Purse

Superstorms that slammed the East Coast prompted many Southern Californians to take a hard look at their own emergency preparedness plans, including how to keep cellphones charged when the power goes out. With a flurry of battery-boosting devices landing on the market, I tested eight of the latest and most novel designs on a recent ski trip to Colorado, reasoning that besides a storm, earthquake or blackout, the last place you'd want to be stranded with...

The first time my mother made leg of lamb, she never connected the two events. The second time, she thought it was a coincidence. The third time, she knew it was a curse. Every time she prepared leg of lamb, my father was laid off a few days later. The first time it was for a few weeks; the second time for a few months; the third time for more than a year. My father had a union job at a film-processing lab, and layoffs - and eventual rehirings - were common during the 1960s. He was laid off a few more times, but never after eating leg of lamb.

In Paris, women clutch flirtatious little Chanel bags, so small they hold next to nothing. In New York, they take the opposite tack, lugging mega-tote bags that bend their backs into Quasimodo crouches, so they can keep their subway reading, gym clothes and other such sundries close at hand. But in Los Angeles, women breeze around town carrying nothing except a set of keys. That's because the quintessential California purse comes with four wheels and a trunk.

Rugs have been appearing on shoulders and wrists and backs, carried as colorful, one-of-a-kind purses and handbags. These modern carpetbags use kilim (flat weave), dhurries (hand-woven, vegetable-dyed cotton), suzani (embroidered cotton or silk) and other, often vintage, global textiles to create truly distinctive purses. Each one tells a story, which is part of the charm. Dhurrie messenger bag Bill Adler, owner of Will Leather Goods, found a collection of 75-year-old dhurrie rugs in the New Mexico hills and brought them back to his California workshop.

Designer Jil Sander has given the classic brown paper lunch bag a couture makeover. At her fall/winter 2012 runway show, Sander sent out models clutching her Vasari purse -- essentially a brown paper bag that looks exactly like a brown paper bag, except it retails for $290. What makes a lunchtime staple worth the equivalent of one month's car payment? Well, this bag is actually made of brown paper that is laminated with a protective coating, stitched in brown thread at the sides and has holes to ensure that your ham and cheese sandwich gets plenty of ventilation.

The news columns are full of so many gripes these days, I want to thank a good Samaritan. Recently I was shopping at Ralphs grocery store on Channel Islands Boulevard and I left my purse in a shopping cart. A gentleman returned it to the store, and store employees called me. I retrieved my purse with everything in it, including the cash. The man did not wait for me to thank him, and neither did the other people who handled my purse to return it to me. There are good, honest people in this world!

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is guaranteed a purse of at least $32 million, the Nevada State Athletic Commission reported Friday, a record guarantee tally for the unbeaten five-division champion who'll fight Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mayweather's pay, based on his cut of advance pay-per-view sales, will go higher when total pay-per-view buys are tallied. HBO is charging $69.95 for the bout, a World Boxing Assn. super-welterweight title defense for Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs)

Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) was returning to her condominium after a party for legislators late Wednesday when a man snatched her purse--which contained her identification cards, credit cards, keys and a silver dollar she was given 24 years ago by her late husband when they were dating. Wright, 57, said that, as she approached the steps to her South Sacramento home about 11:30 p.m., she was startled by a young man who said hello.

A New Jersey judge Wednesday issued a ruling that may have cleared the way for a Buster Douglas-Evander Holyfield heavyweight championship fight in September. Judge Amos Saunders, ruling in favor of Holyfield, upheld an injunction that permits purse bids to proceed for a title fight with Douglas, the world heavyweight champion, promoters for Holyfield, the No. 1 contender, announced.

A 70-year-old Fillmore woman suffered minor injuries Tuesday after struggling with a mugger who yanked her purse from her grip and fled on foot from the Buenaventura Mall parking lot, Ventura police said. The thief, who shed some of his clothing as he fled, ran up to Margaret A. Meyer as she and her friend, Margaret Meadows, 71, of Fillmore, were getting into Meyer's car about 2:10 p.m. in the south parking lot of the mall on South Mills Road, Officer Phil Steinberger said.

