What to Pack: A Capsule Jewelry Wardrobe (an article for Get Your Pretty On)

A few weeks ago Get Your Pretty On contacted me about writing an article on the idea of a capsule jewelry wardrobe. You can read the article below, or go here to see it on the GYPO site.*

In Italy there is a saying, e` dolce far niente, which translated loosely means how sweet it is to do nothing. The saying has absolutely nothing to do with idleness; rather, it’s about pausing to live life to the fullest and appreciating the moment you are in, without conscious thought of yesterday or tomorrow.

It’s also about simplicity, an ongoing theme in my life. Whether it’s cooking a meal for my family which includes simple, yet wholesome ingredients, purging my closet of too much or packing only a carry-on for a recent trip to Italy, it’s all about simplifying and not allowing stuff to get in the way.

Sorrento, on the Amalfi Coast, Italy

This is why I love the ongoing trend of the capsule wardrobe as it celebrates the concept that less is more. I plan a capsule wardrobe when transitioning to a new season, and I pack a capsule wardrobe in my ongoing goal to only use a carry-on when traveling. But just when I thought I had this capsule wardrobe thing down, it took a trip to Italy last year to help me realize I needed to apply the same concept of the capsule wardrobe to my jewelry.

You see, the night before we left for our 10-day trip to southern Italy, I realized I had packed a ridiculous amount of jewelry. Because I knew I would be mixing and matching outfits, I was bringing different pieces of jewelry for each separate outfit. That was a LOT of jewelry which was not only bulky, but also heavy. So it got me thinking: Why pack a fancy jewelry organizer with too much when a small pouch of just enough would do?

In other words, if I could mix and match my outfits, why couldn’t I do the same with my jewelry?

I could, and I did. Now, for every trip I take I use my 2x2x2 formula when packing. Starting with a watch (my jewelry of choice) and after considering the type of trip (sight-seeing in NYC or hiking at Lake Tahoe) I pack the following:

Two watches, two bracelets, two rings.

The 2x2x2 formula: two watches, two bracelets, two rings

I know you’re thinking, “Whaaaat? That’s it?” But consider this: just like a capsule wardrobe, capsule jewelry can give you plenty of options. For example, one day you can wear only the watch, the next you can wear the watch with the bracelet, or that evening you can wear all three together.

You can also bring two watches that coordinate with each other such as an all gold one and one with a brown strap. This way, their coordinating rings and bracelets can be mixed and matched; in other words, you can use the bracelet and ring (or both) which you brought for Watch #1 and pair them with Watch #2.

Now are you starting to see the possibilities?

It’s very liberating to travel with just what you need, whether it’s with clothing or jewelry.

Sightseeing

Of course, the 2x2x2 formula can be customized to your personal style. For example, I choose not to include a necklace since I prefer to wear scarves, and I don’t bring earrings because I don’t like to wear earrings and sunglasses together, but you could choose to incorporate both in your formula.

But wait, here’s the absolute (hand’s down) best thing about using the formula: you can always supplement by purchasing jewelry as a souvenir! Oh, yes. And since you didn’t bring too much jewelry to begin with, you won’t feel guilty for buying that artisan cameo ring you found at a Naples market, or the watch from the island of Capri, or the leather wrap bracelet engraved with the “Our Father” in Italian which you found in Rome.

Two of my favorite jewelry souvenirs: my watch from Capri,
and from Rome my leather wrap bracelet engraved with the Our Father in Italian.

Ultimately, in the hurricane of our busy lives, e` dolce far niente is about finding the eye of the storm and letting the world go on without us. It’s about lingering over a morning cappuccino, driving in the country and going wherever the road leads, and yes, even wearing a black maxi and accessorizing with a simple, elegant watch.

La dolce vita – the sweet life, the SIMPLE life is ours for the taking. You have to be willing to let go, but in the end you will discover that you have more than you’ll ever need.

Maria Novajosky is a wife to an engineering husband, a mother to three sons, a freelance writer, and a lover of all things Italian. Her life is a blend of frothy cappuccinos, Italian Renaissance art, light sabers, Sunday dinners with i Nonni, and every Christmas 700 homemade tortellini. The summer of 2014 she stood in front of a Caravaggio painting and decided to sponsor and organize a Girls’ Trip to Italy, and exactly one year later 23 women traveled with her to Rome and the Amalfi Coast. You can visit her blog here. She recently published her first book: An Ocean, an Airplane, and Two Countries Full of Kisses. 

*originally published 2016

Up, Up, and Away (with packing cubes)

Five years ago I began using packing cubes whenever I traveled. I first heard about them on travel websites, and decided to try them for 10-day trip to Italy. They worked so well that I have been using them every since. In fact, tomorrow I'm flying to Little Rock, Arkansas to spend a few days with our son, and I've already pulled out my lime green cubes to keep me organized.

