Oh! The Places You'll Go... With This Bag!

If you haven't planned one yet, let me just tell you: weddings are expensive. My fiance and I are working hard on the details of our dream day and finding that many sacrifices have to be made. Unfortunately, one of those sacrifices just might be our honeymoon as finding additional time off from work and digging a little deeper into our pockets the week following our wedding just may not be possible.

That said, I am still dreaming about the week off that I will spend with my honey after all of this planning is over. In my head that week will be full of days on a beach, naps in a hammock, amazing meals next to the ocean, and the sound of the waves lulling us to sleep each night. It will be glamourous in that delicious sun-on-your-skin, wind-in-your-hair, time-spent-with-your-great-love, kind of a way...

OR we might just be home enjoying a stay-cation in our one bedroom apartment. If we're lucky we will take a quick weekend to a B&B in Maine - lovely in its own way, but like always, I will have to bring the glamour. When I stare at this new duffle bag from Kate Spade, I am transported from my wedding planning stress to my fantasy honeymoon so I am pretty sure that it will transport me from that B&B to the glamourous private island in my head.

{Kate Spade, Westward Runaway Duffle, $1295.}

Is that not the most gorgeous duffle bag you have ever seen? I can barely bring myself to call it a duffle since it is not the least bit reminiscent of the beat up sports team bags or wrinkled canvas bags that share the same name. It's just lovely. And glamourous. I must have it. But I must have flowers at my wedding too. So, it looks like I will be going with the duffle's fabulous cousin instead. This clutch:

{Kate Spade, Westward Ingenue Clutch, $545.}

A terrific compromise, no?

This morning I awoke with a poem in my head. It was one I remember receiving from my mother when I graduated from high school. Dr. Seuss. Now, fourteen years later, parts of it I have carried into adulthood and I will now carry them into my marriage. I read it today and I think I will read it again on my wedding day. My personal highlights from the poem:

"Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!"


"You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, 'I don’t choose to go there.' With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street..."


"Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done..."

"And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!"

For richer, for poorer, in sickness, and in health, in good times and in bad, I'm excited to take this life journey and tackle our mountain. Now I just need to go pack my fabulous bag and we can go anywhere life takes us. ;)

Treat everyday like you are on the runway.