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WIW: Don't Mess With Texas

JAileen

Veteran

We spent a week in Texas, visiting family and birding. I tried to take a picture of my outfits, but the mirrors were so poorly lit. I'm sorry for the poor quality.

1. First full day there, visiting family, including my MIL in a nursing home. Old thrifted jean jacket, Lee cropped denim pants, Lands End ombre top. I wore the denim jacket a lot, for AC.

2. A little bit of birding in the DFW area, and drive to Galveston. Denim jacket again, Lee shorts, new $7.50 Kohl's top.

3-4. Dinner in Galveston, at Gaido's. I took two pairs of sandals and only wore sandals one time.

5-6. Birding on the Boliver Peninsula and High Island. This is my favorite tee. We hadn't been to High Island in about 30 years. It's a big deal now, with restrooms and entrance fees.

7. New top from Lands End and the Lee crops again. I washed them in the sink. I wore this to a Rangers baseball game. The air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

8. The pants are a navy and white print, with the denim jacket and an embroidered sleeveless Lands End top.

9-10. What we saw at High Island : several alligators and a rookery with egrets, cormorants and roseate spoonbills. This was fabulous!!!

11. A baby owl in a nature preserve outside Ft Worth.

12. Rangers v Angels. It was fun even though the Rangers lost. I'm a Giants fan but I didn't mention them too much.

13. Poison ivy, I believe. I got a mild rash without even touching *anything*.

14. Don't Mess With Texas is an anti-littering campaign started back when we lived in Texas.

15. I bought this super lightweight backpack at REI a month or two ago and have used it non-stop. It was great birding, holding a windbreaker, and also great at the baseball game. Best buy so far this year.

I had another outfit with the white crops but forgot to take a picture. I took too many sandals (two pairs), and not enough pants. For the airplane I wore jeans. I thought our flight home was going to be affected by the high chance of severe rain. There were a few tornadoes spotted in the Dallas area.

If you have any comments or suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them.

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31 replies

Latest reply was from JAileen

Brooklyn

Veteran

JAileen, I enjoyed seeing your photos from deep in the heart of Texas. The weather sounds very Australian. You should visit here for some birding. I saw some wild emus out in the country at Easter...

My favourites are nos 1 and 3. Love the ombre top. I also like your new floral (?) top in no 2 (from what I can see of it). I would like to see it with the white pants.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Stripes, white sneakers, denim jacket, and navy blue -- oh, and silver sandals. What's not to love (except an alligator or two, shudder!!)

Those look like practical travel outfits that went the distance for you on what may have been, in some ways, a challenging trip. Excellent packing.

JAileen

Veteran

Brooklyn, thanks! And thanks for the good idea. It was the first time I'd worn the top in #2 since our weather here at home has been chilly. I think it would look good with white. It's dandelions gone to seed. It looks like our lawn when we got home!
I certainly hope I get to visit Australia someday. I read Bill Bryson's book and he made it sound scary, writing about the ten (or so) most poisonous creatures living there, and the prime minister disappearing into the surf. What I'd really like to do is ride the train across the continent.

Suz, thanks! Packing was hard, for the activities and the weather. I think I could have done better packing, but I tried to fit in with others, not be too dressy when they were ultra casual.

Anonymous

You've got your casual look down pat , and it absolutely works for you . The stripes and white bottom pairing is great on you . Texas scares the crap out of me .

JAileen

Veteran

Lisa, thanks! FWIW, my SIL called the outfit in #7, what I wore to the ballgame, "dressy".

I lived in Texas for 10 years. In that time I came to have a great appreciation for the state. I even married a Texan! However, my husband and I both agree that all of Texas' great qualities are overshadowed by its colossally terrible weather.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Great pictures, I love the denim jacket on you. And pink flamingos and an alligator can't be beat!

JAileen

Veteran

Shevia, thanks! The pink birds are actually roseate spoonbills. Here's one we saw earlier that day. Their bills really do look like spoons! We saw fuzzy baby ones, and their tiny spoons were sooo cute!

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Sara L.

Veteran

Great outfits and I love the bird pics. My favorite outfits are #1 with the striped ombre shirt and #8.

Every time I fly through Dallas, I get delayed due to bad weather.

JAileen

Veteran

Sara, thank you! I wore #8 on the last day, until I changed to jeans for the flight home.

We are so spoiled with our little airport. We touched down, got to the gate, and got our luggage in 15 minutes. And then it's a five minute drive home. DFW does have some better than average airport restaurants, though.

Sal

Veteran

It sounds like a successful trip - family, birding and sports! Your choices look great and practical for your vacation. You are looking terrific!

Love your snakeskin sandals:)

Anonymous

I think you have a lot of pieces working well for you, from the denim jacket to the crop pants to the white tennis shoes. Sometimes it's hard to get the packing proportion just right. Love the owl pic too.

Sophia Alice

(website)

You have your easygoing look under control , and it completely works for you . The stripes and white base matching is extraordinary on you . Texas alarms the poop out of me .

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

#1, 7 and 8 are the winners here. Super cute. Love the white sneaks.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

You've got a great casual TX capsule going on there! Nice to see the photos from your trip, too.

