Thanks to Amanda for holding down the virtual PurseBlog fort while Vlad and I spent Christmas in Germany and the Czech Republic. I planned to do some work while abroad, but we spent every minute of every day exploring new cities and taking in the culture (and cuisine). For this reason, I took a straight eight days off work and it was glorious.

Mulberry Travel Adapter, $230 via Net-a-Porter

Luxury travel accessories usually fall into two categories: Pretty things that no one actually uses or needs and things that are pretty while also being surprisingly useful. The Mulberry Travel Adapter, complete with its bright pink leather carrying case, is one of the few that fits firmly in the latter designation.

For anyone left who doesn’t know this, American plugs don’t work in foreign outlets and vice versa, and some foreign plugs don’t work in other foreign outlets.

I just realized yesterday morning that I have to get on a plane this weekend and spend a week and a half away from New York, and although I’ve had these tickets booked for two months, the entire thing has caught me by surprise. I’m going home early because of a friend’s wedding and staying late to avoid the Thanksgiving rush (and to get a slightly more reasonable ticket price), but if you’re doing the traditional half-week stay, you still have plenty of time to think about travel accessories.

Photo via Fashionista.com

As if we ever expected anything less from superstylist and brand new mommy Rachel Zoe. That’s eleven suitcases and two Louis Vuitton bags, for those of you who are keeping score at home. At first, this seemed like an outrageous amount of luggage when we saw the photo on Fashionista, but is it really? Let’s do the math.

LeSportsac Soft Train Case, $144 via Zappos

So here’s the deal, cats and kittens. As you guys know, Megs and I are based in New York City, but we both come from places that have had severe hurricanes in the past. With the warnings about Irene at the end of last week, we figured that discretion is indeed the greater part of valor and we got the heck out of the city.

I know I’ve asked before, but seriously, where did summer go? School is no longer out for the summer; it’s back in session and the month of August is nearly gone. I spent much of the season traveling on short weekend getaways, and each time I began packing I ran into the same problem: I don’t have an overnight bag that I love.

It warms the cockles of my cold little blogger heart to see contemporary brands expanding into luggage in creative ways. First came the Lulu Guinness suitcases covered with her signature molded lips, and now we have the Rebecca Minkoff Skull Suitcase. I’d like one of each, please.

I’m not much of a crafty girl, but the trompe l’oeil knitted look of the pattern (indeed, other bags in this collection are actually made out of a woven material) provides just enough kitsch to balance out the tough look of a skull and crossbones.

Lulu Guinness is set to launch her first collection of travel bags next week, and to celebrate the launch, she has released the above video in collaboration with British filmmaker Vicky Mather. I only wish that all of my handbags danced around so happily, not to mention that lips seem like a pretty good way to make sure your suitcase stands out at baggage claim.

A couple of weeks ago, in a blind panic and looking for things to post about during the summer fashion doldrums, I asked my Twitter followers what they’d want to read. Several responded back wanting to hear about beach bags, but with one caveat – they were only interested in non-straw bags because of the hassle of cleaning sand and debris out of a raffia tote.

I’ve been thinking about luggage ever since we talked about that Jimmy Choo shoe case earlier in the week, and that the Lanvin Amalia Voyage Leather Suitcase should show up on Net-a-Porter right now is nothing short of fortuitous. I maybe have been a bit of a party-pooper when it came to the aforementioned shoe luggage, but I can’t help but swoon over all this luscious Lanvin lambskin.