I went with the Hippie bag.

After five separate visits to four separate stores, I finally did it - I bought my Coach bag. And it is awesome. It's a special, limited edition bag for Coach's 65th anniversary. Only five stores in the country carry it which makes me feel like a superstar, which is exactly how one should feel when they're spending almost half a thousand dollars on a purse. In fact, when one is spending that kind of cash, I expected a little more razzmatazz. A trumpeteer, maybe. I did pull a tiny diva and sent my bag back three times (the first one was too bumpy; the second one, the leather didn't match) but that was as "Hilton" as I allowed myself to get. I was standing there, waiting to receive my purchase, wondering why nobody was making more of a fuss when I realized that the reason nobody made more of a fuss was because A BILLION PEOPLE BUY COACH BAGS EVERY DAY! In fact, while I was browsing, an elderly gentleman took a shine to me and started chatting me up. While I was debating between the Hippie Bag and the Patent Leather Gallery Tote, the gent started asking me if I liked the bag he was considering. He was trying to find a Secret Santa present for his daughter-in-law. Let me put this in perspective - the man was searching for a $600 gift - and he was worried that she wouldn't like it. (I told him that if she didn't, he needed to find another daughter-in-law.)

Seriously, if I liked retail, Coach is the place to work. Not only do you get commission, but a hefty discount. I'm still eyeballing that gallery tote...