Pix-Elated

I travel so much that I am usually quite calm about it all...but I am packing for Iceland and am in a bit of a tizzy. I leave tomorrow and will be gone for 12 days. The problems are threefold: 

• Need to fit it all in carry on, plus day pack.

• Varied activities -- from retreat/ hiking in 7C temps in the far north, to conference in fashionable Reykjavik, with temps probably closer to 12C.

• Followed by...several days in (probably much warmer -- even up to 25C and humid) Toronto.

• No laundry. 

I know the trick will be layers...but which ones is the question! For footwear, I have hiking boots, silver sneakers, rainproof booties (for city) and maybe Fitflops for hot springs and Toronto if killer hot while there. I don't know if that is right but it will probably have to do. 

I have one pair jeans, one pair leggings (for hiking only, since I don't wear them regularly), one pair dress pants, one pair rain pants, and several pairs of base layers in wool and poly. 

I have a rain shell. Rain pants. Hat, gloves. I'm also bringing my cashmere shawl. (Not that it coordinates with my rain coat, but whatever.) Question is what level of fleece (not sure I have what would be right -- can make a quick shopping trip this afternoon) -- and/ or should I bring my thin Northface puffer. Or a puffer vest. And/or my dressy lightweight raincoat for laying over a blazer or leather jacket in the city. Maybe I don't need a fleece at all if I take the right woollen sweater to layer under my rain jacket. I typically don't wear fleece because I tend to move from puffer coat straight to raincoat where I live -- we don't tend to need that in between stuff. 

Also trying to figure out how many and what weight of knit tops. I have a lighterweight cotton that can be worn as a heavier top under a jacket, a slightly warmer cotton that can be layered over merino layer, a thin merino that can go over and under other items, and am wondering what else I might need. 

Ack! Sorry for incoherence. Off to do some more planning/ adjusting. Here are a few of the items I'm considering or taking for sure. 

Hello, Lovelies!

I post from sunny Montreal where DH and I have landed for his birthday weekend. :)  That is the good news. That, plus the sunshine, after weeks of cold and heavy rain where I live. 

There is no bad news, or not exactly. It's just that my slight hourglass/ rectangle shape seems to be verging on apple these days, or at least that is how I am beginning to feel as I play with the new proportions. Maybe I'm just coming face to face with my short-waistedness, which lower waists used to disguise. Anyway, I bought this new skirt from Aritzia. Love the colours (red and fuchsia with bits of yellow, white, and blue/black). I can't get a full length photo, unfortunately -- we are in my stepson's place and no full length mirror. But I will put some other elements of the outfit in Finds -- imagine it with the library stamp Out of Print tee (no Find) and my cropped distressed denim jacket (no Find). 

Anyway, I got the skirt to replace my J. Crew A-line which somehow did not make me happy. I wanted a change up from summer tube skirts. It could be that pleats all the way up to the waist are not the best idea. But the fit is nice and it is comfortable and the pleats stay in -- no wrinkles, either, after a day of travel in the car. I am not sure what other tops to wear with it. I did a bit of experimentation in the closet and came up unhappy, but I was very tired during try-on sessions. 

At the sight of all the lovely Dutch brights from your trip I couldn't resist showing you what I'm wearing today. My mum's tulip twinset with burgundy and bright red.

In reality I had to switch footwear because it started to pour. But rain also grows spring flowers, right?