u/mandaelf

There is finally a chill in the air (meaning it’s 81 degrees right now instead of summer’s 101 😂) so it’s time to switch out my work purse’s charms for the new season!

I had been searching for a new mom bag now that I have a 4 year old and a one year old. I have a great professional work tote, but I hate unloading all my work stuff and re-loading it with kid stuff and possibly forgetting things. I have plenty of small bags for quick trips but I wanted something to hold everything I needed for going to church instead of a bag for me and a separate bag for the kids. I searched many websites and purses, and originally I was adamant that I was not going to get a Dooney.

The majority of my purses are Dooneys. I’m a Southern, millennial woman. My first real bag was the classic millennial Dooney heart-print shoulder bag, and since then the vast majority of my bags have been canvas print Dooneys (not gonna lie, mostly Disney). But I’m almost 40 and I wanted something a little nicer, a little more grown up. But I also really wanted a bag big enough to hold everything, with feet and structure. After a month of searching I kept coming back to this Dooney Pebble Grain Tammy Tote. It hit all my check boxes and I realized I was looking for something that otherwise may not exist or be needlessly expensive when ultimately this was exactly what I wanted.

It arrived today and it’s perfect. I never had a leather Dooney before (crazy considering I’ve owned upwards of 7 Dooneys in my life). I love the feel of it, the shoulder straps sit perfectly on my shoulder, and it’s not overly heavy. More importantly it fits everything I need: a nursery kit for my 1 year old, a wet/dry bag to hold emergency underwear for my four year old, both of their bottles, my Bible and notebook, my kindle, my wallet, my water bottle, my pens, my chapstick, and other miscellaneous things. Even with all of that it’s not too heavy. I love that even fully loaded it still stands up and doesn’t just flop over (I hate when a bag flops over and dumps everything, or I need to lean it against a chair to keep it upright). I could even get my iPad Pro in here if I really needed it, if we were going on a long haul trip.

It’s perfect and I can’t wait to take it for a spin this weekend!

I’ve never put a purse charm on my bag before, didn’t really know it was a thing, and decided to enliven my old Michael Kohrs bag. Bought a couple of charms but decided to start it off with my favorite Avenger (like the geek I am).

Picked up some cute stuff in the going out of business! I was partial to anything with the Scottie on it 🥰 anyone else pick up something cute?

I just bought this beautiful strathberry second-hand and it has two blemishes that I would love to repair, but I am a complete newbie about fancy handbags and leather repair. I tried googling but the internet is sometimes over full of information!

My primary concern is the little nick on the white handlebar (third picture). It’s a little tear/flap. It’s very small but I’m worried about it catching on other things and lifting. My secondary concern is the scuff which I would like to know how to fix so I can fix scuffs in the future.

Any advice or pointing to good websites with trusted information I would appreciate!