Decorating/Organizing: Travel Edition—Perfectly Organized Carry-Ons

This is a continuation from my post on May 27 titled Fashion, Accessories and Shoes: Minimal, Chic College Wardrobe. As promised this post will discuss how to organize the wardrobe into a nice neat carry-on and bag.

The perfectly carry-on is something I’ve wanted to acquire for a few years now and I think I have finally found a few. For me the idea of a perfect carry-on goes beyond the actual piece of luggage and includes what you select to put in it and of course how to organize it all.

The Evolution of My Carry-Ons

My Old Luggage and Inefficient Ways 

During my first year of traveling to and from college in NYC I just used a couple cheap carry-ons and at the time didn’t think much of it. One was a super cheap rickety ugly olive green Embark rolling suitcase that I bought at Target on clearance for about $4 but coming back home the airline damaged one of the legs on it and it won’t stand up straight anymore! You have to lean it against something so it doesn’t tip over. That’s no way to travel, so I retired it.

The other carry-on was my trusty navy blue $20 Coronado rolling backpack that I got years ago while attending community college. It had gotten me through a year of rolling around heavy textbooks daily and thankfully it made its way through NYC and back to my home unscathed twice.

Using these bags has made me rethink the art of the carry-on. For one thing, I was totally packing them wrong and another thing is that they both lacked sturdy materials and heavy-duty wheels that would last for years. But I must say that the Coronado is made of the better materials and has sturdier wheels than the Embark bag.

One thing I’ve noticed about packing these carry-ons is that since they are cheap and small, they don’t have many pockets in which to organize different items. The Coronado bag fortunately does have one great pocket in front to organize a few small things but the Embark bag only has a tiny zippered compartment in the front and if you’re lucky you could get a skinny wallet, boarding pass and airline ticket in there.

I had my laptop backpack as the second carry-on that is allowed. Don’t get me started on how inefficient that one was and of course it was a cheapie too at $20. LOL. Don’t get me wrong, I love inexpensive anything whenever possible but the deal is it has to get the job done with super efficiency, high quality and multifunctionality.

My Pack-It System, New Luggage and Efficient Ways

My very first time heading out to NYC for college in September 2007, I started out with two Eagle Creek Pack-It Half Cubes. I’d found out about them many months earlier on the Rachael Ray Show in December 2006 when Rachael was interviewing Phil Keoghan, the host of the “Amazing Race” on CBS. He talked about how he used the Pack-It cubes and I thought it was so cool that I wanted some. I also appreciated that Phil was a very basic yet organized packer for all his trips. 

Soon after I saw the show I jumped online, researched the Pack-It cubes and found some at Bergman’s Luggage, a local luggage store. The first time around, I’ve found that using the Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube system, works wonders to sort and keep everything organized.

I don’t like stuffing little items in the corners of my bags so the pack-it cubes serve as a place to put all those little items such as socks, underwear, bras, tights, legging etc. In addition, I also love the medium roll up Space Bag, in which I packed my thin, delicate tops. These type of bags serve as a nice protective place to put delicates in. They are plastic bags that when sealed like a Ziploc bag and rolled, all the air squishes out of them and condenses the thickness of the clothes in them like a neat vacuum sealed bag but without the vacuum! I have one large and one medium roll up Space Bag. I discovered these while shopping in The Container Store in NYC at the end of my first year there. 
        

I love my Eagle Creek system and I have two each of the following and I have listed a few items that I recommend you pack in them because that's what has worked for me. Pack-It Half Cube: good for packing tees, thin blouses, tanks, thin scarves and leggings. Pack-It Tube Cube: good for packing tights, knee socks and regular socks.  

Pack-It Half Tube Cube: good for packing underwear and bras. Pack-It Quarter Cube: good to pack rolled belts, head scarves, soft head bands and jewelry. Lastly, I have one  Pack-It Shoe Cube Medium, which hold two pairs of sleek women’s sport shoes and could easily fit maybe three or more pairs of ballet flats and/or sleek summer sandals without cramming.

The Pack-It Folders 15 and 18 inch sizes are on my wish list. These would help me organize my larger items of clothing such as jeans, pants, blazers and sweaters. But for now I will make do with folding, rolling and bundling.