Federal authorities have seized 1,500 counterfeit Hermes handbags from China at the Port of Los Angeles, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Tuesday. Genuine Hermes leather bags retail for thousands of dollars apiece. The two shipments, discovered Feb. 12 and Feb. 26, would be worth as much as $14 million if sold at full price, the customs agency said. Importing counterfeit purses and wallets has been on the rise, with a 142% increase in the value of goods seized in 2012 compared with the previous year, the agency said in a statement.

Bob Baffert's big money horse, Game On Dude, carries the high expectations of both his trainer and the betting public Saturday in the 77th running of the Santa Anita Handicap. One of the two top races in Santa Anita's annual winter season — the other is the Santa Anita Derby on April 6 — the Big 'Cap is a Grade I stakes that carries a purse of $750,000, with 60% to the winner. Game On Dude, a 6-year-old gelding, has already won $3,252,158 and is the 6-5 morning-line favorite.

Boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who tested positive for marijuana after his fight against Sergio Martinez in September, has been suspended for nine months and fined $900,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Chavez (46-1-1) lost the fight, his first loss as a pro. The $900,000 represents 30% of his $3-million purse for the fight. He could have been suspended for a year and had his entire purse taken from him. In 2009, Chavez tested positive for another banned substance after his fight with Troy Rowland in Las Vegas.

A man in Iowa was arrested for breaking into a lingerie store after hours and stealing merchandise. The man was caught on video naked in the store. He tried on various items of clothing for two hours before leaving the store in a blond wig and a dress. Police were able to find the suspect by spotting a tattoo of the thief's name across his naked back on the surveillance video. [ Daily Mail ] If you want to get your hands on a pair of "Project Runway" star Heidi Klum's signature sneakers for New Balance you'll have to get to your nearest Lady Foot Locker.

Though there was much anticipation about what 9-year-old lead actress nominee Quvenzhane Wallis would wear on the Oscars red carpet Sunday, there was arguably as much intrigue about which puppy-dog purse she would select. She showed off her latest canine accesssory, which was decked out in a tiara, tutu and Swarovski crystals. Asked where she keeps all the purses back home in Louisiana, she said they're all tucked away in her room. And would she ever bring one to school? "Heck no!"

Upcycled fashion is no longer just for hard-core environmentalists. The idea of wearing items made from cast-off skateboards, inner tubes, plastic trash bags, car seat belts - even wartime bombs and bullets - is no longer considered bizarre but beautiful, as consumers pick up today's conservationist zeitgeist. "Upcycling" means taking something disposable and creating something of higher value with it - making a purse from a tire, for instance. (Recycling, on the other hand, decomposes items into materials that can then be used to create something else, such as turning wood chips into paper.)

Paris Hilton denied that a purse she was carrying that contained drugs was hers but said other items inside, including asthma medication, credit cards and $1,300 in cash, were hers, according to a police report. Hilton was arrested Saturday evening with her boyfriend, Las Vegas nightclub operator Cy Waits, who was driving the black SUV stopped by police at 11:22 p.m. Friday after they smelled marijuana. A police lieutenant found 0.8 grams of cocaine in a purse Hilton was carrying.

A mail carrier found something more than post cards and letters in a collection box today--he found a Gucchi purse containing $2,300. U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Joanne DeBari said the purse was traced and returned to a Brazilian woman, Midori Silva, who was visiting New York for Liberty Weekend and lost it Sunday when it fell out of a limousine. Evidently, someone picked up the purse and placed it in the collection box without disturbing its contents.

When 8-year-old Abbie Jacobson peered inside a purse she found on the ground and saw a fat roll of $100 bills, her immediate thought was to find the owner. Her parents? They admit to a few seconds of fantasy spending. "I spent it 30 times over in about 10 seconds," Abbie's mother, Jenn Jacobson, told the Portland Press Herald in Portland, Maine. "Hey, we're human like everyone else," the girl's father, John Jacobson, joked. The family then embarked on a search that eventually landed the money back with its owner and gave Abbie her dream reward: Justin Bieber concert tickets.

Designer Jil Sander has given the classic brown paper lunch bag a couture makeover. At her fall/winter 2012 runway show, Sander sent out models clutching her Vasari purse -- essentially a brown paper bag that looks exactly like a brown paper bag, except it retails for $290. What makes a lunchtime staple worth the equivalent of one month's car payment? Well, this bag is actually made of brown paper that is laminated with a protective coating, stitched in brown thread at the sides and has holes to ensure that your ham and cheese sandwich gets plenty of ventilation.