I’m one of those people who carries their life around in an enormous shoulder bag. No, no, no not like luggage, or hobo-ism (haha), more like my handbag – which is filled with pens, notebooks, my day planner, various personal items (tweezers? gloss, eye drops), candy, sometimes an extra pair of earrings, my mittens, several sets of keys…

You see what I mean. On top of that, when I want to go out, sometimes I want to take my camera and it’s hard to cram a DSLR into a little bag with a lot of stuff in it.

And then I found out about Handbag Heaven. They’re affiliated with Affordable Scarves – the gorgeous gals who sent me their Jessica Circle scarf to wear around in Vegas (and the scarf came in handy – it rained the whole time). They even featured me in a guest post about the circle scarf look, which you can read here.

Anyhow, after perusing the stock of bags over at Handbag Heaven, I took stock of my current(and slightly decrepit) Target buy. It’s lasted me less than a year – the handle is already coming apart, the “vegan leather” is cracking in certain stress points. I still love it, with all it’s pockets and the fact that it’s blue with a giant buckle; it quickly became “over-used”.

I need something with a ton of pockets (organized!) and I wanted something that would go with everything, so I bought myself the Classic Secret Agent Bag.

The color is a metallic smoky gray (pewter), and the trim is all a brown (possibly vegan) leather.  The inside is a nice light camel color which makes it easy to find what I’m looking for.  It’s incredibly floppy and the stubble on the handles is kind of interesting.

Like I mentioned before, this bag has a major pocket-thing going on.

I like that the very front pocket is zippered – and it has little slots for you to toss your cell or iPod into (making them easy to find!).  The main pocket is big enough for a 6″ x 9″ notebook – mine lays almost flat in the bottom, with tons of room to spare.

The most interesting part of this bag is the hidden pockets in the flap.

If you carried around a tiny microfiche camera, this is where you could hide it!  The opening is kind of small, with the clasp lock; however, the pocket truly does expand once you’re down into the pocket.  The only thing I noticed with mine is that the little clasp doesn’t spring closed – so the entire pocket doesn’t stay closed very well.  It doesn’t matter that much, though, since when the pocket is folded over (when the bag is closed) it’s virtually impossible for anything to fall out of it.

Considering all the space in this bag, it’s deceptively small.

Overall, the purchase was a good one!

(And APPARENTLY – Ashlee Simpson totes a very similar bag in black! I had no idea until I visited Handbag Heaven’s blog)

Handbag Heaven was kind enough to offer Bonne Vie’s readers free shipping on their purchases using code BIRDIE2010.  They’re also having their Winter sale right now, where you can get an extra 15% off using their WINTERSALE code.

Some of my other handbag choices from Handbag Heaven were:

The Sami Qulited Handbag (click to go to the product on Handbag Heaven.com)

The Miya Zipper Hobo - feels sort of Nu-wave

The Rosie Patent Hobo - for an edgy, out-there feel

The Jane Shoulder Bag - very sleek!

And the Ribbon Shoulder Tote - patent and bows

They’ve got quite the cute selection and the gorgeous ladies at Handbag Heaven (and Affordable Scarves) are super helpful if you need help choosing a bag.  I admit, it does sound like a pitch, but I’m happy with my purchase.