Check out all the fab things in my purse...gag

So I read what seems like 1.5 billion blogs on a somewhat regular basis.  They are all in my google reader feed and there are some I read daily and others I scroll through every now and then and then some that I find myself clicking 'mark all as read' on before reading any of it just to clear them off the sidebar. 

So many of these blogs are written by women with impeccable style and they serve as inspiration for me to do wondrous things with my closet full of clothes that cost $39.99 and under.

But it's posts like these that make me want to gag.  These ladies are always showing what they have in their purses or what they pack in their carry on.  Then they line everything up by shape and size and go on and on about how it's the perfect lip gloss or the perfect blanket or the perfect sunglasses, etc. 

Then I think to my purse and my carry on.  While I know I am not the norm and fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, I have to think most people are more like me than these ladies, no? 

As with everything when you do it enough in life, I've learned quite a lot when it comes to traveling and packing.  For me, there's really only one simple rule and it's this: carry-on only.  Too many bags have been lost and found by various airlines (a disappointing 24 hours later) and when you're traveling on a tight schedule, waiting for baggage claim is just not efficient.  I travel light, and it's made my travel significantly easier.  The packing?  Not so much.  :)

Here's what I've packed in my under-the-seat carry-on for my November beach vacation:

Courtney here again:
So-what's in my purse?

• A necklace I wore one day a month ago and it bothered my neck so I took it off.  It has lived there since.
• A koozie because I am never without. 
• LOTS and I mean LOTS of trash.
• My wallet-which I can never locate due to the bullet point above.
• My work name tag
• A Christmas gift for a family member that I bought over a month ago at a music festival
• Some lipsticks and glosses
• More trash
• My craft project from the Design*Sponge event on Wednesday night
• Jeff's handheld GPS-I have NO idea why this is in here and every time I see it, I wonder why it's in there.  But I leave it because that's what I do.
• And honestly I don't even know what else. 

Mom-I know none of this surprises you since nothing has changed since my school days when my backpack inevitably had some indiscernible food item smushed in the bottom of it.  At least I have grown beyond that.

My favorite thing in my purse?  These glasses.  They have been there since the breast cancer walk.  You never know when I might need these bad boys. (see my orange koozie in the background and some trash? yep)

As for my carry-on?  As a family friend always says, "Don't even get me started."  I am a nightmare in the airport security line.