A Post About Luck

I still need to write the Florida post but right now I want to tell you a story.

I've been wanting a brown handbag for a long time and have had a humongous crush on Kooba bags ever since I worked at Nordstrom. Only problem? Their prices START around $600. I can't justify spending that (or even close to that) on a handbag.

Michael is Mr. eBay (seriously--he is either shipping or receiving a package three times a week) and has always had wonderful luck so I figured it was worth a shot. A month or so ago I began my search by simply typing in "handbags" and was overwhelmed by the results. After looking around to make sure no one was watching (I was home alone, not sure why I was so paranoid) I slowly typed in "K....O..." and then hurriedly typed "OBA" and hit enter. A few dozen handbags appeared and I audibly sighed. Took a sip of my coke and took a tour of the goods. I found one that was exactly what I had in mind: big, brown, and beautiful. It was in excellent condition. The best part was the price--no one had bid on it so it was a faaaantastic deal. I figured there was nothing wrong with "watching the item" as the auction wasn't over for several days. I shut my laptop and went about my day. When Michael came home I casually told him what I'd found and he said I should keep an eye on it.

Believe it or not, the next few days passed and I was able to think about things other than the bag. I have NEVER had luck with eBay and figured this would end the same way. On the last day of the auction I searched for the handbag and noticed it was still very big, very brown, and very beautiful. The best news? It had yet to receive a bid. Before I knew it, I bid on the bag. (I had no choice!) I started to send Michael an email to tell him the news but before I hit send I'd already received an email telling me I'd been outbid.

Have I mentioned I've NEVER had luck with eBay?

Furrowing my brow, I went back and bid higher. Outbid. A little higher. Outbid. I finally settled on the final "end all be all" amount and went for it. And waited. And waited. No one outbid me this time. I was back in the running with a little more than three hours left. At that point I started thinking of all of the outfits that would look great with my new friend.

Next thing I know, there's five minutes left and I'm a computer refreshing fool. With 15 seconds left I'm outbid. I decide, "what's an additional $5?" and up my bid one last time. I'm outbid by one person, who is then outbid by someone else and... it's over.

I lost the bag.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't severely disappointed. Michael knew when the auction was over and emailed to see how it went. I told him my sad news and even he was bummed.

Tonight we watched a few episodes of Mad Men and then I pulled out the laptop to read some blogs. Michael said he was going to grab something upstairs and came back with an item behind his back. With a sheepish grin he placed the Kooba bag in my arms. I was completely confused and said, "This is exactly like the one from the auction," to which he replied, "This IS the one from the auction." Apparently he knew my luck with eBay so he watched the handbag for the last 5 minutes of the bidding war. As soon as he saw I'd been outbid he bid on the handbag to make sure I'd win.

The moral of this story is not that I'm now the owner of a gorgeous bag (although that is an extremely pleasant sidenote). Michael was sweet enough to find out the bag I wanted and then got into a bidding war with a bunch of crazy ladies just so I could have a stupid handbag.

Actual moral of the story: I am one very, very lucky lady.