A Blessed Easter

Palmer is a little stealthy but he said happy Easter.

I introduced him last June and hoped he'd be back this spring.
He is, yay, and it might have been Palm Sunday when I noticed.

 It was another golden day here.

A few more clouds than predicted, a glorious one just the same.

Like Palmer, we stayed close to home.

And hope you had a peaceful Easter.

Tweed Travels

Really well.

It's practically wrinkle proof.

The random texture and colors can hide

a multitude of spills and splatters.

 

Though I risked being a tweed dweeb,

I went matchy-matchy for a business dress occasion.

And got identical "very Chanel" compliments

from very different colleagues.

A pleasant surprise when all I wanted was easy.

 

Here's more help staying wrinkle free:

Put a sweater or two inside your jacket,

including sleeves in the sleeves,

and place folds to the edge of the suitcase

(the center of the suitcase tends to get more weighted down with stuff).

I even used the skirt to cushion the folds of the sweaters

by wrapping them around the skirt à la the pants.

 

Tweedle dee dum.

Both were fine and dandy without a steam or a press.

 

So tell, how do you not rumple when on business travel?

Explain Me This

We gathered all our favorite yarns—super kid mohair, angora, alpaca and wool—and combined them to create this colorful take on graphic Peruvian patterns. For added luxury, the sweater is completely handknit, which gives it a unique pronounced texture and makes it truly one of a kind.

• Wool/alpaca/acrylic in a 3-gauge knit.
• Long sleeves.
• Rib trim at neck, cuffs and hem.
• Hits below hip.
• Dry clean.
• Import.

One of our designers saw this electric tweed at Italy's storied Lanificio Campore mill (known for its world-class woolen fabrics) and knew it was perfect for us—after all, we do have a thing for color (the brighter the better). We love the pom-pom yarns that are woven into the tweed to give it a touch of texture.

• Polyamide/cotton/poly.
• Sits at waist.
• 23 1/2" long.
• Back zip with hook-and-eye closure.
• Lined.
• Dry clean.
• Import.

Why isn't there better correlation between the highlighted things?

Lotsa Luck

I thought the toothpick cord in ribbon bow print the perfect

St. Patrick's Day pants and couldn't wait for March 17 to wear them.

I thought these the perfect St. Patrick's Day shoes.

And this the perfect St. Patrick's Day pin.

 

But gosh darn it, I didn't get my act together in time for a timely post.

Days late and not Irish at all, can I give an Irish blessing? 

 

May you always have ...
Walls for the winds
A roof for the rain
Tea beside the fire
Laughter to cheer you
Those you love near you
And all your heart might desire.

Shoe-sketch and Sequins

They used to call me Imelda.

Someone put up a framed print of

racks of shoes right outside my office.

Of course I had to have the shoe-sketch scarf.

It's loosely woven of 62% wool and 38% silk.

Lovely and light. Good for all seasons.

A nice neutral to wear with just about anything.

Girly, girly and cute, cute, cute for shoe lovers.

(They must know there are a zillion of us because with it on promo price

and an extra percentage off, it's still not sold out yet.)

But prone to snags.

So as another bit of advice following this and that,

put it in a bag or wrap a T-shirt around it if packing.

Otherwise the suitcase zipper might catch it

as I did my navy polka-dot scarf. :(

I knew stuffing the scarf unprotected was dangerous.

But I was in a huge hurry.

In my hotel room packing at 3 when I had a 3:40 flight.

 

Eek!



This Is How I Roll

Alrighty then. Before I get to more travel packing tips,

let's go through a few assumptions, shall we? ;)

• Assuming you don't want to look like a wrinkled mess
• Assuming you don't want to iron or bother packing a travel iron or chance having the hotel iron spit on your clothes
• Assuming you don't want to try hanging the wrinkled things in the bathroom while you take a hot shower to steam out the wrinkles (which I've never found to work)

Here's how I pack trousers:

1. Fold your trousers along the crease of the legs and lay them flat
2. Put a pair or two of fairly wrinkle-proof pants on top of your trousers (I usually use PJ bottoms or sweatpants that can double as PJ bottoms)
3. Fold all two or three items loosely together into thirds to fit your suitcase.

Lint stuck to the navy trousers like magnets with all the hotel heated air generating static electricity.
Lint brush. Another travel-must.

The idea is to avoid having hard creases in your clothes where you don't want them. Since your trousers will only be in thirds and with the sweater pants cushioning the folds, your pants should survive the trip wrinkle free or practically so (unless you've overpacked by jamming too many things into your suitecase). After arrival, hang them up by the waistband using a hanger with clips and whatever soft wrinkles should come out.

Re: the hotel heated air in caption above ... it was in the low 30s outside when I got there and this was how I bundled up. The rest of these things plus toiletries, undergarments, PJs, slippers, laptop power cables and the aforementioned lint brush fit in that single carry-on.