On My Mind: The Mary Janes I Wore on My Book Tour
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It has been seven years or so since I had to travel seriously for work. In a past life, I would fly frequently — to Sydney, to New York — or get the train somewhere less exciting, like Harrogate. Then things changed, and I was glad. I am a laptop goblin at heart, as you know. Let the goblin sit in her cave! All of which is to say, in a rather unusual turn of events, I have spent the past few weeks on a press tour, promoting the collection of short stories I have edited (called Banshee, published by John Murray Press, not available in the U.S. … yet …). And so, last week onto the plane I went, suitcase trundling behind me.
The schedule: a launch party, a bookshop signing, a literary-festival panel, a TV appearance, an in-studio radio interview, a Zoom radio interview, and an in-person podcast recording. The challenge? I was traveling hand-luggage only. My packing ethos boiled down to this: no sudden moves. Now was not the time for reinvention. I packed two pairs of trousers (brown slacks and brown cords), one blue button-down, one bronze metallic rugby shirt, and a long brown shirtdress. I avoided dreariness by bringing green silk Flabelus, a pair of gold snakeskin heels, and a small selection of jewelry (all gold), and thus my mix-and-match wardrobe was set.
I did not vary my makeup by a jot all week (now was not the time to take a creative risk vis-à-vis eye shadows) — I used a very reliable Charlotte Tilbury eye palette, an Hourglass cheek palette, Glossier Boy Brow, and Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer and did not entertain the possible millennial cringe of doing flicky eyeliner. At night, I used the Drunk Elephant cleansing balm and gazed upon the Shroud of Turin left on the flannel. Overall, it was a success — even if my neurotic packing meant that when I was not doing press, I wore the same oversize denim shirt and leggings for one week straight. You can take the laptop off the goblin, but you can’t take the goblin off the laptop, etc.
A condensed packing list
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Also on my mind:
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Asmodee Spot It!
My 3.5-year-old daughter is the Marty Mauser of Dobble (which rebranded recently as Spot It). We play it before breakfast, during dinner, on the bus, and in restaurants. I wouldn’t be surprised if she plays it in her sleep.
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‘See Inside Your Body: An Interactive Flap Book About Anatomy and Organs for Curious Children’
We’ve really been enjoying this book about how the body works — the flaps are satisfying, and the science is not dumbed down. It’s so appealing, in fact, that someone stopped me on the tube the other day while I was reading it to my daughter — she wanted to get the name so she could buy it for her son.
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I grabbed this sunscreen in the airport. It’s really quenching, non-pilling, and even though it’s a true cream (rather than a gel), it’s not too oopy-gloopy.
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Lately, I have one of these hand sanitizers in every bag. It’s non-drying and smells absolutely fantastic. I would honestly wear it as a perfume.
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There are two excellent exhibitions on in London at the moment — a big Tracey Emin retrospective at the Tate Modern and a Catherine Opie show at the National Portrait Gallery. Though Emin’s Everyone I Have Ever Slept With is on show (and I can’t wait to finally see it), I’m really excited to also get to see some of her video work.
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