Whether you're checking a bag or simply using a carry-on, packing cubes allow you to maximize space in an organized, efficient way. By rolling and placing like items in an assigned cube (tops, bottoms, outerwear) it is easy to look for an item without displacing the entire contents of your luggage.

And the system works. I not only used the packing cubes to help me pack in my carry-on, but I also used them recently for a family road trip in which I used a duffel bag as a suitcase. You know how it is with a duffel bag -- things slip, slide, and lump together -- but the packing cubes kept everything organized and (most importantly) wrinkle free.

(fyi: the packing cubes I use are called eBags which you can purchase them here, but I yesterday I did happen to see that Target has started selling a similar version.)

I used four  packing cubes to keep things organized:
1 large for tops
1 large for bottoms
1 long one for intimates
1 medium one for hair supplies (travel hair iron, shampoo, conditioner, round styling brush)

I used the packing cubes for a 10-day trip to Italy using only a carry-on.
The eBags kept everything organized.

Speak to Me (Advent) Sunday: Verso L'Alto

Part of the inner world of everyone is this sense of emptiness, unease, incompleteness, 

and I believe that this in itself is a word from God, that this is the sound that 

God's voice makes in a world that has explained him away. 

 -Frederick Buechner, Secrets in the Dark (A Life in Sermons)

Once Upon a Time I climbed a mountain.

I was in Breckenridge, Colorado with three friends and on the third day of our visit, dressed in layers and carrying backpacks, we stood at the beginning of a 3.4 mile hiking trail that went straight up a mountain to Mohawk Lake.

Over dirt trails, rocky crevices, and overgrown roots we climbed up and up. We crossed streams, walked through meadows, and scrambled over logs. We passed other hikers going up and said hello to hikers going back down. We made a wrong turn, which turned our 3.4 miles of going up into 4.2 miles of going up. We were tired. Sometimes it hurt to breathe. During the last mile, the trail turned rocky, the ascent became even steeper, and we weren’t so much hiking as looking for footholds and pulling ourselves up and over large boulders.

Then, after almost four hours of hiking and climbing, after four hours of not being able to see the peak but nevertheless continuing because we knew it was there, after all that time of looking upward as we climbed, we arrived. Finally. And the feeling was indescribable.

There was exuberance, yes, and certainly a feeling of accomplishment. But mostly I felt humbled to have worked, and struggled, and climbed, and sweated in order to finally arrive exactly where we had been heading. And as I caught my breath and drank in the view, I thought of a prayer card I had with a photo of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati climbing a mountain with the words, Verso l’Alto, written in the corner.   

These words were scribbled onto a 1925 photograph of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati climbing a mountain. Translated literally, verso is a preposition meaning towards and alto is a noun meaning height, but Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati wasn't referring to the physical act of climbing so much as what we are doing while climbing; in other words, verso l'alto refers to all that we DO while on our spiritual journey as we strive to reach the height of heaven.

So, as I stood on the shores of Mohawk Lake on top of that mountain in Colorado, as I breathed in the crisp mountain air and delighted in the indescribable beauty, I also felt restlessness – a longing for more. I remembered how Carl Frederick Buechner once wrote that the unease (or restlessness) we may feel is the sound God’s voice makes in a world that has explained him away. And that’s why I felt humbled. Because I knew there are more mountains to scale; God is forever calling us to him and in our spiritual journey one can move forward or backward, but one cannot stand still.

We are meant to be heading somewhere; we are meant to strive, and climb, and struggle. We will have moments of rest, but when we rise we will, like the Wise Men following that star, look up and continue climbing …

Verso l’Alto.

Olaf in Pennsylvania

This afternoon Joe and I are leaving Timo in the loving care of his nonni while Joe and I head to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for weekend festivities surrounding Joe's 35th high school reunion.

Now, did I grow up in Pennsylvania? Did I go to the same high school as Joe? Will I know anyone?

No, no, and no.

But I'm excited anyway because ...

a/ road trip
b/ weekend with Joe
c/ COOLER WEATHER!!!

Seriously, temps in Pennsylvania will be in the 60's and 40's. We will be gone Thursday through Sunday and I plan to bring at least five jackets, a gazillion scarves, and lots of sweaters. I WANT TO WEAR THEM ALL!!!

Picture me as Olaf, but instead of singing about summer and sand, I'm going to be singing about falling leaves and bright, woolly scarves.

And I can't wait to see

What my Joe's buddies all think of me!

Just imagine how much cooler I'll be

In summer autumn!

