One Last Christmas Present

January 22, 2015

I have a thing about tote bags. In fact, I’m obsessed. (Does that surprise you?)

I have a Coach (outlet, on sale) tote bag for shopping at the mall, a Lands’ End tote bag for carrying around my tools, three more Lands’ End totes in various sizes for Cape and Lake trips, a blue Wellesley tote (from Meagan) for reading material that I bring on weekend trips and vacations, a beach tote, and two Trader Joe’s totes for groceries.

I’m annoyed when others use my totes. For example, I have repeatedly stated that they need to bring their own totes to the beach. So why does my tote end up crammed with several books, sunglasses, magazines, and cameras/iPhones? This has led to several spats on family vacations.

I’m even more annoyed when others lose my totes. For example, Dave sometimes uses my blue Wellesley tote. It went missing, and I asked him several times to look for it. He finally asked me why I thought he was the one who lost it.

I wonder.

He found it in the depths of his trunk.

One of my Trader Joe’s totes also went missing (apparently permanently). Now, I consider these to be the best grocery bags ever. They are lightweight but sturdy enough to carry groceries that would typically require 10 or so of those annoying plastic bags. In addition to the environmental benefits, there’s also less going up and down stairs.

So when Nicole asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told her a Trader Joe’s tote bag. When she told me she couldn’t just get me that, I told her she could plan a dinner, fill the bag up with ingredients for the dinner, and cook the dinner for me.

This is part 1 of my present: