I’ve never owned a car.

This was initially a financial decision.  Directly out of college, I didn’t have enough money to cover rent, a social life, and a car payment.  Within a year of graduating, I was saving money to go live in Europe and had even less reason to make the investment.

Upon returning, the financial reasons remained.  In addition, the new existence of shared car systems in a neighborhood where those cars were abundant made acquiring a car even less of a necessity.  I deliberately chose to return to that neighborhood to maintain that lifestyle; I would much rather spend the cash on other things.

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However, it took only one experience on my bike with a shoulder purse to realize I had to have a messenger bag.  In my usual picky fashion, this took at least a month of constant online hunting, checking out Fossil’s line in person, cursing Nordstrom for not having anything I liked, and pondering the options on Etsy.

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I even considered a very plain version at Anthropologie but discovered upon looking in the mirror that I was utterly dwarfed by the thing.  Then, at Macy’s of all places, I stumbled upon this reasonably sized bag by Rough Roses (warning–cheesy music and flash); their web site makes them look like an unfortunate off-shoot of Ed Hardy.

But I love the bag anyway.