Sara, Author at livelovesara

What I Wore This Week

August 14, 2017Sara 2 Comments

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I finally made some progress this weekend with my genealogy on my maternal side. I found a lot of information about my maternal grandfather a while ago, but my maternal grandmother seemed to be elusive. After searching every possible name, name combination, and spelling (these things can really affect what results you get) I found documentation for her baptismal certificate on ancestry and it kind of escalated from there. Building her side of the tree really showed me where my Irish heritage came from. It’s cool to see the breakdown of your ethnicity after you get your AncestryDNA test results but it’s even cooler to be able to trace back and pinpoint exactly where in your tree every part comes from. My Nana definitely was Irish though I never even realized.

Tom was out of town on Saturday night and what I thought would be a nice peaceful night of everyone going to bed early, and me being able to read for hours undisturbed turned into two kids dragging their shit in to the room and taking advantage of the empty bed. I swear to god these two even fight in their sleep. One snuggles too close and the other hauls out and hits her in her sleep. Peaceful? No.

The kijiji deal for twin Ikea beds fell through so in the meantime we flipped their Ikea Kura to the non bunk setup for Roo and the other bed is just a mattress on the floor until we get the adjustable bed for Merle. We can adjust the bed to the 2nd size so it will take up less room which is needed at the moment. I also told Roo that if she watches some tutorials and learns how to do it, she can decoupage her desk with old comics if she wants. I’m hoping to have the room all put back together before September. That may be wishful thinking though.

I’m sitting on two Zara gift cards that I got for my birthday. I can’t wait until of their fall stock completely comes in. Have you spotted any fall pieces you love yet?

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What to Pack for Wales Outfit Options

August 10, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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So first and foremost I think I figured out how to get my daughter to keep her room clean. We were moving things around in it yesterday and there was a bug on her floor. It was a run of the mill little beetle that obviously hitched a ride inside somehow, but I let her think it was from the dirty room. I have told her repeatedly that if she lets her room get bad that she will get bugs and now that she thinks that’s what happened. She spent the entire day today vacuuming, dusting, and Lysoling every surface. I think she may have learned her lesson 😉

Now on to part 2 of the What to Pack for Wales post. The outfit options portion with 10 at the top of the page and 10 at the bottom using just the pieces from last post’s list. Wales is one of the wettest countries in Europe so I made sure to include a low cut rain boot (less clunky and easier to pack) and a water resistant jacket.

For all of the pieces I used to make these outfits you can refer to the original post or check out the breakdown below. As per usual, it is easy to substitute any item in the list for something comparable in your own tastes.

Six tops in varying cuts, colours, and styles (one graphic tee, one striped shirt, one blouse, a wrap shirt, one long sleeve (in merino wool which is great for travel), and a kimono top (which also doubles as a blazer/cardigan when left open).
Two sweaters (a black oversized, and a more fitted, grey pullover in cashmere), and a cape/cardigan.
Three bottoms; one pair of casual lightly distressed jeans, a dark, dressier denim, and some black trousers.
One dress in a style that can easily be dressed up if necessary.
One jacket; a water-resistant style is recommended if you plan on doing a lot of outside touring.
For accessories, I chose a wool hat (a knit one would also be a great option), a couple of scarves in a light and heavy knit, and my go-to is sunnies but in a city with a lot of overcast and rainy days than you may want to forget them.
Three pairs of shoes including your travel pair. I chose a pair of boots, flats, and a low-cut rain boot.
Two bags, one large tote style, and one small crossbody/shoulder bag style.

This trip is for 14 days but as you can see by the outfit options that it can stretch out much longer than that with access to laundry. There are more different outfit combinations that can be made as well but the week has been busy so I stopped with 20.

I hope you like it and find some inspiration, but now I have to go because my daughter set off the alarm with a burnt toaster strudel.

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What to Pack for Wales

August 8, 2017Sara 2 Comments

Wales Packing List

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What I Wore This Week

August 6, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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Yesterday was my birthday and I turned to big 3-8. I’m not too sure how I feel about that. Nothing that I thought I would accomplish in the last year came to pass and I feel like it is a cop-out saying that I will do them this year. I should probably just cut myself some slack, but I am not very good at that. Maybe that should be something that I work on this year too 😉

For my birthday Tom and the girls gave me a whole bunch of band tees, the Nirvana Nevermind vinyl, and Zara gift cards. They know me so well 😉 He said that he thought I would be disappointed with gift cards because it was a last-minute gift (his original idea didn’t pan out) but I have 9 million things in my virtual basket now and the gift is perfect.

