Birthday gift highlights

I've been using a half decent all purpose back pack for carrying stuff to work and the gym. In many ways it was almost the ideal bag. It was high quality, sturdy, and sporty. It had a pocket and a half for every one of my needs. It had a Miller High Life patch in the center and was holding up very well. The problem is that it didn't exactly scream gentleman.



My wife gave me this messenger bag from J. Crew. It's slightly less multi-functional. But it's a 1000% cooler. And it works much better with a sport coat and tie. I've read that a messenger bag is better for bike commuting than a back pack. It's a little hard to comprehend, but I did suffer from a lot of upper back pain. One hidden benefit to switching to the more genteel bag is being forced to pack more efficiently. Leaving more items in my locker at work and adding more items to my shower bag. The crutch of having a million pouches and pockets was causing me to seriously over pack.



My mom gave me these wool fingerless winter gloves from Urban Outfitters. They have button down mitten flaps and can unfold for more wrist coverage. I'm looking forward to putting them to work. I have one set of gloves that I wear for jogging, but they are about 30% duct tape and I'm eager to put them into more limited use.