Which ever Pack-It system components you use they can be arranged in myriad different configurations to suit your needs and the shape of your rolling carry on. But in general, here's how I would pack my aqua marine American Trunk and Case brand rolling carry-on suitcase (purchased the summer before my second year of college) which is 19 x 13 x 9 = 41 square inches: 


1. I'd Place each Pack-It Tube Cube side by side from the bottom and work my way up. This will take up about half of the bottom of my carry-on.  


2. Next, I'd place both Half Tube Cubes side by side which will fill up the top half of my carry-on. Then, I'd place one Quarter Tube Cube in the empty space next to the two Half Tube Cubes. With that configuration I have the bottom of the carry covered neatly with the cubes. 

3. Now for some strategic bundling action! I'd place one pair of jeans on top of the cubes. Putting the first pair's waistband at the bottom inside edge of the suitcase and leave the legs hanging out of the top edge. I'd repeat this configuration for my second pair of jeans in the opposite direction.


4. I'd place my suit pants in the middle so that the waist band and the bottom of the leg hem are hanging out equidistantly on each side. Next, I'd place my suit jacket's collar on the right inside edge of the suitcase and fold the sleeves neatly across the fronts of the jacket. I'd repeat this configuration for my tan corduroy blazer, only I'd put the collar on the left edge of the suitcase and so on with my burgundy corduroy jacket's collar on the right edge again and jean jacket collar on left edge.


5. We're almost done now! Next, I'd place my black and white herringbone tweed shorts in the middle so no part of them is really hanging out. Then, I'd place the waistband of my black with metal trim skirt on the right inside edge of the suitcase and lastly I'd place the waistband of my pink Ikat print skirt on the left inside edge. 


6. Now the folding-in can begin! I'd gently fold in each piece of clothing that is hanging out over each progressing layer of clothing. The result is one nice neat bundle that I can snap in and secure down with the straps in my suitcase. 


7. Finally, I will try to stuff in my last Quarter Tube Cube in the top of my suitcase next to the bundle of clothing but if it doesn't fit I will put it in the bottom outside pocket in the front of my suitcase.


And there you have it, a well packed rolling carry-on suitcase.


Why My Rolling Carry-On Suitcase is Ideal for Me  


My aqua marine American Trunk and Case brand rolling carry-on suitcase was one of my favorite carry-on finds. I purchased it at Big Lots for $10 but it was regularly $15 dollars. The top handle was damaged with a big cut across it and I asked for a percentage off the price because of the damage and I got $5 off which was great.


The features I like: sturdy in-line skate wheels, high quality exterior materials, nylon fully lined interior, large mesh inner pocket, adjustable inner straps that firmly secure clothes in place, side handle for hoisting into overhead storage compartment on airplane, bottom of case has a sturdy heavy plastic grip for hoisting up into overhead storage compartment, sturdy heavy duty zippers and expandable to two inches.              

Second Carry-On: The Hand Held Bag


Now on to the other bag, which should be the size of a messenger bag, backpack, large tote or large carry all purse. I'd use my SwissGear backpack ($25, purchased on sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond in NYC) and I'd put my two Pack-It Half Cubes in the front compartment. Next, I'd place one or two pairs of compact, lightweight shoes in plastic bags in the bottom of the large back  compartment. Then, I'd put my computer in the special laptop compartment and a thin folder with all my needed documents and copies for school in the same compartment.


I'd top it off with a bottle of water, a compact plastic Ziploc brand 3 section plate filled with wheat crackers such as Carr's brand (my fave), a few Laughing Cow light creamy Swiss spreadable cheese wedges, trail mix, a mix of sliced apples, baby carrots, grapes and a few celery sticks filled with peanut butter and raisins. Lastly, I'd add my toiletries kit in the little front compartment. Anything else I needed for school I'd have sent to me. 


Well, I hope this gives you some inspirations and tips on finding and organizing your own carry-on bags for moving away to college. Let me know what you think and I'd love to learn your favorite tips for staying organized and minimal too.   

Fashion: Minimal, Chic College Wardrobe

I'll keep this short and sweet. Here are the absolute must-haves to look chic and have a light load college wardrobe. First, I highlighted the clothes, then I put together the shoes and accessories. These are just according to my own taste but by all means change out items to fit your personal style. 

In my opinion everyone needs: sweaters, basic tees and turtlenecks, jean shirt, crisp white blouse, black skirt, black slacks, black blazer and a nice every day blazer. As for footwear and accessories: black leather knee boots, "sport" shoes, dress shoes, cozy hats and drapy scarves, carry-all and smaller bag, leggings and tights, statement stretch belt and drapy multi chain necklace.

