What I Wore This Week

July 30, 2017Sara 4 Comments

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We went to Toronto Gem Expo this past weekend and I was pretty cool. Since Tom used to be a goldsmith and Merle loves geodes and gemstones I figured it would be fun family thing to do (plus it only cost $8 to get in). There were so many great pieces there but there was this one woman (her business is Calle I.D. Jewelry and Designs) who had the coolest, most unique, and beautiful items there. I would classify her stuff as steam punk meets fantasy and there was couple of pieces that I would have loved to buy but didn’t know how I would ever wear them. One was a beautiful Phoenix necklace, and the other was a dragon collar. We ended up buying the girls a couple of eye rings, but man those necklaces would have been statement pieces. Also I am obsessed with amber that have insects trapped in them. I kept gravitating to them and would love a huge piece like that to display at home.

My birthday is next weekend and I bought myself a trench coat. I have wanted one for a while and saw that Zara had a few just coming in for fall. I was going to just order one online but decided it was worth my time to try it on. I’m glad I did because I ended up getting the x-small instead of my regular small. While I like an oversized trench, I decided to go down in size because the small looked a little too oversized (would have looked better if I was taller) and bunched in the back when I belted it. I’m kind of really excited to wear this now so bring on rain and cooler weather.

July is almost officially over and I have completed about 50% of my Christmas shopping. Maybe more like 40% but definitely a good amount is checked off. Tom was working downtown last week and he noticed a Doc Marten outlet store so he went in. They were clearing out a ton of styles and he was able to pick himself up a really awesome pair that looks like a painting, and a Union Jack pair for Roo which I am squirrelling away for Christmas. She is going to be super excited because she was bummed when she grew out of her last pair. She actually has them on display on one of her bookshelves.

I don’t know if you remember me saying that I was planning on getting a subscription to the Great Courses Plus and use that for part of homeschooling this year. They just sent me an email letting me know about new courses added and one of them is French. I’m so excited but his because it means that I don’t have to pay $200 now to sign Roo up for a French course. I can use this for the first half of the year and then she can take the course for the second “semester”. I wasn’t really feeling like spending that much at this time since I have to buy Level 2 for Merles Reading/Phonics books which will probably set me back $200 as well. I’m just thankful hat I was proactive years ago and bought as many pieces of curriculum in pdf form as I could so now I can use them for Merle without added expenses. I am also thankful that there is a library right across the street (like literally across the street) that we can run over to and grab any supplemental material we may need without much worry. I’ve really got to kick my butt into high gear and get these last-minute things put together. I am usually much more prepared than this.

Does anyone else feel like the summer is totally escaping from them? Also, Tom got us Popeye’s Chicken for dinner and I think my entire week of fairly healthy eating just went up in flames 🙁

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What to Pack for Bruges, Belgium Outfit Options

July 27, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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It’s the weekend; does anyone have any fun plans? I *think* we are going to the Gem Expo in the city at some point this weekend. Tom used to be a goldsmith and Merle is obssessed with geodes and gem stones so it should be a fun outing. Next weekend is a long weekend here and it’s my birthday weekend. I’m kind of cringing over that, and the fact that I didn’t accomplish anything I said I would last birthday (hello fit body, that totally didn’t happen). This week was a little cooler some days so I got to pull out some fall style. I’m sure it will be back to blistering hot next week though. As for now these are the fall inspired outfit options (30 in total with 15 at the top of the post and 15 at the bottom) that go with the What to Pack for Bruges, Belgium post from Wednesday.

