Bag Lady

I love handbags, purses, and just bags in general.  I was thrilled when Wendy from Moop wanted to send me a bag.

I chose the waxed canvas carrier in gray

I love the curved look of the bag when it’s closed and the overall lines and shape of it.

The interior is a bright blue turquoise that just pops!  I love turquoise so much that it’s the color of the first tattoo I ever got (I was 17 and it’s a tropical fish on my abdomen that used to be vibrant turquoise but has faded) and also turquoise is used in my blog color palette.

The Moop waxed canvas bags are distressed and become that way from working the material as each bag is hand made and crafted.  No two bags are identical, and everything is handmade in their Pittsburgh-area studio.

A couple nice interior pockets and I know this bag will be great for daily use, or for taking with me on my trip.

I plan to throw my Macbook with “Book” Case in it for sure.

Other bags I own and love…

My handmade one of a kind camera bag from Etsy

My LV.  It came with for champagne happy hour with Amber

My pink Chanel and matching wallet.  Amber and I both love bags and never leave home without them when we plan to meet up.

Thanks to everyone who complimented me on my Chocolate Coconut Cashew Butter from my recent post.

I am honored that so many of you told me you loved the recipe and my photography.  Thank you, thank you. It’s soooo good. Make some for yourself in 5 minutes flat!

Foodgawker and Tastespotting liked the images and recipe, too, which is a high honor!

I want my photography to be judged, evaluated, and critiqued by others.   Those sites are not perfect, and sometimes I see things on them that I wonder, huh, why is that on there? And other times I have friends who’s photos have been rejected that are truly beautiful and I again think, huh, why didn’t that make it?

But for now, I work my tail off to get better at my photography and having a “judge and jury” like those food sites helps me.

However, hey don’t tell me what’s wrong with my photos when they don’t accept them other than a one-liner like “composition”.  I have to figure out for myself what to improve on.

I also can’t reliably figure out their crop box and if anyone reading this has tips, especially for vertical shots, and more so for TS than FG, please, I am all ears at what sizes you use.  I have tried everything from 250 x 250, 400 x 600, 375 x 385, and no matter what I use, especially on vertical shots, the cropping is just off and I can’t submit many of what I consider my really good images due to those pesky crop boxes.

It hasn’t just been Chocolate Coconut Cashew Butter and Bags around here, I made another batch of Peanut Sauce Baked Tofu.

It was just as good the second time around.

1. Do you like bags?

I know some people are into shoes (my feet are too big to be a shoe collector; probably a blessing in disguise).

Others are into collecting cute dishes (count me in), some people have 20 pairs of sunglasses, or a myriad of MAC lipglosses (guilty as charged, or hoard cookbooks and review them, too.

But I really love bags!  I am drawn to unique, handmade, and beautifully crafted bags.  And I won’t lie, if someone wanted to buy me a new Louis or Chanel, I wouldn’t argue!

2. Fill in the Blanks: (my answers in parentheses

My favorite bag is my______. (pink Chanel)

The last thing that made me laugh was_____. (being on hold for 9 minutes to make an appointment and the receptionist acted like that’s normal.  You just gotta laugh those things off.)

I’d rather be_____ than_____. (swamped and busy than bored and not needed)

If you haven’t entered my Give Away for Coconut Oil yet, you better get crackin’ on that.  Contest ends Saturday.

Have a great day!