First Designer Purse

Last October, on our third day in London, I realized that I was going to have quite a few British pounds leftover. I talked to David and asked him if I should exchange them for Euros since we were going to France for a few days, but he did not want me to do that because you lose money every time you exchange currency. He told me to go buy something nice for myself.

I thought about several different things that I might purchase. I looked at some jewelry and clothes. One thing I even considered was a jacket from Uniqlo because it would be something that was sort of a novelty for an Oklahoma girl and something that I could use for years to come. However, I eventually decided to get a designer handbag because I have never had one and it would be a beautiful but useful souvenir of our time in London.

Debenhams department store was right in front of our hotel so I went there to shop. I quickly realized that designer handbags were much more expensive than I had assumed! So instead of getting a handbag, I decided to buy a beautiful wallet -- which by the way, they call a "purse" in the UK. When I got home, I never told David that I had originally sought a handbag; I just showed him my wallet and told him how much I loved it.

Here is a picture of it today. I love the fun, whimsical "Shop Picture" design because it reminds me of the streets in London and on the back it actually says, "London" (as all Bailey and Quinn products do). It is still so beautiful even after being used every day for 14 months:

Almost exactly a year after I purchased the wallet (again, I never told David or anyone that I had at first wanted a handbag), David told me that he wanted to buy me a designer purse. Just out of the blue like that . . . I immediately said, "Do my purses look terrible or something?" He said no and just said that he knew that I had never had one and that he would like to get me one. I feel the need to point out that I have in no way felt deprived by my lack of designer handbags!! lol! But I was certainly excited about the possibility of getting one!

I started looking online at Coach, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton (LV was still way outside of my range!) and Kate Spade. However, I found myself really wishing that I could get a Bailey and Quinn purse to match my wallet. Not with the same decorative elements, but to have the wallet and purse be from the same designer (OCD, I know!). I looked to see if any department stores here in the States carried them to no avail. Then, I looked on Amazon and was at first excited because Bailey and Quinn was a seller; then I was disappointed to find that it did not offer shipping to the US. At some point, I accidentally ended up on the Debenhams website and discovered that they had just recently launched an international website and when I spent a certain amount, I could get free international shipping!! To top it off, all of the Bailey and Quinn handbags were on sale!!

I had Claire and Brooke help me decide on one and placed my order. It has been here for months, but David and I put it back for my birthday and I got to open it today!

Here it is -- I am so excited to finally get to use it!!

Cheers!