Replacing Cole Haan With Tumi

My old Cole Haan purse was looking quite beat up. I've had it for about fifteen years. It was very functional but very heavy. It's been on many trips with me. I particularly like the space on the side for water bottles, phone, or umbrella. So I started looking for something that could replace it - light, closes completely, shoulder, cross body, compartments to organize, stylish. I've always had large purses because I put so much junk in it. I don't like backpacks. So it was looking like a large tote would be the solution. I saw some nice options on the Internet and we headed out to the mall to see what it would boil down to. I found a beautiful leather bag at Coach, but it was slouchy and unstructured. It had great features. But I found another bag at Tumi that probably would work better for a working person - but I retired a few months ago. The Tumi was very structured, had a shoulder and wrist carry handles, and about the same size as my old bag. It was a very difficult decision but the Tumi was on sale and the Coach bag was not. I also liked the five year warranty and it would be good for any kind of travel. So my husband helped me decide and we went with a black Tumi. The grey and green were also nice but dirt is a problem. And for the first time in ages I had it monogrammed with my artwork artist initials - LIT. So I've been trying it out and like it so far. I need to really break it in. It's still quite heavy especially when I load it up with two iPads. But the slot for the phone is great. Now I'm hoping this one lasts as long as the previous bag. I also hope it goes well with my LLBean wardrobe. 

A Subaru Surprise Package

At our condo community mailbox the packages pile up. We weren't expecting anything so we weren't looking. While passing by the mail area the other day I noticed a large package that was sitting there and when I looked at the name it was mine. It was a bit of a surprise, so I whisked it off to our unit to see what was inside. It came from Subaru - that didn't surprise us so much - but the content was interesting. It was a beautiful Bric's travel bag - ironic because my travel bag strap recently broke and this would make a fine replacement. When I looked it up on line it was valued at $450.00? We've been filling in a lot of Subaru surveys lately and perhaps that was the connection. In any case we were taken aback and happy to receive something that we can actually use. I scanned "Subaru gifts" on the internet and noted that this type of thing is a common occurrence. It has something to do with customer loyalty. We always liked Subaru - now we like them even more.