The eBay of handmade items (minus the bidding), Etsy.com, is freakin’ awesome. I don’t know why I’ve never heard of this site before. I was looking for messenger bags online to replace my tiny Fossil purse that’s continuously overflowing with stuff, and after searching on Google for a dragon purse, stumbled upon it. I didn’t find anything I liked on Google or any of the Gap/Urban Outfitters/JCPenney/etc. sites, so I decided to give Etsy a try.

I found the bag I wanted on the first page of the “Bags & Purses” category. I checked all the pages to make sure something else awesome wasn’t hiding, and then thought about it for a couple days since this would be my first non-corporate accessory purchase. The bag (and free t-shirt!) were $45 and twice the size of my current bag (which cost about $30), unique, vegan, and not girly in any way — what more could I want? My bag arrived yesterday and is even more awesome in person:

I have to get used to the slippery nature of vinyl vs. “rougher” fabric, but all in all I’m happy, and will definitely go back to Etsy (and Antimatter, the creator of my bag) in the future