Originally Posted by kukukajoo
My winter coat alone weighs about 10-12#
Don't bring a winter coat. Yes, I know you live in NH, but you were traveling to southern California. The only time you need the winter coat on the whole trip is to walk from the car to the airport in NH and back. Leave the coat in the car, and put your sweater on for the walk.
Originally Posted by kukukajoo
sweater I wore was about 5#, luggage weighs about 10# by itself.
Buy lighter sweaters and lighter luggage. This isn't a joke and I'm not trying to be snarky. But there are a lot better options out there.
Originally Posted by kukukajoo
The paperwork alone was more than 10#.
Bring it on disk or USB thumb drive and print what you need at the hotel business center. No need to haul paper around. You said also that you had your laptop with you, so there should be a way for you to digitize all of this reading material.
Originally Posted by kukukajoo
If I use the hairdryers that hotels supply I end up looking like Gilda Radner doing her Rosanna skit, no lie. I have to use a diffuser as well as several products to keep it tame.
The travel diffuser will be good. My concession to vanity is two hairbrushes (but they do fit in that one bag).
Originally Posted by kukukajoo
Some of my makeup is liquid. I have three products of hair tmer stuff plus shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, makeup (liquid), coverup, mascara, facepowder, eyeliner, eyeshadow (one shade) and a tiny blush.
For a week's trip it should be possible to get your various liquids into 3 ounce containers. Ditch the hairspray, if you must use it, and buy some at your destination. And is it *really* necessary to wear all that liquid makeup? What about skipping some products (again, who's going to know or care?) or switching to powder stuff, if only for the trip?
Originally Posted by kukukajoo
the climate in Anaheim in Late March to early April is a very wide range of temps from day to day and very cool nights.
As someone who once lived in coastal CA, I can tell you that the key to being comfortable there all day long is dressing in layers that you can add/subtract throughout the day. This pretty much goes for the entire travel wardrobe idea--no matter where you're going, your clothing needs to be flexible. Pashminas are one ideal item to carry for this purpose (and they also eliminate the need for blankets if your airline is too cheap to give you one!) In January of this year, I went on a trip that took me from my home in Delaware to London and then to New Delhi. Twenty days of travel, three vastly different climates, one carry-on bag. Layers.
The other piece of advice I can give is to learn how to pack a suitcase better. It's possible to get an astonishing amount of stuff into a 20-inch rollaboard if you are really creative about it. Stuff socks/stockings/ underwear into the openings of shoes and use them to fill the little gaps that are left in between non-squishy items. Roll, do not fold, every item of clothing. Squash things hard--there will always be an ironing board in the hotel that you can use if things get wrinkled (requesting an ironing board is the first thing I do when I get in the room, if there isn't one there already). My rollaboard usually weighs a ton and is as dense as a brown dwarf star, but I can still lift it over my head to get it in the overhead--or smilingly accept anyone's offer to do that for me!