Hey everyone.
So, you don’t know this about me yet, but I have an intense packing problem. I suffer from “But what if I have dinner with the Queen” syndrome. What does this mean? Basically, I consider every single possible thing that could happen while I am away from the majority of my things and I pack accordingly. Usually this just means that I pack more clothes and shoes than I will ever need or wear. Mostly because half of them are “Well what if we go out every night?” clothing options.
The sad thing, of course, is that with some tweaking, I can make just about any outfit bar/night life appropriate, and especially since I graduated from “I must wear as little as possible to impress the boys” status (also, there is only one gentleman I’m intending to see).
Anyway, since there’s only one man I deem important on this trip, I think my beauty regiment is taking up the space my clothing would in any other situation. The problem with that, of course, is that all liquid needs to be confined to a one quart sized bag…
Regardless of that, I have started a packing list, which I won’t show you all of, but I will show you all some of it to highlight places where I can see “potential dinner with the Queen” syndrome rearing its ugly head.
Section: Eyeshadow
Things desiring packing: “Brown” (I noted that it’s in the same container as my blush, to convince myself I could bring more eyeshadow, possibly), “gold”, “white”, “purple?”, “pink?”
Do you see those question marks after my choices? That right there is my subconscious trying to tell me that I might not need that many colors of eyeshadow. Unless I can find more where everything is all together, then maybe. But actually, makeup is pretty good at squishing, so I could probably handle it in a makeup bag, which I have a few to choose from.
I did tell myself the exact number of cotton balls, bobby pins, headbands, and hair ties I would need, so I feel a bit accomplished in that respect.
Shoes…. I actually narrowed it down to my snow boots (which I would wear on the plane), suede boots (which I might not even wear if it snows the entire time), flats (a dressy non-boot/non-heel option), and heels. Only four pair of shoes is a huge improvement, I think. When I used to go home for thanksgiving vacation in college, I would always convince myself that I needed three of my favorite pairs of heels, plus a more conservative style heel. You know, in case we went out every night… We never did. You would have thought I would learn this in four years, but no. And those are just the heels I decided to pack. I also included two or three pairs of flats, two pairs of boots, and tennis shoes. I haven’t included tennis shoes in the list this time because I don’t think we would go to a gym or anything, but I have another potential item to discuss with Shawn… (Potential dinner with the Queen is rearing its head in this blog post as we speak.)
I have a lot of undergarments listed, but I think undergarments squish most out of all possible clothing types. Plus they’re better left worn once for sanitary purposes.
I have elected, however, to bring three sweaters (one I plan on wearing on the plane), one cardigan, two sweatshirts (one’s for sleeping and one I will wear on the plane over my sweater, so help me… or that’s what I try to tell myself), a long sleeve shirt (I’ve convinced myself I will somehow wear it under my sweater/sweatshirt), and a coat (which I also plan on wearing on the plane). Knowing my luck, I will dress myself up like a marshmallow to avoid over-packing and both my hometown and my destination will sport fifty degree days. At least, if nothing else, I’m strongly considering a red-eye so I don’t spend my entire day traveling–so, at the very least, when I leave my hometown, it will be cold.
I have four pair of jeans intended for my packing list and two pairs of leggings. While typing this, though, I realized that I could put on leggings under my jeans and wear one pair of each on the plane.
So, as you can see, there’s a little bit of over-packing going on here. You’ve probably figured out by now that I plan on traveling with only carry-on items. As I could definitely get all of this to fit in a checked suitcase, no problem. You ask how, but it’s probably best that I don’t attempt to recreate my suitcase (sometimes suitcases) home for breaks. You’ll thank me later.
Anyway, this brings me to the introduction of our new feature here, “Try It and You May Like It.” Basically, I try things that I’m curious about, or you may be curious about, and I share my opinions. This whole packing thing is leading me to believe that a space vac bag may be a strong contender. A suitcase-sized one is only ten dollars and, if nothing else, it might be nice for drawer storage if it doesn’t work out for the luggage use.
Anyway, I’m about to run a test packing here in the next few days, so maybe a space bag might end up being unnecessary. Of course, while packing I’ll probably think of something else that belongs on the ever-growing list of things we do not really need, you know, like I did up there with tennis shoes.
Anyway, look forward to it!
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