In a mere 5 days, I will be in Las Vegas with some of my favorite people in the world, celebrating the last days of bachelorette-hood of my friend S. And in a mere 9 days, I will be on a Virgin Atlantic flight en route to London!!!! I will be attending the wedding celebration festivities of my oldest friend M. (we have been BFFs since we were 7) and then seeing my college roommate who lives in London. I can’t wait!!!
Two things need to happen before then, though.
First, I need to figure out what in the world I am going to pack!! Vegas is easy — cute going-out outfits, my new bikini (yes, I bought the Jcrew one and it is cute!), check and check. But for the Europe trip I am totally baffled. I will be gone for 12 days. I will be visiting Keswick (Lake District, England), London, and Paris. I will be doing all of the following: kayaking/canoeing; hiking (M. and her hubby are doing the ring exchange atop a mountain – more on that later); attending a fancy wedding dinner party; traveling by plane and train; sightseeing all over London and Paris; and hopefully enjoying some London/Paris nightlife. The only things so far that I know I am bringing are hiking boots, my new digital camera, and my dress for M.’s wedding celebration:
(By the way, obtaining this dress was no easy feat. I went to many stores — Nordstrom, Macy’s, BCBG, etc, and endured one very pushy gay salesman at BCBG who wanted to dress me in something that looked straight out of Star Trek, before finally discovering this dress at Ann Taylor.)
Anyway, I want to make sure I have everything I need for my trip, but I also want to bring the smallest suitcase possible so it’s not too rough on all the trains I’ll be taking. Therefore, I don’t have the luxury of bringing my entire closet or shoe collection. And I am very indecisive. And the hiking boots will take up 1/2 the suitcase. Gah! Help!
The second and even more troubling thing that needs to happen is that my knee needs to heal. I really can’t explain what happened, but during my Friday night barhopping adventure, my knee started to hurt. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but when I awoke yesterday I found that I was still hobbling and limping around and my knee felt like I had twisted it. I have spent the remainder of the weekend, when I am home, intermittently icing and elevating the knee. (That frozen Kung Pao Chicken meal from Trader Joe’s is really coming in handy.) Today it feels a bit better, and in any other week I wouldn’t really care, because I’m sure it will heal relatively soon. But I am going to (hopefully!) be doing lots of walking/hiking over the next 2 1/2 weeks, and I can’t afford to be impaired in any way. Especially since I am not exaggerating when I say that I am one of the least athletic people I know, so I am already worried about keeping up with everyone while hiking in England. (Note – the hiking boots are borrowed bc I don’t own any myself!)** Oy. And I can’t miss the ring exchange, so even if it hurts I WILL be hobbling up that mountain.
Okay, when I say that “out loud” it doesn’t sound like the smartest idea. We’ll see…
**It has been suggested by a matchmaking fellow blogger that GeekHiker and I should go out. To which I have to respond that GeekHiker clearly needs a girl who, you know, likes to hike. 
I like the dress. Of course, I’m familiar with it, because 2 of my other friends also own it. And of course, I only know that because the two of them showed up to the same pre-party for the same formal event wearing the dress.
Then I got drunk and spilled red wine on one of them, and had no recollection of that the next day.
But the dry-cleaner got it out! So no harm done, dress salvaged, and now I have 3 friends with this Ann Taylor dress.
Miss,
Please pardon my intrusion into your busy and already complicated life. I only wish to take a moment to tell you that your written words as well as the heart they come from… captivate me. Thank you.
Please, please, please take me with you! I don’t care that I told my management that I wouldn’t take off any more time til the end of August. I don’t care that they need me over the next month in implement the new internet connection. I need a vacation!
Good luck with the knee. When I busted mine a few months back I found keeping it wrapped (and therefore under a bit of pressure) helped a lot. Of course, I guess that won’t work with that (very hot, btw) dress.
You don’t enjoy hiking? *gasp*
(Note how I effectively and totally ignored the suggestion at the end of the post. Mostly because, as intriguing as it is, it makes the GeekHiker *blush*….)
GeekHiker, why didn’t you ask earlier? I was dying for a travel companion ever since C. and I decided our trip was a no-go.
I suppose you will have to be satisfied with the many, many photographs I plan to take there!
And just to explain my views on hiking. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it. I do go hiking from time to time, and when I do I always enjoy it. Esp in a place like L.A., getting out of the city is much needed! But…1) I am out of shape and 2) I am a big big weenie when it comes to all things scary/challenging on a hike. So while I would love to find someone to do mellow day hikes, I am not the girl that a REAL hiker would want to accompany them on a REAL hard core hike.
Ok, that’s all.
Oh, well, cest’e la vie. You don’t seem out of shape (assuming that’s a self-portrait above). As for the rest of it, that’s all just a matter of experience. From what I’ve seen amongst my fellow hikers, most start as mellow day hikers (as I did) and slowly move on to more challenging things…