SassyBlonde

There are a very few choice things that every woman should have, in the course of her lifetime, to finally be considered a Big Girl. (Insert Frankenberry laughing here.)

Remember when you were little (you girls out there) and you would play dress-up-- you'd match the shoes and the purse, at least in your own imagination, and feel like a grown-up going out to tea with your teddy bears or your cat? Well, there's a real grown-up equivalent of that in a couple of ways: one is to buy your first really classic pair of heels, the other is to buy your first real handbag.

Now, I'm not talking about your garden-variety, Bought-It-At-Target-And-It-Matches-My-Sundress kind of bag. I mean one which, properly cared for, will probably be an heirloom for your daughters or nieces and which comes with a care prescription and warranty to match. One which will make any outfit a little bit classier and, whether or not anyone else knows it or can tell, you know is about the chicest and most classic thing on the planet.

For a little while now I've had my eye out for my first classic bag, and when the latest knockoff bit the dust, I decided it was time to get on it. Lucky me, Neiman Marcus Last Call offered up just such a gem: a Lambertson Truex Palfrey, all class from the pebbly black Derby leather to the blue suede lining (especially appropriate as it will be accompanying me all summer to the new Elvis musical, All Shook Up.) Seriously, people, I have great love for that store, because I won't tell you what I paid because it will make you ill, but it was definitely nowhere even in the remote vicinity of the retail price. And thank God, because even at the meager price paid I'll be eating Ramen for a while. (Go forth now, this weekend, and shop-- they had five more.)

So now I'm putting on my Big Girl shoes and grabbing my Big Girl bag and going out to a Big Girl lunch with my friends. Now if I could only find my Mom's lipstick...