Sunshine on My Shoulder

If sunshine on his shoulder made John Denver happy, you can imagine my elation at this: I have a bright yellow shoulder bag and I just went to Santa Fe! Now, full disclosure: I was there this past weekend and I’m back already, but for the next few days, I’ll get you caught up on the happenings. I’ll start with an uneventful trip to the airport, aka, “what I wore on the plane.”

A few weeks ago I bought a fabulous vegan shoulder bag in the brightest yellow possible. I found it at Strut, a shoe-and-accessory store in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood. The bag is by Portland designer, Michelle Kline. I couldn’t wait to use it, and thought it would be a great carry-on bag. Plus, in Santa Fe, it would be a great purse for my shopping trips and art gallery walks.

Last week I also picked up this tunic at Damselfly in Ballard. It could be worn as a dress, but I’d probably save that for fall and pair it with tights. It will make a great bathing suit cover-up in Santa Fe, and it’s a comfortable shirt to travel in.

Tunic: Damselfly
Jeans: Bluenotes
Belt: Thrifted
Cuff: Gifted
Bag: Snap Design
Shoes: Timberland
Wrap: Street Vendor in NYC

I always try to pack light (one suitcase, carry-on size). I also try to pack items that I can mix and match so I have a lot of choices with a limited number of pieces. For Santa Fe, this included: cropped jeans, leggings, tunic, casual dress, evening dress, reversible skirt, three tank tops, maxi skirt, denim jacket, cardigan, bathing suit, ballet flats, flat sandals, chunky sandals, heels for evening, two wraps, sunglasses, shoulder bag, cross-body bag, clutch.

I could have packed less, but I wore all my pieces. During the day, the temperatures in Santa Fe were in the high 70s, but in the evenings it dropped to mid-40s. I needed a variety of styles (shopping, dining, galleries), and I needed layers.

One thing you shouldn’t forget, no matter where you are this spring and summer: Sunscreen. Sunburns and premature wrinkles (not to mention skin cancer) are never in style.

Tune in tomorrow for Shopping with Friends in Santa Fe.