emergency supply bag: empty.
My idea of an emergency is being someplace overnight and not having deodorant or a clean shirt to wear. So I have this bag (also from Aunt Gigi) that has toiletries, a couple pairs of underwear, a t-shirt and a zip-up hoodie in it.
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My not-quite-an-emergency bag, with toiletries, a few items of clothing and a pen in it.
Early last year I picked up some maps at AAA. They used to use small plastic bags you could repurpose as a garbage bag for your car. Now they are all eco-friendly with their blue reusable bags.
This bag is full of maps and stays in the trunk. Because that's the best place for maps when you're driving and you don't know where you're going and the GPS isn't working right.
Aunt Gigi likes to use tote bags as Christmas stockings. This red bag was one of my favorites from her: it has a top zipper and all sorts of little pockets on the inside.
This red bag has lots of pockets inside and out, plus nice long handles. I often use it to haul small loads of laundry back and forth from the laundry room.
There is the purple bag I bought a few years ago because it had an OM on one side and I thought it would be a cool bag for taking to yoga. I haven’t taken a yoga class in over a year.
Purple bag with OM symbol - one of the few bags I actually paid for.
There are the bags I got from Momcat’s collection. She was also a big lover of bags. The Washington Metro bag (top) has been around probably just as long – the Metro map on the bag shows the Green Line as being in progress, but it’s actually been completed for several years now. I use it for hauling laundry to Giles’ place when I don’t have enough quarters to do laundry at my building. The Smithsonian one (bottom) has been around since the early ’80s and was often used as a library book bag. I have been using it to hold the crap I am trying to sell on eBay.
Two bags from Momcat's collection
Then there are several bags I received as a thank you for attending an event or participating in something. (Yes, that’s the bag from the library on the left. Weird how these bags are all green.)
Three recent additions to my bag collection.
This Target bag was a freebie in an issue of Vanity Fair about 3 years ago. It’s made of this thin nylon so it’s good for sticking in another bag, just in case the first bag gets too full and I need another one.
This bag is good for carrying in a purse or other bag because it folds up nicely.
But sometimes a casual canvas or nylon bag emblazoned with advertising for a product/service/vacation destination will not do. Enter the work/play bags.
The bags I use for carrying around my laptop and work stuff.
I got the lilac bag from Target several years ago. T-Wizzle is going to be mad when she sees this picture because it reminds her how she saw this bag in white and wanted it, but did not buy it. I don’t know why she didn’t, it was only $25 and it’s a fantastic bag. But I better shut up now before she gets even more pissed off.
The brown bag is my fall/winter work bag – I’m using it currently even though it is not quite fall here in Sacramento. I don’t know when we will actually see autumn weather, but I figure if I use the fall/winter bag, it will come. Maybe.
The backpack is for when I am schlepping around a bunch of crap in addition to my laptop and I don’t want to dislocate my shoulder carrying around the lilac or brown bag.
For those times when the big bags are too big, I have small bags.
This bag is the oldest in my collection and one of my favorites.
Aunt Olivia made this blue denim bag for me when I was in the single digits, which was twentithirtyish years ago. It’s still in great condition, aside from some fraying of the fabric on the handles. I like using it to haul around my e-reader, journal and some pens.
T-Wizzle's fun design just for me, the blue-eyed badass.
Several years ago T-Wizzle was into making designs for t-shirts, tank tops and tote bags. She made this one just for me: it says Blue-Eyed BadAss and has a cartoon of a brunette with blue eyes on it. I used to use it to carry my lunch to work, back when I still worked in an office. I figured if the fridge broke and it was being cleaned out and they were trying to find out what stuff belonged to what person, I could say, “Mine’s the one that says ‘Blue-Eyed Bad Ass’.” Kind of like Jules from Pulp Fiction.
By my count, that makes 22 bags. I don’t even own that many pairs of shoes. At this rate I’m gonna get my Girl Card revoked.
