Packing Light: Ten Days in England

We are leaving for England Friday, granted that the stupid ash cloud doesn't shut us down. This trip has been a life-time in the making. I have wanted to go to England for as long as I can remember - my academic career has been devoted to British literature, and I probably know as much (if not more) British history than American. I have no doubt idealized England as a mythical fairy land - the land of Stonehenge, King Arthur, Victoria, and Jane Austen. But I am going!


I posted earlier (months ago, I think) that I was looking for a trench coat to take. After much searching, debating, and considering, I landed on the Travex jacket from Eddie Bauer. It is light-weight and waterproof, and has pockets everywhere. The sleeves can be buckled up. It is belted and can be packed up in a small space. It is not a classic trench - it has a more military/safari look to it, but I rather love it. It's perfect for England in May.

Here are the contents of my bag. We have decided to do carry-only, and I am determined to pack light - I don't want to stick out as a clueless tourist and I don't want to lug forty pounds between train stations and hotels. So here is what I am taking: one pair of jeans (Gap Curvy, boot cut), one pair of gray cords (Aeropostale, straight cut), long-sleeve light pink cotton/cashmere sweater (Fair Indigo), 3/4 sleeve coral cotton sweater (Gap), long sleeve white T-shirt (Target), white camisole (Gap), black button cotton/cashmere cardigan (Gap), black track pants and pink camisole for sleeping in, brown Mary Jane walking shoes (Skechers), black flip-flops, scarf. Also pictured: liquid toiletries in Ziploc bag and non-liquid toiletries in pink bag.

I believe that these can be easily layered, they all coordinate (pink, white, and black), and they are light-weight, but warm. The scarf is great. It is a wide retangle that can be worn around my neck or as a shawl and can also be used as a blanket on the plane. I am bringing the track pants instead of pajama pants so that they can be worn out if need be.

Here are the contents of my purse. I have had my Ameribag for several years and it is great for travel. It is not the most stylish-looking bag, but it is designed to feel lighter and it has tons of pockets for everything. Top row: Totes umbrella (tiny folded up, but expands to full size), Fodor's England 2010 (this is the heaviest item I am taking, but I can't bear to tear it up and I can't leave it behind and I need too much out of it to make copies), travel journal (Moleskine cahier), pen and pencil. Bottom row: wallet (Vera Bradley - very cool design with wrist strap so it can be carried on it's own) with cell phone, camera (just the case, since I was using the camera at the moment - my trusty old point and shoot, Olympus FE110), passport, reading material - Diana Gabaldon's Drums of Autumn. This was a point of some consideration - I needed something long enough to last the whole trip, interesting, but not too fluffy. Gabaldon's fourth installment in the Outlander series should be just the thing. Sunglasses (Armani Exchange for $20 at Ross - I love that store!) and their case.

Here is everything packed up. One carry-on (my Nine-West valise, also from Ross) and one purse. The carry-on is actually only about 2/3 full, so I should have room for some souvenirs.

I actually love planning what to pack, and this trip was thoroughly researched. Of particular use was One Bag, a website with an exhaustively annotated packing list - it is really geared for more tropical, exotic travel, but also worked for thinking about the England trip. I also love the articles that Harper's Bazaar includes about how to pack. Of course, those trips are super-luxurious (heli-skiing!?) and include suggestions for thousand dollar zebra striped Kate Moss bags, but it helps me get in the mind-set of super-chic, jet-setting luxury. Here is an article in their latest issue: Packing Like a Pro: Tips for Travelling Light but Fashionably. I also just like to see what people carry around with them. The Flickr group What's in Your Bag is voyeuristic fun.

Mother's Day

Yummy rhubarb upside-down cake - possibly a new favorite; tart and sweet at the same time.

Irises are one of my (and my momma's) favorite flowers and these in my parents' front yard are especially pretty white and purple bearded specimens.

My little sister is going to be a momma soon herself. Happy Mother's Day mommas and mommas-to-be!

A Baby Shower

My sister's baby shower finally took place, after several months of planning. This was the first time I hosted an event like this myself, although, of course and as always, it was definitely a group effort. I made cupcakes, complete with molded-cany baby booties that involved painstakingly painting on blue details with frosting. The cupcakes were from a mix and the icing was store-bought. My sister has a sever dairy allergy, and, ironically enough, it is easier to find processed food items that contain no dairy than it is to make things from scratch sometimes. I also fixed the vegetable tray and a tray with pickles (of course, the pregnant girl's request), crackers, cheese, and hummus (this was my family's first introduction to hummus, and I don't think they were impressed). My mom (with my sister and myself acting as sous chefs) made chicken salad in filo cups, a spinach dip in Hawaiian bread bowl (yum), a cheese ball, cocktail sausages, and a cranberry punch. My aunt made bead salad (yum) and fruit salsa with cream cheese dip and cinammon-sugar tortilla chips (super yum).

