If it was a box or a bag

When I go on a trip, I like to buy a souvenir to commemorate it. But not a tacky shot glass or collection of postcards that I'll lose in some drawer. I like to buy a piece of jewelry, clothing, Christmas ornament or something I'll actually use in my day-to-day life.

So when I walked into the giant Roots store in downtown Vancouver this morning, and saw their handmade in Canada purple leather handbags, I fell in love. And decided the "Village" flat handbag would be my trip souvenir.

In fact, the bag I bought was the only one in its shade of purple - it's more of a magenta, reddish-purple. The others in the shop were more of an eggplant shade. The style I bought is actually hiding in the pic above, it's in the middle on the left, right behind the small two-zipper pouch.

But not only is the color totally fantastic and the hardware bright shiny silver instead of the usual hideous brass, it's the softest nicest leather *ever*. Or should I say "leathah evah" in honor of Project Runway contestant Stella, who got booted a couple of weeks ago.

Yay. I love my new bag. It's so pretty.

We also took the pups to Ambleside Park, which is *amazing*. It's a big off leash park with a paved walking trail, access to the bay, lots of cool driftwood to run on and around (which also means nice big sticks to throw for Peanut), and big grassy fields for running and ball-chasing. Until you lose your ball, that is.

Don't worry, I got lots of good pictures of the pups having fun. They're still getting used to traveling, though of course Spike travels like a pro, my little roadtrip buddy. More later. I gotta go get us some crepes now for dinner. YUM.