Happy Sunday Wednesday.

We are less than a week away from our big Eurotrip. After almost a year of planning and some very lucky developments at work, I have passed the anxiety stage and am hanging out in the “just get here” stage. I think I’ve read every travel article twice. Gone over my lists and itinerary ad nauseam. How many more semi-empty days until I can pack my bags?

While I’m triple-checking the clock, here is what I’ve reading pre-vacation:

• A Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank. I categorize this book as “Help, I’m in my twenties” reading. I just finished Girls in White Dresses, and needed a quick read to pass the time, so I could start a new book on my trip. I did not know that I had pretty much already read this book, in the form of the Sarah Michelle Gellar movie, Suburban Girl. I never like to watch the movie before the book, so this kind feels like cheating. Not a bad read though…
• The Independent Women of Sweet Briar by the New York Times. Women’s schools have been in the spotlight a lot lately, with the closing of Sweet Briar College to the renaming of Mary Baldwin College to Mary Baldwin University. I’ve come across many excuses from friends who would never picture themselves in a single-sex environment. However, what they don’t know is the magic that happens once you get there.
• Nora Ephron’s Wellesley College Commencement Speech, 1996. This goes hand-in-hand with the first two. What are the expectations of women now versus then, and what can we accomplish now that there are no more excuses?
• 17 French Drugstore Beauty Products That Actually Work via Buzzfeed. I wanted to post some of my favorite travel blog posts, but this article is the one I’ve read the most.
• A Shortcut Guide to the French Quarter via Savored Journeys. In the last couple weeks, some girlfriends and I have talked about a Girls Weekend in September, after my birthday. Guess who already has the basic itinerary in place…