I Love My New Bag

Just before Christmas my Mom and I took a girls' weekend to New York City. We cheated by having Mr. Lemon drive and drop us off in the city (Z too!). We saved on parking and I think about 2 hours worth of traffic on the way home by taking the PATH train to Jersey where we met him at a station. Easy.
Anyway, we hit up as many holiday markets as humanly possible. If you know me and my mom, that's a lot. We saved the Union Square market for last as that's one of our favorite markets the rest of the year. I saw this bag and it drew me in. I needed a new bag. My old one had literally fallen apart the week before. I thought this was leather and was so tempted. But when I saw the 100% vegan sign hanging in the back of the booth, I was sold.
They are made out of recycled fabric and very durable. Mine looks brand new after 2 months of taking it everywhere everyday. It is the bag of my ideal self. The brand is Viva Zapata and their website is really well designed.
I have seriously never spent this much money on a bag before but the last few years I've been making some changes. I haven't worn leather in over 10 years but I also don't really like all the poorly made synthetic shoes/bags that are out there. It's hard to find something that's sustainable and fashionable. I don't consider myself remotely stylish but I also don't want to look like I've stepped off the commune either. Instead of buying cheap plastic crap, I've been doing research and buying quality stuff that is a little more expensive. The result is that I'm buying a whole lot less because my stuff is fitting better and lasting longer. So in the end, I'm actually spending less.
I will take a real photo of this bag and edit this post as soon as I have time.