Looking for travel items this summer?

One of my favorite newsfeeds, Daily Candy, has compiled all their posts related to travel. There are some great products featured so be sure to go through as many as you can!

Travel Nails

The 3.4 ounce limit still places a burden on travelers to carry their favorite products. The solution? Small versions that work just as well, if not better, than your regular stuff. Case in point: when you travel do you get your mani/pedi before the trip or during the trip? Before the trip and you still need topcoat to protect your nails. But if you're like me all that baggage handling...or getting to the car...will ruin the nails. During the trip and you have to carry all your gear to make it happen, right? It's not so bad when you consider the following:

Product	Travel Worthy Feature	Price
E.L.F. Nail polish remover	A small canister holds pads with polish remover in them, saving you a large bottle	$1.00
Sephora Easy French Manicure Duo	A great combo product so you're not carrying 2 bottles. And you're fashionably neutral with the French mani or color on your nail.	$8.00
Sephora Glass Nail File	Easily cleaned and reusable, though you'll have to pack it carefully as they are glass	$8.00

Honorable Mentions

Product	Travel Worthy Feature	Price
E.L.F. Cuticle Pen	In pen form you might be able to get away with this in your purse, saving room in your quart size bag. I prefer multi-use oils so there's fewer things to lose.	$1.00
E.L.F. polishes	Small so they fit anywhere, available in loads of colors, and the price really can't be beat!!!	$1.00-$5.00
E.L.F. Nail File set	Again, cost being the consideration, you can't beat $0.50 for a small nail file	$1.00 for regular and mini size files

Gender neutral luggage?

A male friend asked to borrow luggage for a trip. I willingly obliged but was told, "Never mind, your luggage is kinda girly." I thought about it and thought, "Yes, it is kinda feminine," matter of fact most of my luggage has some kind of detail that makes it stand out. But do these details make them feminine? The most gender neutral piece I own is tan with brown leather sides and handles which I find quite durable but was deemed "too small". I had to wonder would a man carry even this piece or is generic black and blue all men are allowed?

A quiet summer for me...

No actual trips, several "almost" trips that I decided at the last minute I didn't feel like going through the hassle...an uncharacteristically travel-free summer for me!

I did spend 2 weeks at the beautiful Santa Clara University campus attending a workshop on the Alice programming language (view my blog entry), which gave me time to explore Santa Clara and San Jose.

I will say there were quite a few events I attended locally which made the summer more exciting than sitting at home doing nothing (which I did, quite happily!) so it was eventful though travel free.

Meet Patience & Patrick!

Residents of Brentwood, Northern California, currently residing in Los Angeles, California...They're sooooo cute, but they doooooon't sleep, and that was a problem for me!!! They're just barely bigger than the teddy bears, but they're growing.

spring break plans

So I decided to relax at home this week, "relax" being relative: I'm still working, still packing a little, still decorating but sleeping in, watching a little tv, and taking life easy for the moment. I just purchased tickets for my Memorial Day weekend trip (another reason I don't need to travel this week) to warm my friend's house so I have that to look forward to, and I get to plan my summer trip. Of course in my world there's always urgent tasks so I have to smog and register my car, continue other research projects, complete RMS's yearbook, back up my computer hard drive...yes, "relax" is relative!

Spring Break

Hmmm, what to do with myself? I have 1 week off work and I need to relax, but I really don't feel like traveling. Other people would take a short trip, a co-worker suggested at least a spa to truly relax at some point. I would like to spend a significant amount of time packing but know that relaxation is my goal so that won't happen. Another option is jetting to Europe for a few days to visit friends, which the time allows me to do so I may use summer vacation to visit other places, but I'm not sure I'm up to airport travel or 8 hour plane rides. So, what to do? Three days in New York or Miami sounds about right: not too long a flight, a definite departure from my locale, fabulous sights and beautiful shopping. Now to make it happen!