Alluring Holiday Plans

Are you in the process of planning your next holiday/vacation?  (I’m still using the British term holidays because it’s one of those British expressions that I just can’t break.) But don’t you think that the word holiday sounds festive, fun and loaded with anticipation? Are you already in the mood and have plans in place or do you need a boost? 

I can’t stress enough the importance of taking holidays/vacations. I wish that Americans and the American-owned companies that they work for would give them more emphasis. Having grown up in a Puritan work ethic and farming family, i.e. unless you were constantly productive, you weren’t fulfilling your role in life and on a farm, there is never a good time to take a vacation, I know that I never truly appreciated the importance of a holiday until I married a Brit who was used to taking at least 4 weeks of paid holiday time a year.  4 weeks!!!!  When we first met, I had over eight weeks of holiday saved up and no plans to use any until I met Steve.  His 4 weeks was considered trivial to our French friends who have a minimum of 6 weeks a year. To them, the idea that I’d not taken a holiday in years was just unbelievable.  They couldn’t comprehend not having 6 weeks of holiday a year and they wondered how on earth I could cope? Now that’s a very good question. What are Americans thinking; when most are considered “lucky” to get 2 weeks paid vacation a year until they can stay the course and build up to 3 weeks?

When booking your flights and tour options, have you considered airlines or tour groups that aren’t the first ones to come to mind or the most advertised?  When we flew to Peru, we booked our flights on Copa, a Peruvian owned airline, and booked our tours of Cozco, Machu Picchu and other local sites through a Norwegian company.  I know, the tour group from Norway doesn’t make sense but a lot of research went into both and it paid off big time.  Our flights were the best we’ve ever experienced and believe me; we’ve tried most of the airlines out there!  The tour excursions were absolutely perfect.  We had private guides every step of the way and couldn’t have had better guides or accommodation throughout the trip. 

When booking our trip to Japan, a lot of research went into a tour company. We chose one based here in the US, Samurai Tours, but the owner spends 10 months living and working in Japan every year so he knows, lives and breathes Japan.  He works with local tour guides who are exceptional. We rarely book our through a tour company but when visiting countries such as Peru, Japan, China, Egypt, Borneo or a safari in Africa where we know that language and culture will be a big challenge, we go with a tour group. Those trips were booked through Kuoni, a UK based company, and we can’t praise them enough. Once on the holiday, we can relax and enjoy the experiences during the trip and know that we are in good hands and that we have professional local guides who are bi-lingual. But we’ve also experienced the best of the best through the Norwegian and US companies for two trips.

We are pretty confined to day trips or a short 2-3 day trip through the rest of this summer, thanks to not a lot that I can find to eat in restaurants. So I’m now focusing on planning our Mexican trip to Cabo San Lucas in October and our Costa Rica trip in December. Meanwhile, I’m drooling over the barbeque smells drifting in from our neighbors’ patios and enjoying day trips where I know that I can get mashed potatoes or soup at a restaurant.

Think about your escape and where you’d like to go this holiday/vacation.  It might be worth it to think outside the box and consider alternatives that will give you great pleasure and lots of memories.

Check out these links to get you thinking about your next trip: www.hotwire.com, www.tripadvisor.com and www.applevacations.com.

Closet Organized Bliss

I’m still on my organizing kick and now that summer is just around the corner and hopefully we are back to warmer weather, it’s time to go through the clothes in my bedroom closet.  I sort my clothes into piles of what I wear most, seldom or not at all.  That decides what I keep and what I move to another closet to store until autumn or what I donate.  Then, I’ll bring out the summer ones so that I can get to them easily and I sort through those as well.  Even though I did this when I put them away last autumn, I do it again. This time, I try to make even tougher decisions!

If like me you are exploring what the trends are for this summer and wonder “what can I wear that won’t scream ‘old lady’?”, I suggest that you look carefully at what you already have. These would be the items that you wear most often and have been your favorites in past seasons. You can look through magazines and catalogues to determine if the fits or styles have changed slightly.

Organizing tip: for summer clothes that have thinner straps, consider using the huggable hangers.  These are the ones with a velvety coating and are super thin.  Your tops don’t slip off and into a heap on the floor.

I often have to wear black trousers along with a black sweater or blazer for work so I tend to want to wear my favorite colors during my off times.  Coral and turquoise are two of my favorites. Recently, I purchased a tote and day-time purse in a rather bright coral color because they tend to brighten up my “work uniform” and give me a happy feeling when I pick them up.  To add to the upbeat color is a cheerily patterned scarf tied onto the handle of the tote.  When grabbing the bags and leaving the house at 5am, it just makes the morning feel more pleasing and upbeat.

The perfect tee – does it exist?  Are you throwing on a tee (or t-shirt) for every day and not giving it a second thought?  Try thinking about your best colors and what flatters your skin.  Throw out all of those faded, stretched-out tees, or the ones with faded prints or sayings, and find some new ones that have a more refined fit and in colors that accentuate your coloring.  It’s a great way to be casual enough to work around the house but still feel good about yourself in the morning as you’re getting dressed.  You don’t have to dress for someone else – think about what makes you feel good about yourself.

Updating your wardrobe doesn’t mean that you throw out everything.  You can update your basics fairly inexpensively and still feel stylish. Don’t think you have to swim in a sea of only black and neutral colors.  NO WAY!  You’ll lose your fashion identity if you do.  Think outside the box and find clothes that project your personality

I find that clearing out my closets gives me control over my wardrobe and if I’m in a rush to get dressed, I can easily find outfits that go together.  I also find that even though it may seem as if I’m spending more because I’m replacing clothes every season, at least I’m not buying duplicate purchases.  When I’m done, I feel a great sense of satisfaction and also it’s rewarding to know that someone else will get use out of the clothes that I donate. 

I only slightly touched on bags (one of my passions and my husband just can’t understand why I need more than one) but didn’t even touch on items such as shoes and accessories (another passion).  That could be yet another blog post so stay tuned!

"I've always thought of the T-shirt as the Alpha and Omega of the fashion alphabet." Giorgio Armani

 

"Elegance is a question of personality, more than one's clothing." Jean-Paul Gaultier