Vacation Prep Part 3: Better Than a Fannypack

This is my vacation handbag of choice:

A backpack (even a Kate Spade one!) isn't exactly the chicest handbag, but it does the trick for the sake of ease and convenience on most trips.  I'll be carrying it and and my large Lilly Originals Tote on the plane tomorrow filled with some magazines and my Kindle loaded with a couple new books. 

See you in a week!

Vacation Prep Part 2: Most Random Suitcase Item

Perhaps the most random things going in my suitcase this week are Ziploc bags.  Wherever I travel I always take a few various size Ziplocs and I find they come in very handy! 

On weeklong trips where I'm flying to my destination, I'll usually stop into a nearby supermarket upon arrival and buy bottled water, some cans of soda, and some snacks like a big bag of pretzels to keep on hand.  When I'm headed out for the day I'll fill up one of my ziplocs with snacks and be all set for whenever a case of the munchies strikes. 

Even on a short weekend trip, I like to keep a ziploc bag or two with me--I never know when I'm going to stop into a cafe and buy a snack and want to save half for later.

Aside from food storage, I find that things like beaded necklaces, etc. always break at the most inopportune time.  A plastic baggie comes in handy for storing the broken item until I can repair it when I get home.  Or perhaps you want to take a last-minute swim at the hotel pool before catching your flight.  Just pop your wet bikini into a ziploc!  Worried your sunscreen will explode in your suitcase on the plane ride home?  Again, use a ziploc!

What is the most random thing in your suitcase when you travel?

Travel Prep -- Part 1

I’m headed down to Florida for a week’s vacation in the SUNSHINE in a few days.  When it comes to travel, I am a big planner and organizer.  As far as organizing, these are a few of the things I do that go along way towards making my travel go smoothly:

All those important documents--One thing I do before I leave is separate important documents like plane and hotel confirmations into separate envelopes based on when I’ll need them.  For example, when I went to London in the fall I made 3 envelopes: 1 with things I would need the day of travel (flight confirmation, hotel confirmation), a 2nd envelope of things I would need during the trip (Buckingham Palace tickets, museum tickets purchased in advance, etc.), and a 3rd envelope with my airport parking coupon and frequent parker card to leave in the car so it would be ready at the end of the trip.  I've used a travel wallet on a couple trips instead of my envelope system, but because I'm used to carrying a very small wallet usually, I found lugging the big travel wallet everywhere to be kind of a pain.

Itinerary for the trip--I also usually type up some type of basic trip itinerary before any vacation.   For this trip, we’ll be staying at the Universal Resort for a few days and then staying in Disney World.  So this trip’s itinerary includes park hours for each day we’re there, restaurant reservation times and confirmation numbers, concert times (OneRepublic is doing a concert at Universal Studios this Friday night!), and a general estimate of which park we might go to each day we‘re at Disney.

Some trips you don’t really need an itinerary.  Instead, I’ll compile on one page all the names, addresses, and hours of the places I’m thinking of going.  I have a huge 3 page master list for New York City that I keep saved and add to it each time I go.  It has pretty much every store, restaurant, and museum that I’ve been to or might want to go to organized by neighborhood.  It sounds nutty overly organized, but believe me it’s way easier than carrying a guidebook or having to stop and type into Google on your Blackberry!

How do you get organized for a trip?

PAUSE

Pressing the pause button today to think of the disaster in Japan.

http://www.forjapanwithlove.com/

Keep Calm and . . .

How cute is this from The Juice Stand blog?

No matter how stressful your day is, a bit of Lilly brights can make the difference don't you think?

Prince William and Kate--Circa 1912

Right now I'm reading The Golden Prince by Rebecca Dean.  I spotted a clean, crisp copy newly arrived at the library and picked it up by chance.  I'm about halfway through and loving it!

The novel begins in 1913 and centers around Prince Edward of Wales and his chance meeting with the four Houghton sisters--he falls in love with the youngest, but --gasp!--she is not royal but a mere granddaughter of an earl.  What's interesting is that although the book is a work of fiction, Prince Edward did meet and fall in love with youngest daughter of the Duke of Sutherland, a Red Cross nurse, while serving in WWI.

It is hard to believe that just 100 years ago the fact of Prince William marrying a non-royal like Kate Middleton (and likewise Prince Charles and Princess Diana) would have been unheard of!

Calling My Name

This shirt has been calling out to me from the cover of the J Crew catalog:

I'm usually not a fan of a check print like this, but there's something about the pink and creme color combination.  Now if only it would go on sale . . .

Sales Resistance? Definitely Not!

Last week a friend and I attended the Neiman Marcus Fashion Rules Party at their Boston store. It was less of a "party" than we probably expected, but we had fun browsing while sipping a complimentary cocktail.  As is often the case, my friend was the one looking for makeup but I was the one who ended up buying something!--A new Chanel eyeshadow palette.  As soon as a makeup artist sits me down and places that first dust of eyeshadow or dab of lipgloss on my face, I am a goner.  My sales resistance goes completely out the window!  The fact that I made it home with just the eyeshadow and my gift bag of samples was quite a feat.  To be quite honest I had also intended to purchase the eyebase that the makeup artist used, but fortunately(?) they were out of stock!

Snacktime

So I am always trying to think of new snack ideas.  I eat breakfast very early and get into work at 8am or before so I am always in need of a mid-morning snack to keep me going.  I've been trying to stay away from gluten-heavy foods like bagels, muffins, and those yummy and very high calorie Starbucks scones (my tummy and waistline have been thanking me); so I recently made up this snack mix:

2 cups Rice Chex
1 cup Trader Joe's Trek Mix (containing unsalted cashews and almonds and dried cranberries, tart cherries, and pineapples)
1/2 cup lightly salted peanuts
1/2 cup of dark chocolate covered raisins

The result is very, very addictive!! Combined with my morning black tea from Starbucks, I am one happy snacker.