Guest Post - Tara

Well, I'm back! But not really. =) My ship docked in New Orleans this morning and I'm headed back to Florida. Then I'm picking my babies up from daycare and loving on them all afternoon!  Oh my goodness, I missed them!! Okay, I realize that as I'm actually typing this, I haven't even left for vacation yet, but I just know that I'm going to miss them so much, that I won't want to do anything on Monday except love on them!

Okay, now on to what you're really interested in. Who will be sharing her words of wisdom with us??  Well, today, I have the super cute Tara from This Life, Redefined guest posting for me! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, friends of Tiffany! My name is Tara, and I can be found most days over at This Life, Redefined, where I post about anything and everything that crosses my mind.

Which would actually probably make you nervous, if you knew just how many crazy things cross my mind, but that’s neither here nor there…

Anyway, while Tiff is off, enjoying some well-earned relaxation time, I thought I’d share with you a little about my favorite vacation from a few years back, and the style regrets I still have, to this day.

You see, when my husband and I got married waaaay back in 2004, he was very well traveled, and even though I’d been a few places in my time, I was not. And I made him promise me that before we settled down and had kids, he would take me to see a few places I’d always wanted to see, first, even if he’d already been there.

And one of those places was Italy.

A few years later, we finally planned our trip. Our itinerary included flying into Paris, heading to Venice for a stop, taking a day trip to Pisa, spending a couple of days in Florence, and finishing up in Rome, where we would be attending Easter Mass at the Vatican. And other than renting a car for one day when we were in Rome so we could drive to the coast for a couple of hours, we were traveling by train the entire way. So, my husband informed me, we had to pack light.

Did you know packing light means backpack only? Because I didn’t, until that moment.

And this is how I found myself in one of the most stylish countries in the world, wearing the same pair of jeans and the same sweater for EIGHT DAYS, trading out only my t-shirt each morning, because that was really all I could carry at one time. I mean, I’d gone out and bought eight new, brightly colored t-shirts for the trip, but still…

I’ve never quite gotten over that, you know?

And so, to this day, I am constantly packing and repacking my imaginary backpack, for my imaginary next trip to Europe, because I REFUSE to find myself in tennis shoes and plain t-shirts a second time.

Things I Will Take With Me, If I Am Ever Forced to Backpack, Again:

1.  Did you know Cole Haan makes really cute shoes with Nike Air technology in them? Because they do. And they are ridiculously comfortable. And I will find the perfect pair, at the perfect sale, to wear to the perfect vacation.
2.  Scarves. Lots and lots of scarves.
3.  And maybe even a hat.
4.  TWO sweaters!
5.  Weather appropriate clothing. I didn’t really check the weather before we left, and for some reason, I thought it would be warmer there than it actually was. I had taken a skirt to wear to Mass, and I thought I’d get more than one wear out of it (hence, the only one pair of jeans…), but it was just too cold to wear it. I should have taken tights.
6.  And, also on that note, a couple of skirts. Depending on the material, they take up less room, I think. And they get less wrinkly, too.
7.  And…that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I will have to keep working on it, obviously.

And there you have it…while my lack of style in no way made me enjoy this trip any less (and I’ve always been ridiculously grateful to my husband for planning it, backpacks and all…), I don’t want to be caught off guard by limited packing space again. I generally refer to this as my ‘someday European trip’ list, but I pretty much follow it any other place I go, too, because you can never go wrong with comfortable shoes and pretty scarves. Of course, I’m always open to suggestions, if you can think of anything I’ve missed…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A European vacation is most defintiely on my to-do list!  Thanks for filling in for me today, Tara!  Now head on over to her blog to see what kinds of things really pop into her head at any given moment! ;)