Tales of the Tank - The Vessel

If you haven’t read my post about my surgery, 1, you should right here and 2, this is how I know that I am healed. With everything that was going on with my body, a major factor of my day to day activities were limited and the one that held me back was not being able to have my normal size tank.

The whole argument about big and heavy purses actually holds some water folks. As much as it pains me, and it does...in multiple ways, I can testify to that. It mainly affected the incision on my back. It’s amazing how weight is distributed when carrying a purse or in my case, a tank. I felt the pull from the weight of my tank on my arm and it felt like my incision was stretching from one side of my back to another. Just insert a visual of some medieval stretching method and that's what it feels like. I all but dropped my bag from the pain.

To solve this, I got a smaller purse. It was a cute little tote from Nine West that I found at DSW on sale. Best. Day. Ever. I paid maybe twenty bucks. It was my first trip to that store and I will definitely be going again. I thought that it was going to be solid wall to wall shoes that were out of my budget and while a lot were, there were more that were not. Then, add different accessories that even flattered my plus size tastes and it makes for a happy Jazz. It was a great find and I filled that little bag as much as I could.

But now, I’m healed and it drove me insane. (And because I failed and didn't get a picture in the time I used it, I snagged a screen shot of it from my coworker's Instagram, thanks girl.) 

I try my best to organize my things so that they fit in a particular way. Most times it actually stays that way and eventually, it becomes a bit more chaotic. So then came the sign for a new tank. Now, I don’t throw away my bags until they fall apart, but for some reason, I’m down to about 4. There’s going to be a lot of changes happening in my life so I didn’t want to be left in a spot where the straps fall apart at the most inopportune moment for example. That’s just my luck and so the hunt began for a new tank.

There are a few things I look for consistently, especially when shopping online and I can't look in or hold it:

1. Dimensions - looks can be deceiving. Just because it says that it's 17 inches tall doesn't make it roomy when it's only 2 inches wide

2. Material - I tend to be hard on my purses because of what I carry so flimsy canvas totes are out, bring me the pleather because it needs to last a while.

3. Straps - hand bag, cross body, the type is not as near as important as how wide the strap is. Half inch to an inch is pushing it. I tried the cute chain and ribbon straps and almost cut my arm off.

4. Reviews - It's online peeps. Just because it looks pretty doesn't mean that it's God gift to the world. If it sounds to good to be true, look through the reviews. Both the good and the bad. What annoyed someone may not annoy you and vise versa. I'm always pretty leery when it comes to items that have no reviews, that is when you really look into the details. What is it made of? Where is it made? Where is it shipped? 

The Amazon Prime Day was coming and I had seen a few that looked promising and was counting on getting the much wanted discounts that were supposed to be bigger and better than Black Friday. All I will say about Prime Day is that I could have been super super broke however comma, I actually went thru Prime Day with a few things I needed and that my parents needed and didn’t have to worry about breaking the bank. So in a way, thanks Amazon for not really having what I would have splurged on.

I still got a small discount on the purse I bought and it’s beautiful. The glorious part about it is while it looks small, the base is actually quite wide and holds a hell of a lot. I was able to basically dump my little bag into this bag and still have major room left. Also found a couple hidden pockets, which is AMAZING! I mean who doesn't love multiple pockets??? So from my amazon receipt, here's a thumbnail of the one I bought and the other one, I gave to my coworker. I knew I wouldn't use it again because it's just too small now. Besides, sharing is caring right?