my purse and its contents, or...

alternate subtitle: is it fall or spring? california never knows (all these shots were taken on a july day at the park)

i love my purse. i scored it at an estate sale for a buck. i had been looking for something organized-friendly, with a lot of space, but squareish to keep it all easily accessible (most of what i have in the main pocket is rectangular: pocketbook, checkbook, moleskine journal(s ;), bible, glasses case, coupon organizer...). this lovely leather find was good, but not great... until i added the lace. then it was perfect! just a little touch of girly-ness and whimsy added to the all-business of the natural leather... love it.

and now for the insides...
i made this coupon organizer a few months ago (when i was super domestic-inspired), from scratch! you won't hear me say that much! i am so not a seamstress (yet?). i had bought this honduran burlap coffee bag (loving the print on it!), and had covered a wallet for jason - since fallen apart - a) not a seamstress, and b) he abuses his wallets. but i needed something for ME! so this was perfect. and i barely use it, so my burlap's staying together fine ;)

and this little checkbook holder i also found at an estate sale (little old ladies have such better taste/class than Chase Bank provides me with ;) - jason will no longer write checks due to its girlyness.

and now my favorite part: my "pocketbook". 

i feel so grown up saying my "pocketbook". i think i always had a squarer version, and it was always a wallet, but somehow this baby has to have a classier title ;)
i had been in need of a new wallet ever since joey's milk spilled all over my previous one (plus i was ready for a new one that was more "me", so i just became especially motivated at that point ;)
found this roxy pocketbook (okay, now i'm feeling pretentious saying it ;) at Savers for a couple dollars, and brought it home and added the lace and fabric flowers and a bead, and voila! beauty! (also very functional because i did NOT start from scratch - someone who knew what they were doing made the insides with spots for ID, credit cards, cash, etc ;)

ta-da!