How a Woman Packs

As you read this I'll be on my way to Birmingham, Alabama for a girls' weekend getaway with my fellow "Whores"--a group of girlfriends I have from all over the country that I initially met online through The Nest's Decorating & Renovating message board. As I write this, however, I am contemplating (and procrastinating) what to pack for the trip. I am trying really reeeallly hard to not have to check any luggage and only pack a carry-on bag, but it is SO HARD to narrow my "essentials" down to less than 40 pounds and 45 inches!

This dilemma reminds me of part of a post I wrote prior to my first Whore Get Together, so I thought it fitting (unlike my shoe collection in my carry-on bag) to republish it now for your reading pleasure. Now this might not be how ALL women pack, but it's certainly how this one does!

Excerpt below from my Girls Getaway This Weekend! post, originally published on 9/18/08:

Before the fun begins I unfortunately must pack. I made a list of what clothes I'll need to bring (in addition to what I'll be wearing on the plane) and here's what I came up with:

• 1 pair of jeans
  
• 2 casual short-sleeve tees
  
• 1 long sleeve tee
  
• 1 sweater jacket
  
• One sassy top for Saturday night
  
• 1 pair of PJs
  
• My flip flops
  
• A pair of wedges

And now--knowing me--here's what I'll end up actually packing:

• 3 pairs of jeans in what look like varying washes, but really they're all the same.
  
• 4 casual short-sleeve tees--all of them probably being various shades of gray for some unexplained reason.
  
• 6 tank tops--a couple with spaghetti straps, a couple tank style, and then a couple more spaghetti strap ones--just to really be sure I've got every possible color option covered--but really I won't wear a single one of them.
  
• 3 long-sleeve tees because OMG what if one gets dirty?? And what if I'm just really in the mood to wear all long-sleeve tees?
  
• Half a dozen "sassy top" options for Saturday night. The one I plan to wear, the back-up for when I decide I look like hell in that one, then the back-up for THAT one when I decide I look like I'm trying too hard, and then the back-up for the back-up for the back-up which is really just a cotton trash bag but let's face it--it'll hide my beer belly well be comfortable. (<-- Updated to reflect my currently enforced period of sobriety.)
  
• 1 more tank top, because that's probably what I'll really end up wearing on Saturday night after all other options are rolled up on the hotel room floor.
  
• 2 sweater coats, a jacket, and a hoodie because by now I have to have a potential "outer layer" that matches every color option I've already thrown in my suitcase.
  
• 2 pj bottoms so I have a back up in case I wet myself laughing my ass off while wearing one pair.
  
• 4 more short sleeve "pajama" cotton tees (in addition to the first 4) and now I'll think I'm really clever that I'm packing 8 short sleeve tees but "tricking" myself into thinking really it's only still 4 because 4 are potential "pajama" tops.
  
• 6 pairs of shoes--a potential match for each outfit.
  
• No pairs of socks--because I'll probably forget them. And at this point let's be honest--they wouldn't fit anyway. Which will later mean 2 pairs of shoes I packed will be unwearable because they require socks.
  
• And then just for good measure I'll probably throw in one more tank top.
  
• And one more pair of shoes.

And did I mention I'll only be gone for 2 nights?