In Love with France, At Home In Italy

Is "out with the old and in with the new" my new mantra? But what if I can put the old purse INSIDE the new one?  Here's how this dilemma arose. When my husband's sister came to visit, of course she wanted to check out the local stores. Like their cousin who, during her visit, had talked me into buying a new purse last year, Nan is another great shopper. Didn't I already tell you that that family has the shopping gene? Well, last year's new bag was the first to have been bought well before its predecessor (a perfectly serviceable LLBean number I had found hanging on hook in my home, clearly discarded by some wasteful member of my family), had disintegrated. It usually takes a purse's fatal flaw for me to decide to move on, and even then, it rarely moves COMPLETELY on and out--just up to the bursting attic where such things reside.  As beautiful as last year's new combo purse/mini backpack (henceforth referred to as ...