Purse contents cleaned up for photography purposes, since I also usually carry: Cell phone, digital camera, water bottle, lipstick of the day and tons of receipts, papers, brochures, tickets, coupons, etc. But decided to impress you all with appearance of a clean and organized bag. Has it worked?

Another item on the December to-do list marked off: Switching handbags for fall’s orange to winter’s red. Listen, for me this marks a major style accomplishment. If only I were one of those fashionable women who coordinate bags with outfits — the kind for whom it’s second nature to reach for new purses whenever they change clothes. But, no. Please don’t get me wrong. I love handbags. Who doesn’t? I head for the purse section of any store and always have a wish list of new ones I can’t live without — even if 99 percent of those remain on the list instead of in my closet. But it’s fun to look! However, because of general laziness and fear that I will leave my glasses at the bottom of a purse and never find them again, I stick to the basics and carry one bag a season, with occasional forays into a small messenger bag for hands-free shopping and a compact clutch for the (rare) times husband and I eat out somewhere that does not serve free chips and salsa before dinner. This spring and summer, I had a beautiful green bag younger daughter gave me for Mother’s Day and I only gave it up for orange a couple months ago. But the orange purse is starting the clash with all the reds and greens this holiday season, so I changed to this three-year-old soft red bag — one of my favorites because it has a cell-phone pocket that my cell phone actually stays in, thereby cutting the search for a ringing phone by at least a couple minutes.