Cheap AND eco-friendly!!!

Purses: I do love me a good bag. A really good purse just makes ordinary life a bit more elegant. Leather, lots of pockets, details: I'm sold. But this week I discovered that baby needed shoes, he suddenly grew out of EVERYTHING, and I needed a bag (I grew out of the old one too). What to do? Cheap baby shoes and nice purse for mom? Or vice versa? I hate being broke!

I had to give in: two pair of good leather shoes for baby (growing feet and all that) and a "faux" leather purse for me. Damn if I wasn't embarrassed taking it to the register! It had all the features I like, just that vinyl edge made me cringe. Such a snob about stupid things! Of course, my jeans are years old, my hair was barely brushed and no makeup on, but I'm cringing about a fake leather handbag? Pathetic, truly.

So, I get home, and in a new magazine read that leather items aren't eco-friendly (???), that many people prefer fake leather or "pleather" as they call it. Oh. So I'm cool now? Can I pretend that the new bag was an intentional purchase because of a personal abhorrence of using an animal for a decorative purpose? Nope. Can't even fake it. When cash flow isn't such a problem, I'm going back to the real deal.