As per usual you can click on any link to see the product information or you can click on any image in the image carousel if you are a more visual person. Here is a breakdown of all the pieces that are included in these outfits from the main packing list:

6 tops of different styles, colours, and or patterns (one camisole which is good for layering as well, a t-shirt, a blouse of some kind, a wrap shirt, a striped shirt, and a chambray which is also great for layering).
Two sweaters; I included an oversized grey pullover and a cashmere, camel coloured pullover.
Three bottoms, and any three bottoms would work depending (like a skirt) on your style. I chose a casual, lightly distressed denim, a highwaist, ankle skimming denim, and a pair of black pants.
Two dresses in styles that are easy to dress up or down. I chose a pink sleeveless mid length, and a wrap dress.
A blazer, and a fall/winter jacket. I picked the purple jacket first and based the rest of my pieces around that because I thought it was gorgeous.
Accessories like a print scarf, a heavier scarf, a hat, and sunnies.
Three pairs of shoes, a flat, a boot of some kind, and I chose an Oxford. Swapping out one of these styles for a sneaker might be a good choice as well depending on your style and your itinerary.
Two purses, a regular sized shoulder bag/tote and a smaller crossbody.

This packing list was for a three week trip to Bruges, Belgium. I put together 30 outfits to show you how versatile the pieces were but you can easily make more with the pieces or pack less for a shorter trip. I hope you all have a great weekend 🙂

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What to Pack for Bruges, Belgium

July 25, 2017Sara 3 Comments

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I know it sounds like a cliche, but autumn is my favourite season to dress for which ultimately makes it my favourite season to make packing lists for. I would completely fill my wardrobe with sweaters, boots, jackets, scarves and live in them all year if I could get away with it. So needless to say when the stores start turning over from summer to fall I get excited and inspired to dress for fall.

This weeks packing list is for Bruges, Belgium which has to be one of the most enchanting cities ever. I’ve come to the conclusion that while I think of my dream home as some uber modern penthouse flat, or an open concept industrial style warehouse apartment; I would really like a medieval stone house along the canal like in the header photo. Talk about one extreme to another 😉

I built this list a little different than usual. I usually pick a few neutral pieces, then add in some colour to round it out. This time I started with this fabulous purple jacket and then built everything around that. The rest of the pieces are mostly neutral in colour but some have a print to break the monotony that can go along with a small wardrobe when you want all the pieces to work together. Add in some shoes with one or two in a fun colour or print (I love leopard with purple and these leopard flats are Vionic’s which are super comfortable for walking), some weather appropriate accessories, and you have a well-rounded packing capsule. This list is requested for 3 weeks but you can easily get more out of these pieces.

The 30 outfit options for this list can be found in this post.

My birthday is right around the corner which means that summer is on its way out. I’m not sure how I feel about this. On one hand I hate the heat, but on another I am not too sure that I am looking forward to cold and snow just yet. We had such a mild winter last year I have a feeling that it is going to be brutally cold this winter. I wish I could move some place more temperate for the season. Oh well, at least I don’t have to buy a new winter jacket or boots for me this year. I think the girls jackets will still work but they both may need new boots. (I can’t believe I am thinking about this already).

Can you believe that summer is more than half over?

If you like this post you can find more packing lists and outfit options in my:
Packing Light Series
What to Wear Options

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What I Wore This Week

July 24, 2017Sara 2 Comments

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I pretty much spent this weekend (aside from an early Sunday flea market outing) taking the teacher’s course for The Big History Project to learn how to use the site and teach it to Roo. It was about 9 hours in total if you watch all the videos and do all the activities they suggest. At the end you get a certificate to use (obviously if you are actually teacher) and a $20 Amazon gift card (if you do a short survey) which is sent to you via email within a couple of weeks after. I haven’t sat and done a course in a while and I feel a little brain overload but the course was immensely helpful and educational. I’m excited to see how well it works through the year.

The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale opened to the public on Friday and holy crap things sell out fast. I know they say that you should jump on something when you see but things literally disappear out of your basket before you have a chance to buy it. It’s unreal. Oh, well. I have enough jeans right now anyway 😉 I tend to need to try pants on first because I find sizing so all over the place so I really should avoid buying them online. I do like these and they are a great deal but I don’t need them. I was hoping to hit it up the store again on Saturday to go through it a second time and see what they have left and may have restocked but aside from taking the course I spent most of the day doing nothing but reading a book and enjoying the rain. It was nice to step away from the computer for a chunk of time.

Did I mention that I won $243 in the lottery last week? We went out for lunch and bought groceries with it. I’m a pretty exciting spender eh? 😉 So I have thought about getting Kindle Unlimited; does anyone subscribe and if so is it worth it for someone who reads 2+ books a week?