Da da ... Da doo

2019 Girls' Trip to Italy

2015 Girls' Trip to Italy, video highlights
(push play button on bottom left)

After months of planning and research, my sister and I are pleased to announce our 2019 Girls’ Trip to Italy! This time we will be traveling to Tuscany (Florence, San Gimignano, and Siena), Cinque Terre (the Italian Riviera), and northern Italy (Milan, Venice, Verona, and the lakes region). We will see Tuscan hills, stunning lakes, majestic Alps, and charming canals and lagoons.

Northern Italy (and Verona) is where our family lives, and we are excited to share our home away from home with you and hope you can travel with us.

Watch the above video for highlights from our last trip. If you are interested, we will hand out a complete travel packet (itinerary, price, accommodations, etc.) at an information session in September. If you live out of town, we can mail you the information then. Let me know if you're interested!

Speak to Me Sunday, vol. 17 (This is why we go to art museums)

During our travels last week, I got more than a little grief for dragging poor Timo to not one, but TWO art museums -- The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, both in Kansas City, Missouri.


Even MY MOM commiserated with her poor suffering grandson who, she emphatically declared, is surely marked for sainthood after dutifully following his mom to stand in front of masterpieces by Monet, Cézanne, Roudin, and Caravaggio.


Now, I will admit that Timothy would much rather go zip lining (which we did), and that just driving to the museum made me feel as if I were escorting him to the executioner, but ...


BUT.


If we hadn't gone, how else could we have done the following?


~1~ For five minutes, we stood in front of Raphaelle Peale's Venus Rising from the Sea -- A Deception  and discussed the realism of this linen cloth. I mean, we wanted to pluck it from the frame.

~2~ Learned how Van Gogh's energetic brushstrokes evoke the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves in his painting, Olive Trees (1889).

~3~ Dabbed in front of The Crying Giant.

~4~ Purchased these fun miniature sets of colored pencils.

~5~ Enjoyed an elegant lunch in the museum courtyard.

~6~ Made our own art. Inspired by Korean artist Kimsooja in her work To Breath -- Zone of Nowhere, we used designs, icons, and colors from all of the world’s national flags, without hierarchy or political prejudice, to create a visual canopy where national differences exist on an equal plane.

~7~ Walked around the giant shuttlecocks scattered on the museum lawn.

~8~ Finally, this happened at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Four years ago I stood in front of one of their prized paintings (a Caravaggio) and decided to organize a trip to Italy. Here I am standing in front of that same painting -- four years TO THE DATE (thanks Facebook Memories!) -- and just days away from announcing another trip. #serendipity

Vacation Part III: In Which I Flopped

After our vacation Part I in which we logged 18,000+ steps daily in Washington D.C., followed by our Vacation Part II in which we logged 18,000+ steps daily in New York City, when we arrived in North East, Maryland for Vacation Part III ... I promptly did this.

This was actually sent to me from my friend Gayle

after she returned home from our Washington D.C.

adventures. And she didn't even do NYC ;-)

Truthfully. I flopped down and basically didn't move for three days. Oh, I went on ONE morning walk, and on Saturday all the gals went shopping in downtown North East, but mostly I sat on the deck overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, ate, talked, and marveled at the gorgeous weather. I even had one nap.


Oh, and we did hike to this lighthouse to watch a sunset.


But mostly, I flopped.

Vacay Top Ten: Part II, New York City (a Naked Lady in Times Square, a Protester on Liberty Island, Wicked, Eataly, City Vibes)

After a whirlwind few days in Washington D.C., my friends flew back home while I remained and waited for Joe, Jonathan, and Timothy to arrive. Thus began Part II of our Vacation in Three Parts when, the next morning, we boarded an Amtrak train to New York City. So here is a Top Ten recap ...

Part II: New York City

Monday, July 3 - Thursday, July 5

~10~

Exchanging my gal pals for these guys, who aren't quite as chatty. But I made up for their lack of loquaciousness and told them all about my Washington DC adventures AND sang some Hamilton songs for them. I don't THINK any of them rolled their eyes.

~9~

Our first time on Amtrak! Three hours from Washington's Union Station to New York's Penn Station, and after the past four days in which I daily hit 18,000+ steps, it was a NICE to just sit. AND doesn't our conductor looked EXACTLY what you would expect a train conductor to look like?

~8~

Traveling light. Because we couldn't check in to our hotel right away once we arrived in NYC, we only carried backpacks. This way, we were able to hit the ground running. I'm quite proud that inside my little backpack (coffee cup for reference) was everything I needed for two nights and three days in the city although ... in full disclosure ... my makeup bag was in Joe's backpack.

~7~

Our first glimpse of The Big Apple. I loved the look on the boys' faces when we exited Penn Station onto a busy, traffic-filled, horns-blaring, taxis-everywhere NYC street. We were all smiles, especially when we walked through Times Square. Could that place be any more CRAZY? We saw Batman, a Trump Impersonator, protestors, and one naked lady walking around with body paint and not much else. Actually, nothing else. Thankfully, the Naked Cowboy (have you heard about him?) was absent.

