Parties, Painting, and Packing

Needless to say, packing for three months in Africa is not an easy task.  I actually was feeling pretty good about my packing progress until today.  Since I moved out of my apartment at the end of August, I geniusly decided to sort my clothes and shoes before I moved, putting everything that I wanted to take to Africa in suitcases.  So I more or less had things ready to go....or so I thought!!  My mom and I had set aside tonight to organize my suitcases (she is a master traveler) and finish packing all of the generous donations I had received (thank you so much to my mom and dad, my grandpa and grandma, and my friend Nikki who donated school supplies, books and clothes to the kids at Good Hope School and Orphanage in Tanzania).  What I failed to take into account were my recent birthday present and my trip to REI for supplies to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Unsurprisingly, a +10 degree sleeping bag, a 65 liter backpack (trust me, it's big), and hiking boots take up quite a lot of room in a person's luggage!!  I knew there was only one person who could master this task, and I was lucky to have my mother to assist in the packing.  And, I am pleased to say.....we managed to stuff every last item into one of my 2 suitcases and 2 carry-on bags!!!  As you can see, Maya was overseeing the project :)

Well, you are probably wondering why I would leave packing for 3 months of travels to the night before my flight.  The reason is very simple....I had a lot of fun things to do this weekend and simply could not squeeze in any time for packing! 

First, my wonderful friend Skip and I had a joint birthday/going away party on Friday night.  Fyi, Skip is not going away, it was just his birthday (this caused a bit of confusion on the facebook invitation!).  So many of my friends came out to celebrate; I had such a wonderful time!  And to make it even better, my whole family came to Chicago to celebrate with me too!  Well, everyone except my brother Jordan, but he had the excellent excuse of having to take the ACT on Saturday morning!!  And, if one fun party in a weekend isn't exciting enough, my friend Emily got married on Saturday.  The ceremony was beautiful, and of course the party was a blast!

Finally, my boyfriend Louie and I had lots of fun painting with Maya on Sunday!  As you can see from the photos, she is an excellent artist!  I've already had several requests for paintings :)

                                                    

And this is why I am packing the night before my trip!!