Friday, June 08, 2007

Guest Column: "What to Wear on Holiday in Mexico"

To mix things up, I asked my friend Sara (a designer) to write a column every other week. You may remember her from the Forever 21 challenge. (oh.. and we have scheduled our Target challenge.. we will keep you posted.)


I must admit that I pondered for many hours – days even – as to what to write about in my first “guest columnist” gig. I finally concluded that I would focus on “What To Bring On Summer Holiday In Mexico (Or Any Other Weekend Getaway By the Beach).”

How, and more importantly, why did this thought occur to me? Well, I just happened to overhear my boyfriend as he was chatting with his parents on the phone, who just retired to Mexico and now live in a small community that is about an hour and a half south of San Diego. We go to see them every few weeks, and it never fails that I will struggle and agonize over what to pack. Every. Single. Time. Even though we’re only there for 2 nights, what if a cold front moves in? What if it rains? What if I decide to work out? (Ha!) What if the electricity goes out and I need a flashlight to read with? What if the dog pees in my shoes? What if I get bored with the book I’m reading and wish I had brought a different one? What if we decide to go out to a fancy dinner? What if I eat to much at the fancy dinner and my tight jeans are TOO tight? Should I bring my baggy pants too? And so on and so forth. To sum it up, here’s what I usually pack:

• 3 pairs of shorts and/or pants
• a couple of dresses
• 5-6 tops
• 2 swimsuits
• 2-3 pairs of shoes, and my Uggs (it gets chilly at night)
• a couple of sweatshirts and/or coats
• 2 books
• 3-4 magazines
• stationery in case I decide to hand-write letters to my friends and loved ones
• 4 big bottles of water in case my boyfriend’s parents don’t have any bottled water
• snacks
• sweatpants
• Scrabble

Though it will still probably never be easy for me to narrow down my packing list and lighten my load, I know that if it came down to the wire, I could live for days in Mexico (and still feel cute and stylish) by only bringing the following:


• 1 pair of shorts
• jeans (my favorite old Levis)
• sweatpants to sleep in
• 2 swimsuits (it’s awful to get into a wet swimsuit) – I’m really into mixing and matching cheap separates from Target, Old Navy or JCrew. Also, check out
princessetam-tam for amazing vintage-style suits.
• a couple of tank tops or dresses (right now I’m loving guys tees with tight jeans and a shrunken wrap or vest)
• a long sleeve shirt or light jacket (I can’t live without my JCrew light-weight plaid oxford with ruffles at the neck and cuffs) to throw over you when it’s cooler at night
• 1 pair of sandals
• the water
• 1 magazine
• Scrabble


- Sara







6 comments:

Les Enfants du paradis said...

HOW DO I PURCHASE FROM Princesse tam-tam? I live in Los Angeles--is it in any way possible?

Jen (MahaloFashion) said...

I love the shoes you picked out, especially the brown sandal at the top.

Unknown said...

figleaves.com is the only online retailer that i have found to purchase princesse tam-tam online - thank goodness! :)

alice said...

That's very handy, we're going down there soon- plus it wouldn't have occurred to me about the water, duh.

Anonymous said...

i LOVE those boots in the first picture. do you happen to have a larger image???

Unknown said...

no, i'm sorry. they are available at urban outfitters online, however! the site is urbn.com.