~6~

Wicked on Broadway. For me, this meant TWO Broadway shows TWO nights apart in TWO different cities. It was wickedly good.

~5~

Ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island, both especially meaningful since we were there July 4. Interestingly, about an hour after we left they had to evacuate Liberty Island because a woman climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty and sat on Lady Liberty's toes holding a giant sign protesting something. It took three hours for NYC's finest to get her down.

~4~

Eataly. Italian food. Italian grocery store. Italian restaurant. Very authentic Italian pizza. Need I say more?

~3~

The United Nations. We ordered tickets before we left home and I'm so glad we did. Did you know that while the Bible is the most translated book in the world, the United Nations Human Rights Declaration is the most translated document in the world?

~2~

The confession, which went like this: As we were checking out of our hotel Joe told everyone to make sure they had everything ... including chargers! In a very teen-like, snippy tone Timothy answers that YES he has everything. Thirty minutes later we were sitting in Penn Station when Timothy whispers to me that he forgot his brand new portable charger. I show him no mercy and tell him to go tell his dad. So he confesses to Joe, oozing charm right and left (just look at that smile). Then he redeems himself by calling the hotel and arranging for them to mail his charger back. All's well that ends well.

~1~

Walking around the city. While we had a packed itinerary, we had the most fun walking. New York is a city of contradictions: rude and welcoming, dirty and beautiful, chaotic and invigorating, crazy and wonderful. It's also so much more than concrete and skyscrapers. And it has the best shop window displays. We loved every minute of it.

Vacation Bullet Points: Part I, Washington D.C.

Last night, after a long 11-hour drive, we finally arrived home from what we referred to as our Vacation in Three Parts -- Washington DC, New York City, and North East, Maryland. (BTW, I did not type that incorrectly. The town is called North East. Two words.) It was one of my favorite vacations because it involved so many things I love: museums, tours, live theater, history, monuments, and historic homes. I also got the best of both worlds by first traveling with my gal pals, then continuing the journey with my guys. And now, a vacation recap in bullet points ...

 

Part I: Washington DC

Thursday, June 28 - Sunday, July 1

 

Thursday

• flew from Columbia, SC to Washington DC
• took an Uber to hotel, checked in
• purchased metro passes and took train to Union Station
• walked to the mall (took first of what would be a million photos of the Capitol)
• National Gallery of Art (East and West Building)
• nighttime trolley tour from Union Station
• lunch: BIG BUNS Damn Good Burgers + Beer
• dinner: Union Station

 

When I posted this on Facebook everyone thought

I traveled by private jet. Ha!

National Gallery of Art

Ginevra de' Benci, Leonardo da Vinci

Joe and I just finished watching Picasso

on the National Geographic channel, so I was

thrilled to see The Tragedy by Pablo Picasso.

Andy Warhol photo effect of an Andy Warhol.

My travel pals: Gayle, Julie, and my sister, Laura

The Jefferson Memorial

View of The Jefferson Memorial from across

the Tidal Basin

 

 

Friday

• private tour of  US Capitol (arranged through Congressman Rick Allen's office)
• Library of Congress
• Supreme Court
• National Archives
• Old Town Alexandria
• lunch: cafeteria at the Capitol
• dinner: Landini Brothers, Old Town Alexandria

 

The Library of Congress

 

The Library of Congress, main hall

Gorgeous architecture in The Library of Congress

Top of the stairway to the Reading Room

                                       The Library of Congress and The National Archives

featured special exhibits on Alexander Hamilton's papers.

The Supreme Court

The National Archives

Outside the Library of Congress

 

Saturday

• Arlington National Cemetery
• Mount Vernon
• National Harbor
• lunch: Mount Vernon Inn
• Dinner: Mexican Restaurant

Arlington National Cemetery

Since it was soooo hot we decided to take the

trolley tour of the cemetery. 

Tomb of JFK

Lunch at Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon was a definite highlight.

View from the tunnel leading to the main house.

View from the back yard.

Fife & Drum demonstration

Between Arlington and Mount Vernon we did

lot of perspiring sweating.

Frozen margarita after a day of near 100 degree temps

 

 

Sunday

• Hamilton at the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts (the highlight of our trip)
• nighttime hike of monuments
• breakfast: hotel dining room
• dinner: Bangkok Bistro

 

THIS is what we were waiting for.

After walking around as sweaty tourists,

it was nice to have a chance to dress up.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Entrance hallway

Special exhibit of Hamilton's papers

"Best of wives and best of women."

Alexander Hamilton, in a letter to his wife, Eliza

On our last night we decided to walk and see the monuments

illuminated at night. We started at 10 p.m. and didn't get home

until well after midnight. It was hauntingly beautiful, and one

of my favorite memories of our trip.