Why? Because you designed them.

Mary -- during a prior corporate life -- often found herself stuck on a long airport line. So this Jersey gal used her time wisely, and polled other female travelers to get their take on the perfect bag.

The results? It would carry a laptop, organize all personal things in a logical way, have a sense of style. And, did we mention it needs to hold a sippy cup and diapers?

Most importantly, the women said, the perfect carry-on would combine business with pleasure and reduce travel time by eliminating the wait at baggage claim.

Mary kept polling women, and began imagining the design. She quit her job, and raised money to start a company making these fashionable uber-organizers.

Pick out any bag you like on Mary’s website and scroll down to look at the features. We challenge you to find a bag with more pockets, zippers, hiding places, and carefully thought about add-ons, like matching holders for personal items, power cords and phones.

We especially like the new Soft Tote, in tan and leather for the spring.

So, shelve your Tumi and buy a Coakley. Help a fellow female entrepreneur? and if you have other suggestions for a bag, let Mary know. Bet she creates a design that matches your idea!

Everything Old Is? We found Mom’s LBD from the ’60s in the closet last week. Basic black, with a simple, chic halter collar -- purchased quickly, she remembers, in a Paris hotel shop for an evening cocktail party.

This vintage hand-me-down bears the label Piernany. It fit! And no one gave it a second look during a recent dress-up evening out.

How cool is it to wear your mother’s dress? You don’t have to pretend you are a grown up anymore!

Besides, all fashion now is vintage. Look at the designer dresses for spring, then check out similar fashions at www.dandelionvintage.com, run by New Jersey’s reigning vintage queen, Carol, from Ocean View. There is an amazing collection of dresses; day and evening, from the forties, fifties, and sixties -- most under $50.

“I've been buying, wearing and hoarding vintage clothing for over 20 years,” she e-mailed us.

Remember when only the quirkiest kids wore vintage clothes? The ones that always rocked to their own beat? Quirky is the new chic.

“My target customer is someone who wants to buy vintage pieces to work into her everyday wardrobe,” Carol wrote. “Customers who want stand-out pieces that no one else will have.” That covers everyone we know!

You can read more about Carol and her style-isms on her blog at dvintage.blogspot.com

We’re taking Mom’s black dress to the cleaners. Gotta be ready for the next grown up party.

It’s the dregs of February! So fight the boredom, and stimulate your brain with some great films, fine art and theatre. Pamper your body -- and focus on your feet!

FILM AS ART?
See the directors of the future at the annual United States Super 8 Film and Digital Video Festival (www.njfilmfest.com), at Rutgers. You’ll reel at the quality and depth of the work.

ART OF PUERTO RICO?
Visions of mi Viejo San Juan, at the Newark Museum, (www.newarkmuseum.org). You’ll enjoy paintings by some of the greatest artists in the island’s history. This includes work from the Museo de Arte de Ponce and rarely seen private collections.

THE RUNAWAY?
What happens when a liberal attorney/mother leaves the city with her family for the “burbs” and is swept away by a mysterious stranger from the dark side of New Jersey’s suburban utopia? Go Where The Sun Never Sets at the Playwrights Theatre in Madison (www.ptnj.org).

THE RUNWAY?
At Neiman Marcus (www.neimanmarcus.com), view the kollecktion -- and take home something elegant and chic from the German designer Rena Lange (www.renalange.com). All day Friday in Short Hills.

PAMPER?
Your weary pregnant body at Edamame Maternity Spa (www.edamamespa.com) in Paramus, where they know what hurts. Your lower back, your hips, your feet -- then stick around for a facial using crushed pearl powder, to get rid of the blotchies and enhance that special pregnancy glow.

TINGLE?
Your tootsies with a reflexology massage. It curls your arches and soothes your soles so the rest of you is de-stressed. The Full Circle Center in Cranbury (www.fullcirclemassage.com) offers up to 90 minutes of blissful thumb walking.

WALK YOUR GREEN THUMB?
To the New Jersey Flower and Garden Show, starting today, and all weekend long at the Convention and Exposition Center (www.njexpocenter.com) in Edison.

DRIVE AWAY?
In one of the hottest little sports cars of 2007. Read the reviews at (www.forbesautos.com/buyersguide/sportscars/2007/01-hottest-sportscars.html). We like the sexy Saturn Sky, (www.saturn.com) for 25k. You’ll have a little cash left over for your other off-road adventures.

You’ve got the dress, and it’s got the neckline. But what to do about the necklace? Ask Yanina (www.yanina-co.com) when you visit her tastefully cloaked jewelry store on Pompton Ave. in Cedar Grove.

While most of us will shop in our stash of real and faux to find just the right look for our Valentine’s date, Yanina’s customers will commission jewelry as art. And her artwork decorates that neckline perfectly.

Yanina -- she prefers we don’t use her last name -- is a personal jeweler to celebrities and wannabes, old money, and the newly anointed, because she has the right bling.

You can select pink, blue, and yellow diamonds, surrounded by white, yellow and rose gold. Ornate settings decorate earrings, drop-dead gorgeous pendants, and elaborate cuffs. Carry it out, or ask for a custom order.

The store is full of extraordinary creations, all made on premises under the supervision of Yanina. It’s jewelry on steroids.

Yanina herself began by working at one of New Jersey’s fast-food diamond marts. But she wanted a showcase for her creativity. And, from import to design and sale, everyone else had a piece of the rock. She figured out that to import, create, and sell in one place was a better business, with better service and happier customers.

Hang around this elegant store for a little while, and you begin to recognize Yanina’s signature; big pieces, with dramatic swirls and spectacular intensity.

So next time, bring your special dress to Yanina and let her pick -- or create -- a perfect necklace or cuff. Remember to keep your clothing simple. It’s all about the diamonds.

Like Anjali’s. (www.anjaliclothing.com). The clothing line is the product of a husband and wife team from Montclair. Julissa Carranza and Kristinn Sigridarson left fashion industry careers in New York City to teach yoga and design these super cool duds, now sold in yoga schools across northern New Jersey.

The cap sleeve shirts, and wide waisted three-quarter length pants have influenced mainstream fashion. Many of us dress like master yogis without as much as uttering a single “ohm.”

Doing Yoga is something else entirely. At Montclair Yoga, (www.yogamandalimontclair.com) an instructor called it “The Harvard of exercize” because you learn about all your muscles. She described the process as ?a conversation with yourself.?

We recently joined a Yoga class for the first time, and had just that conversation with our glutes, abs, quads, and traps. It happened while we stood on our hands in the Downward Facing Dog position (www.yogajournal.com/poses/491_1.cfm). Our muscles were too busy to talk back, but we suspect their answer would be one word: Advil!

Stretching?
Reaching?
Manipulating?
Inhale?
Exhale?

After about a half hour, stiff muscles finally yielded to supple, daily stresses gave way to a meditative mental state.

We were finally worthy of our stylish yoga clothes. Flexed and fit, we headed to Starbuck’s to ease the pain and find nourishment for the journey home.