Q: What do these things have in common?

artist's rendering
of my petite valise

• iPad
• 3 outfits
• practical shoes
• a Swedish detective novel

• a Stephen King novel
• the W magazine with Tom Cruise on the cover, bedecked in eyeliner and rocker chicks
• three lipsticks
• one camera, two lenses
• a boarding pass
• a pen
• a notebook

and a partridge in a pear tree*?

A: they are all coming with me to visit my darling friend in NoCal. I hope to bring home small treasures from this region, as well as tales of adventure, redolent of good food and good times. I am pretty sure I will succeed in these goals. Watch for updates here!

*not really coming with me, as my suitcase is, for once, small.