The Container Store, and the 3-1-1 for carry ons

I stopped by Duane Reade last night and made my first few purchases for my trip, mainly travel-sized items like toothpaste, shampoo, lotion. And I realized I already had almost everything; I just needed to get some small containers for them.

And here is where my FAVORITE-STORE-IN-THE-WHOLE-WIDE-WORLD comes to the rescue. Behold:


This store is amazing. If it has a clasp, zipper, lid or screwtop, The Container Store has it. I stumbled upon it by accident a few years ago. I couldn’t find what I needed at Bed, Bath and Beyond (obviously, “Beyond” has its limitations). I can’t remember what I was looking for, but that’s besides the point. So I skipped across the street to The Container Store. From its boring window displays, it looked like a dull and basic retail store that one could find dull, basic trashcans or dull, basic plastic containers.

But no. The Container Store was neither dull nor basic. It was sublime. It's the motherload of all things that contain. Cute bags, cool office supplies, containers in all shapes, colors, materials, oh my! How could I not have heard about this place before? I could hardly *contain* myself!

Okay, so this morning, I’m at work and I’m quite bored. So I check out The Container Store’s website, you know, to gear me up for when I can physically get to the store. Oooh. Turns out they have a TRAVEL SALE. Oh happiness and light!

So as I’m noting essential travel items such as these luggage tags,
I check out their selection of plastic bottles and jars. And I discover the wonderful world of Nalgene and their travel kits. On their website, they have a note about how the Transportation Security Administration modified its ban on liquids. Oh crap. I forgot about the ban. So I check out tsa.org to get the down low on the rules. I find out that while liquids are allowed, they must be in three-ounce or smaller containers.

I dunno, that seems like such a random number to me. But I must trust their reasoning, because as stated on their website, "Please keep in mind that these rules were developed after extensive research and understanding of current threats." Well now. That explains everything.