Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Perfect Mom Bag

Some people like to bake, others scrapbook, some are even good enough to run - I organize. I consider myself a perfectionist. Not that I am perfect by any means, but I live in constant pursuit of organizational perfection. The problem is, there is no such thing as perfect. Therefore, I am constantly organizing and reorganizing. My poor husband can never find anything in our house and it drives him crazy. If there is a space anywhere that stuff is kept, I will strive to organize it - kitchen cabinets, the refrigerator (the Tupperware lady loves me), the bathroom and even the car. But recently, my attention was turned on my tote bag. You see, I have a three year old who only recently became potty trained, who also needs a lot to keep him entertained. He also has three older brothers who all play on multiple teams no matter the season. To say that he is carted around is an understatement. Football games, basketball practices, even tournaments - you name it, he goes. Don't get me wrong, he loves it. But trying to actually watch the older boys make a basket, while not losing the three year old (yes, we have lost him multiple times even though he knew exactly where he was) is a challenge to say the least.

Enter the bag...

When our three year old was born, a friend sent us a great LL Bean tote bag. It was blue and white striped and it had our son's initials on it. It was a very thoughtful gift. Unfortunately, there was not a single pocket in this bag (they had no kids at the time, so they really didn't know). This bag was put on the shelf while he was a baby and we used a diaper bag that made a lot more sense. But now that he is a preschooler, I have brought back the bag. And because there are still no pockets, I have been using large Ziploc bags to try to keep thing organized. Unfortunately, in my pursuit of perfection, this falls very short. I was always losing things in the bottom, the Ziploc bags would ultimately rip, and lets face it - it was not exactly aesthetically pleasing.



This is where my quest began for the perfect bag....

My first thought was that I needed compartments, which would take the place of my Ziploc bags and were more functional. I also needed pockets to keep my three year old's iPod (my old iPhone) and his iXL as well a my iPhone and my iPad (which is a great tool to keep him entertained). I wanted it to be a nice looking bag and durable. I pretty much wanted it all. I looked everywhere. I looked at all the diaper bags I could find figuring it was the best place to start. There are a lot of new ones out there today that don't look like diaper bags and have more pockets than most bags. No luck. Even though they had lots of pockets, they still all had one big compartment which is exactly what I wasn't looking for. I searched by every keyword I could think of and nothing. That is when it dawned on me that I would have to make one. Well not me, but someone was going to have to.

Enter Jen...

Jen owns the itty bitty bag company (http://www.ittybittybag.com/) where she designs, makes and sells gorgeous, handmade bags through her website. I went to high school with Jen and recently reconnected with her on Facebook. Once I figured out what I wanted, I asked Jen for help. I asked for a lot, after all I was in pursuit of perfection. She worked on it and thought about it and worked on it some more. She took it to NYC with her girls and then changed it. And finally, she emailed me to tell me it was ready. And of course I asked for one more thing, a pocket for my iPad. And she said of course. Then finally, an email danced into my inbox with a tracking number announcing that my perfect bag was on its way.

And it arrived today...




And even though I had nowhere to take the three year old today, I immediately packed it. Just in case...








So now I am ready for anything. The "Mom Bag" as Jen calls it, is red canvas with brown and white toile interior (my choices). The red 3-compartment insert is just that - an insert that can be taken out if I want to use the bag without it. The interior is lined with 6 pockets - 3 small ones and 3 larger ones. There is a hook for my keys so they won't get lost at the bottom. There is pocket on the front that fits my phone and a padded pocket on the back for my iPad. The bottom is made of leather for added durability and has feet to keep it off of dirty gym floors. Thanks to Jen for not only giving me everything I asked for, but for also making it a great experience along the way. The bag is gorgeous, well-made and well organized. And I can't wait for a good excuse to use it.

To order any of Jen's gorgeous creations, visit her site at www.ittybittybag.com. She makes custom orders but also has a lot of beautiful bags ready to ship, including Easter Basket bags (so cute and unique). You can also read her blog here http://ittybittybag.wordpress.com/

And if you live in New England, I am hosting a trunk show for her on April 9th in Marlboro, MA. If you would like to attend, please let me know.

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