Dahling Bag

My internet besties are amazing.  We've been connected for well over a year now and we talk regularly.  We celebrate our joys and we commiserate our troubles together.  We also share about our obsessions, from bags to planners and everything in between.  They've been a wonderful group to be with.

Today, I received a generous surprise in the mail.  A wonderful card and a beautiful bag that I will treasure.  I was so blown away by the thoughtfulness.  I had to get online and share with them my surprise and my gratitude.  Then I sat down across the table from The RacDad for lunch and we had this conversation.

Me:  I am so grateful for these amazing women.

RacDad:  Yep.  They're pretty awesome.

Me:  Why is the word grateful spelled g-r-a-t-e?  Shouldn't it be g-r-e-a-t?  Because grate is to cut something into small pieces by running it over a slotted sharp object.  Great is good.

RacDad:  Well, grateful is derived from the word "gratitude".

Me:  Oh, yeah.  Well then shouldn't it be gratiful?  That would make more sense.

RacDad (with a suspicious look on his face):  Yes dear, you're right.  It should be gratiful.

This is a common type of conversation around our house; random tangents that have nothing to do with the actual conversation.  I call them our "squirrel moments".  And I guess this is my way of saying "Thank you so much" to my wonderful ladies that I treasure.  And I look forward to the adventures I'll have with my Dahling new bag.....starting with graduation next weekend.  This will be fun to document and share with you all.

Packing the PackaBe For School

My favorite Ju-Ju-Be bag style is the PackaBe.  To me, it's the most versatile bag.  I love that in a matter of seconds, I can go from having it on one shoulder to having it slung onto my back as I chase after Little Man and Peanut.  I use the PackaBe as my main diaper bag.  I also love to use it for school.  The PackaBe can be awkward to use at first because it is a "vertical" bag.  It can feel like things would get lost in the bottom.  My fix for this is to pack with Ju-Ju-Be Quicks.

This is my beloved Sienna Swirl PackaBe

This is everything that I pack in it for school:
A 3 inch ring binder, 1/2 inch notebook binder, Small notebook
3 regular size textbooks (about 900 pages each)
3 smaller size textbooks (about 600 pages each)
A quicklet for my pens, pencils, markers, etc.
Ju-Ju-Be Major wallet

This is what I pack in my custom made Quicklet
(isn't it cute?!  I LOVE the penguin!)

I put my BeMajor in the bottom outer pocket.

I put the quicklet, my phone, and some hand sanitizer
in the top outer pocket.

I put my tallest textbook in the back outer pocket
(without the change pad.)

I put my small textbook inside my 1/2 inch binder
then I put that inside my 3 inch binder

I tuck the binders under the backside of the bag.
I put the 2 remaining large textbooks on their sides
in the bottom of the bag in front of the binders.

I put my 3 smaller textbooks on top of those books.
Zip and I'm ready to go!

Now, I don't have to tote all of these books at the same time, but I do keep them packed up when I'm home because I don't have an office area to work in at our apartment.  Sometimes I need to tote them from one room to another....or go to a coffee shop...to get my work done during the week.  It's easier to just keep them packed so that the kids don't get into my school stuff too.

How to Make: Ju-ju-be PackaBe Grab Handle

One of my favorite diaper bags is my Ju-ju-be Sienna Swirl PackaBe.  The sienna swirl print just calls to me with the red tones and the swirls.  It was my first large Ju-ju-be bag.  The only thing that was missing from it was a way to just pick it up when I needed to get it out of the car or set it down after taking it off my back.  When I used the main strap to do these simple tasks, it would clatter down about a foot and felt awkward to me.  All I needed was a little handle.

On my quest to figure out if I needed a different style of bag or just needed to fix mine, I found information from another Pink Lady on how to braid a long strap to make a handle.  I bought a long strap and I tried it out.  I found that it was just too short to fit across my PackaBe across the top.  I could put it on the back hooks, but then the bag would be off center when I pick it up.  So, I decided to braid it in the middle to allow extra slack to bridge across the stroller hook rings.  It turns out that my idea worked perfectly!

So, here is how you braid a long strap for a PackaBe:

Step 1:  Start with a long strap with 2 clips.
(Usually from a Major or Set.)

Step 2:  Fold the strap in two pieces at 11 inches
from the base of the clip.

Step 3:  Fold the long side over the top of the short side
at 4 inches from the base of the clip.

Step 4:  Fold the long side around and under the short side,
in between them, and above the long side.

Step 5:  Fold the long side around and under the long side,
in between them, and above the short side.

Continue with Steps 4 and 5.

Step 6:  You should have a little space at the end
to thread the long strap and clip through.

And you are finished.
The strap will lay flat when connected to the bag.

Connect to the stroller hook rings.

It leaves plenty of room to access
the zipper for the main pouch.

PackaBe Love

Feel free to contact me with any questions.