Ok, ladies, I have a bag fetish. I admit, I'm a bagaholic. I love any kind of bags - purses, clutches, totebags, cute little cosmetic pouches, even luggage. I have oodles (that's a lot, by the way) of purses and bags all over my one-bedroom apartment! I have several pieces of Vera Bradley luggage with matching purse, but I LOVE designer purses ( can't splurge on them too often). Currently, my designer purse "collection" consists of a Kate Spade purse and wallet, a Louis Vitton, and 2 Coach purses and a Coach wallet. Not sure if my "Simply Vera" purse by Vera Wang actually counts as "designer" since I purchased it at Khols. Which leads me to my next point - the only thing I love more than buying a new purse is buying a new purse at a GREAT price! Which is why I love the website eBags.com! This place is amazing! They have purses, clutches, hobos, backpacks, lunchboxes, laptop cases, luggage and travel accessories, wallets, keychains, tote bags, and so much more - and in designer names at that! Cole Haan, Michael Kors, Rebecca Minkoff, Kate Spade... do I have your attention yet? :)Last month I traveled to Chicago for a conference for work (loved the city by the way, I recommend everyone visit there at least once - shopping on Michigan Ave is to DIE for!) Anyway, not wanting to go alone, I persuade my relatively-new boyfriend to travel with me (pictured above at the original Morton's Steakhouse, downtown Chicago). Risky, I know, but everything went very well...up until the night before we were to fly home. The zipper fell off his suitcase - I mean, came completely off, no way to thread it back on, suitcase wouldn't close. He asks if there is any way I could sew it shut until he got home with his belongings. A cute request, and while I pride myself on being rather Martha Stewart-ish (minus the going to prison part) there was no way I could sew that huge suitcase shut all the way around. I just imagined the suitcase being thrown around by the airline and when we arrive at our destination there would be clothing strewn all over the luggage carousel! So, we cram as much as we can into his backpack that he carried onto the plane, some into my carry-on and the rest into my large suitcase. When I check my luggage onto the plane it is 7 lbs over the weight limit. Not wanting to pay the $50 fee for an overweight bag, we proceeded to take out his belongings. I had stuffed them into those handy plastic bags the hotels leave you for your laundry. I figured once we got to his place, it would be easier to pull that bag out instead of rummaging through my entire suitcase deciding what was his and what was mine. So here is my sweet boyfriend walking through the airport in Chicago with a tiny plastic laundry bag full of clothes. Of course the handles rip right away and he's forced to hug the bag to his chest to keep it from tearing any more and spilling clothes everywhere. I felt terrible - after all, it was my trip and he was my guest and it was because of me that he had all of this trouble. Fortunately, we got home with all of his belongings, minus the suitcase. To make it up to him, I surprised with with a new Nautica suitcase and matching rolling duffle which I would on eBags at half the cost I would have paid at a department store. Very sporty/masucline design and great construction so it should hold up well for hopefully many more travels together!
While browsing the eBags site for luggage, I signed up to follow them on Twitter. I discovered that every week they give away 2 bags to people who follow them on Twitter. You can check out this week's bags and sign up to follow them on Twitter as well at http://twitter.com/ebagsonline
This is one of my favorite places to shop online. I have never been disappointed with a product I have ordered through them. They constantly have sales going on and I have even found a few pieces of my Vera Bradley collection online (they have retired patterns so you can try to complete your set!). I am very passionate about my purses and bags and just wanted to share this site - its too good to keep to myself!
