aoknkentucky

I think both dresses work just fine. Ordinarily, the first formal night is the dressiest of the two, and the green would look gorgeous, at least on cruises I have taken. If the bag you are carrying in the print dress picture coordinates well with the dress, I'd carry a matching scarf/wrap and coordinating sparkly jewelry. I'm a less-is-more kinda gal, so I'd take one pair of metallic strappy heels to use for both dresses if I had them. If you wrap each dress in dry cleaner bags before you pack them, there should be minimal wrinkles.

A little sparkle and an effervescent attitude goes a long way toward a dressy outfit. This is only my opinion, of course, but cruises seem more dressy than formal these days. In my mind, there is a difference. I like feeling dressy. Formal? Not so much. You will always manage to find someone on board dressed more formally than you. You will always manage to find someone on board dressed less formally than you. As others have said, don't stress. Enjoy your first cruise.

Ahhh, Laurie. Winding roads, hills and trees showing red. My favorites. Beautiful!

Hi, everyone! One trip down and one waiting in the wings. We leave Thursday noon for the old-folks bus trip through WV. We saw a little color, but a lot of the leaves we saw were brown. Temps were mid 70s/mid 50s. Weather predictions for the upcoming trip is mid 50s/mid 30s! Wow! What a difference. I'll report back next week on both trips.

Work is piled around my ears, so I'm off to deal with mounds of paperwork. --Debbie

We leave with BFF and her DH on Wednesday and will be on the other side of the mountain in Waynesville, NC near the Maggie Valley area. I call these short trips "wear a pair, take a pair trips." Jeans, tees, and hoodies will be the order of the day for me. I may throw in a fleece so I can sit out on the cabin porch, but this is relaxation time at it's best.

Enjoy your time with family, Sally. Safe travels.

Because I have a 4-day trip and a 5-day trip planned during the next couple of weeks, I've been seriously considering what bottoms to wear. The first and last days are basically travel days because we are "on vacation" when we leave the driveway and we mosey to our destination with lots of stops along the way. My second trip is an old-folks bus trip, as my kids like to say, so again, lots of sitting. The EARTH gals are discussing yoga pants and because I keep buying those things and leave them hanging in my closet, I finally understand that I'm a jeans kind of girl. I need jeans that are short enough to not puddle on the public restroom floors but have the same give that yoga pants have. Who wants to be cut off at the middle sitting in a vehicle for hours on end? Not this old gal. I recently bought Levis and discovered that they were 100% cotton. They look good. They make me look good. I can't sit in them for more than 15 minutes at a time. Time to look through my old jeans and see why. Ding. Ding. Ding. My favorite Levis aren't 100% cotton! So, here's what I'm taking on both trips to the mountains.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/21142911

The pair I'm wearing today are a 80% cotton, 18% polyester, 2% spandex blend. They come in short (I'm 5'6" but have short legs), average and long. They come in at least two different denim colors and black in the store. I will agree with the online reviews though. Don't take the tags off until you try them on. The fit and length can vary. A lot. After running them through the wash last night, one is 1-1/2 inches longer than the other. Not a biggie for me. I wear skinnies with boots from now til March, so what doesn't show doesn't matter. I've worn them for casual Friday today and have been sitting for a couple of hours. They are comfortable.

Aww, Linda! We could never forget you. I just wish you had better news. Please allow your DH to take you away for time to recuperate as often as you can. Your health will suffer even more if you don't. You need to be good to yourself also. Please check back as often as you can. I'll be thinking of you and praying for peace, my friend.

I just read something and thought of you Anita. I wanted to mention it before I forgot. "The terra-cotta/peanut butter warmth of Soft Autumn." Doesn't that sound like a perfect description?

Laurie, thanks for the trip. I enjoyed the glimpse of that gorgeous area. I agree with Margaret. You are an excellent ambassador for visiting your home state.

Look see what I found in the laundry! 2 short-sleeves Chicos Travelers tops and a Kohls Apt. 9 3/4-sleeve burnout top. Yep, if I order the tank Anita mentioned, I've got tops covered, because I remembered that I also have a short-sleeve cashmere T in alpaca heather color stored away with my winter clothes. I may try to find a pair of jeans or a skirt in this greige color. I'd really like to have two bottoms so that should finish off my greige capsule.

