I love the idea of these kitschy transparent boots, but reviews say they’re poorly made. Still, I’ve fallen for the smokey ones:

If I didn’t mind visible, condensed sweat beading inside my shoes, I’d be all over those suckers. Ah well.

This is the kind of thing Jaime wears on a casual day out when she thinks she might run into an ex boyfriend. All right, maybe I’m projecting a little. Her leggings are Wolford.

The happy pink skirt is from COS in Copenhagen. Jaime is totally powerless in the face of unexpected pleats.

Her T-shirt is Vanessa Bruno; Jaime gives a thumbs up to their basics.

Her suede flats are Sigerson Morrison, purchased at Nida in San Francisco. I just realized that I’ve never seen Jaime limping in her shoes. Even on her wedding day, she wore a pair of flat sandals under her dress.

The girl with the comfy flats always gets the last laugh.

Tomorrow, Jaime’s cocktail look and final outfit. See you there!

I try to travel without checking luggage, and Packing Light is a series about what I pack to get that done.

I haven’t done a lot of winter suitcases, so I thought I’d do a post about what I packed to speak at ALT Summit. The jeans are from The Limited, and I need to imagine a gospel choir singing and Jesus rays breaking through the clouds as I type this next part: They were the first pair I tried on. I’m a size 8 to 10 in jeans, and the ones at The Limited have a perfect waist to bum ratio for my figure, so the waistline doesn’t gap. The boots are my magic Buenos Aires boots from the trip we took when Hank was a baby.

The undershirt is an acid yellow top I got at Old Navy in a frenzied stock up on layering pieces when they had the $5 sale before Christmas. I like to buy unusual colors so I can combine them with neutrals and have it look all artsy, which is what I’m going for with this grey Dolman sleeve sweater, also from a sale at The Limited (twenty bucks, baby!).

Laura took this lovely photo of me in my outfit for the “Old Hollywood” party. I took that to mean retro-Oscars, but most other ladies wore chic little cocktail dresses, which means I was grievously overdressed. Upside, I arrived after dinner and drinks, so I was mostly too illuminated to care much.

This is a cheap feather hair clip I often use to spruce up dress straps. It can add va-voom to the most mundane spaghetti strap number.

Update: I got the clip at a cheesy costume shop on the Haight, the one with all the wigs and spandex zebra print outfits. I looked for a similar one online but couldn’t find it. If you do, let me know and I’ll post a link in a later post. Also, this can get crushed in a suitcase, so I pack it in a hard-sided cardboard box that’s maybe three inches high.

My hair is getting too long for ponytails, it just tends to look scraggly, so this is my version of the quick updo. I twist back the front sections, then do a loose chignon in the back.

The shoes are a hand-me-down from my sister. I like the surprise lattice work in back.

I like to wear color when I’m onstage, so this is what I wore to speak. I got the Esprit velvet mini at a thrift store in college. Grey tights are from Target.

I got the shirt and belt on sale at JCrew and I wear them both constantly. The cashmere sweater is a vintage Pringle from the Alameda Flea Market (twenty bucks!). The brooch is by Elefante, e a Vida, and I adore it. Miriam’s work is my go-to gift for beloved girlfriends, all of whom I’m pinning one by one.

I got this fake fur jacket years ago at a thrift store in Sacramento. It brings back amazing memories of having breakfast at a sidewalk cafe on sunny winter mornings. My roomie at the time had a giant giraffe-print coat, and we’d wrap up so we could sit outside without waiting for a table. I swear I can smell mint tea every time I put it on, and it’s crazy warm.

Update: I wore the jacket and boots on the plane, so I didn’t have to fit those in the suitcase. Next time I’ll remember to include a shot of the case packed. I also roll my clothing to save space, though the long dress I just folded over and stored in a top panel of the case.

Leggings by H&M, as is the zip-front sweater.

These leg warmers are also H&M, and they are divine. They make it more feasible to wear leggings as pants, and you can really wear them with anything when you want to throw in a little trendy kick.

(Someone asked in comments what I’m wearing on my lips in this photo. I think it’s just Burt’s Bees peppermint chapstick.)

And finally, you must own one of these American Apparel circle scarves. I never take mine off, and there’s so many ways to wear it, I give a full-on infomercial to anyone who will listen. Sorry about that, Karen and Erin. But you love the scarf don’t you? I thought so.

First, I regret that I can’t offer Mad Men hair tutorials, because I had nothing to do with it. Diana from the Sax Fifth Avenue Salon was responsible for all the ratting and twisting and pinning. It involved no extra hairpieces, but she did use three pounds of bobby pins:

My neck could barely support my giant lolling head, but would you believe the whole session only took about fifteen minutes? Having an updo done in Texas is like having your tires changed by a pit crew at the Indy 500.

During the party, Jenny snuck back to her room for her bottle of Strawberry Hill — presumably because she was looking to get some teenage girls drunk. When she returned, she mentioned that someone had asked her if she was “working.” We laughed, because she was wearing a giant blonde wig and a black petticoat. The next day some guy at a helicopter conference mistook me for a prostitute too, only I was in my regular clothes. So who’s the pretty one now, Jenny?

Karen took some photos of me for her upcoming book The Beauty of Different. She taught me Andrea’s trick for making people laugh in photos, which is to ask them to turn away and then spin around really fast with a fierce face. Like so:

I demonstrated later for the very brave Jon from Daddy Scratches, who was among the few men at the conference. He took the photo I’ll use when I’m asked to speak at Davos:

Karen also started on her Mighty Life List at the conference! Boo-yah.

She just published it, and she’s already gotten started with a project to photograph 1,000 faces. Also, she offered to show me around Trinidad for Carnival on the condition that I wear a sequined bikini with her. So I apologize for the Flickr stream in advance.

Rebecca was my roomie, which meant lots of laughing after lights out and many startling, pseudo-sexual assgrabs at the bar.

I’m pretty sure we’re engaged now, Rebecca. Please apologize to Hal for me. Rebecca also did my eye makeup for the keynote panel. Her eye makeup tutorial is legend, so now my eyes are totally Internet famous.

(Photo by Mainline Mom who has lots of great photos of the conference.)

The keynote panel with Heather, Gabby, and Stephanie was a lot of fun because it felt like a real conversation — albeit a conversation with 300 people, many of whom were wielding cameras and live blogging. Good eye makeup does wonders for your chutzpah.

The last day, I walked Heather up to her room to keep her company while she packed. She reached into the minibar and said, “Do you realize how long it’s been since we’ve had a cocktail date?” Between pregnancies and breast feeding over the last few years, there’s been entirely too much napping and not nearly enough Madonna karaoke at our recent reunions. She twisted the tops off two miniature whiskeys, and we clinked airplane bottle necks.

Then she tried to make me promise not to tell Jon that she wore 8-inch stripper heels all weekend, despite her fractured tailbone. Honey, Jon has met you.

This is Laura doing her impeccable Laura imitation at the Mom 2.0: Defining a Movement exhibit. The next day, Laura and I toasted her awesome conference in the hot tub. I met so many smart, kind women this year, I came home feeling overwhelmed by all the possibilities unfolding for our community.

Well done, girl. You know how to throw a party.