Remember when you were young and you looked forward to sleepovers? I loved having my friends over but I also loved going to their houses. I would fold up my Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag and pack up a small bag with what I might need and patiently wait for my parents to drive me to my friend’s house. Well, although my Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag days are over and I am a grown up, I should carry a grown up bag when I head on a weekend excursion.

Very rarely do I find myself speechless. Yet at this very moment, I do feel like I am bordering on the verge of speechless. For the life of me I cannot decide if this handbag is a complete disaster or a bit of handbag genius. (Make sure to click on the image to get an enlarged view.) At first glance I definitely found myself saying “oh no, no, no, NO!”.

We have officially entered the month of February, which is many times thought of as the month of love. Not only will February 2009 have Valentine’s Day but a week later Vlad and I will celebrate our marriage. This month is filled with love and we want to share the love with you all. For the first 14 days of February we will be featuring at least one designer a day and each designer will Spread the Love with Purse Blog!

Because shopping sale items does not cause nearly as much wallet heart-ache, you should definitely check out the Net A Porter Winter Clearance Sale! Enter the promo code ‘WINTERUSA’ at checkout to receive an additional 20% off. This means many designer items are practically free. Love it.

Some brands do not get the recognition they deserve. Harder to locate in the US, Valextra is a brand that is as timeless and well crafted as Hermes yet their bags lack the waitlists that Hermes once had and the exposure. Valextra flies under the radar. And this is precisely how they like it. Their bags speak for themselves. No need for seasonal bags, rather every Valextra bag I have seen is extremely well made and will be a piece that will never loose its luxury.

One of my favorite bags from a designer that is not as mainstream in the handbag world is Givenchy. I have yet to own a Givenchy bag, but I have lusted after the Givenchy Nightingale time and time again. And now there is a new bag to yearn for from the house of Givenchy. The Givenchy Sacca Chain Handle Bag exudes pure style and elegance.

Coach Amanda Satin Mini Satchel [via Purse Blog Savvy]

Best of Black Friday Sales [via Luxaholics]

Katie Holmes Is a Miu Miu Model [via Fab Sugar]

Beyoncé and her amazing fringed diva shades! [via My Fashion Life]

I told you all yesterday that today would be our first day of weekend posts in quite some time. So here I am, posting away. Notice the time delay, it is a weekend, so I wasn’t about to get moving overly fast on today. Today my mind is wandering far from the handbag world, as it is the biggest college football game of The Ohio State University’s year (my, Vlad’s, and Shannon’s Alma mater), The Ohio State vs Michigan game.

Today we are all off at Purse Blog. Well, let me clarify. Vlad is in Germany and visiting friends all day, Shannon is working in LA, and I had an appointment in the morning and am going to see my brother’s playoff football game tonight.

Today we are off, so tomorrow we will update with some fun posts! I know, very odd for us to post on the weekend, but it will be like a mid-November treat.

We love the Linea Pelle Samantha Large Double Handle [via Purse Blog Savvy]

Fab Finding Follow-Up: I Heart YSL [via Fab Sugar]

Karl Lagerfeld designs Chanel coins [My Fashion Life]

YAY OR NAY: Marni Alpaca fur bag [via Bag Lady]

Alexander McQueen Dishes About His Upcoming Line With Target [via Off the Rack]

Stars to Party Hard in Dubai [via Luxaholics]