pack like a pro

Our Rome-to-Venice train tickets arrived via UPS the other day. RailEurope includes all sorts of good information with the tickets, like buying a phone card, using your cell phone overseas, and a TravelSmith catalog in case you need to buy some no-wrinkle clothes for the trip.

In flipping through the catalog, I came across one of their many travel tips entitled "Pack Like a Pro."

I am not a pro packer. I always start out with good intentions but it quickly gets messy. I remind myself constantly of that travel wisdom: pack what you think you need, then take out half; but invariably I go with my own travel wisdom: pack what you think you need, then add half more again, just in case.

There is never an emergency and the "just in case" clothes remain unused.

TravelSmith gives the following list if your trip is less than 1 week:
- 1 shirt per day
- 1 lightweight jacket and/or layering sweater
- 1 skirt or pants for every 2 days
- no more than 2 pairs of shoes
- 1 pair of underwear for every day
- 1 raincoat

Never mind that I rented apartments in Rome and Venice with washing machines, specifically so that we could do laundry along the way. Never mind that the cruise ship has laundry facilities.

My packing list for a trip of less than 1 week would look sort of like this:
- 1 daytime shirt per day
- At least 2 layering sweaters that will color-coordinate with any outfit
- 1 skirt or pants per day
- 1 nighttime outfit for every 2 days (or maybe every 3 days if I push it and the outfit doesn't smell like the restaurant in which it was worn, smoke, etc)
- at least 2 pairs of shoes, maybe 3
- 2 pairs of underwear per day
- umbrella

Now that doesn't even include pajamas, socks in case my feet get cold at night, swimsuits (for ship purposes), etc. And that doesn't take into account the fact that we're traveling for two weeks. (Note to self: you will have laundry facilities along the way.)

This packing would be much easier if I wore black all the time. I could rule out at least one color-coordinating layering sweater at a minimum. And black shows less dirt so maybe I could go for one skirt or pants per every 2 days.

But who wants to wear black every day, all day, especially in the summer?

The other issue is that dressing in Europe, and Italia in particular, is far more imposing than my normal get-up. I mean, I know Isabeli Fontana and I both were Gap, but she could pull Gap clothes off in Rome, whereas I will look like a frumpy, dumpy American that fell off the turnip truck on the streets of Rome.

I am making a concerted effort to look polished on this trip. And that means I'm wasting a lot of brain cells on my packing. But I think - besides overpacking which will surely happen - I'm getting there. I'm only taking one pair of shorts (to be worn only on the ship and not on the streets of any European city) and a lot of cute linen dresses (that have loose waists for maximum comfort during our stuff-your-face marathons). I might even be able to get it down to one layering sweater.

On second thought, maybe I should underpack. I always tell myself I can just buy whatever I need when I get there if I forget something (but of course, with my overpacking, I never have the need to buy anything). If I "forget" a few essentials, think of the possibilities!! I could make new friends who go by such names as Fendi and Gucci, Armani and Prada. Throw in some Versace and my wardrobe could be complete. After all, "when in Rome"...

a Zaxby's run

Today I was kicked out of my rental house so the real estate agent could participate in a "progressive lunch" open house for other real estate agents to see the house. Don't even get me started on the complete annoyance of living in a rental house that's up for sale. That is best left for another post.

I ran some errands to buy some stuff we need for our Italy trip. Did I mention we're going to Italy shortly? That's also best left for another post.

I had to be out of the house between 11am and 1pm so I stopped by Zaxby's for their new Roadhouse Salad, which I can't recommend enough.

I got in line behind an older woman who was ordering for herself and her ancient mother who was waiting in the booth. Her mother wanted wings, but apparently "cannot eat even the teeniest, tiniest bit of spicy, so I need to know what is the very mildest sauce you have."

The cash register lady said "well we have "mild" which I'd say is our mildest."

That seemed entirely logical to me.

The woman didn't think so. "Are you sure there's no spice at all in that? Because I think she had that once and it might have been too spicy for her."

The very patient cash register lady then suggested that maybe her mother would like teriyaki or honey sesame on the wings as they really weren't spicy at all and had an entirely different flavor to normal "spicy" wings.

The woman decided that honey sesame wings would be a good choice.

Oh, and her mother also wanted an order of the spicy fried mushrooms.

To the cash register lady's credit, she did not point out the incongruity in the order. Or laugh. Which gave me great respect for her.

quote of the day

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." Diane Ackerman

we're gonna gain weight

Mac announced to me the other day that "we're gonna gain weight in Italy from eating all that spaghetti and pizza and gelato".

Budget Travel is my most favorite travel magazine to read, and this month they fortuitously featured "eating like a local in Rome". They chose 5 restaurants and picked a best dish at each one. The best dishes are as follows:

1. Rigatoni cacio e pepe: rigatoni drizzled in olive oil, with black pepper and a small mountain of freshly grated pecorino cheese
2. Tagliolini al tartufo: a bowl of fresh pasta topped with a generous helping of rich black truffles from Abruzzi or Umbria and a touch of olive oil
3. Pasta alla mafiosa: heaping bowl of rigatoni corti tossed with tomato sauce, eggplant, and creamy ricotta
4. Spaghetti alla gricia: a bowl of warm spaghetti piled high with freshly grated pecorino cheese, cracked black pepper and several chunks of salty, perfectly fatty pancetta
5. Rigatoni all'Amatriciana: rigatoni with mildly spicy tomato sauce with pancetta

Um. Yes.

To all of them.

I will have the elastic waistbands packed.

a weekend at the beach

Mac and I spent this weekend at the beach with Caroline, Willie, and Isabel (aka my future D-I-L). It was a relaxing and perfect escape from real life - great friends, great food, great fellowship. I, for one, could have stayed forever.




For the blessings of good friends, Lord, make us truly thankful.

life is precious

In March I posted about the father of a boy on Mac's baseball team who was fighting brain cancer. Sadly, Jim lost that battle on Tuesday. He was 36 and married to a fantastic, compassionate, STRONG woman for 10 years with whom he shared two young boys.

Fight everyday for healthy relationships in your life and for your own good health. Every other blessing is icing on the already sweet, rich cake.

Life is so precious and there are no guarantees.

a very fun television debut!

the boys goofing around before they go live

Nick Salvucci, aka my "in" (on the left, not sitting), explaining how all that computer/sound equipment works

Port City Live anchor Matt Bise multitasking with the boys watching

Matt Bise is really funny - and he was so good in his interaction with the boys