All I Can Think About

My head is in about 29 places at once today.  I am really stretching my "making" muscles lately and trying to settle into a routine for day to day work.  But we leave for New York City on Thursday, so I am also trying to prepare for that.

I turned in my paperwork today to secure a booth at the art council's Holiday Art Market- so if you're into inexpensive, remade gifts this holiday season, make sure to come check us out at the Powerhouse from December 14 and 15th.

Plus, I restocked the Depot booth today to make sure I have plenty of variety and stock for while we are out of town.

AND I still need to clean some house, finish laundry, and pack for our trip.

So, you know, I'm updating my blog instead.

No, really,  I ran around all morning doing errands, finishing products, and preparing for my next two classes- one at the Lafayette County/Oxford Public Library, call to register and one for the art's council at the Powerhouse.  So I thought I'd share a quick (but apparently wordy) update on a few NYC packing tips I've come up with along the way.  Today I'm going to share my purse.  Is this stuff exciting or what?

Ohhh.  Ahhhh.  What I wanted to show, really, was the type of stuff I carry with me when we travel and how little stuff that is. Today, it's about what I carry on my person.  I have a nice, across-the-body style bag that I bought in Italy.  It's actually fairly small, so I have to really think about what I put in it, which is actually really, really important.

The boring stuff that I put inside?  Chapstick, my camera, bandaids, hand sanitizer...I had to buy a "travel" wallet to fit inside my smaller purse, that's the thing in the bottom right.  This wallet is thin, closes easily, and is leather- which means it creates friction when I remove it from my bag- or if it were to be removed by someone else... See where I'm going with that?

I also carry a  reusable, canvas bag (top right).  This idea came to me at 4 o'clock this morning.  When we travel, I always buy stuff and I always have to carry it in whatever plastic bag they give me.  Well, now at least I'm a little more prepared- a nice, not too big, bag with a decent shoulder strap that I can fit inside my purse until I need it.

Those orange things in the middle bottom?  Those are my hunter's hand warmers.  Honestly.  This morning I couldn't find them, and I started to panic just a little.  Having these things in my pockets make me a much easier travel companion.

And that's it!  I thought long and hard about taking a water bottle to carry, or if I thought I needed "more stuff."  But I don't.  Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to pack a carry on, and not check any luggage.  More details on that tomorrow!