Those who know me are well aware of my passion for Italian leather handbags. The mere sight of a sleek, supple Gucci, Versace or Fendi gets my heart pounding in a fine leather–induced frenzy. Most of the time, I’m content to simply lust after a bag and then walk regretfully away. But sometimes I see a special bag that imprints in my memory and makes me long for it. Day after day. After day. So, I decided to write about the one that stole my soul: the Dolce & Gabbana Yellow Lemon Print Shopper.

When I first saw the lemon shopper, I had written a grand total of four chapters of my recently published romantic mystery novel, Limoncello Yellow. Because I’m prone to seeing symbolism in the most mundane of objects—and particularly when I want to rationalize spending outrageous sums of money on said objects—I was immediately convinced that the bag’s lemon theme and the D and G label were sure signs that I would finish the remaining twenty-one chapters of my book and get it published. I mean, Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur and D and G are my son’s and husband’s initials. What surer signs could there be?

But here’s the hitch: The symbolism of the lemon shopper would only apply to me if I bought it and made it mine. But I couldn’t. I was at the Leonardo Da Vinci airport waiting to leave my beloved Italy, where I’d just dropped the GDP of a small country on food, wine, clothes and a crapload of books. So I had to leave the bright little bag behind (with my sunny lemon symbolism written all over it) for someone else to buy. As the plane sped down the runway, I was almost certain that I had just doomed my book to an untimely demise.

Obviously, I finished Limoncello Yellow and got it published. And I did it all without the lemon shopper. Nevertheless, I’m still convinced that I need the bag, if for no other reason than as a reward for my achievement. But guess what? It’s no longer for sale! So I have nothing to mark the occasion of publishing my book—unless, of course, you count the book itself. And I do, but it sure would be nice to have a lemon-adorned bag to carry my book in, don’t you agree? So if you see the D&G Yellow Lemon Print Shopper on your travels, please let me know. That bag and I were meant to be together. Forever.