Gear!

“Honey, I don’t know – isn’t a backpack a backpack?” Mike said, beginning to thumb through Sports Guy’s tweets on his phone, a bored expression (or could it be hunger at this point?) on his face. It was “date night” (read: an opportunity to get all the crap done we can’t effectively between work hours and toddler duty), and there we were, making our way through stores on the Plaza searching for the perfect work backpack for my aching shoulders. A boring task. An obnoxious one. But an important one. My cute little Tumi tote just wasn’t cutting it anymore for a gal who spends 40-percent of her job traveling. Ok, it’s cutting it…cutting into my shoulders with it’s enormous frame and weight with all I stuff it with…

So after hours of online research, reaching out to shopping queens, countless discussion with the attention-to-every-detail Mom, we were digging our way through Tumi, North Face, Macy’s, Dillards and Bag and Baggage. The goal: something at least slightly feminine (though you know if I had my way it would be covered in glitter and glitzed and be monogrammed), backpack style, lightweight and just professional enough to pull it off at a decent price. Sounds manageable, right?

Wrong.

So, here’s what I ended up with (though mine has some lighter gray/plum on it):

And I’m happy to report it’s working out amazing well – it fits under the airplane seat, is light weight and has a laptop compartment, isn’t totally unprofessional and even has the added bonus of making me feel a bit like a college student once again. And all for under one hundred bucks. Perfect! Plus, I’ve even seen a few stylish women sporting them with business suits…likely another gal on the move seeking the same thing I was!

Other “gear” I’ve fallen in love with lately and has made our life just a bit more convenient includes:







































Nalgene bottles for toddlers for their perfect grip size and easy to transition from sippy cup, LL Bean totes for our treks to the pool, a carribinar because you need all the hands you can get and not for the keys, the Marc Jacobs crossbody for the same reason and the Adidas Adizero tennis shoes - in hot pink!, which are ideal for getting back to the gym because they're comfy, sassy and cute..and the break you need from heels.

Cheers to gear! May you be finding the "stuff" you need that makes life simpler and leaves you time and energy to really practice its joys.