Weekly Recap Feb. 16-22

A 7-Hour Flight Delay Forced Me to Pack for Paris in a Carry-On–Let’s Recap!

I’m officially back in Chicago after an amazing trip to Paris, and while I could dive straight into all the dreamy details, let’s rewind for a second and talk about how the trip actually started. Spoiler: it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.

If you didn’t know, the family and I were supposed to leave for Paris on Friday, 2/14—Valentine's Day. The girls were so excited about it because they love Valentine’s Day, and we were heading to the City of Love—it felt meant to be. But thanks to a 7-hour delay and a full-on flight cancellation (so fun! 🙃), our trip got pushed back a whole day.

Round one at the airport was... traumatic. I had checked a bag, assuming all would go as planned, but then they canceled our 6:30 pm flight and hit us with the news that it had been TWO DAYS since a flight actually made it to Paris. We waited until 2 AM at the airport just for them to unload the bags. Absolute chaos.

So, round two? I was not about to let that happen again. I somehow managed to fit all my clothes into a carry-on (only gave up two extra outfits). And let me tell you, this was nothing short of a packing miracle. Did I want to layer my XIRENA’s Braidy Jacket over a Loulou Studio’s Wool-Cashmere Sweater and MES DEMOISELLES’ Vasco Vest like some overstuffed fashion experiment? Absolutely not. But desperate times. Honestly, I need to brag about it because how the fuck did I manage that? No clue. But I’m so proud.

The silver lining? Since we lost a day on the front end, we extended our stay by an extra day—so it kind of worked out in the end.

One thing I’ve been working on lately is giving myself grace—so instead of stressing about the lost time, I leaned into what I could control: being prepared. Thankfully, I had my go-to travel essentials packed and ready to go, so even with the chaos, I felt somewhat in control.

My traveling essentials:

First things first: my immune system is my top priority when traveling. The last thing I need is to get sick mid-trip, so I always pack my Grün gummies and Cymbiotika vitamin C to keep me feeling my best.

Since I (wrongly) assumed I’d be flying on my original departure date, I was fully stocked with my FlavCity gummies—aka my ride-or-die for actually falling asleep on planes. And after the travel chaos, they were very necessary.

My other travel must-haves? My Beis carry-on roller (obviously!)—an absolute game-changer for fitting everything in. No checked bag? No problem! I still can’t believe I managed to pack all my clothes for the trip in it.

My Dagne Dover Landon Neoprene Carryall Bag kept my essentials organized, and my Loewe sneakers were the perfect mix of comfy and chic—because stylish travel is the only way to go.

Also—hot tip—I do not fly in my jewels. If you didn’t know, flying that high can make you swell, and the last thing I need is a ring getting stuck on my finger at 30,000 feet. No, thank you.

So, there you have it—a little rewind to the start of my trip before I get into the Parisian magic. Stay tuned for all the details on what we did, ate, and saw, but for now, I’m off to recover from jet lag. À bientôt!

xx Dana