Lisa's Letters from La La Land: Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick.....

Only 22 sleeps to go and I will admit that the nerves are starting to kick in.

The ‘to-do’ list is whittling down and there is some satisfaction in that, but there are still things to organise, and time is fast running out.

The concern that I might have no work in the last fortnight before departure – seriously curtailing my quest to save enough money so as not to return with any kind of credit card bill – has now been assuaged by one of my bosses desperate for staff, conveniently in the same time frame.

After much too-ing and fro-ing, a camera has been decided upon and purchased and now being charged as I type this so I can figure out its secrets before needing to use it.

The BEST new acquisition isn’t even something I purchased, but rather a spectacular gift from one of my besties.

I never travel without a journal. A huge part of any adventure for me is to document every detail so I don’t forget the tiny nuances that make a trip memorable.

To this end, my talented friend Barb, recently presented me with the most spectacular handmade journal that truly will be a joy to fill with my memoirs.

Her attention to detail is reminiscent of my great idol Walt Disney, who knew it was the difference between watchable and unmissable. Each page is a work of art… inked, sewn with various stitch options, stamped and lovingly compiled in red, white and blue order, so that I have a page for each day of my trip.

Each page is also an envelope, which is where I will stash ticket stubs, stickers, and tiny mementos that will make remembering what I did each day a breeze.

To finish it off, included in with the gift was a set of beautiful sparkly chipboard ‘Americana’ type of 3D embellishments to attach where I most want them to feature, which I’m yet to stick on.

Such a precious gift involving so very much work, is so so so appreciated. xx

I’ve also already had one practice session with treasures I’ve gathered so far for my suitcase. Being a new one, I wanted to get a feel for what would fit inside.

So far, so good.

But there’s no shoes in there yet, so watch this space.

So a few pressing things to think about now, are my Walmart outfit ( required to be as inappropriate as possible – prizes in the offing, and if you dangle a carrot, I am the first to jump); to decorate a shower cap in the most outrageous possible way – again, with prizes in the offing… its eventual re-imagining of said cap is now down to a short list in my head.

The photos of which will be being posted online over my dead body… measures are already in place to keep any unauthorised photos off my facebook wall ;)

And the purchase of false eyelashes for nights hitting the casino’s in Vegas is also a pressing problem… I mean, do you recycle them? Do you just chuck ‘em and put on a new pair? Do you just forget them all together, knowing the possibility of them dangling unceremoniously from an eyelid at the most inopportune time? Or worse still, finding them half stuck to the pillowcase and half stuck to your eyelid after a full tilt night in Sin City and not know for a few seconds what the hell is holding you to the pillow? ( don’t ask me now I know this is a possibility - I just do)

Hmmm… yes, first world problems can really make you lose sleep some nights.

And of course, a decision has to be made to flea collar or not to flea collar…

For the bed bugs… not me :)

Although, it wasn’t something I even gave a thought to last time and made it back into the land of Oz without any nasty surprises, so am not 100% sure I’m going to worry. Hmmm… I guess though, if my roomy has bed bug protection in her bed, then where are the little buggers going to migrate to???

You guessed it… my bed…

Ok… decision made.

And as I finish off here sipping on coke, that should tell you how the diet is going.