Funny that we both married Texans. I hear you about the weather, but I can't say I'm much of a fan of the weather in my home state right now either (we seem to have skipped straight to summer over the past couple of days).

JAileen

Veteran

Sal, thanks! I bought the sandals back in February. They are Vionic and are super comfortable.

Delurked, thank you! Yes, it's hard to pack just right mainly because our activities weren't really up to me. And of course weather.

Sophia, thank you! Texas has a lot of things happen weather-wise just because it's so big.

Angie, thank you! I had no idea I'd wear those sneakers virtually every day. I hope you had a good visit with your father.

Janet, it is funny, isn't it? I met my husband when I was just 22. Back home the weather was glorious yesterday. It was chilly when we left, but I think it got to 78 yesterday, with no humidity. My husband grew up on the coast, surfing as a teen, but he prefers our desert climate, too.

Anonymous

What a wonderful trip! My dream is to go birding during migration season near Galveston. A birder friend originally from Texas goes fairly often and tells how bad weather can bring the migrating birds down to look for food and make very interesting birding.
Your outfits look just right. What are the sneakers in #2? We were hiking in Rocky Mountain last week but still lots of snow higher up. We saw a wild tom turkey. At home hummingbird feeders are out but no sightings yet. We get regular visits from a Magpie, bush tits, gold finches ( now turned back to their gold color) and house finches. The newspaper says their are ibis at a pond near us.

Anonymous

Scary Texan here [eyeroll at previous comments]. Our summers are brutal indeed, which is the price we pay for not freezing our derrieres off during the winter. I'll take our magnificently hot summer over a northern winter any day. At least I can head to my favorite swimming hole with a cold drink and lie in the grass with a good book. Heaven!

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip, JAileen, and you look very fab!

JAileen

Veteran

Joy, it was a great trip. But we didn't see very many warblers from a fall out. Our timing was off a day. Oh well. That would have made it for my husband. You need to go to High Island!!! However, it is well known and gets crazy crowded during migration. On the west end of Galveston, Lafitte's Cove, we visited a neighborhood preserve that would probably be as good for warblers. You have to go to High Island to see the rookery. We saw lots of white ibis, and tons of brown pelicans all around Boliver. They are so fun to see flying in a long line. They nearly went extinct due to DDT.

My hiking shoes are Salomon. I always get waterproof ones. They work for me because my big toes curl up and they have a tall toe box. They have them at REI, and I've bought discontinued styles from Sierra Trading Post, too.

JAileen

Veteran

Xtabay, thanks! I don't think Texans are scary, just the weather.

Christina F.

Veteran

I think your travel style is great! Cute and comfy, but it all looks cohesive and practical for the location and activities. Packing for travel is something of an obsession of mine, so this is very interesting to me. Glad you had a great time!

Lisa

Veteran

I also always wear jeans on the plane. Those sandals (#4) are really pretty.

JAileen

Veteran

Christina, thanks! We didn't do laundry except I washed the denim crops in the sink. I miscalculated by wearing them to High Island instead of shorts. It was cool and really windy at our hotel, but was very muggy at the rookery and I sweat like there was no tomorrow. I had lost some weight over the winter, so my selection of available pants was limited a little.

Lisa, thanks! The sandals are really comfortable, too. I read that you should wear natural fabrics on a plane in case of fire. I wear warm clothes because it's almost always freezing. I even wore my nanopuff hoody for warmth.

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Ginger

Veteran

That looks like a fabulous trip! Great outfits, versatile for all sorts of situations and weathers. Did you leave before the severe weather was supposed to come through? I got ZERO rain, but we reached 90 before the cold front got in and it dropped fast. So windy!

JAileen

Veteran

Ginger, thanks! Our flight left DFW at 6pm Saturday. All day it looked like it was about to rain, and was really windy and hot, but we never got any. The day we drove back from Galveston it poured around Lufkin. It rained so hard all the bugs on the windshield were washed off!

Ginger

Veteran

You really dodged it - I'm glad! It does tend to rain a lot more down south, especially at this time of the year. Yay for getting rid of the bugs. Those can be so nasty!

JAileen

Veteran

Ginger, we were really lucky. Where do you live? My SIL lives in the HEB area.

Anonymous

Very nice job packing - your outfits are cute and it sounds like you had what you needed for your activities. If I'm traveling more than 3-4 days, I always assume I'll need to do some washing. I find it easier than lugging around a week or more worth of clothing.

It sounds like you had a good trip, despite the weather not being to your liking. Friday and Sat. day were unusually sticky in the DFW area, but once the bit of rain fell, it cooled off nicely where I am. I admit that I agree with Xtabay that I don't mind the weather. I definitely wish the summer were a little cooler and shorter, but at least it is only occasionally humid where I am, snow and sleet are rare and fleeting - and the sun shines almost every single day!

JAileen

Veteran

Ryce, thanks! We did have a great trip. I really enjoyed it. We saw family, birds, baseball, had BBQ (three times!) and good seafood. And just seeing a different area is always interesting.

Carla

Veteran

Love your collection of mariner stripes, and the way you styled your casual look. #1 is my fave. Thanks for sharing your pics. Looks like you packed a lot of activity, and fun, into your trip.

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