What's in your purse?

It's been a crazy month. 

It started with Good Friday/Easter weekend: Kit and I both had violent food poisoning. I was out of commission for 5 days. 

Then came my birthday weekend: We stayed at a hotel for 2 nights which was awesome.

Next up was recital/dance concert weekend: As Assistant Dance Director, my job is to coordinate all the tiny details of these 3 shows. 3 different shows in 24 hours. It's THE BIGGEST WEEKEND OF THE YEAR at my job. I also danced in a piece in the second concert, after already working for 12 hours by that point getting the first concert rehearsed and done, and rehearsing the second concert.

Last was craft fair weekend: How could I say no to one of the biggest craft shows of the year on our little island? Who cares if it followed the Easter/food poisoning, birthday, and recital weekends? It had to be done! And it was sooooo fun. A great environment and really profitable. 

Soooooo…. through all of this, my purse became a lot of things. The bicycle bag you see below is not really even my normal purse. I think I probably used about 4 different bags this month before resorting to throwing everything in this $3.00 Forever 21 canvas tote. So, what exactly ended up in my purse after 4 crazy weekends?

1. Receipts. Ace Hardware, Radio Shack & Starbucks. There's probably 20 more receipts in #9- my wallet. Who doesn't have receipts floating around in your purse. OCD Becca doesn't… but I haven't had time to be OCD. 

2. iPod. It's always in my purse because it's my #1 tool I use for work. Rarely do I listen to anything on there for pleasure, because I use it constantly for work. 

3. Sunglasses. I randomly have sunglasses all over the house and just grab the closest pair. I really like this pair. They're from the brand "Penguin" and I found them in my grandma's house the day of her memorial service 3 years ago.

4. Gift cards. Recital weekend is amazing in itself, but in the aftermath, I get to go through tons of thank you cards which often include some awesome gift cards! Here we have Gap, Safeway, Macy's and Jamba Juice. Again, there are probably 5 more gift cards in my wallet!. 

5. Check Book. My husband says I'm the only person left on the planet who writes checks. Not true. I bought this gorgeous orchid check book cover as soon as I graduated college, and I love it. Those are also 2 undeposited checks I've had floating in my purse for weeks, eek!! Reminder, craziest 4 weeks of the year. Don't judge. 

6. Planner. I write things in a planner, with a pen. Yes, I do. I can't do the whole plug it in my iPhone calendar yet. If I don't write it down, I don't remember it, and it won't happen or I won't show up. I love the size of this planner and the sleek black leather cover. The only thing problematic, the week starts on a Monday, not a Sunday. Drives me INSANE. I didn't realize it when I bought it. :( Other than that, it's perfection.

7. Gum. In a bag. I don't know why Trident even tries to sell this type of gum in humid Hawaii. It melts. I literally have to take it out of the cardboard package and put it in a plastic bag so that the sugary stickiness doesn't get all over my purse. I'm about ready to throw it away because getting it out of the wrapper is just as messy and cumbersome. C'mon Trident!

8. Hammer. And yes, it's floral print. I also have a matching screwdriver. I love them. I made Kit buy them for me as a Christmas present when we were visiting Arkansas last November. There could be a million reasons why it was in my purse (thrown in there with my sunglasses, iPod, iPhone…!) My guess was to hammer down something at the craft fair. 

9. Wallet. I love this Volcom wallet. It is a hard case with an aged leather cover and snaps completely closed so nothing falls out. 

10. Floss. In the midst of all this I had to go to the dentist and will be having 2 root canals. Thanks for the complimentary floss.

What's in your purse? After seeing the crazy contents of mine, I'm sure you'd have no problem revealing what's in yours. 

As exciting as it was, (especially the violent vomiting), I'm glad this crazy month is over and I can get back to having a super organized purse, free of hammers. 

Click here to see my "What's In Your Purse" post from last July. 

SPOILER ALERT: It came with a free bathing suit. 

Aloha, 

Rebecca

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These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things... the birthday edition

I turned 29 last week. Ivy is now 2 years old. When she was in my tummy, I felt her kick for the first time on my birthday. How awesome is that?! I'll admit it, the first two birthdays after having her were a little hard to swallow. I didn't get much of a break on either of them. Last year we went to The Melting Pot. Warning: do not take an 18 month old to The Melting Pot. Boiling oil... melted chocolates. Wasn't super. But this year, things were a lot better. Especially because Ivy is at an age where she can jump into the celebration and know what's going on. 

A few people gave me gifts for my birthday, and let me tell you. 

They were awesome gifts! Some of my new favorite things! 

#1--

The first gift was from my husband-- a trip to Molokini on my birthday and an underwater digital camera. Unfortunately I can't share any photos from my birthday trip to Molokini because the camera broke on the trip!! :( Can you believe it? I know so many people with the exact same camera and no one has had problems... so I returned it and am on the lookout for another one... It's still one of my favorite things, though. I just don't have it in my possession at the moment. 

#2--

An Urban Outfitters gift card from my brother and his wife. 

If you read this blog, then I needn't say more. Golden.

#3--

These awesome bracelets from my friend, Katie. They're from Collections in Makawao. I was so busy on my birthday and the day after and the day after that, that these bracelets sat in my purse, still in the packages for 2 days!! Special shout-out to my captain at work, Kaitlen, for putting them on my while I was driving us to the Studios. 

Aren't they gorgeous?!

#4--

I bought this top for myself from Mahina. It was 50% off. I am not allowed to wear strapless (trust me, I've had waaaayyyy too many malfunctions!!!!! while dancing, on planes... the list goes on...) so I sewed on these black straps. They criss-cross in the back. The butterflies are so cute. Mahina is a super-cute boutique. Check it out. 

  

#5--

A few months ago I realized Jack Johnson was having a concert on my birthday! I bought Kit and I tickets. Jack hasn't been to Maui in a few years, but used to always come for Kokua Fest right around my birthday back in 2005-2006. So I'm convinced he puts these concerts on just for my birthday. 

Take note of the plant on the fence in the background: it's lilikoi. Couple that with the fact that this concert also featured Paual Fuga!!! Destiny.

#6--

At the concert, Kit bought me a shirt, to replace my old one from 6 years ago. I love it. Isn't it sooooo awesome?! What a great design.

Here's my old one... eek. And what I did to my old one... :).

 (You can see my tutorial of it in this post). 

#7--

My cousin and her husband met up with us at the concert. She brought me a way cool present from Haiku Style in the Haiku Marketplace. They're two long strands of beads, with shells on the ends... to be worn around the neck, scarf-style (see photo above), or around the waist like this:

#8--

I got to work on Saturday, and one of my students, (shout out to Larissa and Elizabeth), bought me the CD from the concert for my birthday!!!

#9--

Another self-gift: I bought myself a new Volcom swimsuit. These things aren't cheap. I usually by myself a new suit every birthday or so. 

#10--

A few days before my birthday, I got flowers from Kit. :) He said it was the start of "birthday week." Ivy got me a balloon that said "Love You Mom," and I was just about to take a photo of it, but she literally popped it while I was writing #9 of this post!!

#11--

I came home from work the other day, and our friends from Australia brought me a birthday bottle of wine! 

#12--

I may be blogging from a new computer soon! I've been saving up, and my parents gave me some spare change to contribute to the purchase. But I can't seem to make the commitment... Of course, it will be a Mac (i never use anything but). Just trying to get the guts up to make the big purchase. 

And those are a few of my favorite things... the birthday edition.

Aloha, 

Becca

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