“If you change your mind, I’m the first in line.  Honey I’m still free.  Take a chance on me”
Those great opening lyrics from ABBA came to mind when I took a chance and ordered the Pewter Rock Me Midi from the BE 3 day sale in January 2010.  Frankly, Pewter scares me.  It looks so blingy and bright.  How is it going to work in my wardrobe?  Rather than completely freaking out and running away, I took advice from some great ladies on twitter (MommyMentor, Moonfancy and of course JackieCawthra).  I’m taking a chance on BE … Pewter!

Jackie said that it takes a week or so of use for the shine to wear in and softens up.  This post is a diary of 13 days of using the bag. The pictures are thumbnails, click on them for a full size version.

Thanks to all the snow the Mid Atlantic of the United States received in the beginning of February (Snowmageddon), my Rock Me Midi was delayed arriving.  I was getting impatient to receive the bag, but knew that it was no one’s fault and I’d get it soon enough.

…

Day 1
My Pewter Rock Me Midi arrived today.  Holy Moly is the pewter bright & blingy!  What on earth was I thinking?!  Can really carry something that attracts this much attention?

Refocus.  Everyone said that I can pull this off.  I just need to try it out.  So I fill the new bag up with my items and snap a few pictures.  Now that I’m looking at the pictures, it really doesn’t look that bad.  I can totally do this.  Major plus, the Rock Me Midi comfortably holds all my stuff!

Without Flash

With Flash

A close up of the tags

…

Day 2
Today in the filtered sunlight the pewter isn’t quite so shocking and rather pretty.  In the direct sunlight it looks more silver than I’ve seen before.  So maybe my first step is to avoid direct sunlight.

My husband surprised me with a trip to the mall to get a new iPod Touch.  I took my Pewter Rock Me Midi with me.  With my leather winter coat on, the Midi doesn’t comfortably fit on my shoulder.  Wonderfully the midi came with a messenger strap.  I was able to carry the bag on my shoulder with the strap and it worked great!  Wonderfully I didn’t feel like people were staring at me like “look at the freak with the shiny bag”.  Rather the looks my bag received were appreciative like “nice bag!”  This really helped me feel a little better about the pewter.

A plus, my new iPod Touch matches my bag.  It has a purple case 🙂

…

Day 3
I’m starting to appreciate the shimmer to the leather.  It looks really pretty in many lights.  I’m still a bit shocked by the intensity of the leather in direct sunlight.  But in the filtered sunlight or indoor lighting it’s not as bad.

Direct Sunlight

Filtered Sunlight

Natural Light

…

Day 4
I’m getting more accustomed to the pewter, though it still shocks me quite a bit.  Tonight while I was watching hockey, I saw the fairy lights reflecting on the bag and was stunned by it’s beauty.  All of the colours reflected on it, but it wasn’t pure reflection.  The leather took the colours and made them it’s own.  It was a stunning effect, and sadly impossible to accurately capture with my camera.

…

Day 5
A full day planned today and my Pewter Rock Me Midi is going to be by my side for most of the day.

Up first, lunch!  My husband and I went to one of our favorite restaurants, Fennici’s of Hershey.  Since Italian food can sometimes get a little messy, I covered by bag with my leather jacket.  I highly doubt marinara matches well with pewter leather, and I’d rather not learn.  Lunch was very filling and delicious (as it always is at Fennici’s) and neither my Rock Me Midi or leather jacket met marinara.

Next, a very short drive over to Zoo America. Zoo America features animals found in North America, so no tigers or monkeys here.  The Rock Me Midi with the messenger strap (worn on my shoulder) was great for walking around the zoo and carrying everything I needed, including my camera so I could grab some great pictures.  Visiting the zoo in the winter is such an experience.  A lot of the animals are more active in the winter, which does make for a more enjoyable time.  On this trip I saw a prairie dog alerting it’s colony to a predator, a hawk.  I’ve never heard a prairie dog issue a danger alert before.  It was rather fascinating.  I’m happy to report that after the alert, all of the prairie dogs hid and the hawk didn’t make off with any!

