Traveling light(er)

I'm excited to be heading to Washington, DC today for my Zero to Three scientific and fellowship meetings. And--lucky me!--Miss Maddy is there on her 8th grade trip this week, too. It will be fun to keep my eye out for her while we're both there--my own little Where's Waldo game. If only Maddy were wearing a red-and-white striped shirt and hat. I guess I'll just have to look for a blob of 14-year-olds with wicked cool accents.

Last week I hauled my grand-scale suitcase all around Utah. (And paid to check it on the plane. Urgh...I strongly dislike that. Yet another reason for train travel). In my defense...I have no defense.  I overpacked and filled it with books and extras on the way home. Anyhow, this trip I'm all about carry-on luggage, no fees, and streamlined packing choices.

Inspired by this Mighty Girl post (so impressive!) I took a little trip to the Container Store for see-through pouches and itty bitty plastic bottles for my liquids. (I'm so impressionable, remember?) 

So now, a little obsessed, I'm trolling for travel tips. When you pack a suitcase, do you have a thing you do? Do you fold or roll the clothes? Check or carry on? Enlighten me.

Countdown to VDay

valentine airplane

With only one week to go until the big day, I thought I'd share what my kids ALWAYS make for their classes. Always. Trust me, don't even hint at the possibility that there might be other ideas to try, just for a change. They will look at you in horror as if you have suggested that their birthdays should be skipped. They love these & they're sticking with them. So it is written, so let it be done.

{Disclosure: yes, I did post about this last year. If you already read about it [and you know who you are, all three of you from back then] skip ahead to the list}.

These airplanes are so, so easy and always gets a lot of comments from their friends. All you need is two lifesavers, a stick of gum, a roll of smarties, and a longish thin elastic band per valentine. We also usually put a couple of heart stickers on the wings and attach a white tag on a string with a message.

You can pretty much deconstruct how to assemble these little numbers from the picture. We usually start by threading the elastic through the two lifesavers, then we put the smarties through the middle between them. Next we slip the gum through the elastic loops. After a while you get into a good rhythm and it's quick and easy. (I originally got this idea years ago in FamilyFun magazine. I just checked and they talk about them here.)

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Just for fun, I've been putting together a list of my favorite romanticish movies. Are yours on here?

An Affair to Remember (old version with Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr)
Dr Zhivago

Ice Castles (because I loved it so much when I was 9. Xanadu too.)

Pride and Prejudice (both versions)

Possession (and I loved the book)
Truly Madly Deeply

Chocolat

A Walk to Remember (because Lauren is obsessed with this one right now)

Amelie
Funny Face

Elizabethtown
Wimbledon

Gone with the Wind

Sabrina (old version)
Somewhere in Time (four words: Come back to me. Also a favorite from my early years.)

Casablanca
Roman Holiday
Once

I know I'm forgetting some...jump in with your own, too, please!