As a kid who great up the daughter of a commercial pilot, we flew standby all my life. That meant often times you would be waiting for a seat on a plane, and you would get "bumped"--meaning people with more seniority or paying passengers took the seat you would have gotten had it been empty. But your luggage still goes on that flight without you. And sometimes you got bumped for a day or two. I remember one harrowing time in Honolulu where we got bumped for a few days, and all our luggage was safely back home in Seattle by then of course...and Mom had for once not packed an overnight bag for all of us kids. Sleeping in our undies was no big deal in Hawaii, but would have been another story had it been a colder locale.

So the importance of a day bag or carry-on was instilled in my early on, and I still think it is a vital practice every traveler should make a habit of. In your carry on should be the minimum you would need to get by for the next 24 hours. So that includes change of undies, something to sleep in, and some basic toiletries. I also include a change of clothes, a book or some other entertainment (like my iPad), and in the case of going to a sunny vacation, my swimsuit. That last one is a definite MUST now since our bags didn't follow us on our honeymoon to Jamaica, and I didn't pack the swimsuit in our carry-on since it wasn't part of my "vital list". Our swimsuits were in the suitcase, it took a few days before they arrived, and we ended up buying gift-shop swimsuits ($$$!!) to tide us over.

I will also note that a bit of care goes into choosing my travel outfits for the same reason. I wear something that is comfortable and modest--I have slept on too many airport chairs or floors in my life, so if I am wearing a dress, I have leggings under them. In fact, my favorite travel outfit is a jersey dress with crop-leggings and some low-heeled walking sandals. And a sweater either on or in my carry-on. This is something comfortable to wear for long periods, I can hoof it all over the place without too much fatigue, can sit or lay in positions without being immodest, can be easily washed and dried in a hotel laundry or sink if I get stuck overnight and feel a need to refresh my outfit, I can take off the leggings if it gets too hot, put on the sweater if I get too cold, and can dress it up** or down depending on where I am going or what I am doing (**I also pack any favorite jewelry in my carry-on, because I don't want them walking off when going through security, or having my heart broken if the whole suitcase gets lost--my favorite necklaces and bracelets are in my possession at all times during air travel! So that means I have "dress up" options should I get stuck without my main luggage for a day or two.)

Hubby has a similar combination with dressy jeans (yes there is such a thing) or slacks, and a graphic tee under a button up shirt, his Fluevog Super-Angels (dressy-casual shoes with very comfortable walking soles). He can button the overshirt up and tuck it in for nicer stuff/colder weather or airports, just wear the tee to dress down/for warmer weather, etc.

A carry-on/day bag with a few essentials doesn't take up too much room, and gives you options if your regular suitcase is delayed for any reason. I'd suggest that if you feel stressed about your luggage arriving late, then a small, thoughtfully packed carry-on my be the peace of mind you are seeking!

Found some more great plus size fashion sources while surfing The Curvy Fashionista today.

I had this elaborate movie-dream (I dream movie scripts all the time), where people are at an outdoor concert and they see the sky light up with what looks like dozens and dozens of sonic booms high in the atmosphere. They are marveling at all this, when a space ship (kinda Millenium Falcon-ish looking, but smaller) lands under a bridge nearby. When they show up, the ship has turned into an 80's suburban. The father, played by Jason Bateman, gets out and explains they are from another planet and addresses the crowd saying, "But what if the term 'aliens' and 'spaceship' were removed from the language, and we just had a family of refugees who need a safe home?"

He has a wife and two children--a son of about 6 and a daughter of 13. Turns out they got to choose what form they wanted within reason. The father chose Jason Bateman from television (room for a "Jason Bateman playing himself meets his alien doppleganger later in the series). One witness quips that if they all choose Jason Bateman as their human form that would be fiiiine with her. The son really is 6, but the daughter is 16 and a cheerleader and gymnast back home. She chose to be younger so she could have more years to get better competitively (this not only tells us a lot about her character right from the pilot episode, but opens up a story-line later about who is alien and not--like having to prove you are not on steroids--and how that effects competitive playing rules. Will aliens even be allowed to join?).

