Tips for Packing: 5 Things to Do Before Packing

With Christmas break just around the corner, I thought I would share a few things that I find are very important to do before packing day in order to avoid stressful situations. Here's the list: 

1.- BUY EVERYTHING YOU NEED: So, let's say you are leaving home for the Holidays on Saturday morning, therefore your packing day will probably be Friday. Now, let's say you need to buy shampoo, lotion, tampons, travel size containers and that you need to do all your Christmas shopping before you leave. DON'T wait until Thursday or Friday morning to do everything! Yes, of course it's possible to go to Wal-mart, get your Christmas shopping done and pack a whole suitcase in one day... but honestly, do you really wanna get yourself in that situation? I know I wouldn't. So, assuming you're leaving on Saturday morning, you could, say, do Christmas shopping Monday and Tuesday, go to Wal-mart, Target or wherever on Wednesday, take Thursday for giftrapping and putting everything on travel containers and finally, pack calmly on Friday.This way you won't want to rip your hair off and I guarantee everything will be more efficient and enjoyable if you do it beforehand. 

2.-WASH: If you're leaving for a trip and you know there are certain clothing items you wanna take with you that need to be washed, ironed or dry-cleaned, again, DON'T wait until the day before and definately DON'T wait for packing day to do it! I've made the mistake of washing clothes a day before I pack and in most situations they are not dry by the time I need to pack everything. Other times, clothes would be dry but I still needed to iron them, and we know ironing is tiring and it's not something you can do quickly. There were also times in which I didn't have a chance to pick up my dry-cleaning before I packed, or it simply wouldn't be ready by the time I needed it. Bottom line? Wash, iron and send clothes to and pick them up from the dry-cleaner with enough anticipation so that you won't have to even think about that near packing day. REMEMBER: Same thing applies for makeup brushes that need to be cleaned, do it beforehand so they will be dry by the time you need to pack them. Remember packing wet makeup brushes will generate bacteria and you don't wanna put a brush full of bacteria anywhere near your face, do you?

3.-SLEEP: Whether you are going to the most beautiful beach in the world or just coming back home, travelling is certainly one of the best experiences ever but it sure is exhausting, specially during the holiday season. In addition, getting ready for a trip and packing can be very exhausting as well, even if you get organized and take enough time for everything. So, even if it sounds silly, one of the best tips I could give you is: Sleep well. One of the main reasons why I find organizing so important for travelling, is that when you organize there is less chance that you will stay awake all night washing, ironing or packing. Getting enough sleep before travelling is important in order to enjoy your trip and being able to stay up all night on Christmas Eve! 

4.- CLEAN UP: Everytime I know I'm gonna be packing, I try to clean up my room as much as I can. I focus mainly on clearing up every surface (nightstands, vanity, bed, shelfs, etc.) and putting away everything that's out of place or that doesn't need to be out when I pack and leave. This way, I can use free surfaces to put toiletries, clothes, accessories and whatever I'm taking with me before I actually put it in the suitcase. In addition, I won't get confused with the things I'm taking with me and the things I'm not. After I pack everything, my room looks put together becuase there's nothing laying around. Plus, when I come back tired as hell, I know I wont have to clear my bed in order to lay down! 

5.- BUILD A NICE ENVIRONMENT!: On packing day, after I cleaned up my room and right before I start packing, I do the next steps: Get into some laungewear, light up my favorite candle, play some music, get my packing lists and make sure I bring lots of water and snacks (like grapes or dried cranberries). I guarantee this will make the packing process more pleasant and stress-free.

Hopefully these tips turn out to be useful for you. If you decide to try them out or already do them please let me know what you think in the comment section below!

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Welcome to Beauty, Fashion, Drama!

Today I would like to dedicate this post to introduce you to this new project: my blog Beauty, Fashion, Drama! There are many reasons why I decided I wanted to start blogging. I am yet another makeup and beauty junkie and I've always enjoyed good blogs and YT channels from beauty gurus. The main reason though, is that I realized I wanted to share whatever knowledge I have in some beauty, fashion and health areas. Hopefully, what I share on this blog will be useful, interesting and/or simply entertaining for you.

Here, you will find posts under a variety of topics, the main ones being, of course, the ones mentioned in the name of the blog. For the Beauty section there will be reviews, first impressions and lots of tips, among others. In terms of Fashion, you will find OOTDs, styling ideas, tips to enhance your type of body with trendy items, etc. 

