yes I bought a purse.

Finally. I mean how long have I been here without caving?

Our residence is smack dab in the middle of Florence's leather district; there are vendors everywhere with purses lined up like colorful candy. How have I resisted?

Well we have been settling in, shopping for apartments and tackling paperwork---so I have been distracted. And leave it to me to price shop: why would I pay top dollar when I have time to research? In passing, I have been weighing one vendor against another, having my children ask for prices and verifying among the truckloads: what purse would be my first?

James is lucky, my favorite kind of shopping usually involves food. Though I love fashion, I have not spent a ton on accessories/clothes/jewelry (much of this is due to our dollars being spent on graduate school, babies, restoring homes---toilet wins over shoes---and now a self-invented sabbatical). But I am in Florence, which feels a bit like a permission slip: I plan to come home with a few purses. There must be some secret code, some girlie girl requirement that when you are in Florence you should not only eat fabulous food, scour historical sites and frequent Tuscan wineries, but one must also purchase some fashion flare. It is what it is!

My purse is... plum colored. And I love it. And Anthony helped me score a seriously good deal! He and I were going for a walk, and browsing the leather stand on the same street as our apartment. I had him ask the price of a few different purses, and translate. We let the vendor know Anthony knew a little Italian, so Anthony translated. The guy threw out a few different prices: € 25, € 35, € 45 and Anthony told me the smaller purse was € 25.

I finally caved and decided on my purse (for the record, my little black purse I bought in Maastricht had held out until this same morning, when the strap broke... oh DARN). So I took out the € 25 and the guy looked a little confused and said no, I said it was € 35. Anthony had made an honest mistake; I cringed on cue (okay there was no cue but I did contort my face and hesitate). He looked at the other vendor, then back at us (oh Anthony, you told me € 25! ehem, good job: remind me to thank you later). The vendor said: okay € 30. DONE. Woo-hoo!

Happy purse lady am I.