The contents of my purse have changed considerably over the years. Gone is the red lipstick and everything else in a make up bag, replaced by plain lip balm. I no longer need a brush now that my hair is very short. My wallet contains absolutely no cash because I can always find ways to spend any amount. I only carry my ATM card and drivers license…no photos. Somehow I accumulate many pieces of odd paper such as receipts and other bits that I do not want to throw on the ground. I have lost many nice ball point pens and currently only have a freebie. Since I use my ATM card, I never carry a check book anymore. ( ATM card swipers were in common use in California several years before the technology found its way to North Carolina) The only addition to my load is and emergency diabetic snack package (in case of low blood sugar), pills for upset stomach, and more keys.

Oh, how I envy women that can go out with little bitty purses (or none at all). I always feel the need to tote around too much. I joke that if I was lost in the woods, I’d be able to survive for three days on what I carry in my purse before I’d have to try to find civilisation. Like Judith Martin, I always have a book in my purse. I travel by bus, & burying my nose in a book discourages the weirdos from annoying me. I have a wallet big enough for my checkbook & passport, a 100-pill sized bottle of Exedrin, a business card case, a bottle of water, a set of keys so big I could hurt someone with it (six keys but nine or ten key chain doodads including a Swiss Army knife & a nail clipper, in case I have to construct a shelter, butcher something, & do my nails while I’m lost in the woods), lots of make-up, the mail I grabbed on the way out of the house, cough drops, & some kind of snack, plus a lot of loose change, bus tickets, crumbs, & unidentified sticky bits. Oh, & when I’m traveling, if I check my luggage, I keep an extra pair of underpants in my purse in case the airline loses my luggage.

Funniest goes to Joni. Baseball cap and heels. Love that top you have on, Joni. My purse contents used to look like Mary’s, good quality and a religious idol (St. Joan of Arc), contents matched to bag and shoes, ie aligator. Now since don’t go to an office or see clients have an inexpensive, nicely styled black quilted Marc Jacobs tiny zippered clutch for mobile, money, lipgloss, comb. I almost always fitted black lycra so feel like am in a perpetual Italian Job film, ready for action or fun. When travel sort everything according to how I use in clear vinyl pouches then don’t have to hunt, and always take favorite small gold framed pix of my son and I for bedside table. Try to get everything in tote and rollon so don’t have to check anything. The other option is Fed-Ex to self at first destination. I need a private plane and feel very deprived without. lol. When married at least we had a small plane and could zip up and down the coast without commercial, going through those xray machines and having dirty hands paw through your immaculate things, exp when I have the DNA strains of Felix Unger.

Liz, like you I don’t carry a purse. It all goes in pockets. When my daughter is looking at bags and wants one that costs more than $50 I’m “HOW MUCH!?!??” Now if I had a wOw bag I might reconsider the no purse thing ;-)

Oh Liz, you are utter PERFECTION. I DETEST purses but am forced to carry one for all the medications and yada yada I don’t feel safe without. Going to clubs/concerts becomes a pain in the ass because of this. Mine is currently a purple/black cheap-o bag I found at Claire’s, the cheesy accessories store. It has a gorgeously colorful picture on the front of the evil queen from Snow White, because I looove movie villains - childish, eh? It’s hard to find a nice, durable purse (and WALLET!) not made out of animal by-product. My NECESSITIES: !!!!Asthma Inhaler!!!!! +Anxiety medication for emergency panic attack type situations (rarely experience those anymore HALLELUJAH) +Camera because I never know when I’m going to see something surprising/amazing +Mp3 player - the quintessential “Do Not Disturb” sign I wear on my ears +Notebook for jotting down ideas, quotes, and lists +WALLET of course +Travel-size First Aid Kit +Sunglasses +Teeny-tiny sample size jar of Vaseline petroleum jelly: better for lips than any chapstick I’ve tried What else, what else?? +OH! A book (okay, it’s usually “The Search…” by Jane Wagner because it’s the closest thing to a Bible I can rely on, and I like to read my favorite parts to people and convert them. …I just realized how scary I sound when I typed that out. Like some religious missionary.) I think that’s it. I usually keep my cell phone in my back pocket 1.) where it’s SAFE lol, and 2.) where I can FEEL the vibration if someone calls/texts me.

When I added a list of of the medications I take, my purse suddenly felt 4 pounds heavier. I think it is likely that it is the number of years that weigh a bit more but feel like a lot more.