The Big Purse Dump

Joining Kendra for her fun link-up today.  

Did you ever play this game at a bridal shower?  Each lady gets a checklist of things that might possibly be in their purse, with each item given a point value - more points for less common items (such as "handgun" or "rock").  I always enjoyed that game because I tend to do pretty well.  My purse is usually way overloaded with random unnecessary things.  (I remember this one guy I dated in college always praised me for being the one woman he knew who didn't carry around a purse - something he found to be ridiculous.  Little did he know that my backpack served as my enormous all-purpose purse extraordinaire!  I just accepted his admiration, and didn't say anything.)

Unfortunately for the sake of your entertainment, my purse has recently been relatively organized and free of randomness.  But let's see if I can find items to fit the categories Kendra suggests:

It's my favorite thing in here.

Wow, I really have a lot of these.

 I've been looking for those.

Huh.  THAT shouldn't be in there.

The basics.  Phone, wallet, house key, pen, notebook.  Also pictured is the veil that I wear to Mass, my IKEA family cards I just got last week (I don't know what kinds of discounts they get, but I'm pretty sure they qualify you for a free coffee every time you visit, which was incentive enough for me), and a wad of cash - $90.  This is money I've been given as gifts, and I keep it separate from our "family money" to ensure that, as the givers always insist, I "spend it on myself" :-)

Gift cards.  I have so many, they don't fit in my wallet, so they're just loose in my purse.  I think this qualifies as my "I really have a lot of these"!

Coins and tokens.  I'm a dork, and collect all the State Quarters and other special gimmicky coins the US Mint is always putting out.  On the bottom are tokens for a carousel in town which I've only ever taken the kids to once...but the machine made me buy $5 worth of tokens, so I have leftovers.
 

 Wet wipes.  If you have kids, this is self-explanatory.

Makeup and such.  My daily routine is just concealer and lipstick, so I keep extras.

 "Personal care items".  Most of these are absolutely in the "my favorite thing in here" category.  The compact folding hair brush, the Ruby Stone nail file (LOVE these.  They last forever.  Except for that old one which is in three pieces on the right, and I really should throw away...), and the blue microfiber cloth that I use a billion times a day to clean children's fingerprints off my glasses.  The tissues and the Tums come in handy a lot too.

 

Assorted paper.  A used Kleenex, some coupons I'll probably never use, various lists on Post-it notes.  I keep the dimensions of our unframed "art" written down so that when we're at a thrift store, I can try to find frames.  I seem to have lost my tape measure, though, since that didn't turn up during the dump.

 

 A balled-up heavy-duty twist tie.  This is definitely my "Huh. That shouldn't be in there" item, at least as far as anyone else is concerned.  There is an explanation and a purpose to it, although it's going to sound really silly.  When Tom and I were dating, I found this on the floor of his apartment, and for fun, stuck it in his ear.  He freaked out, not knowing what it was, grabbed it and chucked it into the corner.  I thought it was hilarious, and refused to tell him what it was....I just secretly collected it later on, so I could repeat the little prank again and again.  By now, he has realized that it's just a twisty tie, but he still has a surprised reaction every time I deftly slip it into his ear....about once every three months, when I happen to notice it in the bottom of my purse.  Still very amusing for me.

And lastly, I'm going to include a picture of this one:

Because she is ALWAYS GETTING INTO MY PURSE!! :-P

What crazy things are in your purse?