I had a dream a while back that I had to make amends with someone who we had a falling out with a while back. Someone I promised myself I would never talk to again and I woke up feeling icky. I just found out that Tom has to talk to this person in regards to a business thing and it will mean that I have to at a minimum be socially polite to this person if I am ever in their company. It’s kind of like I had this weird premonition……I also recently had a dream that I moved to the UK; maybe that one will come true too 😉

I finally received the sheet that I needed to start making Merle’s duvet. I haven’t used my sewing machine in forever; it’s been sitting inside my closet on the floor with stuff piled on it. I am hoping to high hell that it hasn’t caused any of the settings to be messed up because I really suck at fixing it. I probably should have taken a basic sewing course at some point in my life because I am self-taught and kind of wing it. Side note: they offer a beginners sewing course for Roo’s age around here and I am starting to think it would be a good skill for her to have. It would be better for a professional to show her how to do it than me if she ever wants to attempt to make something.

Anyone have a laundry basket in their house that hasn’t been folded and put away for an extremely long time? I have one that has sat there so long (I am embarrassed to say how long) that I really need to bite the bullet. I think I need to purge the girl’s closet first though. Man, the summer is over half over and I have accomplished nothing. Bah.

Are you getting everything done that you thought you would this summer?

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What to Pack for Germany in Fall Outfit Options

August 3, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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One kid is cleaning her room and the other is in the bath so I have about an hour of “quiet” time to get this done. My youngest stays in the tub until her skin is shrivelled so I may in fact have little longer. Especially since it is so hot and humid today, she’ll want to hang in the cool water with Spongebob playing on the iPad (up on the counter away from the tub). Yesterday while I was exchanging my trench coat back to the original style I exchanged already (I’m a pain in the ass, I know) I had to walk past H&M. We did a quick run in because I am looking for a black long sleeve dress for Merle’s Halloween costume and I am hitting up all the reasonably priced places I can think of. They didn’t have one, or even one that I could alter to work but they did have the relaxed fit, Led Zeppelin t-shirt that I have waited to hit the Canadian stores. I spotted in the U.S. online shop a while back and was beginning to think it wasn’t coming here. It was $19.99 here but is currently on sale for $9 in the States (you lucky people). It’s a great shirt, a looser fit, in a soft cotton, with a cool graphic. Definitely an awesome deal.

Today I have 20 outfits that I put together using the pieces in the What to Pack for Germany in Fall packing list post. The trip is for 10 days so I figured 20 different outfit options would cover most bases (10 outfits at the top and 10 at the bottom). You may notice that it appears I have 3 different purses in this packing list (I always just bring two maximum) but the brown bag is actually reversible to black so you have more versatility and options on the trip.

Below is a breakdown of all the pieces that I used to make these outfits. They are from the original packing list post. Note that a couple of these outfits will be your travel outfits. All of my packing lists include the travel outfits; they are not extra clothes in addition to what is on the list.

Five tops of varying styles, colours, and fabrics; one graphic t-shirt, a versatile blouse in a solid colour, a striped shirt. a darker, print blouse, and a long sleeve with fun details (like the bell sleeves on this one).
Several sweaters; a black pullover, and oversized sweater, and a cardigan.
A blazer (works to dress up outfits in a pinch and as a lightweight jacket in warmer temperatures) and a mid-weight jacket.
Three bottoms; I chose a blue denim, and grey/black denim, and a black trouser. I picked ankle skimming denim so that you don’t have to worry about length and shoe issues (like only being able to wear pants with certain shoes because they are too long).
One versatile dress; a black wrap style is classic and easy to dress up and down.
Accessories; a knit scarf, and a lighter weight scarf, a wool hat (or a knit one and gloves if it is going to be colder), and sunnies. I never leave home without sunglasses.
Three pairs of shoes; one pair of sneakers, a low-cut boot, and flats.
Two purses, a tote (this one is reversible from black to brown which makes it very versatile), and a crossbody.

Now that the huge Nordstrom Anniversary sale is almost over (Prices go back up on August 7th) here are some sales that are going on starting this weekend.

Fossil – an extra 20% off of select with code SUNNY20
J.Crew – Extra 50% off with code YAYSALE
Express – 40% off jeans no code
Ann Taylor LOFT – extra 50% off select no code
Nasty Gal – 50% off site wide with code GET50
River Island – Up to 50% off select no code
Boden – up to 70% off elect no code
Williams Sonoma – extra 20% off select with code EXTRA
West Elm – up to 30% off elect no code
Joss & Main – up to 75% off rugs no code
Serena & Lily – up to 70% off select no code

It’s a long weekend here this weekend and Sunday is my birthday (not overly excited). I hope you all have a good one!

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What to Pack for Germany in Early Fall

August 1, 2017Sara 2 Comments

Germany Packing List

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