the patented weekend packing guide!

As so many of my fine friends asked where my suitcase was this weekend and just looked at me like I was nuts as I pointed to my bright blue bag and said, "Well, this is it!" --- here's how I was able to make it work.

-Weekender bag (from H&M for $5 two years ago; I loved the color!)

-Envirosax bag that easily rolls up and adds more space just in case there happens to be an unplanned shopping trip, or to carry wine, bread, and cheese to a picnic

-magazines to read while waiting for my plane and then leave in the airport

-toiletries; small bottles since I'm carrying things on to the plane; I brought shampoo, facewash, lotion, toothbrush, toothpaste, some extra hair bands, and dental floss.

-Sigg water bottle (the small one); hydration is key on planes and on vacations

-Sunscreen. SPF 55 for my fair Irish face.

-One dress (it's white with green ovals on it and a brown belt)

-One navy blue skirt

-Two shirts (one cotton, one viscose; nice since they don't wrinkle too badly)

-Two camisoles for modesty-based layering

-Gray cardigan

Note on clothes: I usually think about what I'll be doing on a vacation or weekend while I'm gone, and go from there. This weekend had a bit of walking, but no fancy events, so I went for two casual summer shoes; one open toe, one closed toe. From there you think, okay, so what shoes do I have that are comfy and open vs. closed toe? I have had a really hard time finding sandals that fit my unfortunate sausage feet, so flip flops it is. And then most of my flats are not so comfortable for super long 3 miles plus of walking. So--the Toms shoes it is. I can chose brown or black flip flops, and then my Toms are red. So, to figure out things that go with them, I pick one bottom, one dress (since I love dresses) and then two different tops that jive with red shoes. Piece of cake. Things get harder (much harder) when I'm going home for two weeks around Christmas and it's freezing and I have a New Year's party to attend, or a family thing to go to, or I'm going sledding---so I can't always pack this light. But when I do, it's great!

-Flip flops

-Toms shoes; super comfy and perfect for the plane rides and walking to and from the T and the airport, if nothing else...my feet always get cold

-Plastic bag (gallon size) for shoes. This is great since it doesn't get the rest of your stuff dirty from anything on the ground, and it's an extra bag in case they get wet.

-Nude bike shorts (ok so here's the deal. I hate shorts. HATE shorts. Ugh. Which means that I wear skirts and dresses all summer long...which means that I had to come up with a way to be modest enough when sitting on a picnic blanket without flashing half the world. Hence, nude bike shorts. You can also wear normal black ones, but they sometimes show more obviously through the dress)

-Oak leaf hammered silver necklace (from here)


-Green peridot choker from my grandmother

-Wallet (gotta remember that ID!)

-Boarding pass

-a few sheets of blank paper and a pen...just in case you need it for something

-Bottle of tylenol which contains a rudimentary first aid kit. For me, that means a few tylenol, some ibprofen, a couple bandaids. But if you're the person that is lactose intolerant, obviously you'd need to add lactaid...it's very customizable.

-2 granola bars (=emergency rations)

-four cough drops--one for each flight to suck on

-pajama shirt and jersey skirt (lightweight, squishable, and no one cares if your pjs are wrinkly)

-camera with rechargeable batteries

-phone and phone charger

Ta-da! Everything fits, and it weighs less than the bag I normally carry to school with my laptop. Perfect.

Now, if it was winter, this would be a lot harder due to the actual puffiness and/or general size of winter clothes. But you can still plan things the same way. Another issue was a small gift to bring to my hosts...I had planned to fill up my envirosax bag with lots of puppy chow, but the dilation of my eyes got in my way (I was walking around like an impaled cyclops the night before I left, and couldn't really do anything. I couldn't trust myself with the oven, that's for sure).