u/Dizzy_Confusion_8455

Hi, I am exhausted from the last few years and finally booked a vacation. It needed to be driving distance from New Jersey area, dog friendly, and not require me to do any cooking. I landed on Scribners, and I have a 4 or 5 day stay booked for next month.

I am a single young-ish (late 20s, so I think I’m young but my nieces don’t) woman and I chose this location mostly so I could enjoy some quiet time with a book and take my dog on nice walks. Neither one of us are big hikers or adventurers (mostly because my dog is one of those small white fluffy ones) but I can get a backpack to carry her in if there’s a particular hike that is a must-do in the area.

I honestly was not planning much in terms of preparation. I haven’t looked up things to do in the area, nor mapped out an itinerary. I went to undergrad in upstate NY (finger lakes area) so I am not unfamiliar to the point that I don’t know how to dress or anything, but now I am curious if there is anything I should know about the area around Scribners or anything I must see when I am there? I’d love any tips or recommendations, or things to stay away from!

I booked this trip a bit impulsively, so I am also open to hearing from anyone about whether this is worthwhile to go to Scribners alone and for that long of a stay. I haven’t taken a vacation since before law school, and now my dog is a senior so it’s limited my options quite a bit. I want this to be a good trip for her too, to relax and get attention and lots of time outside.

I work in a very casual office, and a similarly casual politician is coming for a meeting. It’s spring but the climate is still varying between warm and freezing.

Nobody in the office wears heels, ever. People barely wear trousers. It’s mostly jeans. The photos I have seen of this public figure show him in the same casual style typically. That said, I want to dress nice without sticking out as way overdressed. My instincts usually take me in the direction of a full suit, but that would certainly be overdressed.

I’d like to start with the pants and shoes, because those are the hardest in my opinion. What style would you go for? My favorite pants in the world for nice occasions are the Aritzia Alanya pants (not sold anymore but Google shows some photos), but for the day to day I love the Quince ultra stretch ponte cropped wide leg pants. The quince pants I can wear with any shoes, but I think those might be too casual. That said, the aritzia pants look best only two ways - with heels, or leaning into street style with sneakers. I don’t want to wear sneakers, but I think heels would be too much (other than a heeled bootie, but the weather might be too warm).

I own other pants of course, but I still fall into the trouble with shoes. So maybe starting with shoes - what would you lean towards for an event like this? I can build an outfit around the shoes.