Happy Birthday Amy!

Now I'm trapped in both Nordstrom's and Kohl's, but I have pretty pictures of blooming trees.

Meara! A trip around the world sounds extremely exciting! Go you!

Happiest of birthdays to AmyLiz and Annabel!

At the end of May/beginning of June. EEEE! So if anyone has travel recommendations of things to do on a plane, ways to pack very very light, etc, bring 'em on.

Awesome! Where did you decide to go? That's so exciting! My strategy for long plane flights is basically to sleep through them (hint: this works best when you've stayed up packing the whole night before).

Packing light, let's see. You can probably get away with bringing only a few changes of shirts and pants, but don't skimp on socks and underwear. Bring books you won't mind leaving behind, and make sure to leave some room to bring more stuff back with you. (meara, I feel a little silly giving you travel advice, since I think you've traveled nearly as much as I have! But you asked, so... any other questions you have, I'm happy to answer as best I can.) What you'll want or need to bring also depends on where you're going.

What beautiful pictures. Thanks for reposting those, Juliana! Gorgeous people, gorgeous wedding. It looks nice and small--how many people were there?

Nora tried invoking you yesterday

For what reason?

I am so so jealous of you, meara! Wonderful!

Happy birthday to AmyLiz and Annabel!

Health-ma to Jeff and Rio.

That's all I've got.

I forgot to say - meara, go you with the world travelling! Neat-o!

Rio, thanks! We had about 35 at the ceremony itself. 250 at the reception, but it was sort of a reception/"theater event of the season". And Nora tried invoking you because she loves to see your font, as do we all.

How go your wedding plans?

Meara, I always try to bring a lot of stuff I won't bring back: magazines, books, shoes that are about to die, etc.

Also bring a lot of multipurpose stuff: dresses that can double as beachwear, stuff that goes from day to night easily, etc.

And remember, you'll be moving around a lot and the same people won't see you, probably, from one night to the next. So you can wear the same outfit over and over and over, and just wash it a few times in between. Don't forget to bring some delicate laundry soap for sink washing.

Where exactly are you going?

How go your wedding plans?

Very nicely, when my family doesn't try to get involved. When they do, my patience is tried.

Right now I'm working on music. The string quartet we were gonna use kinda turned me off when they said I should really pick major-key pieces because they're "happier." So now I have to find someone else, or just cave and use these people because easier.

Hapy birthday, Amy! Happy first birthday, Annabel!

meara, I'm so impressed by the round-the-world stuff. I need details -- where are you going?

My Latina students taught me all about quincineras today.

Aren't they *awesome*? I think they sound way better than anything in anglo culture. (Maybe it's like a bat mitzvah, but bat mitzvah girls don't get such frilly dresses as far as I know.)

Meara, Travelsmith.com has lots of versatile, thin, hard-to-wrinkle clothes for just this sort of trip. Even if you don't buy their stuff, the site is worth looking at if only for ideas.

Luggage-wise, I have an Eagle Creek (EagleCreek.com) backpack that can carry a TON but zips apart into a carry-on size bag and a personal bag sized bag-- it works great if you're trying to not check anything (which might be a good idea since they'll have so many opportunities to lose your luggage on this trip). The thing is also sturdy as hell.