Erin's Soapbox| Blue: Who Knew? | 1 | 2 |
SEATTLE, USA — Well, since Keith has been bugging me incessantly about writing something for the website I thought I would choose a topic near and dear to my heart: clothes. We're not talking about the latest crazes from Paris or Milan. No Dolce & Gabbana or Todd Oldham for this trip. We're talking fashion icons like The North Face, Ex Officio, Columbia, Smartwool, and yes, even TravelSmith. (OK, I am taking a little black dress from Ralph Lauren: you can take the girl out of Bloomingdale's but you can't take the Bloomingdale's out of the girl.)
Now, some of you might not appreciate how difficult it was for me to come up with a wardrobe to wear every week for the next year or so. My white t-shirt collection alone could last 2 weeks before I would need to do laundry. So even though the prospect of shopping for clothes for the trip was, of course, exciting, I really had no idea where to start. Well, I had some idea where to start — a store for instance was a good idea — so I began scouring every travel and outdoor outlet from Seattle to San Francisco (literally!).
After countless hours of on-line and in-person shopping, as well as spending the equivalent of Belize's GNP, Keith and I have armed ourselves with all that can wash in a sink, dry overnight and roll up into a ball the size of a cat toy. The entire clothing entourage we picked out for our trip fits into 2 extra-large Ziploc bags, including the waterproof, breathable jackets with roll-up hood, and pit zips that stows in it's own pocket. Our clothes contain such wonderful things as fabric that 'wicks' away moisture, wool that doesn't itch, wind-blocking polar fleece, and nylon that doesn't wrinkle (yeah, right). Our pants convert into shorts, our shirts have zippers and flaps for ventilation, and our socks control odor-causing bacteria (yeah, right again).
