#ProjectPurseDump - Week 6 - Getting Purse-onal by Katherine McIntyre (@PixieRants) - #WritersLife

Today, multi-talented geek girl and romance author Katherine McIntyre takes center stage. Since her hobbies range from soap making to roasting coffee, I can't help but suspect her purse resembles the Tardis–bigger on the inside than out. I guess we shall see....

When offered the chance to get purse-onal, I jumped on it. (Grin and bear it, I love my puns!) I have to admit though, it wasn’t until I spilled the contents out on the floor for the picture that I realized what a wonderful metaphor it was for myself. For any purse carrier, what you choose to put in that small space is a reflection of you, in some shape or form. After all, anyone with a heavy purse knows the burden of the beast weighing down your shoulders.

Without further ado, here’s mine and the contents:

First, note the ratty canvas bag that I’ve had for a couple years now. It’s frayed and covered in a splatter of fake zombie blood that just won’t come out. In case you hadn’t gathered, I’m quite a tomboy, and perfectly content toting around a functional bag I got for fifteen bucks at Big Lots. Although, I may need a new one soon as the bottom’s getting pretty worn.

Obviously, my wallet and keys are the essentials. To be noted, that Gamecube lanyard was given to me by one of my first boyfriends, well over ten years ago. Yep, since the time of Nintendo Gamecube. Hey, if it’s not broke, I don’t need to fix it. When I was a teenager, I used to wear boy pants and would always lose my keys from the pockets, hence the lanyard received. Same with my wallet—it was a hand-me-down from someone. I’m the queen of Goodwill and hand-me-downs.

Next in the queue of importance: my notebook, my planner, and my Kindle. Let’s be honest folks, a Kindle is a book nerd’s best friend, and the second I’m waiting somewhere or have a break at work, you can bet I’m tearing through another book. And the notebook is an author’s best friend. Likewise, if I’ve got time and a scene sneaks up on me, I’ll start jotting things down. As for the planner, I’m a Leslie Knope planning queen, even though I’ve got the memory of a goldfish—so the planner’s essential.

Now to tackle my weird nitty gritties. On the right hand side, I have a thumb drive loaded with pictures of our recent trip to Canada—my husband and I brought it with when we went to visit my folks. As for the little white square next to it, that’s my Square Reader that I take to events with me. Though, I have a couple floating around.

Next to those? The business cards are for my massage business—a massage therapist has to always be prepared. Underneath the cards is a sample of ginger from a different vendor than I normally use for tea. I’ve been meaning to take it out of my purse for awhile now, but it got sucked into the vortex. And of course, a pad—I mean, what lady doesn’t have some sort of pad or tampon in her purse? As for the pens, self explanatory due to the notebook. On top of that is my little name tag for work—if you squint and see the LMT, it stands for Licensed Massage Therapist.

But the oddities aren’t over! I’ve got a rock in the bottom of my purse, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out where it’s from. When I was a kid I had a huge rock collection and when I see cool ones or ones from important places, I like to pick them up…however, that’s useless if I can’t remember where it was from. (See, goldfish memory.) And bobby pins, which I just discovered how to use a year or two ago. Quit those appalled looks, I’m terrible at traditional ‘girl’ things. A hair tie is important, because when I give up on my half-assed effort at styling, I usually just throw it back into a ponytail. And the coin floating around is one from Canada, now useless to me here!

Finally, we’ve spotted something girly in my bag—makeup! But as with everything, for me it’s the bare essentials. I’ve got two chapsticks, an awesome lipstain that for as inexpensive it was works so wonderfully, and a dark brown eyeshadow crayon that I use to give my eyelids some contour. When I put on makeup for work it’s….either the lipstain or the eyeshadow. I don’t usually do both, because as we’ve stated before, I suck at dolling myself up on a day to day basis. Doesn’t mean I can’t commit for weddings or parties and whatnot, but on an average day, I’d rather spend the extra time reading or writing.

As for the contents of my purse, that’s all folks! But the fun doesn’t stop here—a bunch of fantastic blogs are participating every Friday, so keep tabs on #PurseDumpProject, and tag your own photos!

About Katherine McIntyre

A modern day Renaissance-woman, Katherine McIntyre has learned soapmaking, beer brewing, tea blending, and most recently roasting coffee. Most of which make sure she’s hydrated and bathed while she spends the rest of her time writing. With a desire to travel and more imagination than she knows what to do with, all the stories jumping around in her head led to the logical route of jotting them down on paper. Not only can her poetry and prose be found in different magazines, but she’s had an array of novels and novellas published through Decadent Publishing, Boroughs Publishing, Hazardous Press, and Jupiter Gardens Press. For more casual content, she’s a regular contributor on CaffeineCrew.com, a geek news website.

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