Packing for Paris (and Italy)

Long in advance of any travel,

the issue of wardrobe rears her chic little head 

and wonders about 

what to make,

what to take,

what to wear, 

what to pack?

Cute eh? Not what I'm taking tho...

Auditioning outfits/pieces/layers is key.

Sometimes I discover that a new favorite piece

looks less attractive than I'd imagined.

(Big sigh.)

This is probably one of the reasons

I fall back on black.

It always works.

BOTTOMS

Five pairs of black pants

in varying shades & lengths made the cut.
(Working from the bottom up in the photo)

Faded black NYDJ jeans

and a crinkled black dressier slim pant (purchased);

foolproof ponte slim pant for the plane;

cropped version in a lightweight stretch woven;

cropped pant again in a stripe stretch denim

(two are Marcy's V8859 and one is my B5961 both fabulous pants).

Having all black bottoms keeps things simple.

TOPS 

Butterick 5925

I'm liking the way this tunic/top fits so well 

that I'm taking 3 versions of it 

(view C with no pockets, super simple to sew).

 

cuff detail on black/white dotty B5925

B5925 in blue/black stripe

All the tops I'm packing are black or have black in them.

Not very spring like I know but it's what works.

Practical too.

Not shown is a black one...

ACCESSORIZE

 

It is so very French to wear scarves

and I love the hit of color around my neck. 

Funnily enough all the scarves I'm taking 

are French...

Shown here with my sweater and a couple of jacket/shirts,

(finally some color you say!),

all the scarves fit neatly into a neck pillow cover

to use on the plane for napping. 

Oddly enough the pillow cover is black...

FINAL PACKING

Cubes, a Walker bag and a hat

Packing cubes are a favorite thing from Eagle Creek.

So lightweight and they help keep everything organized.

The white one at lower center

holds all my tunics, shirts and shirt/jackets (10 pieces).

Moving clockwise, the black Walker bag holds 3 vests

(can't show as they are prototypes).

Orange cube has the pants and a sweater.

White cube holds socks.

The hat will hold its shape 

because it is stuffed with some unmentionables

and the orange cube holds some more.

 

In addition I'm bringing a raincoat, umbrella,

a black jacket similar to B5994,

 4 pairs of shoes --

two boot-like and two sandals.

Hoping for some warm weather!

 

I'll be in Paris, Rome and Tuscany.

More to come...

 

I do appreciate my life!

Going Crackers

 My versions of Elana's crackers. I like the lighter variety, Marcy prefers her's crispy.

Eliminating wheat products

is tricky when it's soup weather

and one love crackers with her soup.

Since discovering this wonderful recipe

on Elana's Pantry

I've been dazzling friends with tales and tastes

of my cool crackers

(which go perfectly with Marcy's delish soups). 

Follow this link to get to the super simple recipe.

In browsing Elana's wonderful website I know

I will be trying more healthy treats.

She really knows her stuff and how to keep it simple.

I like that especially.

 

Elana's Pantry's version

 

I've been trying some Tilton variations

with great success:

- add a bit of butter (about 1 tsp in small pieces, yum)

- add some chopped fresh rosemary (yum, yum)

- substitute cashew meal (yum)

 

Bob's Red Mill makes a lovely almond meal/flour.

One bag makes 2 batches of crackers.

They also have many other meal/flours 

that might make cool crackers.

(More playing with food!)

I also found cashew meal and almond meal

at Trader Joe's in the nut section.

So far the crackers have been a big success

alone, with or without soup,

with a bit of cheese,

and with a dollop of salmon salad and a pea shoot sprig.

 

Yum.