When I pack for pleasure, I seem to get it right every single time. In contrast, when I pack for work, I get it wrong every single time.

I genuinely do not know why happens. I do my homework and I try very hard to think ahead and plan for various scenarios.

I spent a week in Atlanta for a work-related class/workshop. "Atlanta." Certainly cropped pants in every variation will rock this city. Jeans would be heavy and probably too hot for the climate.

I packed two pair of full-length, straight cut jeans (blue for travel; white for the class). I packed multiple pairs of cropped pants (narrow and wide leg, navy and black). I added in a two tops per bottom. Three pairs of shoes (white loafers, black sneakers, navy flip flops). No jewelry.

I was certain I had packed enough clothing to last me two full weeks (although I would only be in the city for five days).

Here is the thing, I take all my cues from other people. I don't stand out, I blend in. The blue jeans were obviously too causal. I couldn't exactly put my finger on why, but they were wrong for the setting. Ok. I still had the white jeans and cropped pants to fall back on.

BUT cropped pants were not worn by one single woman in either the class OR the entire building complex. I did not see one single pair of cropped pants the entire time!!! And by the second day, I was seriously looking for them!!!

Every single woman I saw wore full length pants/slacks (not jeans). I began to doubt my sanity (had YLF been wrong and mis-directed me this entire time)? What was going on? Panic set in. That meant all I really had to wear was the single pair of white jeans. And I only had two coordinating tops for those white jeans.

My carefully crafted wardrobe collapsed upon itself. I considered going shopping (someone in the class told me that there was this sale going on called Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (aka NAS) and I might consider taking advantage of that). They even told me that there were two Nordstrom stores located within ten miles of the hotel.

I ended up wearing the full-length, straight cut white jeans Tuesday through Thursday. Since I was only in class half a day on Friday and was traveling the rest of the day, I opted to wear the black cropped pants. Yes. I was the only woman in the building complex wearing cropped pants, but by Friday, I was tired/cranky and couldn't care less (and I couldn't bring myself to wear the white jeans yet one more day).

I gotta say, I am genuinely confused by what just happened. Atlanta is certainly cosmopolitan. I should have seen every manner of fashion and style on the streets and in the building complexes. Although I did see some expression of fashion on the MARTA and in the airport, I really did not see as much variety as I expected. I certainly did not see anything that reflected the fashion leanings of YLF.