Bag Lady

The Housewife and I have been having a lot of convos recently about our inability to leave the house with only our giant handbag in tow.  It's impossible.  It's either a night out or jetting off to work with my lunch, giant handbag, an armful of dry cleaning and a gym bag weighing me down. Lately, I have also been dealing with what is surely one of the most hated Single Gal tasks...


It's inevitable.  Whether hanging out with girlfriends or planning another long night of consuming adult bevs with your current most-favorite-beau and you know you won't be driving home, the typical Single Gal (SG) has a huge task to complete prior to embarking on these fun adventures.  You know the one I mean--you are only going for one freaking night but you don't know what you might need the next day in case you go to brunch or god forbid you have to get ready for work the next day.  It has to be done--the Shack Bag must be packed.  (All SG's have this cross to bear as no self-respecting SG wants to end up like Christina Aguilera leaving The Slammer in a bathrobe after a long night out.)

At a bare minimum any diligent SG will need the following for one night: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shave gel, razor, face wash, moisturizer, night cream, hairspray, comb, hairbrush, hair dryer, hair gel/mousse/smoothing cream, contact solution/case, eyeglasses, 2 pairs of shoes, two possible outfits for the next day, change of undergarments, a curling iron, and your make-up bag.  Most of us know that these things will barely fit into a large Vera Bradley duffle (at least Vera gives us super cute options in a variety of prints so SG's can shack in style).

And, not only do you get to pack up all of your shit in said Shack Bag, you also get the joys of unpacking the Shack Bag the next day (as if SG's weren't already busy enough).

I will leave you with some general Shack Bag info:

-Cherish that astonished look most-favorite-beau will give you upon his first time seeing the Shack Bag in all its glory. He will initially think you misunderstood the plan and be very concerned you might be staying for at least a week.

-More often than not you will have at least two other outfits in the trunk of your car that don't make it in the door and are there on stand-by.  (Read: even more to unpack.)

-God forbid you accidentally leave something at most-favorite-beau's house.  Make no mistake--you will eventually leave something behind--how could you not when you have to bring so much to begin with?  

-The bright side of leaving something behind at most-favorite-beau's house is that it will promptly be back in your possession within 48 hours because whether you left your fave pair of sunglasses or a teeny tiny hair clip your current beau will be extremely concerned that you might need to use the item in question in the very near future.  (You know, because girls don't have entire drawers full of hair clips and pins at their houses and men most certainly do not freak out when you leave something in their space...that's just how nice they are.)

The biggest slap in the face of all? The only thing a man really needs to bring to a slumber party is a toothbrush.  (Everything else they might need is probably in their wallet.)

Love you. Mean it.

~the single gal~