The things we carry - A weighty Let's Blog Off post

I love being part of the #Let's Blog Off series, where a gathering of talent throughout the blogosphere writes on the same theme every couple of weeks. In December, I wrote on "If money were no object." This is my second, weightier LBO. What I carry around, logistically-speaking A basic black Coach City Bag that outlasted my nine-year marriage... And that my ex thought should be registered as a weapon, it's so heavy!

Carrying my stuff since 1996!

Of course it is. It's got my business and personal lives in its leather belly. It's also got emergency lip gloss and nail polish, a mini tape measure from my Viking designer training program, (since you never know when you'll need to measure something for the new place!), my West Elm, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware trade discount cards, (since you never know when you'll need to buy something for the new place either!), my highly-prized, never-come-often-enough Bed, Bath & Beyond 20 percent off coupons, various gift cards and a photo of my Mom as a teenager in the 50s, looking like Lauren Bacall!

Sandy at 16

I also carry an iPhone 3G that I hope will make it to its second birthday in May - why don't electronics hold up??? - but preferably until the next generation iPhone comes out later this spring. That way I can decide whether to spring for the new one or cheap out on the 3GS at $49. This glorious, now tired gadget and its social enablers, (Twitter, Facebook, texting, unlimited long distance), saved my sanity during my separation, divorce and relocation to a city where I had acquaintances, but no close friends. The 2010 and 2009 years would have been even tougher without my Apple a day/hour/minute.

What I carry around, physically-speaking

Right now, I carry around an extra 17 or so pounds. Many women would be unhappy about this fact. I'm thrilled that it's no longer 90 extra pounds - the kind that made walking the trade show floor at the International Builders Show or Kitchen/Bath Industry Show hell on my overburdened feet. When my marriage crashed and burned in June 2009, I was so sedentary, I thought I'd have a heart attack or a stroke from the stress, so I started swimming. And lost 33 pounds. When I moved to San Diego, I didn't have a wonderful Olympic-length swimming pool at my community, as I did in Tampa, so I developed a walk with hills and stairs. That was the next set of pounds. So, when I visited the LivingKitchen Show in Cologne in January of this year, thanks to the generosity of my friends at Blanco, my feet, relieved of 75 pounds of extra weight, didn't demand Ibuprofen at the end of the day, or several shoe changes along the way. Thank God!

Jamie "happy footing" on porcelain top at LivingKitchen show

What I carry around, spiritually-speaking

I carry around both sadness and relief at the demise of TriGold, (the marriage at 40 that I thought would last forever), a tremendous amount of gratitude for the incredible family I have and the amazing friends in my life. I carry delight at the community of designers and bloggers I've joined.

Four of the Blogger 19 plus Lori Dolnick, PR pro for Blanco L to R, Susan Serra, Leslie Clagett, Lori, Jamie, Paul Anater

And I'm incredibly grateful for the natural beauty of my San Diego surroundings. It only took me 22 years to move here, after all!

View from the San Diego Sierra Club Lodge

And being me, still and always, I carry around a continual sense of worry. It's my default, my inner Jewish Mother! In his wonderful book, Happiness is a Serious Problem, Dennis Prager described the three pillars of joy, as best as I can remember them: 1) gratitude for what you have in life; 2) a sense of purpose; 3) Doing what you need to get done. For me, that means taking care of myself, my body, my clients, my readers, my car and home, and the people I care most about.