Trip to Oklahoma: What I brought and what I brought back

Hey everybody! :D

My trip to visit Stephen was absolutely divine. I had so much fun. I'll tell you all about that in a separate entry, this one is to share what I brought to my trip and what I brought back from it. :) I love seeing what others pack for their trips and acquire along the way, so I thought I'd give it a try. Let's go!

In case you can't quite see from the image, here's what I packed for the trip's regular-wear wardrobe:

-Green lacy dress
-Peasant blouse x2
-Tan tank top
-Purple tank top
-Green "seaweed" skirt
-Red elephant harem pants
-Purple elephant harem pants
-Traditional gypsy skirt
-Black shrug
-Jacket (light brown frilly thing)
-Black one piece swimsuit
-Sandals
-White barefoot sandals
-Black hipscarf
-Purple hipscarf
-Clover necklace
-Choker necklace and matching earrings
-Angel wing necklace
-Full moon necklace
-Pagan anklet
-Jingle anklet
-Red heart anklet (a last minute addition, not pictured in the group)

I also brought my adhesive bra, a nightgown, a pair of socks, and underwear, of course, but they're not pictured.

Here's what everything looks like rolled up and ready for packing! :)

The cookie in the top right corner is actually a purse currently containing my jewelry.

Needless to say, (but I'ma say it anyway!) I didn't roll up my traveler's outfit for the day of the flight: peasant blouse, traditional gypsy skirt, and black hipscarf. The list of clothes I brought might sound like a lot for just under two weeks, but I know it's a hot climate (sweat, blegh) and the majority of my clothes require hand washing and hang drying.

I also brought a couple pieces of clothing for photoshoots, but since they're only for photoshoots and not regular wear, I didn't include them on that list. While I was visiting I also got a fancy dress to wear on my birthday and a dark blue T-shirt with a mermaid on it, both things Stephen picked out for me (and a pair of dollar flipflops from WalMart...long story). He has such good taste, he knows my style very well and that's something I'm extremely grateful for in a partner, especially as a model. Here's a photo of my birthday dress:

The mermaid T-shirt, (which you can sort of see in an image below, but you can't really see the graphic, alas), has been added to my professional mermaid wardrobe to wear with my green seaweed skirt. :) We also used the birthday dress in a spur of the moment photoshoot, as I wanted to show it off.

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I intended to get a full view picture of EVERYTHING I brought on the trip, but that slipped through the cracks in the excitement. Luckily, since I'm a paranoid list maker and double checker, I still have the packing list, so I can share that. Less exciting than a picture, but it'll do! One day I'd love to see just how minimal I can travel, but since we had photoshoots pre-planned, I had to bring all my mermaid gear and some model stuff. I'm also leaving off the clothing I already listed above. Anyway, here we go!

My packing list:

To help you with your own packing lists, I've broken it down a bit. Mermaid related stuff is in blue and non-mer photoshoot things are in purple, while "regular" things remain black.

Phone + charger

Camera + SD card + charger

Chromebook + charger

Monofin

Blue mermaid tailskin

Black mermaid tailskin

Mermaid finger webbings

Shell top + bra insert

Chainmail top

Mermaid tights (for under tail)

Underwater phone case

Googles + case + swim cap

Mermaid business cards + carrying bag

Rose fan

Fancy prom dress (currently living with Stephen and the studio I have there)

Leotard

Tights

Leg warmers

Ballet flats

Lipstick

Flash drive for photos

Hair brush x2 (boar's hair for shine and another to detangle)

Hair bands

Bobby pins

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Tongue cleaner

Spinning cleaning brush + 2 heads (face and body)

Towel

Nail brush

Nail clippers

Nail file

Tweezers

Sleep mask

Earplugs

Under eye make up (so I don't look like a tired zombie)

Band-aids + Neosporin

Razor (that I ended up not using...damn hippies)

Panty liners

Needle + thread

Deodorant

Peptobismol (Had a horrible experience once where I wished I'd brought it...never again)

Cookie purse

Drawstring tulle bag (used as purse until it broke and I switched to the cookie)

Debit card (with a bit of cash on hand)

Student ID

Medical insurance card

Chapstick

Small notebook

Pen x2

Portable hand sanitizer

I also bought sample sizes of shampoo, conditioner, and shower soap, but next time I'll skip that. We ended up getting regular sized stuff at Wal Mart later because I was staying so long.

What I brought back in addition:

My DnD dice rings (3d6), which also double as my engagement and promise rings ♥

My first set of DnD dice, my birthday gift from Stephen. They're SO BEAUTIFUL. Like little gems.

My "happy dinglehopper", a cute little gift Stephen bought for me :)

And this, a leather stamp that Stephen hand stamped for me at a museum we visited (Museum of the Great Plains). I thought I lost it as I was in the airport headed home, it was terrifying. When I got off my Lawton to Dallas flight and had time to spare with a layover, I sat on the floor in a corner and unpacked 75% of my bag. When I found it I cried tears of joy just a little bit. SO glad I found it, it's so special to me.

At the museum I also got some glass beads replicating the kind the Native Americans wore and traded. They're a lovely dark blue, very close to indigo, which blends in with my mermaid T-shirt almost perfectly. Here's a photo showing them both, and the nice docent who was telling us all about the museum and history and chatting with us a bit after. He also gave me the beads :) I didn't get to keep the skunk hat, though. Oh, and he painted my face with real facepaint that the Native Americans used. Apparently one small packet cost two buffalo hides!

Other things I brought home not pictured include a beautiful goldstone that was calling to me, an awesome silver piece of hand jewelry (it looks like a skeleton hand!), a number of fishing bobbers (to wear in my hair as a mermaid), a pair of nice chopsticks (Stephen insists I learn how to use them), two bouncy balls bought from a 25 cent machine on a whim, and a few sentimental paper things, mostly from the museum, for scrapbooking. I also had a lovely piece of belly dance jewelry shipped to Stephen to be used for photoshoots, along with the studio background set, and the jewelry came home with me. The studio set stayed with him to use for next time, along with the fancy dress I brought. I also left my towel there for him to keep because my bag was totally full and he can put it to good use.

Oh, I almost forgot the fish mask. THE FISH MASK. It's hilarious, I love it. I've made a new original character concept with it and a funny fish tie I found at a thrift store. Oh yeah, the fish tie came home with me too. Anyway, we took two different photoshoots with the fish mask, one being the character I mentioned, and the other being a conceptual evolution to mermaid parody, only half serious, mostly comical.