Carrying A Snappy Little Handbag With Your Snappy Little Black Dress Takes Some Work. #diabetesfact

What the world sees.....

Aerial interior shot of the crammed contents

Early Saturday evening I dumped out the contents of my little pink leather Sigred Olsen handbag with with the lime green interior that I bought on sale at TJMaxx a few years back, and once again tried putting the contents back in.

I placed my camera on it's side and placed my hairbrush next to it, followed by phone, glucose meter, and test strips -which were in a small clear plastic makeup bag. 

In the first of 3 small little side pockets went a small ziplock bag containing containing 1 pump reservoir filled with about 50 units of fast acting insulin (just in case the 30 units left in my pump got skunky,) two Triple AAA batteries and a quarter in case my insulin pump's battery needed to be changed. In the next side little side pocket I placed some business cards and in the third side pocket were some glucose tabs. 

In the inner small zippered side pocket of my bag I placed my keys, cash,  license, and small 2 inch bottle of hairspray to battle frizz (I'm from Jersey after all) and zipped it up tight. 

And finally, an extra infusion set for emergencies was thrown in for good measure and my sunglasses because it was still light out. In the outer side pocket was  a granola bar, lipstick, lip gloss, compact and a 20 bucks just in case I: 

1. Needed a snack before I hit the buffet

2. Had to reapply my lipstick

3. Needed quick cash for the bar

4. I needed to do all of the above and then some. 

And when all was said and done I could barely zip up the bag. 

All I wanted to do was to carry a splash of color in the form of a hot pink compact leather handbag with my little black dress. 

I wanted to look pretty and sleek and effortless. 

But sometimes casual chic is anything but when you're forced to carry a small pharmacy on your person. 

And for a second (OK, much longer than a second,) I became incredibly frustrated and had to blink back the tears. 

And then I was like: SNAP OUT OF IT. I mean after all, it was just a handbag and in the grand scheme of things it wasn't important - And I knew that - I REALLY DID. I knew that had plenty of larger bags that would do the trick and look OK and I knew that who the hell cares - IT'S JUST A F*C&ing handbag. 

But in my heart I had a look I was going for. Sort of Audrey Hepburn meets Marjory Kunik circa 1950s/early sixties with a k2 twist all rolled into one and I wanted to make it work.
I'd clipped my insulin pump to my my garter on my leg and it was tucked out of site and wasn't the problem, but all the other diabetes crap that I had to carry was. 

And more than that - I was just sick of having to deal with diabetes when it came to something that people with perfect pancreases never had to think about. IT'S JUST A F8C&ING HANDBAG - WHY DOES DIABETES HAVE TO COME INTO PLAY!!! 

And then I made peace with it and moved on. I came to the conclusion that if I was going to open my handbag, I couldn't do it in a rush - Or I'd risk losing something important like my license or my meter. and reminded myself of that fact over and over again while I was waiting for my friends to pick me up.

And you know what? It worked. I was careful and it really wasn't the big deal I thought it would be.  But more importantly, I made it work and got over it .... And a wonderful time was had by all.