Migrate to MacBook Air from iMac and keep them synched

Dear Mac Geniuses -
I have an iMac (24'' early 2009 model) and am thinking of getting a MacBook Air (haven't decided on the 11.6'' or 13.3'' version yet, but tilting towards the smaller size) when we go to the States for Xmas for about a month from overseas. I also have a 2 TB TimeCapsule which acts as the router and backs up my 640 GB iMac hard drive.
Since my iTunes, Photos and loads of personalized content is on the iMac (which I won't bring with me to USA, when I buy the MBA), I would love to take the TimeCapsule and restore from it.
This would be the first time I would use the TimeCapsule for this purpose, so I would appreciate some advice:
1. Is it possible to restore from TC to MBA with my iMac configuration?
2. What's the best way to manage the 640 GB on the iMac v the 128 GB (or 256 GB on 13'') on MBA? I have a couple of 500 GB hard drives I could use.
3. Once I am back from USA, is there a way to sync back the changes we made in iTunes, FlipVideo, Photos?
4. Is there a way to maintain two versions of iTunes, Photos, etc?
I appreciate that questions 3 & 4 are mostly on a different topic than 1&2, and are thus lesser priority. What I need to figure out in the next two weeks is how to take all I need from my iMac for the duration of the trip.
Thanks everyone!
BR,
AK

ak2k wrote:
How do I create a clone on the external HD that can be used by Setup Assistant
The Restore tab of Disk Utility (see #7 in [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html]), or 3rd-party apps CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.
[CarbonCopyCloner|http://www.bombich.com> is donationware; [SuperDuper|http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html] has a free version, but you need the paid one (about $30) to do updates instead of full replacements, or scheduling.
(and more importantly, is there a way to select what wil be put on that clone)?
You really don't need to, since +Setup Assistant+ lets you omit certain things.
You can't omit things with Disk Utility. You can wIth CCC and SD, but since you're going to use this with +Setup Assistant,+ omit only things inside the top-level folders inside user home folders (such as Pictures, Movies, Music), not those folders themselves. CCC is pretty intuitive, and has pretty good help, too. I don't use SD, but I understand it's also easy to use.
I guess the alternative method is to create a TimeMachine backup on my external 500 GB hard drive. Is there a way to select what I back up to it?
You can omit things there, too, via +Time Machine Preferences > Options.+ For this purpose, though, I'd go with the clone, since you can start up from it to be sure it works, and everything you didn't omit is there and working properly.
The backups on your Time Capsule will be your "insurance" in case something awful happens.
If you don't already have a portable external, I can recommend the LaCie "Rugged" series: http://www.lacie.com/us/products/range.htm?id=10036 I have one of these, as do several other folks here, and they get good reviews, too. They claim you can drop one +2.2 meters+ without damage. I do a lot of testing, but have no intention of testing that.

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