Day 351: Lotion on the go!

With winter and dry weather fast approaching, keeping your skin well hydrated is important. And nothing takes more damage than your hands. I've gotten into the habit of tossing one tube of L'Occitane hand cream into all my bags. It is part of my on flight carry bag I take with me as well. They also make good stocking stuffers!  

Day 297: Hot journals

I am obsessed with journals. I don't know what attracts me to them. Maybe because a new one is like a blank canvas, the endless white untouched pages just waiting to be used. I collect them, and have them in all shapes in sizes. Hard covers, soft covers. Lined, unlined. Large ones that rival newly released books, and small ones that can fit in the palm of my hand. In fact these smaller ones are great because I toss them in my purse in case I need to make a note of something, or keep never ending grocery lists.  

When I travel I use them to make notes both before I depart. Any research I've done pre-trip like places to go, restaurants to try, and other must-sees. During the trip, I still jot down things I've discovered or epiphanies I've made. I tend to shop for them too when I travel. Airports and museum gift stores are my favorite spots. On my latest trip I picked up a Dan Bennett Magneto Blank book at the Dusseldorf airport. I was attracted to the colorful cover. I had picked up a planner with his art in 2010 from the San Francisco art museum store. This airport by the way had many notebooks to chose from, and I even saw them a new Moleskin store set to open up as well!  

One of the smallest notebooks that I have, and incidentally the most expensive one, is from Smythson in London. This featherweight paper that was copyrighted in 1916 is so elite that each page is watermarked. The patent leather covers come in many colors and you can even get one with a cheeky phrase. I chose one in a hot pink color that said "Supermum" in bold, gold embossed letters. When I got it packaged the cashier asked me if it was a gift, and I said "Yes, it's a gift for me."  

Day 222: Travel must have

When traveling internationally, packing light can be a challenge. I consider myself pretty low key when it comes to beauty essentials, but I find the most frustrating things to pack are hair accessories. To get it under control my thick quick-to-frizz hair requires either a large barrel curling iron or a high quality straight iron. And even when I do pack these hair tools they often go unused because I can't find time (or space) to do my hair properly, or because of voltage issues.  

Enter the CHI Escape Cordless Hair Iron.  With a 220V plug it can easily be used while on the go or when traveling internationally. Though the battery doesn't stay charged for too long (about 20 minutes) it has enough juice to clean up your tresses in no time! Not to mention it's cordless, so you can do it anywhere. Travelgram, here I come!

CHI Escape Cordless Hair Iron, $109.99 at ulta.com

Day 91: Shanghai Tang coin purse

I am constantly shopping, which means when I travel I shop. There is nothing more perfect that finding something when you are abroad that is not only beautiful, but functional and one of a kind. It's like you can imagine someone asking you where you got that little souvenir, and you have to apologetically say "I got it in _______ (insert any exotic destination)."

On my recent Asian travels I've been introduced to the store Shanghai Tang. A frequent mall find, imagine Banana Republic with an Far East Asian twist. The last time I visited it's store in Hong Kong I got a beautiful red cord bracelet with a jade piece in the center.  My latest acquisition, a baby blue quilted coin purse, also has a jade accent on it's side tassel.  I had been searching for a coin purse that was just big enough to fill all my necessary IDs and credit cards, while also allowing me to put some change in it.  This piece is one that I absolutely adore, and will look forward to using it on a daily basis!

Day 29: Life is...

In "Instant Karma" John Lennon sings, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."  In Sex in the City, Carrie says. "Life is what happens when you're waiting for a table."  I have my own variation:  "Life is what happens when you are getting from one destination to the next."

Travel is great for family time.  Not necessarily the quality time spent at the destination, but the time spent getting there.  The hours spent in line, on a plane, in a car.  That's where the quality time comes in.  And ironically, I do enjoy that more than the destination!