I selected items that had clean lines and basic styles because that's what I prefer. I stuck with a neutral color palate and added pops of my fave colors.

Enjoy! :-)

Minimal, Chic College Wardrobe: Clothes by naturallystyled featuring a white short sleeve shirt

Minimal, Chic College Wardrobe: Shoes/Accessories by naturallystyled featuring studded handbags

Packing it all will be discussed in my June 1 post titled Decorating/Organizing: Travel Edition—The Perfectly Organizated Carry-On.

New York or Bust!—The Minimal Life, Part 1

If there is one thing that I've learned when I was in New York my first 2 years in college, it was the fact that tons of possessions are not cool, especially when you live on the opposite side of the country and are NOT interested in chucking out any of your stuff at the end of the year like most students do. Here is what I learned the hard way about having way too much of everything:

1. If you don't start mailing boxes of your stuff home in enough time, you will end up having to abandon and chuck stuff anyway.

2. Having "stuff" is not important, but having the bare necessities is.

3. You can always get by without much stuff, but you don't know that yet. :-)

4. Being unfettered by "stuff" is the best policy. You won't miss the extraneous stuff I promise.

5. It's a good idea to be as mobile with your possessions as possible, you never know when you may have to up and leave. An out of control rodent or bed bug issue could develop in your space or building and you'd fare better with good mobility.

6. Chances are you can get by with just: a laptop, thumb drive, digital camera, mp3 player, good mini speakers, 1 high capacity multi subject notebook for class notes, 1 personal journal, 1 agenda planner, 1 accordion folder, well stocked pencil pouch, basic bed set, bathroom, kitchen, closet, general and food storage essentials. (More about this in another post.)



7. Basic wardrobe including a carefully edited collection of the clothes, shoes and accessories you already wear A LOT. Don't take anything you never wear or think you might wear because you probably won't. (More about this in another post.)

8. Take basic winter gear: great warm boots, wool blend socks, wood blend sweater, hat, gloves and scarf (in your fave color), wool coat or waterproof nylon parka, cold weather thermal leggings, thick tights and your good! (More about this in another post.)



9. Basic skin and hair care products. Proper styling tools and accessories to fit your needs (keep it minimal) and your good! (More about this in another post.)
10. Anything beyond this and you run the risk of having unnecessary stuff.
Stay tuned for part 2 when I'll show you how to create your own minimal life for college.

New York or Bust!—Finding Housing, Part 1

In my last installment of New York or Bust!, I mentioned my mission to return to New York City for my final year of college. In this installment, I will be going over my housing search. My search has truly been an epic saga. I have been researching temporary housing in New York City that is suitable for students for about 10 years now and surprisingly I have still not come to any definitive conclusions!

My search began long before I wanted to attend my current school. The housing hunt began in 2001, when I wanted to take a summer class at New York University and possibly get an internship. I didn't end up taking the class at that time since I couldn't find housing.

For the first several years of my housing research I pretty much only turned up a few possible options. These included Sara's New York Homestay, a hand full of independent homestay search websites, a few very expensive temporary corporate housing options and New York Accommodations Centre.

I read the information provided on the websites of each organization very carefully and I found that Sara's New York Homestay had reasonable rates, meal options and seemed to be what I was looking for (at least on paper it was perfect). So I did research on the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and other websites to check the reputability of this place and absolutely nothing came up!

I searched the organizations that they claimed to be members of, which were listed on their website and still no information regarding their track record or reputability. Finally, I contacted the owner to ask more questions. Well, the answer's that I received from them were a little iffy.

It ended up that the owner seemed to have a shady, corner-cutting way of doing business and it showed in their responses to my inquiry. In addition, I took to the internet message boards to ask if anyone had any experience with them but no one else had dealt with them. I did, however, receive generally helpful advice in looking for housing in the city.

Also, one interesting person responded to my inquiry and sent a link to Sara's Homestay. It was, wait for it.... none other than the owner himself, I was flabbergasted!! And another member of that message board who gave me some advice had   private messaged me later and said she saw the owner's iffy response to me so she clicked the link that he gave and said she read the website and found that the name of the owner matched the name of the person who responded to me! It was beyond weird! But kudos to the lady for informing me.