So we learn that the race of people from the other planet are not so much more evolved or peaceful than us and just rallied together to visit the stars. It was an act of desperation as their planet  was dying that they pulled together just in time to save a lucky few hundred thousand of their people to escape. There are still wars between cultures in their world, which didn't stop just because they came to Earth. But it is not easy to see who is who culturally any more, because not only was that not the root of their bigotry, but they all chose new appearances--white could be Hispanic, Asian could be Black, no one necessarily looks the same so one can't just draw stark lines like "white, black, Latino, Asian" and be unapologetically bigoted. But somehow THEY can tell which is which (smell, like phermones? something subtle in the eyes? don't know...).

Their continued issues of in-fighting become a real issue later, with Earth-dwellers completely confounded as to how they can be so bigoted against someone who seems to look and act JUST like them (which opens up storylines of race discrimination and how ridiculous it is to be bigoted, especially just based on pre-conceived notions when seeing someone's skin color or appearance). Perhaps some stories involving the refugees creating their own camps in which they bring their cultural families together (like an apartment building on Earth where everyone is Russian, because they wanted to live near other Russians), and the twist is that they are all different cultures physically (in an Earth sense), but they know they are all the same inside (see what I did there? Kind of reverse racism?)

And of course the usual issues of where to put all these new members of Earth society, when our resources are already stretched. Their technology and science being integrated with ours. Their comedic reactions to some of our seemingly primitive ways. Politicians/political concerns about governance/laws with these new people. Integrating socially... you get the idea.

And then I woke up.

1 spaghetti squash 2.5-3lbs
1 lb chanterelles
5 Tbsp butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup cream + 1/4 cup milk (or 1 cup 1/2 n 1/2)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
salt and pepper

You can prepare the spaghetti squash ahead of time if you like.   There are two methods that work great:
Microwave method: 
Poke the skin of the squash a dozen times, place in a microwave safe dish.  Microwave 6 minutes, then using a hot mitt, flip over and microwave another 6 minutes. Make sure when you push on the skin that it is squishy. If it doesn't give under your prodding, microwave a minute at a time until you get the result you need.

Oven method:
Line baking dish or pan with foil. Poke squash a dozen times, place in dish.  Cook in oven at 375 until it is lightly browned on portions of the skin and is squishy when prodded (again, use a hot mitt!).

You can cool for a few minutes and place in the fridge to wait until you need it, or simply let it rest and cool until you can handle it and then finish prepping it.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter a shallow baking dish, like a Pyrex dish.

While squash is baking/cooking, clean the chanterelles with a brush or rinse and toss gently. Slice them into small pieces as you melt half of the butter in a large saute pan. Add the mushrooms and cook over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add the garlic and half-and-half. Adjust the heat to simmer the liquid gently for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

When the squash is done, cut in half, coop out the seeds and discard, then scoop the strands of spaghetti squash into a serving bowl. Toss the strands with the rest of the butter and season with salt and pepper. Top with the mushroom mixture, then give it a good shaving of Parmesan cheese over the top.

Return to the oven until heated through and the top is crisped and browned in places, 15 - 20 minutes. Serve hot.

I posted this on my Livejournal ages ago (Aug 2007), and in coming across it today, I decided to pop it on over here on my Adventures blog. It was obviously when I was mid-planning a Disney trip, and refers to discussions on a forum I am a part of. But it applies to serving staff in any restaurant in the US:
___________________________

So there is a small faction of people on one of the Disney discussion boards I belong to who say they don't tip much. Basically, the biggest argument is "my family saved a long time for this special dinner, and we don't think we should have to pay more than that", and other people who argue that "I don't believe I should have to pay the server's wages. The restaurant should pay them a fair wage...so I don't tip 15%. I throw a few bucks."

It gets my blood boiling.