Feb
11
2010
Does your Valentine love to travel? Or, do you need an excuse to treat yourself? Here are some treats I love in price order.
Chocolate Walk – We tried to take the famous Paris Chocolate Walk, but our stupid Italian train conductor decided to take a 3 hr coffee break and we missed it. If you happen to be taking the ultimate romantic trip to Paris this Valentines you could sign up for the real thing or invent your own.
Take your sweetie on an adventure of your own, sampling chocolates from the local shops and seeing a little more of your home-town. In Fairbanks, Alaska we have a tiny little downtown, but even that has a smattering of coffee shops and a little chocolate shop called the Fudge Pot.


Lush Travel Shampoo – I wish I had enough of this to use all year round, it makes my hair smell wonderful and takes the place of both shampoo and conditioner liquids when I travel. (Amazon or Lush $9)
This jersey cardigan is just weighty enough to feel like its wrapping me up cozily on a flight. I have one in black which I love as an airplane cover-up, night-time wrap, and scrunchable cardigan which never wrinkles. (Anthropologie $98)

Wanting to capture memories together screams: “I Love You.” Loud and Clear. I used to think that having my phone be my camera, video camera, music player PDA, etc. etc. etc. was great until I realized that once its battery goes dead I can’t do anything. Now I’m looking for small gadgets that do things well. I’m looking at this Flip HD camera for low-tech, high quality video capture of our upcoming trips together. This one captures 120 minutes of HD goodness at a time and dumps onto any device with a USB port. (Amazon $193.94)
no comments | posted in Geek Moments, Shopping
Jan
7
2010