From then on I knew something was up with that business. Years later I Googled them again to see if anyone has had written any reviews of their experiences with them and sure enough now every single review I find on them is very negative. But I'm not surprised at all. Here's are some links that I found on Yelp.com and InsiderPages.com that showcase the poor business practices of Sara's New York Homestay.

Needless to say that my New York City housing search had proven to be fruitless for my first few years on the hunt. But I have pressed on all these years and found some different options along the way. Stay tuned for next week's post, where I will share my other NYC housing finds. Will I successfully find housing before Fall 2011? Only time will tell.

New York or Bust!

New York City has been a huge theme throughout most of my life, first as a 13 year old wanting to attend Fashion Institute of Technology's fashion design program. Then, my restlessness and longing for the city permeated my 20s. When NYC became a reality and I landed at JFK International Airport for the first time to begin my journey as a communications student at age 26, at that point I knew my career and life, as it were, would begin right then and there.

As a small town girl from Washington state, I always had big plans and dreams to do something big with my life in New York City. I always wanted to have a career in fashion design but I realized in time that I just didn't have the chops to be able to design whole lines of clothing, make patterns for all the pieces and sew samples of them all nor did I want to.

Even so, I still loved fashion but as time went on I realized my true career calling--journalism/media--even before the age of 13, I loved to write and had a knack for language. Now, I know I can still do fashion as a career, but as a fashion writer/editor and stylist, these jobs would still allow me to work with clothes but in a slightly less involved manner by working with words and finished products, which is just my style. In addition to that I would like to become a part-time professor and college student media advisor.

My road to New York City not been easy by any means and I've had a few set backs along the way such as having to come back home and taking a 1-year break and then taking a year of online classes with my New York college but I am as determined as ever to make my dreams come true and I won't give up!

Fall 2011 will kick off my final year in the communications program and I will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Arts in May 2012 (hopefully)! I'm hoping to get back to my school's NYC campus to complete my degree. I'll be sharing my journey, insights and NYC retrospectives in the New York or Bust! section of this blog. Stay tuned, because you know I'm all about NYC or Bust, baby!!

Decorating & Organizing: The Storage Box

Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I love containers and putting everything in them. My bedroom is full of them and always has been. But they are more along the lines of plastic containers or old paper boxes, not the decorative variety of boxes.

So its not surprising that my taste naturally progressed towards prettier storage boxes and I can thank living in New York City during college for that! One of my favorite items that I bought in one of my favorite stores, Gracious Home my first year of college was a sleek, stylish cherry red document box by Bigso Box of Sweden. It's a good sized box (13 in x 10 in x 3 in) and was a good price: $9.99 and at school I stored a lot of paper goodies that I had bought from Borders bookstore in the Shops at Columbus Circle, another of my favorite haunts.

These days as I am back at home in Washington state, I store some random items such as envelopes; a small unused photo album; thin, striped notebooks; a thick pink fashion themed spiral notebook; highlighters and pens. I love the way this box is big enough to store my desktop odds and ends neatly in one central location.

For anyone one who has a hard time wrangling items on their desk and keeping them neat, a box like this would be a great idea. Get one in your favorite color or pattern. Bigso Box of Sweden, Michael's, Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, The Container Store and Ikea have boxes similar to mine and a wide range of other boxes in sizes to fit all organizational needs.

New Media Fave: Miss E on YouTube

Miss E on YouTube.... all I can say is she is an AMAZING natural hair educator. She is the first natural hair guru on the internet and definately on YouTube that I started watching regularly during the time that I was transitioning from relaxed hair to natural hair.

Miss E has a very informative, clear and friendly presentation style and she really knows her stuff about natural hair, but I'm not sure if she is formally trained in cosmotology or what, but either way she is an authoritative voice in the natural Black hair community. I would recommend that naturals in all stages watch her video tutorials. You will definately learn some new tips and tricks to take care of your hair.

Below is a video from her "Ask Miss E" series, in which she explains to a viewer how to properly blow dry natural hair. In the video she recommends that we moisturize our hair extra well before putting heat on our hair in order to keep damage to a minimum.

Epic Fro: Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza Spalding needs no introduction to the natural hair community. But for those that are not familiar with her yet, she is a young, accomplished jazz bassist/singer who seems to be just hitting her stride and being recognized in the mainstream media, probably because of her February 2011 Grammy win for best new artist.

But she has been around for a while doing her own thing with her fantastically Epic Fro! The photo of her below is an ad for Banana Republic featuring one of its stylish outfits. This ad was the first time I had see or heard of Miss Spalding and I thought to myself "wow what an interesting hair style."

