If a Brooke Van Gory and a Coach diaper bag met in a dark alley....

 I just BIG RED PUFFY HEART Coach bags (thanks Megan for that saying *wink*). They are EXTREMELY well made and they have YET to do me wrong. I've never had a THING go wrong with one of my Coach items - they are DURABLE (and I'm ROUGH on bags) and still look new after two years of use! Who couldn't just LOVE a Coach bag? I love Coach SOOO much that when I went on Spring Break with my BFF, JG in March of 2008 - I splurged and bought a Coach diaper bag (I was only a few weeks preggo at best). It just seemed so PERFECT and screaming my name as it was the perfect shade of green that I so love...

Do de do dee do dee doo whoosh - FAST FORWARD: Cubby is now 18 months, we're cloth diapering (something I never considered until late pregnancy) and we are a go-go-go kind of family. Which means, we need to pack diapers, wet bag, snacks, extra clothing, blankets, sippy cups, etc. on a regular basis for all day or overnight/weekend adventures in and out of town.

I had to finally admit it to myself that my beloved Coach was NOT cutting it. To put all the things I needed in it, plus sometimes my wallet, cell phone, keys and "mama stuff" on occasion so I wasn't carrying a purse PLUS a diaper bag, I was constantly picking up things that were falling out and it just LOOKED messy no matter how neat I put everything in it because there is no closure for the top. Not to mention that I can only carry items on my left shoulder, which is ALSO the side in which I carry Cubby on my hip, and since the double carry straps are short and non-adjustable, I constantly looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame from the side. And it FELT like it too.

ENTER STAGE RIGHT: Brooke Van Gory Designs. I "met" Brooke on Twitter. I vaguely remember through who/what/why the connection was made, but it was and I'm sooo glad it was! After seeing her wares, I was absolutely IMPRESSED. But I was so in LOVE with my Coach bag! Over the next few weeks, I kept going back to her shop - admiring, drooling, daydreaming about how perfect the bag would be... but I was torn... how could I ditch my beloved Coach???

One of the things that bites about buying things online, is that you can't really get to "see" the item and judge for yourself how BIG or small something really is. Once I decided I would get one, I went to see a friend's diaper bag to judge the size. She had an Expedient Weekender upsized because she was going to be diapering TWO kids. Me? I just love a big bag. After trying out hers, I decided to go UPSIZED!!! Plus a few other options because I'm needy like that.

One great thing about ordering something CUSTOM is that you get what you want! Which in this case, also meant I got to pick the fabric!! Being a "boymom", I wanted something that said "BOY" and also something that Pappa wouldn't mind carrying. Brooke was also so helpful and sent me links to samples of fabric based on conversations we had about what I wanted (even though I was completely vague). Truth be told, sometimes ordering a custom anything is intimidating. You want to make sure you get what you want, but how do you know that's REALLY what you want?

Brooke was super fabulous and patient and even after I picked a fabric, she found another oh so fabulous fabric that I knew I had to switch to! I'm telling you, this is one FANTASTIC AWESOME gal AND she has two kids to boot! She MUST be SuperWoman!