Where in CA are you headed? In SoCal it's best if you wear layers. It's chillier in the a.m. and p.m., so you'll want a jacket for the evenings. Throughout this week our temps won't get above the mid-60s, partly cloudy. Our micro-climates mean it's cooler the closer you are to the coast. Don't bother with a raincoat (but it won't hurt to tuck a small umbrella in your bag). I haven't worn white yet, but don't let that stop you! But you definitely will want something over your shoulders with a lacy top. I wouldn't get too dressed up for dinner (we're kinda laid back in San Diego, not so much in LA) but my feet would get too cold in sandals right now. HTH.

I had a friend who moved from CA to Washington, DC who could never figure out the weather. She dressed for the high temp of the day and couldn't figure out that it wasn't going to be that warm at 7 AM when she left home to go to work.

On Wednesday in Minneapolis, it will be partly sunny with a high of 67 and a low of 49. You could do either a light leather jacket or a raincoat, but it is a little too early in the season for the white slacks with a Battenburg lacy top.

For Illinois, both the black dress or the black slacks and top would work fine. Everyone understands that people who are traveling tend to wear black. No one will think you have dressed for a funeral.

Thanks Graywings. I keep checking the weather forecast for Minnesota and they seem to have a lot of variations from 67 hi one day to 74 3 days later. I am from SoCal near the coast and our temp is steady in the 70s usually. I was uncertain about how dressy things are in Minnesota. SoCal is so casual; I was at the Mall today and practically everyone including elderly ladies was wearing jeans and a light top with or without a light jacket. The number of women over 50 wearing the low cut jeans was surprising. I can't believe Minnesota is following that trend.
Offasis I am in SoCal at the beach and can see water from here. I was interested in whether Minnesota downtown is really casual or not.

I lived and worked in the Twin Cities until 3 years ago...and was there visiting 2 weeks ago. I'm 52. My sis lives outside LA and I've visited her frequently. Here goes. All the buildings in downtown Minneapolis are connected by second floor skyways. You never have to go outside unless you want to. You'll be able to get from your hotel to the convention center without ever breathing real, honest to god fresh air. So, for your business meeting, dress for indoors. All corporate offices were business casual until about 3 years ago but then Target went back to regular business attire because young women took business casual to new degrees of beach-type wear.

If you go out and about into the real air, have layers - the jacket would be good but have a light sweater to wear in addition to a top, just in case. A compact umbrella is a good suggestion. My personal practice when living there was to never be able to wear shorts/go bare legged in the evening except between June 10 and Labor Day because I got cold. Nice jeans are fine for shopping and with nice shoes (not rattie tennies) you'll be fine in most restaurants. However, for the fanciest restaurants, good slacks/skirts are fine. Minnesota is more casual, in general, than So. Cal. due to the general outdoors approach to life. Styles are comparable to S. Cal, but for middle aged women, you won't be out of place if you're not dressed like a teenager (i.e. you choose to cover your body parts!).

My college is in N. Indiana and for our reunions, women wear nice dresses for the formal dinner, shorts/jeans/nice slacks during the day - pretty much anything goes for daytime. I think you'll find that the teachers are happy to have a chance to dress up so a snazzy black dress would work. Just be comfortable.

thanks so much Kec--the information about the 2nd floor skyways is wonderful. That way I don't have to bring a dressy long coat and I was worrying about whether I would need boots because of the rain forecasts.
Its nice to know that Minneapolis went to regular business attire.SOCal needs to move back towards sanity in fashion. When I was out shopping I saw a 20something guy wearing slacks so close to the ground, we could see most of his boxer shorts. I was in back of him in line.
I have never gone to a college reunion before since its so far, thanks for the advice.

Marge, Only Target went back to regular business attire. But it's had a spillover effect on other companies in that total super casual isn't really tolerated by any firms. If I still worked there, I'd dress in a pantsuit, skirt/sweater/blouse, slacks/sweater/blouse or dress. Jeans aren't generally tolerated unless you're in IT or it's a special Friday.

Well at least its a start. My husband and I had lunch together today and at the next table were three guys who looked like extras in a gang movie--except they had ID tags clipped to their pockets and were arguing about a Forbes magazine article about lap tops. They worked for a major R & D company in Manhattan Beach.

Graywings and Kec thanks so much. Your advice was really helpful. I saw a meeting of managers at Macy's downtown Minneapolis and all 8 of them were wearing black--suits, or dresses or skirts & tops. It thundered, it rained, it was 81 one day and 68 the next so I wore everything I brought. I couldn't understand about the 2nd floor skyways but I've never seen anything like it--handy for staying out of the rain, and knowing about them allowed me to leave a heavy raincoat out of my luggage.
The restaurants near the convention center were really great and we enjoyed being in Minneapolis.
The reunion was fun and the black dress worked fine. Glad I brought it.

Marge, Glad we could help and that you had a good trip. If you think those skyways are handy in this weather, think about how much good they serve when it's snowing and below 0, typical January weather in the Twin Cities!!

Marge I'm sorry I didn't see your post earlier (native Minnesotan here). I worked in downtown Minneapolis for a few years and knowing about the skyways is so helpful. Just as kec01 mentioned, especially in the winter when you can leave your office without a jacket and go for lunch several blocks away. Glad you had a good time. BTW, St. Paul is connceted by skyways as well. They generally are a surprise to visitors!