What’s in Your Pocketbook?
I’m fascinated by what’s in other women’s pocketbooks. In SWEET TALK ME, I show what’s in True Maybank’s almost right away. I think it says something about that woman, as innocuous as the items may be.
Right now, this is what I have in mine:
*a foldable brush/mirror compact I got from The Dollar Store years ago
*two Clinique lipsticks, “Beauty” and “Golden Brandy”
*a new shade of Loreal lipstick called “Everbloom”
*an Estee Lauder lipgloss wand, “Rock Candy,” which I bought for my last writing conference 
*two pens picked up from my last writing conference: one is from Kobo–I met the founder! He’s so nice!–and the other was accidentally swiped from the front desk at the Marriott
*a checkbook with a pink paisley Vera Bradley cover given to me by my kids for Mother’s Day
*an iPhone with the matching pink paisley Vera Bradley cover, received on the same Mother’s Day
*a pack of Kleenex, bought for me two weeks ago by my husband right before my Navy admiral brother’s retirement ceremony, where I used several to wipe my tears
*a credit card holder from RealSimple; it fans out, and it’s the one time I feel organized, when people in the cashier line admire them
*five business cards from cool writing contacts, including Lisa Cron, who wrote WIRED FOR STORY and Randy Ingermanson, who wrote WRITING FICTION FOR DUMMIES
*a stack of SWEET TALK ME business cards shoved in a pocket
*an empty business card holder that is supposed to hold business cards from new writing contacts and my own business cards
*a brown & green bird design Vera Bradley luggage tag/ID holder, where I keep my driver’s license and my most important cards and cash–if I ever have any
*a little pill box with a weiner dog on the cover; I don’t have a wiener dog, but I thought it was cute. The pill box has four Advils inside, and I usually wind up giving them to someone else.
*a few Benadryl pills I keep in my emergency pocket in case anyone around me has some kind of allergic reaction to something
*my glasses, which I need to drive and to see faraway things
*a hideous glasses case, which came with my pair and needs to be replaced–hmm, possible Christmas gift item for kids to look for?
*two pieces of hard candy from my last writers conference–wish they were chocolate instead, so they will molder there until I decide to get rid of them
*two sets of keys, one with a brand-new membership pass to a gym attached to it
Wow. Notice I don’t have any dimes or pennies on the bottom. I used to all the time, but now I pay for things with cards more than ever. I want to figure out how to do that on my phone!
So that’s me from a handbag/ pocketbook/ purse perspective. I’m clearly a mom and a writer. I’m also someone who likes to play nurse and who wishes she were organized but hasn’t quite managed it. Those business cards I received should wind up in a data base somewhere, but I never get around to it. We’ll see what happens with that gym membership!!
