Pre-Packing Count Down

With only a little over a week before leaving for England I thought it would be a good idea to blow the cobwebs off my blog and start fresh for the new adventure.  Over the next month my goal is to post several times each week with stories of our misadventures in the land where queens rule long, Hobbits were born, and paths follow hedgeways to pubs not serving microbrew.

However before leaving it is necessary to make sure the carry-on closes with nothing major missing. So today I spent the good portion of the morning packing and repacking.  The carry-on measurements, allowed by our airline, is smaller then the cooler we take camping.  How does one fit everything into a box 9"x15.5"x21.5".  That was my test, having already over the past month planned my outfits through that old fashioned format of "garanimals".

I must divert for a moment and explain this phenomenon of my childhood.  Garanimals were started in 1972 and was a system devised for kids to pick out their own clothes and have them match no matter the mix; pants, shirts, skirts etc.  The singles were all tagged with an image of an animal- lions, tigers, and bears Oh My, penguins and zebras too.  When clothes were paired from the same animal family of tags the separates created an outfit that was stylin and fun to wear.

Using the same formula my wardrobe, of limited palate, took shape and as you can see from the pictures I will be able to create a number of casual/dressy outfits for any occasion I may encounter.

A combination of short & long sleeves with button ups.

Light sweaters for those rainy, chilly days

Combination of skirt, tights and quick dry fabrics.

Add a few accessories and I have a month's wardrobe at my fingertips. Note that out of this will be my flight attire, and the blue fleece vest zips into my raincoat. Who said a girl needs a closet full of shoes! I'm only bringing two pair. All this in one little carry-on, amazing! I should mention the flight does allow two carry-ones, which will be the topic of my next post.

Well here is where I head into the wild blue yonder of London fog and heather greys, of cobble streets and pints in pubs, and fish rolled in paper. How wonderful to think you'll be following along. Now where did I place my passport?