Voices
creams from hotels, shampoo
and conditioner both in the 32
fluid ounce size (Note to self:
save space and look for a product
that is a shampoo-slash-conditioner), a dried mascara and a
half-eaten granola bar covered in
a rare genus of bottom-of-thepocketbook mung. Two Moleskine journals, an old Vanity Fair,
a full bottle of water, a copy of I
am Charlotte Simmons (by Tom
Wolfe), Me Talk Pretty One Day
(by David Sedaris), dancing shoes
for Zumba, water shoes for kayaking, one gym sneaker, a handful of highlighters in red, pink,
green, orange and yellow ... the
list goes on. Those are just the
small things. I’m not even going
to mention the other dispensable
accoutrements that were part of
my haz-mat clean up.
Are suitcase-like pocketbooks
an over-indulgence? I decided to
ask my sister, a minimalist artist.
“I never wanted to be a bigpocketbook person, but I think
I’ve turned into one,” she said.
Toujours chic, my sister was
carrying a honking, high designer, soft leather pocketbook that
was large enough for a two-week
family vacation. It turns out,
though, that the pocketbook’s
BONNIE
BRODNICK
HUFFINGTON
07.22.12
bark was louder than its bite.
“This thing weighs a ton,” she
confided, “and nothing is even in
it. In fact, the actual bag weighs
far more than all of its contents.”
My sister turned her fancyshmancy pocketbook upside down
and out poured one lip gloss, a
checkbook, a wallet, reading and
sun glasses, a travel-size hand
cream, Altoids and one pen.
I was ashamed
that I was carrying
so much junk and
Are
decided it was time
suitcase-like
for reformation.
pocketbooks
See me walkan overing down the street
indulgence?
today and you will
I decided to
notice that my pockask my sister,
etbook is small and
a minimalist
stylish. I don’t schlep around half as
artist.”
much as I used to
and I hope to never
again set off a seatbelt alarm
because my heavy pocketbook
tripped the sensors.
In fact, in seeking to pack more
sparingly, I am now going to
make the bold move of calling my
pocketbook a “purse.”
There. I lost one syllable... I feel so much lighter.