Now, you are probably wondering... Then what about the Drama! section? What is that referring to? I decided to add drama as the third main category for the blog for several reasons. The fact that I’m currently majoring in theater may have a lot to do with it, but the real reason is that ever since I was little I always considered my life to be filled with drama, and opposite to what a lot of you might be thinking as you read, this is not a bad thing. I love drama. Drama doesn’t mean tragedy. If we get a little academic and take the word drama for its etymology, drama is to act or to do, so in other words, drama means action.  I am the kind of person who feeds from a good dose of stress and chaos. I love handling difficult or complicated situations. I love organizing and I try to be as productive as possible. For all of these reasons, for me the drama in my life includes travelling and packing, college life, my work, spiritual and emotional processes that I go through and of course experiences in all art forms present in my daily life, to name just a few. So, what to expect from the Drama! section? Lots of organization and cleaning tips, travelling and packing related posts and of course I will share experiences and findings in terms of health, fitness, artistic development and just my day to day dose of healthy stress.

I want BFD (Beauty, Fashion, Drama!) to become a place where people feel like they can find answers, guides, useful tips and posts about experiences they identify with and learn from. Because of this, I would really appreciate it if you could open up with me and request things you can’t really find in other blogs or YouTube channels but that you would love to read about. Any questions, comments, requests, suggestions and opinions are more than welcome in the comment section below or on a 24/7 schedule via Twitter:

Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope you will stay around for new blogposts coming very very soon!

Have a wonderful day/night, everyone!

Michelle

Tips for Packing: Lists for Packing

Hi, everyone! I decided to start off the Travel Series with a few packing tips. Probably one of the trickiest and most stressful parts about traveling is getting ready for a trip and that obviously includes packing. Packing can become a very chaotic process for a lot of us and when we let ourselves merge into the chaos…the consequences can be disastrous. Throughout the years I’ve had to pack probably a thousand times. There were times where I would spend up to 5 hours packing and had to stay up way past midnight to get everything ready. Because of times like those, I started experimenting with different ways of packing and tricks for the whole process until I found certain things that make everything easier. I wanted to share some of these things with you hoping that they will turn out to be as useful for you as they are for me.

Today, I’m going to start with just one simple tip: Write down lists. For me, this is a key step for packing and travelling. Lists are a part of my daily life. I write down lists for unimaginable things and, believe it or not, they make my life way easier and more organized. Now, if you don’t even write down lists for grocery shopping, I still think you should give them a try for packing. So you are probably wondering “Why would I sit down and write down a list when I could just go ahead and pack?” Well, there are many reasons why lists are great for organization and therefore amazing for packing. First of all, lists help you remember, BUT of course you can’t expect a miracle. If you wake up the day you have to pack and decide to write down a list, it could definitely help, but what is the point? Lists are supposed to help you remember things but with all the stress on packing day you just might forget to write something down and therefore, forget to pack it.  If you allow yourself to write down a list of the things you need to pack with certain anticipation, I guarantee the packing process will become a piece of cake.

When you write down a list before packing day, you have time to think things through and decide what are the best items to take with you. As the trip gets closer, you will come up with items you didn’t think of before and you’ll be able to add them to your list. So, logically, the greater amount of time before your trip you take for preparing, the greater chances are that you will be able to think about everything you could possibly need. In addition, if you write your packing lists with anticipation you will also be able to analyze them and ask yourself “Do I really need to take this?” for every item on the list so that you can avoid overpacking as well. Remember, whenever you come up with another item to add to your list, make sure it’s something necessary or really important, that way you will be prepared but wont overpack.

Now, if you want to you could start off just by writing lists for the things that will go in your suitcase. Personally, I write down at least 3 lists before packing: one for clothing and shoes, one for toiletries and makeup, and one for my carry-on bag. I like to do this because writing down everything that pops into your head when you think “What do I need to take with me?” can be very overwhelming and confusing. When you think of a certain aspect and focus only on the items that fall in that category, everything is simpler.

I know it probably seems like writing this so-called packing lists can be a long nightmare, but trust me, when you realize how much less time you take to pack when using lists and how productive it turns out to be, sitting down to write one (or three) looks like nothing. If you already write down lists for packing or decide to try it, please let me know in the comment section below. 

Don’t forget to stay tuned for a whole list of Packing Tips coming very soon!

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Michelle

Disclaimer: I do not own the images.