Tales of the Traveling Tote #47, Giveaway

Hello, friends, and welcome to Panoply! Happy mid-May! 

Today marks the 47th instalment of the Tales of the Traveling Tote, can you believe it? It's all about tales of ladies connecting friendship and stories of our everyday lives via a MacKenzie-Childs tote we all purchased at one time or another. Previous to 2026, we would give quarterly updates, but our new schedule now follows three updates per year: mid-January, mid-May, and mid-December.

To read more about the origin of this series of posts, you can learn how it started here. A link to all my previous tales can be found here. 

Once basketball season begins, Mr. P. & I enjoy attending the University of Charleston (WV) home games with our season passes. We live just one block from the university. I am familiar with the campus buildings, and we can enter from the building at one end of campus and trek through all buildings to the other end to reach the athletic building without ever having to go outside. The photo below was mid-January, welcoming students back for the new semester. The Golden Eagles ended their season with a 19-9 record.

In early February Mr. P., my girls & I attended our Light Opera Guild's production of Frozen. Miss J attended in her Elsa costume, and was really attentive to the entire program. 

At the intermission, J and her buddy C found out they could make shadows in front of the light projector that would project them onto the curtain image. The projector was just a few rows back from where we were seated. 

The third week of February had my sister Marcie & I traveling to Cincinnati to help my niece sort and clear out my sister Jackie's stored inventory for the antique mall. She had quite a bit of 'stuff' when she passed away last October.

We managed to organize almost all of the area Jackie called "the pit" in her basement. We filled the Rav4 to the brim, and have probably two more carloads to retrieve. Marcie also has a Rav4, so we made a second trip to Cincinnati again in mid-March to haul the remainder back to Charleston. Miss Luna C is my tote of choice for an overnight or weekend getaway.

The last weekend of February was the Charleston Ballet's winter performance of short pieces titled "Traditions//Innovation". This is the Charleston Ballet's 70th season. Ours is the one of the oldest continuous ballet company in the nation (founded 1956), with only two directors in its entire 70 years. This was the first time we took J to the ballet. I wish you could have seen her in-seat performance, emoting and using her arms as if she was on the stage in the show! We had seats such that she did not disturb anyone around her. My mini cross-body bag was perfect for the ballet.

The day after the ballet was the Winter Blues Farmers Market. It was extremely well-attended, and I took home market and farm goods made by local small businesses which we are still enjoying! My Flower Market To-Go tote was perfect for carrying small perishables bought that day.

The months of March and April started getting super busy as the weather started teasing us in the change of seasons (spring one day, winter the next, and then summer trying to steal the show, repeat). 

While my second daughter put in 400 clinical hours toward the finish line of her Masters of Science in Nursing, my first daughter and I kept J on different occasions while both parents were working. I found a great little helper in the garden, albeit she dressed a little like Lilly Pulitzer for the occasion.

On another occasion, we went together (J, B and me) to the Spring Festival at a new Farmer's Market.

May means Graduation! Let me tell you, we are all sharing in this diploma that took three hard years of juggling work, clinicals and family time.

And now, we are all spending some time enjoying some R&R in our favorite destination. We're celebrating both daughters' graduations - B's in 2025, and M's on May 9th.

Look at J and her parents, snuggling up to a stingray. We're having lots of fun!

NOW, ONTO THE GIVEAWAY!

The Traveling Totes Tribe is offering another giveaway and Ricki Jill is our giveaway sponsor this time at The Bookish Dilettante. One lucky reader who leaves a comment on Ricki Jill's post will have their name thrown into the hat for an opportunity to win this MacKenzie-Childs To Go Tote.

Be sure to check out my other traveling sisters' posts to see how they spent their time since our last update on January 15th. 

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Patti with Miss Kenzie and Miss Taylor @ Pandora's Box

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply (you are here!)

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie with Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Ricki Jill with Miss La Countess de Monet @ The Bookish Dilettante

Join us again on September 15th for another installment of Tales of the Traveling Tote.

Rita C. at Panoply