Successful Vacation Packing
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My recent summer vacation to Nashville was my most successful packing experience yet. I wore virtually everything I took on this four day pleasure trip, and got everything into one manageable carryon bag. (The shopping I did while I was there created problems of its own, but that's another story.)
Packing List
- loose black jersey pants (Ann Taylor)
- short, side-slit black jersey skirt (Ann Taylor)
- khaki beach shorts (Gap)
- jeans (Gap)
- black tank top with drawstring shoulders (Nine West)
- white V-neck tank top (White House, Black Market)
- white long-sleeved T-shirt (Banana Republic)
- white short-sleeved T-shirt (Banana Republic)
- black jersey 3/4 sleeve boatneck top (Ann Taylor)
- red jersey 3/4 sleeve boatneck top (Ann Taylor)
- pink short-sleeved turtleneck (Banana Republic)
- black cotton ribbed V-neck sweater (Gap)
- black leather belt (Kenneth Cole)
- black high-heeled strappy sandals (Franco Sarto)
- black low-heeled strappy sandals (Franco Sarto)
- white tennis shoes (Hanes Her Way)
Outfits by Occasion
Friday Afternoon: Traveling
White long-sleeved tank top, black V-neck sweater, jeans, Kenneth Cole belt, tennis shoes. This is a typical travel outfit; I focused on wearing the heaviest items instead of packing them. The outfit worked great, other than the fact I had the sweater tied over my shoulders, and they made me take it off and send it through the X-ray machine separately. Whatever. Oh, and they still didn't find the Swiss Army knife in my carryon bag. Nice. I was cool enough on the ground and warm enough on the airplane, and still felt reasonably polished.
Friday Night: Dinner, Dancing, Barhopping
Black drawstring sleeve tank top, short black skirt, black high-heeled sandals. This outfit was great, because it was dressy enough for dinner and the shoes were very sexy, but still comfortable enough for walking from club to club and dancing. We were out on Second Avenue, which is the happening night spot in Nashville--a live band in every bar, and plenty of people out and about. I came home with five phone numbers that night, so I must have done something right.
Saturday Afternoon: Touring the Country Music Hall of Fame
White short-sleeved T-shirt, Gap shorts, black belt, black low-heeled sandals. I was a little hung over Saturday (feature that), and so wanted something comfortable. Nashville was very hot, but not too humid. I wore this outfit and was quite comfortable. The sandals are broken in enough that I can walk extensively in them, but they still look great.
Saturday Night: Grand Ole Opry, dinner at the Opryland Hotel
White V-neck tank top, loose black pants, black high-heeled sandals. I might have been a little overdressed for the occasion, but I felt great and cool and comfortable, and also was dressed well for our very nice dinner. We talked about heading back down to Second Avenue to hear some more music, but ultimately decided we were too tired (it was midnight before we were done with dinner).
Sunday Afternoon: Brunch, touring Belle Meade plantation
White long-sleeved T-shirt, khaki shorts, low-heeled sandals, Kenneth Cole belt. We had brunch at the plantation before the tour, and though it was a pretty warm day, I was comfortable even through the extensive walking around we did on the tour. Afterwards, we walked down the street to Starbucks and then back to the hotel.
Sunday Evening: dinner at Sunset Grill, clubbing on Second Avenue
Red boatneck top, black skirt, black high-heeled sandals. Again this outfit was great, very comfortable and relaxed but elegant. The clubs were pretty quiet that night, but the band we saw was great, and one of the guys from Friday night (the cutest and most intriguing one) met us out and we hung out with him. Great night. Successful outfit.
Monday: Brunch, shopping, travel
White short-sleeved T-shirt, jeans, Kenneth Cole belt, tennis shoes, black sweater over shoulders. Since we had to pack and check out of the hotel before noon and still had a full day to spend, it was back to the travel outfit for the day. It worked well other than going shoe shopping with lace up shoes on (never fun--too hard to try on shoes!). This day turned into a marathon travel day that extended into Tuesday, so it's a good thing I was comfortable.
Tuesday: Continued unscheduled travel
My flight was delayed and then I was rerouted through Atlanta, so my 40 minute flight home turned into a 16 hour travel gauntlet, which was broken up by a nice if unscheduled overnight visit with my friend Blair in Atlanta. I wore the black tunic top, my now very grubby jeans, my white tennis shoes, and what was left of my attitude. Oh, and security in Atlanta finally nabbed my Swiss Army knife. Seven security checks, three bag searches, five airports. Nice to know, isn't it?