I stopped by Ulta on lunch break today. Svelte Suede is EXACTLY my greige color. No joke everyone--look for taupe, alpaca and mushroom if you want this color. There's no telling what color they are calling our elusive greige. WOW!

Thanks, Anita. With several off-white/ivory sleeveless and short-sleeve options that I already own, I can let accessories and a few colorful tops tell my story. I think it will be a better story than the one I was trying to tell with chocolate brown.

Have a great trip.

Ok. Here's my greige (mushroom, taupe, alpaca & who knows what other names) capsule so far.

Talbots Ivory/taupe striped cotton hoodie with ivory/taupe/lt. gray/medium gray camo cotton LS T

Chicos Zenergy Ivory/taupe 3/4 sl Asymmetrical hem tunic

Chicos Talpas Taupe open-weave 3/4 sleeve

Drape cardigan

Chicos Texas Taupe Ponte Jeans

LandsEnd Ivory/mushroom LS Boat-neck Cotton T

LandsEnd Ivory/??(I think it was Alpaca) LS Cotton T

Chicos Texas Taupe cotton&swoop Drape cardigan w-pockets

Chicos Texas Taupe Ponte Jeans

The pants are the same. I thought it would make a control for both pictures. The camo shirt has both cool and warm grays.

Will do. We are camping this weekend. I'll try to put something together when I get back to the house.

Anita, you said your brace has a carrying bag and I understand if you feel you NEED to wear it, but it's been my experience that medical equipment like my DH's C-PAP isn't considered in your carry-on allotment. So, you would be allowed to carry it on if you choose to do so, right?

Laurie, Pam & Anita have wonderful, amazing trips. Remember, we live vicariously through pictures [emoji6]. Melody

Yessssss. Where's my LIKE button!?! :) ;) Have fun. Be careful!

Gatlinburg is in tennessee . It is near the blue ridge parkway which is gorgeous in the fall . It is also near Pigeon Forge which has tons of attractions for youngsters . We are meeting my daughter , sil & two grandsons there . It is a halfway point for both of us .

Also, Gatlinburg is on the TN side of the Smoky Mountains from where we stay on the NC side of the Smokies. Last year, I did a review of our vacation in the log cabins. The entire area has something for everyone. It's just a matter of deciding what suits your needs best. When our kids were younger, the attractions of Pigeon Forge were definitely on our list. Enjoy your time with the family, Sally.

Debbie...I saw the tank in the store...and another long sleeved shirt with a dark gray trim on it. The Eddie Bauer store is really, really easy for me to get to. It's on my beaten path so to speak, so if there is anything you want me to check out in specific, please let me know.

Thanks, Anita. On your recommendation, I think I do need the tank and will probably order it. That may be all that's necessary for now in this greige color. So far, I have a light-weight 3/4 sleeve cardigan, a warmer-weight long-sleeve cardigan, a stripe 3/4-sleeve T, a short-sleeve top, and a pair of ponte jeans from Chicos, a 3/4 sleeve burnout tee from Kohls, and a striped long-sleeve T from LandsEnd. The stripe LandsEnd top is one that I bought before my February Light Spring consult. I knew I liked the color and how I looked in it, but I haven't worn it much. Like all LandsEnd items, it is nicely made, has a nice thick cotton heft and I can only wear it during the cold months. If the tank works, that completes my light warm gray capsule. So far, the colors I've bought work amazingly well together and have been called: talpa taupe, texas taupe, mushroom, and shale. Go figure! When I saw Laurie post the exercise pants, I immediately looked at the link thinking the color would be more gray than brown. It's almost funny how my silly little brain works some days, but I'm learning to keep my eyes and ears wide open, and I'll add greige to my color list.

Thanks, Anita, for the Eddie Bauer colors. I had a quick minute to look before leaving work and noticed that the light heather gray didn't look warm on all items. The tank and T looked warm, but the longer sleeved tops looked like the usual gray with white. Did you notice if that was the case in the store and maybe the colors are off online?

