I am going on a combined business/pleasure trip to Silicon Valley area in two weeks. Help me figure out what to pack! I want to keep the luggage to a minimum and not go overboard.
My DH is traveling with me, we fly in Friday night and will have Saturday and Sunday for the pleasure part of the trip. We may spend a day in San Francisco. I would imagine the second day would be somewhere on a beach soaking up the sun or driving along the coast - i.e., will need something more casual.
I'm completely stumped what to pack for the pleasure part of the trip!! I just know I need flat shoes I can walk in, or my DH will kill me.
I have been to CA numerous times before, but usually in the winter months and never as last as May. (Except for the one August we went to San Fran... which as Mark Twain says, was the coldest winter I ever spent! LOL).
For this part of the trip, should I skip the jeans and opt for skirts or dresses or walking shorts with flat shoes? How warm is it going to be? I know it's usually a dry warm, not a humid warm, which means it'll feel cooler to me than it really is.
The business part is a little easier....
On Monday and Tuesday I'm in the office for meetings. I'm in high-tech so I don't need to go overly formal, but I have never seen any of the women wear jeans (even dressy ones) during the week (perhaps they do on Fridays, but I'm never there on a friday). So a step up from smart-casual - but a full blown conservative suit would be overkill. Also, I never see any of the women I work with wear skirts or dresses - probably because the office is too cold. The "code" for female up-and-coming managers seems to be smart casual based on dress pants, or at most, a matching coordinated pants suit.
I am thinking for Monday, I will wear basically the same outfit as this:
http://teamsugar.com/look/1557169
... except with black dress slacks and probably black pumps instead of flats. With my cream Coach bag.
Tuesday is an important meeting with people I've never met yet, so I do plan to wear a suit jacket for more presence. But I don't want to go overboard with a too mix-matchy suit. So I'm thinking of wearing:
- gray dress slacks
- black short-sleeve jacket shown in this photo:
http://teamsugar.com/look/1119521
These two look very good together; I've worn them before, with a simple tank underneath and kept it buttoned the whole time. However, I can't just wear a simple tank underneath, because it is likely at some point I'll want to take the jacket off.
So I'm thinking of wearing this blouse:
http://teamsugar.com/look/1557169
Do you think this would work with the gray pants??? They are a light gray - a spring gray.
Obviously there are probably different combos I could come up with here. But I think these are my two "go-to" blouses for this trip. And as far as dress pants go - suitable for work - I just discovered after a try-on that I only have these two pairs (black and light gray) - that's IT!!! That's all that fits me currently, since I lost weight.
Most importantly, I'd really like to minimize the amount of shoes I drag along... I never get this part right with trips! And stick to one purse only, my cream coach bag.
Suggestions?
