I was finally getting out of town and heading to LA today. Escaping this crappy, terminally grey weather we’ve been having to instead enjoy a place where the sun shines always and people live in charming bungalows with lemon trees out back. But then Saturday afternoon I started coughing a lot, and then it started to hurt when I inhaled. Saturday night I could barely sleep. So I did the responsible thing Sunday morning and went to Urgent Care just to make sure I was in the clear before flying. And the short version of this story is that the doctor said I have pneumonia, so no airplanes for me. I am desperately disappointed and annoyed, but because I know you guys like a packing story, I’m bringing you this post about what I was going to pack anyway. Which included, for whatever reason, a lot of red, starting with this blouse, which I just acquired.

Amazingly, given my affection for the color red and for striped shirts, I do not own a good red striped shirt. This one, from Xirena is pretty classic and perfect.

A pair of bright sunglasses  is such a good lazy person’s way to make a big statement with a minimum of effort. This pair, from  J. Crew, is similar but cheaper.

I was probably going to bring my Clare V Gosee Clutch because it packs well, and holds a lot for a bag its size.

I know I just showed you a red Nili Lotan trouser the other day—her ultra-slouchy Paris pant—but I also really like this more streamlined pair.

I was quite enchanted by this scarf when I visited Zadig & Voltaire last week: an unstoppably good print in vivid pink and red, and as soft as my beloved Chan Luus.  But the stylish friend I was shopping with wrinkled her nose at it, so I passed on by. I might have to go back, though.

I would definitely have been bringing my grey R-13 jeans, which I am currently in a quandary over: I wear them constantly and have had them for a while now, and they’re hopelessly bagged-out. I don’t need my jeans tight, but this just looks sloppy. Also they have a dot-shaped stain right on the crotch that probably nobody notices but me. It would be really nice to have a fresh pair, but they are so damn pricey. Still,  good grey jeans are hard, and I have yet to find a pair as perfect for me as these. Did you know there was a survey a while back in which they asked women which items they most dreaded shopping for, and jeans came in second (swimsuits, naturally, were first). I just love knowing that when I get a pair of R13 jeans that they’re going to fit and flatter me, and not send me into a self-loathing tailspin. Because, with denim, in the end, it’s all about fit: find a brand that works for you and stick with them. Maybe even if they cost a fortune, I’m not sure.

If I were to have brought along a third pair of trousers, I’d have packed my Nili Lotan Jenna pants—in fact I’d actually  probably have worn them on the plane because they’re so damn comfortable. I have them in blue, which is almost sold out, but I adore this dark camo too.

I would obviously be bringing along some No 6 clogs—the pair I’m thinking of is grey suede and, like the above pants, almost sold out. So I’m showing you this really good pink instead.

My cosmetic bags are all really trashed, so I’m showing you this Liberty of London one I’ve been stalking.

I travel with a flotilla of hair products, because my hair always flips out when I go away if I don’t stick to my usual routine. But this Davines Oi Oil might be the most important ingredient of all. I apply it after I blow-dry but before I use the curling iron, and it somehow magically makes my dry, damaged hair look impossibly smooth. And it comes in this nifty travel size.

I kept hearing raves about micellar water, which is supposed to be super-hydrating and cleansing, so I decided to try some Bioderma wipes, and they are so excellent at removing makeup at bedtime when I’m too  lazy to wash my face. I haven’t been using them long enough to know if they’re hydrating, but I love the way my skin feels after I use them—smooth and clean and soft.

I always make certain there’s room in my carry-on for a small container of  Portrait of a Lady Body Butter. Portrait of a Lady is my scent of choice, but the perfume itself is too strong for me, so for everyday I use their Hair and Body Oil, which is fantastic and very subtle. But oil is tricky to travel with, so for that I use the Body Butter, which smells so, so good—I have had people compliment me on the scent at gas stations off the Long Island Expressway—and is, I think, more moisturizing than the oil, which is what you want for travel.