Want to hear something you might consider grody? I haven’t changed my socks in three days. I was so behind on life and laundry that I got to the bottom of the sock drawer and then went to my stash of travel clothes to find socks. This shoebox size tupperware contains my Exofficio underwear and Smart Wool socks. Now the Exofficio underwear belong in the travel box because they are admittedly quite ugly and should really only be used under circumstances where you need quick dry hotel sink friendly clothes, but why oh why have I left these socks in there that long? They are awesome. And while they are overnight dryable after sink washing, they are also WAY oder resistant, and they are plain comfy walking socks. If I don’t need fancy slack socks these would easily replace 3-4 pairs of my normal everyday jeans/casual wear socks and they last forever.
So, I’m now going through my drawer of yoga socks, running socks, hiking socks, life socks, etc. and ruthlessly purging all discolored, holey, or otherwise subpar socks and pulling my Smartwool socks permanently out of storage.
They come in a variety of styles, but my all time favorites is the Smartwool Adrenaline Light Mini Crew Sock which is the perfect combination workout/light-hiking/travel/casual sock. $16 so not cheap, but really does last and really does wick moisture and not stink.
no comments | posted in Shopping, Travel
Dec
8
2009
Our first collaborative post comes to you in the form of this Christmas idea list. Rather than explicit list of stuff that my man wants, he wanted the chance to give generic advice to the internets about how to shop for a guy.
Pamper him in a manly way. Under no circumstances get holiday themed sweaters or things he’ll be expected to use in front of others to show you pamper him (ties, tacky BBQ aprons, etc.). Shaving sets are good because they are explicitly masculine and consumable.
Indulge his inner (nerd, gamer, carpenter, fisher, whatever). This shows you know what he’s actually interested in. This explains the D&D books, dice, cubicle toys and video games going to a grown man.
Emphasize experiences over stuff or at least stuff that inspires experiences. This would explain the canoe, outdoor GPS, free weights and biking shoes. They all play into things he already likes to do and show that I support them.
There are certain things where quality matters. Tools, sports equipment and tech fall under this category. It makes men harder to shop for because when he says I want a drill I get him a drill and then mysteriously he needs another one less than a year later. I learned my lesson and when I bought him a case for his laptop I went out and got one that makes his laptop super secure even if he drops it, rather than just getting him a functional sleeve.
Physical media is dead, but… Guys intrinsically dislike complications and clutter. “Why would anyone need that many shoes? They don’t serve different purposes.” So if you’re going to get books, cds, games, DVDs, Bluray, whatever, make it either consumable (Dilbert calendar, novel to be donated after reading, latest video game) or make it classic (Best of Queen, his favorite can’t miss TV show on DVD, etc.)
2 comments | posted in Army Wife, Shopping
Dec
3
2009
This year my Christmas list includes a heavy dose of three words: comfy, travel, and convenience. My favorites include a cashmere travel blankie, jammies, and city guide Moleskine books. I’ve also been thinking about installing Mac OS on a Dell netbook for awhile. I have also broken down and put an iPhone on my list. The Nokia N95 has been awesome, but the battery life doesn’t make it a camera replacement even though it takes great pictures. I would rather have the apps after using hubby’s iPod touch.
2 comments | posted in Geek Moments, Shopping, Travel
Oct
29
2009
Winter is all about layering for me and nothing layers better than neutrals which all seem to match no matter how many different shades of gray are involved. The latest Anthropology catalog had me wishing I had an excuse to shop.
no comments | posted in Shopping
May
5
2009
Here is my first pass at a packing list for our upcoming trip to Hong Kong and Singapore. I long for uber-cute outfits and tons of accessories, but I know from experience that without the budget of a travelista who is going to have a driver carry her bags and a single hotel to stay at, all that cuteness comes with a price. It weighs you down.
My biggest struggle is to find nice linen or cotton items which layer, don’t cost a ton and sort of color coordinate so I don’t have to bring as much. The expected temperature for the time of year we are going is 85-90F so I also had to call a friends to find out whether sleeveless was appropriate and if I really needed a suit in Singapore, the answer to both was yes.
I have two days of meetings which require a suit and at least one formal dinner to attend all while sink-washing. I did find a nice drip-dry suit, but it is black and tropical wool is really a pain. I opted instead for linen with a lining for the suit, which I will not wash, but just wear for the two days. If packed properly it won’t wrinkle before I wear it. When I get around to actually shopping for the trip I may opt out of packing a jacket for the suit. I picked a pair of linen pants which looked like they wouldn’t wrinkle too badly, but I’m still looking for the perfect pair of travel khakis which are sink-washable, but don’t look like they should zip off at the knees. I also picked a swimsuit which can be worn as a top when used as a seperate.
So here it is, 11 days, 2 countries, and 13 possible outfits for a one bag travelista.
And here it is broken down into outfits. Ocassions covered: formal dinner, business meeting/conference, comfy/cute on the plane, working out in the room, site seeing.
no comments | tags: Asia, Travel | posted in Packing Lists, Shopping, Travel
Apr
23
2009
Tonight I’m off to Florida for a weekend meeting. I have 3 evenings to myself and my hotel is inside Disney World. We’ll see if I can look up a friend who is nearby and spend some time hanging out. Simple weekend trips call for a 4-wheeled rolly bag and a handbag big enough for a few magazines and possibly a laptop. I love this leather bag from Lovegrove & Repucci. It is inexpensive and has a cute detail of the key ring.
Vegetable tanned leather. Red nylon liner, inner zip pocket, magnetized closure. Saintly ring attached to red cord to always keep things close by.
8 3/4″ x 10 3/4″
$49.00, Buy it here.
no comments | posted in Shopping, Travel
Apr
12
2009
I subscribe to Gwyneth Paltrow’s newsletter GOOP. Her surprisingly down to earth newsletter has me watching new movies, trying different workouts and generally thinking that celebrities can be more down to earth than I ever thought possible. Her most recent post was about her Spring looks. While I won’t have the budget to buy a $750 dress from Burberry on a whim, I was inspired by her looks and came up with a couple cheaper looks of my own. These two outfits would be perfect for Spring. I’m hoping the weather will cooperate and allow skirts in the near future. If I hit my 10% weight loss goal before it sells out, this purple dress will be heading my way.
no comments | posted in Shopping
Mar
28
2009
My office is also going to be the craft room and guest room. Currently it is a pile of boxes and miscellaneous items from other rooms. We have guests so rarely that it isn’t worth keeping a bed made up in there full time. I’ve been on the hunt for a nice reading chair which can convert into a sleeper bed and think that this one from Crate and Barrel may do the trick.
no comments | posted in Home Improvement, Shopping, Spring Cure
Mar
25
2009
I doubt we’ll get to working on the Living Room during this Spring Cure, but if we do I’ve got some inspiration rounded up. Of coursem I’ll have to make some of our existing pieces work, even though I would love to get some new ones. I would love to have this gray wing back chair and gray sofa, but I’ll stick to recovering our recliner in gray fabric and taking comfort that our current beige sofa is cozy and can be dressed up pillows. I would like a new media stand, but I could probably paint our current one and just replace the knobs. Hubby likes traditional looking furniture too much to go for my choice of coffee table, but hey its my inspiration board so I’ll post what I like on it. I have made one step towards creating this look by ordering the pattern for the Amy Butler poufs (shown below) and will go fabric shopping this weekend.
no comments | posted in Home Improvement, Shopping, Spring Cure