Diva Packing

The new Silpada catalog just came out and as an Independent Rep, of course I had to get my hands on some of the newest pieces! They're amazing by the way. But, I'm quickly realizing this new business of mine has created an unexpected quandary. What's a girl to do when this is just some of the jewelry she wants to bring across the country with her?


Before my life with Silpada (when I'm pretty sure I was still wearing jewelry I purchased at Grateful Dead concerts in high school), traveling with my precious jewels was pretty easy. Necklace? Check. Ring? Check. One or two pairs of earrings? Check. It all fit together nicely in one little package which is maybe 3 x 4 inches.

My first business trip after aquiring all of my amazing new jewelry lead me on a search for something a little more practical for carrying the ammount of jewelry I now felt compelled to wear on any given day or week. It was tough finding something large enough, but finally landed on what I affectionately called "big green". My husband seemed disturbed that I needed to pack that much jewelry for one week away, and I have to admit I was a little concerned myself when I dropped it into my carry-on bag and realized how heavy it was! Wow, being a Diva requires great strength!


But perhaps, what is most disturbing is that I quickly realized that "big green" just wasn't cutting it. The compartments were too large, necklaces would tangle, earrings would slip out, rings would get swallowed up only to be found after returning home. And most problematic...it still wasn't fitting everything I wanted to bring.

Now perhaps this wouldn't be quite a problem if I was the kind of person that could carefully pick out a few signature pieces that would go with many outfits, or pick out specific pieces and match them with specific outfits. But I'm more of a throw it all in the suitcase and see what happens. I never know what I want to wear before the morning I put it on!

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when I found this baby at the Silpada Conference.


First of all it's about the size of a sheet of paper (8x10) and it has tons of compartments in various sizes, folders and pouches, several pages you can flip through, and even a special lining to help keep all of that sterling silver sparkling! When I came home from conference it looked like this:

So, today when I started looking at that whole new tray of beautiful jewelry a scary thought came into my head. Oh my gosh...I don't think all of the pieces I want to bring will fit.

When I mentioned this to my husband, his only reply was "that's going in your carry-on right? Not mine?" WIMP!

I guess the time has come to really pack like a lady. Now that I have the "big girl" jewelry I suppose packing like I'm not in college anymore is also appropriate. Sadly this is only the first part of packing. I still have the clothes to think about, and not just for myself but for the three kids too (assuming Dennis can do his own packing). Here's what I have to look forward to:


How do you Diva's keep it simple when traveling and minimize the baggage?