Packing Review

I just got back from my trip to FLORIDA yay! It was a ton of fun, but that's not the point of this blog, is it? Alright, let's go over what I packed and what worked. Even though I have been traveling extensively over the past four years, I still am not a master packer.







































































































Champion Tennis Shoes (free, from an end-0f-the-year donation pile)
Sandals: From Goodwill
Bikini: Roxy via Ross
Sunglasses: Juicy Couture via Garage Sale (2$ woot!)
White Shirt: Express via Goodwill Outlet
Grey Shirt: H&M via Goodwill Outlet
Shorts: Abercrombie via Plato's Closet
Dress: F21

Plus my traveling clothes:
Dress: F21 plus a slip I sewed in myself because honestly, why would they sell a dress that is completely transparent? (The slip didn't actually peek out the bottom in real life, this is before it was sewed in place)
Leggings: Target
Scarf: Present


What worked:
Two pairs of shoes. Walking for twelve hours a day will result in hurt feet, no matter how comfy the shoes started out being, so having two pairs to switch between was genius. I packed one pair of tennis shoes that I do wear with shorts and skirts, and one pair of sandals, and I was good to go.

One bikini. Hot weather? Always bring a bikini, even if there are no plans to go in the water (plans always arise!)

Sunglasses! I lived in these.

Shorts. I wore them so much, even under my short dress.

The amount of clothing was just about perfect (although if I hadn't brought so much white stuff/ill fitting clothing, it would have been just a tad too much).



What did not work as well:
One white dress. That is cotton. It wrinkled, got dirty, and because it's F21, the straps ended up busting off. Actually, white clothes in general--my white shirt also got very dirty, plus the light color ended up being sheer when it (inevitably) got wet at the water rides in the theme parks.

Bringing clothing I either have never worn or have not worn in ages. Yes, here in Big City it has been rainy and gloomy, so I jumped at the chance to bust out all the warm-weather clothing that has been languishing in my closet for the past year. I even brought some items that I have never worn. BAD IDEA! This resulted in straps that were too long, straps that easily broke, elastic that pinched, and necklines that were MUCH lower than I had remembered. Please. Don't be dumb like me.

Bringing short dresses but not anything appropriate the wear under them. Next time, spankies, or bicycle shorts, or something!

Recently, as I stated in my last post, I have started maintaining polished nails nearly constantly. Rather than being a pain to keep up, as many friends have questioned, it is a time of relaxation when I paint them and let them dry. However, even beyond looking pretty, I have been painting them constantly because of two other reasons: 1. I bite my nails. I know, it's unattractive, it's bad. I had successfully broken myself of the habit (for about 8 years, so it was a successful break) until last year, when the stress of classwork drove me to biting again. The stress and biting have both continued to this year (damn you, senior thesis! *shakes fist*), but the polish acts as a check and I bite my nails significantly less with the polish on. 2. My nails have been peeling like crazy and the polish helps protect them. Yes, I've done my research--my polish does not contain the formaldehyde or other ingredients that cause peeling.

I actually think the peeling is caused by a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids, which could also be a cause of the brittleness of my hair. Omega-3's are becoming increasingly uncommon in our food, especially as our fat sources are being switched over to synthetic fats and only a few sources of natural fats (which are much more likely to have omega-6's, and trans fats, but not omega-3's). Omega-3 fatty acids are found mainly in fish, walnuts and flaxseed...but as a very poor graduating Uni student, none of those are options for my diet. So I've decided to start eating multivitamins with omega-3 supplements! This will not cost extra, since I already have a box of them sitting around from a gift I got over Christmas. Vitamins as an omega-3 source are not as readily absorbed into the body as natural sources, but better than nothing, right? This is actually a subset of a larger goal, which is USE UP ALL OLD ITEMS BEFORE BUYING NEW. In this case, my new goal is:

Eat 1 packet (yes, my multivitamins come in a packet...they are a pain to take) of multivitamins every other day. Mr. P (Plummy's hubby) says it is not healthy to eat that many vitamins every day, so I will take his advice (especially as Mr. P never gets sick).

Alright, now it's time for a new feature: Goal countup!

Exercise: Ran 1 mile this morning, time-8m45s. Not my best, but felt great afterwords.
Vitamins: Yesterday ate my pack

And a new outfit of the day:















Dress: Forever 21. I am so happy my favorite color (bright orange-red, like a VERY vivid coral--we shall call it vivicoral) is in style this season! Time to stock up, woohoo!
Vest: Forever 21
Leggings: My cut-off tights again
Shoes: Goodwill