Pain By Purse

I have been having the worst back pain for the past couple of days. I was racking my brain trying to figure out where it was coming from so I could make it stop. Was it my desk chair? The way my car seat is positioned? The fact that I need to go back to yoga? It finally dawned on me as I hauled my overburdened Spy Bag out of the car last night after dinner. My handbag is too heavy and it is throwing off my whole posture and center of gravity.

The average woman's handbag weighs 5.2 lbs. Which is not completely surprising considering oversized handbags have become the "it" thing to have and w0hen you really think about it you take just about everything that is given to you and shove it in your bag waiting until the weeks end clean it out, maybe. So based on these facts I decided before I emptied my bag to prevent further back pain I would weight it. I was shocked to learn that my purse weighted 8 LBS!!!!! It doesn't sound like alot but, I don't carry a laptop anymore just "essentials" and whatever else gets tossed in the mix. What exactly am I carrying around?!? This situation will be rectified as I look into what is in my purse:

• black Steve Madden pumps (what? I was carrying them back from the car)
• Coach umbrella
• bottle of water
• home keys
• work keys
• reusable shopping bag
• mints
• sunglasses
• wallet
• calendar
• Blackberry
• nail patches (will let you know if they are as good as people say they are)
  
• grocery coupon organizer (because you never have them when you need them)
• work ID
• miscellaneous receipts
  
• mail
• business card holder/mirror (it's very shiny)
  
• pens
• eye drops (those are medical)
• small "makeup" bag

Ok, ok so there is alot of crap in there. My first step to fixing the problem will be carrying a slightly smaller bag. I won't be able to fit as much stuff in there so it won't be so heavy right? Right! Here it goes:

• black Steve Madden pumps (what? I was carrying them back from the car)
• Coach umbrella
• bottle of water
• home keys
• work keys
• reusable shopping bag
• mints
• sunglasses
• wallet
• calendar
• Blackberry
• nail patches (will let you know if they are as good as people say they are)
  
• grocery coupon organizer (because you never have them when you need them)
• work ID
• miscellaneous receipts
  
• mail
• business card holder/mirror (it really is very shiny)
  
• less pens
• eye drops (those are medical)
• small "makeup" bag

I will admit it is a work in progress but I got it down to 5.5 lbs.and that has to count for something. One thing that I know I have down is what to keep in your makeup bag. Coming up later, it's not all about what you put on your face...