That was before I went natural myself so I wasn't really into Afros at the time but seeing the ad again as a natural has a whole different effect on me now. I think it is truely an awesome hair style and she is very talented.

Epic Fro: Esperanza Spalding by NaturallyStyled on Polyvore.com

Esperanza Spalding, Ayo & Others Strike A Pose, Sing Some Songs For...
soulbounce.com

Bieber Fans Lash Out at Esperanza Spalding | The Silver Tongue
thesilvertongueonline.com


Editorial Note: As of 12/2/2011 one of the photos above that I acquired via Polyvore is having technical difficulty for some reason. Please forgive the mess.

Aveda Brilliant Anti-Humectant Pomade: Product Review

Aveda Brilliant Anti-Humectant Pomade is the first product that started my love affair with Aveda. I can't say enough good things about Aveda and no I am not being paid to say that nor sponsored. I spend my hard earned money on this and it is well work it. LOL. 

This pomade is a wonderful product that I discovered when I was looking for some hair oil while living in NYC. I didn't want to go the traditional hair oil route by buying some cheap petroleum-based product in a drugstore so I settled on this and I am glad I did. The only issue I have with it is that it smells like men’s after-shave or cologne, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The scent is just a bit strong for my taste.  



Features:
2.6 oz white jar
This product's consistency is a thick, creamy oil and is white in color. It smells like men’s after-shave or cologne. It melts well into warm palms of your hands and it is oily but in a subtle, moisturizing way.
The product comes with a tiny fold out label in the back that lists ingredients and instructions on usage. An interesting thing I found is their "fragrance" blend. Aveda uses its own "Pure-Fume" aroma with jasmine, rose and other pure flower and plant essences. I think this is great because most hair and skin care products use synthetic scents. 
 
Product description from Aveda's website: "This satiny pomade repels moisture from your hair, helping to prevent frizziness and flyaways. Tames curls to give hair a polished look. Excellent in humid weather. Work through hair before or after styling."

First 5 ingredients: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Isopropyl Palmitate, C18-36 Acid Triglyceride, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-1 and Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2.
 
Grade: I give this product an A+ because over all it is a great moisturizer and fights frizz well. It aids in a great Afro blowout and it does everything Aveda claims it will do. The smell of it is the only drawback for me. 

My Fashion Blogging Debut

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog! Let me just say that I'm ecstatic about creating my first fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog! I've been an avid lover of fashion for most of my life. It all started when my sisters began taking me to the mall when I was little, let's say at age 5.
There was a bridal boutique next to the exit of the mall and one day the place just caught my eye and I asked to go in, so my sisters took me inside to look at the pretty frothy, billowy clouds of dresses in satin, lace and ruffles.

Those trips to the bridal boutique pretty much cemented my love of fashion. I'd also collect the bridal catalogs that they had at the boutique every time I’d go in. They would have a new catalog every time I went into the boutique, which was exciting to me as a kid. Most of the catalogs where not your average catalogs but looked more like magazines with the fancy dresses featured in posh mansions and opulent gardens.

As time went, on I graduated up the fashion continuum to using FashionPlates and Wedding Fashion Plates by Hasbro when I was 8-13 years old. Next, I started reading W Magazine when I was about 15 or 16 years old and I started watching all of the shows on TV that had any fashion related topic. I loved the fashion, beauty and lifestyle TV show Main Floor, hosted by Nancy Stafford in the mid 90s and I also enjoyed watching Isaac Mizrahi every time he appeared on Oprah’s show. I remember he often brought Veronica Webb to model different outfits that he put together. 


Fast-forward to now, I still love fashion magazines but these days, with the advent of fashion blogs and Youtube.com I’ve become very inspired by the fashion bloggers and fashion Youtubers out there. They are just average people who love fashion and want to talk about it ALL the time, same as me! Some of the top bloggers have become icons in their own right and that is pretty cool.

Without further adieu, I have decided to jump into the fray as well and add to the fashion dialog with my own sense of uniqueness.

The thing about fashion blogging that is most appealing to me is the fact that one does not have to wear Chanel to be liked or listened to and there is a place for everyone to share his or her own individual voice. I also think that more Black women need to be represented in the fashion/beauty blogosphere, especially ones with natural, non-chemically straightened hair :-).

So with that I’d like to thank you for reading my blog and I hope to offer something of value to my future readers.