In my elementary school days, I was super fly. Check out the following photo, circa 1998 or so, if you don’t believe me:

Child of the 90s fo' sho'.

Aww yeahhh. Purple velour shirt? Check. Bell-bottom overalls with sweet flocked designs? Check. Awesome giant denim pouch key chain that probably held a Tomagotchi or a Giga Pet? Total check. The 90s were an era of classic, timeless styles, and I totally rocked them, as you can see. What you can’t see, however, is my lunch box. Lunch boxes were a key element of my grade school experience; I loved choosing a new one every year. I remember a pale green one I particularly liked; it might’ve featured the Little Mermaid or maybe the Lion King. Either way, it was awesome, in all its rigid, plastic, boxy glory.

In high school, I became too cool for childish lunch boxes. Instead, I re-used paper bags or brought one of those boring adult-like lunch bags. If you don’t believe how cool I was, check out this photo:

Geekery.

Oh yes. My high school days pretty much centered around Lord of the Rings – reading the books, watching the movies, going to midnight shows, obsessing over various cast members, hosting Academy Award parties, sewing costumes… those were the days. Believe me, if I’d found a LotR lunch box, resplendent with an image of Aragorn or Legolas, I would’ve cast aside my lunch box snubbing in a hot minute. But I didn’t, and instead I used boring, plain-colored lunch totes. Snore.

Now I’m all grown up and working at a big-girl job, and I usually bring my own lunch to work. For many months, I’ve been putting my food into a small tote bag or cramming it into a purse, all the while complaining that I needed a lunch box and risking horrible purse-spillage disasters.

Apparently complaining pays off, because my dear boyfriend found the most adorable lunch box for me recently. With it, I have come full circle and returned (or, perhaps, regressed) to my childhood love of lunch boxes. Check it out:

Love!

Isn’t it just precious?! Luc is so cute! Those stripes are so whimsical! And it almost always fits all the food I want to bring to work! On this particular day, I brought an Eggless Salad sandwich, cherries, and watermelon. Nom nom summer fruit!

Do you pack a lunch? What’s your strategy for lunch-making? I’m a big fan of planned leftovers, whether they’re the kind I eat the next day or the kind I freeze and eat a month later. It’s economical and healthy, not to mention environmentally friendly when I pack it my sweet new lunch box – no brown paper bags for me!