Do you know what totally annoys me? When you are shopping online and see something you like but when you click on it, it isn’t the piece that they are selling; it’s just part of their styling. This happens to me on the Zara site frequently like right here. I am in love with that yellow sweater but it’s not actually for sale. I hope they end up adding it to their fall line because it is amazing. I’m sure if I was a knitter I could do it but I am totally not a knitter (and lack the desire to be so) therefore I buy.

Do you have any online shopping pet peeves?

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Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Public Access

July 20, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

The public access starts today for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale . It is no longer just early access for the people who have a Nordstrom card. The sale continues until its end on August 6th (which is my birthday). While a lot of things have sold out already based on previous years they tend to restock many of them for public access but they go fast too. In my last sale post I offered up my favourites for women broken down into categories. In this post I am focusing on Kids, home, and beauty.

Now this July is more than halfway through we have officially entered prime back to school shopping time and stores are starting to fill with fall stock. Most of these sale items are new fall stock which means you can get some of your back to school shopping completed way before everyone else does. When I worked in retail the busiest time of the year was not Christmas, and we don’t have Black Friday here so that wasn’t it either. It was the Saturday before the new school year started which was hell (and Boxing Day, Boxing Day was hell too).

The thing with kids is no matter how well they treat their clothes they are going to eventually grow out of them. It always seems to be that my girls need new wardrobes at the same time which is super expensive, and this fall is one of those times :/ I actually picked up a dress last week at Nordstrom for Merle It’s this one but in yellow, along with these cat ears (because we all need to be a cat sometime). While the dress looks summery, it was her favourite colour and is roomy enough to layer a shirt underneath or she can easily wear leggings and a sweater over. It will transition to fall easily. One piece down, many more to go.

Here are my picks for Girls and Boys fall fashion, baby stuff, some things to spruce up your home, and some tried and true beauty items with a great discount. I’m not going to lie, when we walked through the baby section my uterus might have twinged a little. There were so many cute baby clothes. I swear every year the clothes get cuter and cuter. There are so many more options than when Roo was a baby, and even from only 6 years ago when Merle was an infant (and I thought there was so much back then). The Mini Boden, Tea Collection, and Masalababy were especially cute. Have a great weekend!

GIRLS FASHION

BOYS FASHION

BABY

HOME

BEAUTY

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What to Pack for One Month in Italy Outfit Options

July 19, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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I really like the pieces I selected in this list. It wasn’t flowing well when I was first trying to piece it together but I found a couple of accent pieces and then built it around them. I think it turned out well. These 30 outfit options (15 at the top and 15 below) were put together using the pieces from the What to Pack for One Month in Italy from yesterday. The request was from a while back but it took me some time to get to it because I had a lot of summer destination requests. The trip is for a mom of 3 who is lucky enough to be spending from September to October in Italy with her husband and young children. She wanted a smallish travel capsule that will be versatile, and mom friendly, while still remaining cute and stylish.

The pieces I selected are as follows:

5 tops in varying cuts and styles, 1 tank or camisole for layering or for warmer days, a graphic tee for a bit of fun, a classic stripe, a blouse, and an airy peasant blouse.
two sweaters; I usually opt for a pullover and a cardigan but in this case I chose an edgy off the shoulder style, and an oversized one.
Four bottoms; a skirt in a midi length, a pair of casual slightly distressed jeans, an ankle skimming dressier pair, and some black trousers of some kind (black is so easy to dress up in a pinch so it is always a good idea to include a dark pair of pants).
Two dresses, one midi length print, and one black dress.
A light jacket like a trench or moto jacket.
A bathing suit since the month of September may have some beachy weather.
For accessories I added a couple of scarves; one yellow to add some colour, and one print, a hat, and sunnies.
Three pairs of shoes (which also include the pair you will travel in) a pair of sneakers, slides or sandals, and a flat in a fun colour or print.
Two purses, one shoulder bag or tote style, and one smaller crossbody.

I hope this list checks all of the boxes. Have a great trip!

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