Short Sighted

When I was abroad in Australia junior year of college, we took a 2 week long spring break trip into the interior of the continent. In preparation for the trip, which would involve a lot of hiking, rain forests (and other foreign modes of travel for a bunch of Northeastern liberal arts college kids), we were instructed to buy sturdy, practical backpacks that would be filled with multiple water bottles for our journeys. After a trip to the local mall, and perusing the many 'practical' options (various shades of hideous nylon with straps and buckles that resembled something from the show Lost more than something I'd be caught dead carrying), I went with a single strap pack from Diesel, which was worn across the chest and, in my opinion, qualified as a 'backpack', and was extremely cute.

On the second day of our 2 week excursion, it was over 100 degrees, and we were 3 hours into an infinite hike up a red-clay covered mountain side. I had already finished the only 2 12 ounce water bottles that my fashionable pack would hold, while my companions had many of reserves still to spare in their oversized, ugly yet utilitous sacks. I was miserable, dehydrated, and exhausted by the time the sun began to set and we returned to our bungalow.

The moral of the story, however, is not that I will thrown taste and aesthetics to the wind when shopping for a item of apparel with a specific function in mind. Rather I will just be sure the particular good meets the requisite need before indulging in the first cute option that comes along. With that in mind, I set my sights on this Marc Jacobs messenger bag as a fall must have for my new lifestyle which includes a lot of being prepared on the go. (I also actually like this Coach convertible, since they decided to offer options that err on the side of classic Coach and don't blind you with assaultive logos). No matter how many you own, there's nothing quite like the thrill of a new purse (especially when its lack of storage space won't cause you to faint on a mountain side down under).