Altogether, there was plenty of food (although, I'll remember to buy more cheese next time) and every one seemed to enjoy it. I was especially pleased with the decorations. I found kits by Martha Stewart at T.J. Maxx for $5 each to make the tissue paper bouquet and the yellow pom-poms (the kit had eight, but I only did two). I had also found a banner that spelled out "Congratulations" and one that said "It's a boy!" I even used a bit from the bouquet kit to make Rox a corsage.

Everything went smoothly and we all had a great time oohing and ahhing over the bitty baby clothes. We really can't wait for Lucas to get here. And there is, of course, no chance that he will be spoiled rotten ;)

Easter Goodness

I had a great Easter this year. The drawback was not going home to be with my family - we were singing in the choir at church and felt that we should be there. But we still had a great time with friends who joined us for church and then came over for lunch.

We didn't make it to the Sunrise Service and Easter Breakfast at church this year. Instead, we slept in a bit, and got ready. The 10:00 service was great, though. The choir sang four songs and our soloists were amazing, and our pastor delivered an impassioned message about the different responses of Mary, Peter, and John when they saw the empty tomb, asking us to consider our own response. I want to be like John, who saw the empty tomb and believed immediately that Christ was Lord and risen. Peter was fearful and skeptical, and Mary Magdalene, who desparately wanted Jesus to be alive, was so distraught that at first she couldn't recognize Christ. Like John, of course, I have believed and trusted in Christ for salvation, but I am often like Mary, fearful and unable to see Christ at work or recognize the fulfilment of His promises.

Lunch was great - I am afraid the ham got a little dry, but it had a tasty pineapple-brown sugar glaze, and we had roasted veggies (asparagus, carrots, and onions), deviled eggs, macaroni and cheese, and cheesy bread (my friend brought the last two). For dessert, I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, all from scratch. I am always amazed (though I shouldn't be) how much better things made from scratch taste than things out of the can). I ate an embarassing number of cupcakes myself. We dyed Easter Eggs, and then I nursed a migraine (the only other drawback of the day) from the couch, watching Mary Poppins and all but the very end of The Sound of Music. I hadn't seen Mary Poppins in years, although I watched it constantly as a kid, and I had forgotten how good it was. I had never seen The Sound of Music, and I loved it, although I am still going to have to watch it again, so I can see how they escape the Nazis.

All in all, it was a good day.

The Best Notebooks Ever

Moleskine Cahiers, purchased at Barnes and Noble, they come three in a pack. I use one for writing ideas, one for craft ideas, one for Bible-study notes, and one will be my travel journal in England. I like the plain, paper-bag-colored covers, but wanted to personalize them a bit. I founf acrylic stamps on clearance at Target and splurged on stamp markers at Michaels. Et, voila! Personalized, monogrammed journals. A fun project while I watched Chocolat the other night. (By the way, TJ Maxx has good deals on movies - I got Chocolat and Gosford Park for $5 each.

What I've Been Working On

More baby crochet! This was my first attempt at amigurumi, and I think it turned out so cute. Jordan and I have been joking about adopting this little fox as a pet instead of giving him to the nephew. He wasn't too hard to make, and I liked that I could use scrap yarn instead of buying new.

I think the tail is the cutest! I embroidered baby's initials for a special touch. You know, I love a monogram - apparently on pretty much anything!

Lucas also needed a hat to wear home from the hospital, so I made this, my first attempt at cabling. I love cable-knit (almost as much a monograms) and this was actually pretty easy. I don't knit as much as I crochet because knitting is harder and slower, but baby items are so small that it's quite gratifying to do something tricky because you can be done fairly quickly. I am afraid that this may be a bit too big at first (Jordan has joked that it's so long he'll be able to keep his eye warm), but hopefully I'm underestimating newborn baby heads =) Anyway, I think this will be the last baby crochet for a while. There are a couple more amigurumi I want to try, and then all the little sweaters are actually for 6-12 months, so I'll wait a bit on those.

Monet Sweater

Here is my latest crochet project completed. I am beginning to feel pretty good about how quickly I can get a sweater done now. What once would have taken several months, I can now do in a couple of weeks. I am rather pleased with the results, although I thought about scrapping the project in the beginning. The pattern would not come out to the right measurements, so I had to adjust to make it work. However, once I figured out what adjustments to make, things went pretty well.

I really, really, really love the colors. They remind me of the colors in Monet's waterlilly paintings, which is why I am calling this the Monet Sweater. The main color is that pretty jade and it is shot through with purple and pink and white and yellow and blue. So, so pretty. Thanks a ton to Natalie for gifting me her stash.

I'm not sure about these buttons. I like the kind of Art Nouveau style (my latest obsession), but I think the buttons should be bigger (these were in my stash). The pattern calls for 1.5 inch buttons, and these are on 7/8.

Anyway, I am very happy with my latest creation, and hope to later make a dress to match. I haven't done any large-scale sewing in a few years, so that will be an interesting endeavor.