Confidence and Convenience

Posted at 6:00 am on April 10, 2012 by Farrah

**Giveaway Alert**

My Hubby frequently accuses me of having too many bags/purses.  I will admit I am a sucker for something that looks cute or fashionable and yet can hold all the junk important stuff that I need with me when I am out and about.  You never know when I may have a spare moment in the school pickup line or during piano lessons to clear things off my to-do list or make another one of the things yet to do.  Right?

Being a bit of a bag-junkie, when I was approached by DupageMama Alison McNamara and asked to try a few of the styles from Thirty-One bags and share my thoughts, I jumped at the chance.  New bags AND help a fellow mama?  Absolutely!

 One of the bags I tried was the organizing utility tote- a perfect carryall for the things I lug around.  I could fit my planner,my laptop, my lists, the mail I needed to sort, …  you name it, it fit in this bag.  Plus it has 5 pockets plus 2 mesh pockets on the ends to fit smaller things that I don’t want to get lost or crushed.  I put my phone in one of the mesh pockets because I was a little nervous it would fall out of the other pockets.  But it was a really great bag.  I used it for my every day carry-all, for our trip to the zoo (great for packing snacks and lunch and coats and mommy’s stuff).  I used it just this week to carry all the supplies I needed for our preschool Easter party- crafts, snack, games, etc…

  I also got to try the large utility tote.  This will now be my go-to bag for beach trips, going to the pool, or anywhere else I need to carry a lot of gear to.  I have even used it to carry groceries and it worked great!  It doesn’t have any exterior pockets but has SO much room you don’t really need them.  I brought this with me when the Hubby and I went to Mexico, thinking I would use it to carry our stuff to the beach.  It turned out to be bigger than what I needed for just the two of us, but if you are going on vacation with your family this would be the perfect beach bag.

I love that thirty-one bags come in SO MANY beautiful prints and fabrics.  It is a bag-lover’s paradise!  And you can personalize almost all of them if that suits your style.  They have everything from coin purses to thermal lunch bags to small handbags to large totes (like the one above) and everything in between.  They really have a bag or purse for any need.  I love their Lil’ Expressions line where you can get little cartoon images of your family on a cute little tote bag.  Love it!

But what I think I love the most about this company is the confidence and independence they give so many women.  Alison shared with me her story of learning about Thirty-One bags and eventually becoming a consultant.  As a teacher-turned-stay at home mom, she started it as a means to earn extra income while working around a busy mommy’s schedule.  She had no idea how much confidence it would give her to be part of such an amazing team of women and be able to do something meaningful.  This new career helped her through the tough time of mourning her mother’s death and re-learning who she was on the other side of that.  I love the model of women helping other women launch successful, independent businesses and gain a whole new self-confidence as a result.

Thirty-one bags is a great company that I am happy to have had the chance to learn more about.  If you would like to order some bags or host a party or learn more about starting your own Thirty-one bags business, you should contact Alison McNamara at akmiller12@yahoo.com or through her website www.mythirtyone.com/14732

Alison has graciously offered to giveaway one of her great bags (an organizing utility tote) to one lucky reader.  Just leave a comment here to enter to win.  For an additional entry, tell me your favorite bag from the ThirtyOne bags website.  Contest will close on Monday April 16th at midnight.  Share on FB and Twitter for even more chances to win. 

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