Packing

As many of you know by now, Jim and I have an extremely early wake up call tomorrow because it's the day we leave for Hawaii. Yes, it's FINALLY here! We have to be at the local airport for check-in at 4AM -- eek! As I was juggling packing with grading the last 100 bar exams over the weekend, I wondered why I never created a generic packing list. 

Voila...I put one together and am now going to share it with you! Not having to recreate the entire list each time we go on vacation will be an enormous help. Plus, it's simple to
modify if you are going to a colder destination 
or on a cruise, for example. I hope I'm not 
forgetting anything. If I am, it's too late now!

Here it is (you can thank me later!): 

Carry On Luggage

·         Binder containing plane tix, car rental info, hotel info, activity confirmations, etc.

·         Wallet

·         Passport, if applicable

·         Cell phone and charger

·         Gum (to keep your ears from clogging up during takeoff and landing)

·         Camera and battery charger

·         Books (travel, crosswords), magazines

·         IPod

·         Makeup

·         Eyeglasses

·         Toiletry necessities (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, contacts, contact solution)

·         Laptop

·         Change of underwear, one bathing suit and cover-up

·         One pair of sunglasses

·         One pair of sandals

Checked Toiletries

·         Perfume

·         Shampoo and conditioner

·         Body wash

·         Q-Tips

·         Facewash

·         Toner

·         Cotton pads for facial products

·         Makeup remover

·         Waterproof mascara

·         Razors

·         Moisturizer

·         Comb

·         Bobby pins and hair ties

·         Hair products (styling spray, smoothing crème, hairspray)

·         Straightening iron

·         Chapstick

·         Feminine hygiene products

·         Advil

·         Nail clippers

·         Tweezers

·         Tissues

·         Dental floss

Remainder of Checked Suitcase

·         Underwear (including bras and sports bras)

·         Socks

·         Bathing suits and cover-ups

·         Beach hat and baseball hat

·         Beach towel

·         Beach bag (incl. suntan lotion and oil)

·         Sundresses

·         Shorts, capris

·         Shirts (tanks, tees, polos)

·         Skirts

·         Accessories (necklaces, bracelets, earrings)

·         Purse

·         Sandals, sneakers

·         Snorkel gear (including underwater cameras)

·         Camera uploader device

·         Backpack for hiking

Is there anything I didn't think of that you would add to the list?

Photo Challenge

Since I'm still bogged down with bar exams, I thought now would be a good time to add the Photo Challenge to my repertoire. For those of you who haven't seen it on Facebook or other blogs yet, the goal is to post 30 pictures in 30 days that fit the categories on this list. As usual, I plan to improvise because I don't have pictures for some of the categories, or I can't think of anything/anyone at the moment. I'm also going to start out of order with Day #3: a picture of the cast from your favorite show.

It may surprise you to learn that I really don't have a "favorite" show at the moment. It's too hard to pick just one because I really like a few from totally different genres (comedy, teen soap/drama, and dark vampire drama). And, no Jersey Shore isn't one of them because that's just a mindless guilty pleasure and clearly a show that I could live without.

Funniest show of all time...enough said

Gossip Girl - cast with the best fashion sense and it's filmed in NYC

One of the craziest plots, plus I adore Eric

Frugal Fashionista Tips

Hi bloggies! Sorry I haven't been posting much of substance lately. The bar exam grades are due in less than two weeks and I'm a tad behind due to my sickness last week. All work and no play for me lately, but I have lots of blog ideas drafted in the queue awaiting my attention. 

This made me laugh

In the meantime, here's a cute piece I saw about which points out five ways to dress like you have money even if you don't. We all like to save some hard earned cash and look fabulous at the same time, right? Check it out!

Bar Exam Memories

Every time I begin the bar exam grading process, it immediately conjures up memories of dread my own bar studying and examination experience. For the last few weeks, I literally lived off of sugar free Red Bull, coffee and Tylenol PM (for the sustained inability to fall asleep due to nerves, I presume). I'm sure I occasionally consumed some food too! Fortunately, when I was tired of studying for 14 hours straight or just felt like the process would never end, I was able to remind myself that there was a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a 10-day French Polynesian cruise courtesy of Princess.

I don't talk about this trip too much because I took it with my ex nearly 6 years ago, but it was probably the most rewarding of my life. It was so nice to take my mind off everything in New York and stop wondering for a moment if I'd passed the bar. (I would have to wait over 2 more months to find out the good news!) Air Tahiti Nui has the most luxurious, comfortable planes I've ever flown on -- you can almost fully recline, which can be helpful on an 8 hour flight to Papette from LAX.

During the 10-day trip, we traveled to 6 islands (Tahiti, Huahine, Roratonga, Raitea, Bora Bora, Moorea) and participated in everything from snorkeling, SNUBA, stingray encounters, motu picnics and luaus, not to mention all of the on-board festivities. Bora Bora was my absolute favorite island  (truly paradise) and I felt so lucky to have the opportunity to spend two days there. My only regret is that we didn't spend one night off the ship in an overwater bungalow. It would be so neat to wake up in the morning and look down at your glass floor to see fishes swimming below. Moorea was a close second!

I've never come home from a trip feeling so refreshed. Plus, I had the best tan of my life (see below)! Of course, that feeling of relaxation quickly diminished after I returned because I started my job at the law firm a few days later...enough said!

 
Here are some pictures from bar exam trip memory lane:

Huahine: picnicking in the water

Raraotanga: Posing with some little dancers

Bora Bora: the grounds of uber famous Bloody Mary's Restaurant

Bora Bora: Overwater bungalows

Bora Bora: More overwater bungalows

SNUBA close ups

Tahiti: Tallest waterfall

Freedom!

See ya in February!

     I am SO excited to announce that I am FINALLY finished grading the July 2010 bar exam. Every year it seems that grading becomes more taxing than the last, but then I change my tune when I receive the nice check at the end. In past years, I deposited the checks into my house savings account.

     From now on, this well-earned cash will be applied toward my share of our property taxes. Jim and I got a sneak preview of our property/school tax bill this weekend courtesy of a new Times Union database -- ouch! Either the real estate broker was citing old numbers when we first considered buying this property in 2009, or he was completely sugarcoating it. Either way, we're on the hook now and are looking forward to moving in sometime next month.

     Now that this monumental task is over, my readers can look forward to more frequent and interesting (I hope) blog posts. In the coming days, I plan to devote some posts to my love of travel and our most recent trips. I will also be spending some time catching up on my guilty pleasures -- watching episodes of Gossip Girl that I missed and reading US Weekly.

     On that note, did you hear that Courteney Cox and David Arquette's marriage officially ended this weekend?  Does it bother you that 11-years is considered a "long-term" marriage these days?

Back to Business

       As I've been staring at an ever dwindling mountain of bar exams the past three months (1671 to be exact), I've once again thought about all of the other, more exciting, ways I could be expending my energy.  The good news is that, as of Oct. 12th, I am off the hook until late Feb./early March.  Don't get me wrong generating extra income by grading bar exams the past four years has its perks.  It is one of the reasons that Jim and I are able to build the house of our dreams at this point in our lives. 

     Anyway, this is what made me realize that I should give this blogging gig another go. Well...that and reading Eat, Pray, Love, which also inspired me to start keeping a journal so I can look back to different periods of my life. In hindsight, starting a blog  a month before our wedding was not the most brilliant idea!

     Have you ever read a book that changed your perspective or gave you the extra push take a risk?