After a lovely time at Zoo America, we were off to the Hershey Lodge to check into our hotel room for the night.  We live near Hershey, but it’s always fun to have a night away from home.  It was a very Belen Echandia trip!  I fit everything we needed for the weekend in my wonderful Port Take Me Away Weekender.  I had to snap a picture of my bags together.  The pewter is starting to grow on me.  It’s looking a bit more muted now.

With Flash

Without Flash

Our last big adventure of the day was a trip to the Hershey Bears vs the Lake Erie Monsters game.  My Pewter Rock Me Midi got to spend that part back at the hotel room.  New bag and nachos are not a combo I want to risk.  I emptied the Rock Me Midi out and transferred everything to my Hershey Bears bag.  The Bears game was unbelievably fun and I’m very glad I didn’t have my Rock Me Midi with me.  The nacho cheese was very messy!

After the Bears game (they won!) we went back to the Hershey Lodge to grab a little dinner at the Forebay.  Dinner was excellent and I was able to catch a little Olympic hockey on the TV at the bar.  While I was without my Rock Me Midi, I had my Red Glossy Protect Me was safely tucked into my bag all night to keep a little BE with me.

…

Day 6
The Pewter really isn’t scaring me as much today.  I didn’t feel out of place yesterday and this morning the shine didn’t shock me as much.  This is great!

I switch everything back to the Rock Me Midi, which is really a great size.  I have some extra room so it drapes nicely, but it’s also so easy to find everything in the bag.  And we’re off to check out and grab some breakfast.  In the lobby I spot some of the Hershey characters.  I wish I had the courage to have my picture taken with the Hershey Kiss.  It would have gone so lovely with the pewter!  Another time perhaps.

As we were getting into the car to head home, I spilled hot chocolate.  My coat took the hit of hot chocolate, and my bag was saved.  I do know that some Belen Echandia leathers stand up quite nicely to hot chocolate, but I’d rather not test out the pewter.

I noticed today that the messenger strap is starting to mold nicely to my shoulder.  Since it looks like it will be chilly here for quite a while, it’s lovely to see this happening.  It makes carrying the bag on my shoulder that much more comfortable

After we get home, I settle my Rock Me Midi beside me for a long day of cupcakes and hockey (3 of each).  It makes quite a pleasant companion and I do find myself looking over to admire it.  YAY!

…

Days 7 – 11
I’m still using my bag every day.  I’m really getting used to the leather.  I haven’t found that it clashes with anything I’ve worn it with yet, including my newly highlighted hair.  Unfortunately with the snow and feeling sick I haven’t been able to get out as much as I’d like with my lovely bag.

…

Day 12
Today was a busy day of chores and my Pewter Rock Me Midi was by my side all day.

We had to make a trip to the Post Office, where I had all of the paperwork I needed in my Rock Me Midi.  This was super handy as I was also carrying 3 packages to mail.  Unfortunately the post office was so crazy busy, it was almost scary.  We decided to come back later.

Off to the local ice arena to sign up for some lessons.  The pewter did look nice with all of the shiny skate blades, though I think next time I go I’m leaving this bag at home.  It looked much too dangerous for a lovely bag like this.

Next up was a lunch, it’s becoming habit for me to cover up my bag with my jacket when there is a food danger around.  I don’t want anything to happen to one of my beautiful Belen Echandia bags.

After a very filling lunch of eggplant parmigiana, we went to Dicks Sporting Goods so I could buy a tool to help me lace skates.  Last time I tried to lace my skates, my fingers hurt for days.  This small, inexpensive tool will save my fingers and help ensure a good fit.  And it fit perfectly in my Rock Me Midi.

We were off to Best Buy to browse.  I found a movie I’ve wanted for a while on sale!  Which was great.  After checking out I popped my it into my bag so I didn’t have to worry about it further.

Back to the post office to send the package and finally home!  I really didn’t think about the pewter part of the Rock Me Midi other than to think how nice it looked.  So I really think I’m less scared of the leather.  It’s still very shiny, but I have learned to appreciate it.

…
I’m very happy I took the wonderful advice and went for it. Some final pictures from my learning experience