Gone...

I was robbed 8 days ago. Thieves broke the back mini window in the back of the Jeep and took my purse while Mabel and I were hiking. It took 6 solid hours of phone calls and errands to close bank accounts, credit cards and get my window fixed. I'm still dealing with the aftermath of re-routing direct debit and automatic credit card payments, and waiting for a new driver's license.

Aside from my cheap, Ross Dress for Less purse and the 20 bucks in my wallet, they did get a free tank of gas of my Visa...which Visa will pay for. Funny, but I canceled my Discover Card waiting for the cops because I could remember their phone number - 1-800-Discover. But I didn't know Visa's... I do now: 1-800-Visa-911. (You must know the name of your issuing bank; then this number can refer your to the proper theft / fraud phone numbers.)

But the one thing I mourn the most is my wallet. My big time Hollywood producer wallet. Those stupid-ass thieves certainly have no appreciation for that wallet, Il Bisonte #C237. And I fear I will never be able to afford to own it again.

I have loved and adored this wallet - mine was black - for two decades. This was actually my second one. I carelessly left the first in a McDonald's bathroom in Anaheim a decade ago. Then as now, I pray that whoever took her, loves and adores that wallet the way I did.

I seriously planned a blog post about my Il Bisonte over the winter. That wallet and a coat with an inside pocket are my favorite way of safely moving about large crowded places. I was so excited to have found a ladies winter coat with an inside pocket at Penney's Outlet. This little luxury is normally saved for men...which is why I wear men's coats. And this purple ladies jacket had an inside pocket that fit my Il Bisonte.

It wasn't that it was made from fine Bison leather that grew so soft and supple with age. The Il Bisonte was the elegant and super functional design. It was a must for any international traveler or production person.

I'm going to blame owning this wallet and my need of jackets with inside pockets on Catherine MacDonald. She was our travel coordinator on the movie I worked on in Argentina. A raven haired beauty from Texas who settled in New York, Catherine moved about the world with such ease and confidence. She prepared well for potentially dangerous encounters (purse snatchers were notorious in Buenos Aires) and then she rolled with the punches. I'm certain she taught me about the Il Bisonte.

Later when I found myself in Manhattan wrapping a job, I made my way to the Il Bisonte store and ponied up the $130 for my first one. The wallet is extra wide - not so much an issue with the advent of the Euro. But in my heavy duty travel days, I quickly discovered that not all currency was the same size at the dollar. Many countries had wider money. It would stick out and people could see what I had and the money got torn. Or I folded it up, which made my wallet too fat to close.

I quickly fell in love with this Il Bisonte for other prodution needs. Keeping track of receipts for the company? No problem...lots of nooks and crannies. Needing a safe place for my passport? It fit in the wallet when it was all folded up. And the Il Bisonte has an elastic band that wraps around the wallet when you put too much junk in it...so it holds together no matter what!

Without fail, everyone in production who saw my Il Bisonte, bought one! I remember being at a dinner with two art directors and five or six production people. When it came time to pay, we all had the same wallet! And they blame their love of this wallet on me!

But sadly, I am no longer grossly overpaid for my time and the now $237 price tag is too much for my paltry income. I bought a seven dollar wallet at Ross. And I hate it. And I probably always will.