Gotta run---

http://m.kohls.com/kohlsopenapi/productmobile.html?productID=2267140

Something along these lines, maybe the colors need to be refined to work, but this is what I was thinking about.

Anita, I like the beaded top with your lace skirt. Of course I would. How about a pair of statement earrings with a Spanish influence to go with your guys shirts? Try Mudd brand at Kohls. Medallion style with hanging beaded strands is what I'm thinking of. The kind we (not you, of course) wore in the 70's.

The butterscotch grip looks great on you.

How in the world did autocorrect make top into grip???

The butterscotch top looks great on you. That's what I meant to say.

One of my faves for work (and it travels so well!) is the ponte sheath dress from Lands End.

I agree and plan to take a couple of my LE dresses for the more casual nights on our February cruise. Thanks for the reminder.

It was a refresher for me, Pam, but a welcomed one. I had forgotten how it ended and needed the reminder. Thanks so much for sharing this.

Margaret, I agree that the Nordstrom Rack Pleione top could be the only style top you might need. I really like those lines. Have you ordered anything from Coldwater Creek since their reboot? I'm wondering whether the quality is still the same?

I'm hopeful that there will be enough extra to make a least one pocket...doesn't have to be a big pocket...just deep enough for my SeaPass card!

Anita, if you haven't already made your pocket attempt, do you have a pocket-sized piece of another coordinating material or even plain pre-washed cotton? The pocket shouldn't show much and you'd have more remaining material to make the armhole and neck facings. If cotton has been pre-washed and dried, it won't shrink as much during subsequent washes. Just a thought.

Debbie...you must check out TVF today!

The first thing I thought this morning--the FIRE and EARTH girls need to see this! The second thing I thought this morning--I can almost make my version of this capsule with what I have in my closet now.

I'd like to use the 4x4 idea she's highlighted the past several days to stage different capsules from my closet to see what gaps I might need to correct. I'm planning to use this idea for my upcoming February cruise and I can't imagine that I would need to take anything else beyond 18 items, but will probably take a nicer dress or two just because I have them and want to wear them. Since I've purchased a few end of the season clearance items this week and may not have the opportunity to wear them, my cruise wardrobe will feel fresh and new and will definitely stretch the items I have already been wearing this summer. Temperatures are making a big change this weekend and lows are expected to dip into the 40s (Brrrr). It may be time to put away my summer clothes and now would be the best time to get my cruise capsule in order while I still remember what I enjoy wearing together.

I've mentally planned to take completely different capsules for my two upcoming 4-day trips using her ideas. Three toppers, three tops and three bottoms would be entirely too many clothes for such a short trip, but I usually wear one complete set and take one complete set plus an extra top. I think she calls this a 4-Pack. If everything mixes and matches, even my messy self has enough clothes for the trip and I can always wash out my first day outfit if necessary to use for the return trip home. My travel outfit is usually the most comfy and would have plenty of time to dry and be ready to travel if I wash it out on the first night we arrive at the cabin. Today's TVF post of casual clothes is exactly what I usually take. Well, jeans, Ts and hoodies. Gotta have my hoodies!

Oh. My. Goodness! Pam, I saw your post about "greige" and though I've been seeing the reference to this color, I never thought about what the name meant. How silly of me! Of course, gray and beige combination makes perfect sense. I feel so silly that I never thought of it being what I wanted. It would also make perfect sense that it would be on its way out if I am looking for it now. How else would they be able to sell the next big thing!?! Thanks for thinking of me and mentioning it to me.

Laurie, I love getting to see your upcoming trip outfits. I have major EARTH envy. Love these colors so much! It amazes me how much different the colors read for me today looking on my big monitor compared to looking at them over the weekend on my phone. Of course, the picture is much bigger, but the colors are much more EARTHY looking on my big screen too. I especially like your accessory choices. Your pictures have taught me that I need to lay everything out on my bed or hang them across my shower curtain and snap a picture. I think it will give me an instant knowledge if my capsule is working with or against itself. I like being able to see the mix and match components in the picture.