What to Pack for Italy and a Mediterranean Cruise

What to pack for Italy and a Mediterranean Cruise Packing List Fall October #travellight #packinglight #travel #traveltips

Tank/Cami • Oasis | T-shirt • J.Crew | Striped Shirt • Madewell | Flowy Blouse • H&M |
Button-Up • Madewell | Pullover • H&M | Cardigan • Mango | Blazer • H&M |
Casual Dress • Madewell | Shirt Dress • H&M | Black Dress • H&M | Denim • H&M |
Black Pants • Mango | Light Jacket • H&M | Swimsuit • Victoria’s Secret |
Scarf 1 & Scarf 2 • Azalea | Hat • Azalea | Sunglasses • Kate Spade | Sneakers • Adidas | Sandals • Sol Sana | Flats • Free People | Tote • Sole Society | Crossbody • Zac Posen

This week I have a request for help with what to bring for a 3 week vacation spanning both Italy and a Mediterranean/Greek Cruise in October. There are many obstacles to this kind of trip because the temperatures can vary so greatly at this time of year. Across Italy may experience cooler temperatures while many port stops on the cruise has the chance of being quite hot the more south you go. The solution to this is to try to bring layers.

This list is a guideline just use these ideas as general suggestions, casual dress, t-shirts, jeans, sneakers, are just what they say. Every person’s favourite jeans, or sneakers will be different. What I did want to do is to try to stick with the suggestions she provided of style and colours, so I tried to keep within the parameters of those.

Scarves are versatile as swimsuit covers (if large enough) as well as head and shoulder coverage for religious sites. They are easy to pack as well as easy to keep in a purse to bring sightseeing. Cruise ships typically have a pool or two on board so a swimsuit is never wasted suitcase space.

I included an extra dress in this list because of the cruise. Many cruise ships have formal dinners ranging from smart casual to formal. While some fellow cruisers may use this opportunity to dress in a ball gown, a little black dress is completely appropriate. Your cruises itinerary should list what level of formal you should expect. As for shoes, heels are instantly dressy but can be difficult to maneuver on a moving ship deck. That will also most likely be the only place you wear them since walking along cobblestones and hills aren’t very high heel friendly. A nice pair of wedges or just strappy sandals will suffice with a LBD and some jewellery. I try to think about versatility when I choose, but in reality if you wanted to trade a pair of shoes in for some heels then do what works best for you. There are no rules.

Have you ever packed a ball gown for a cruise? 

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What I Wore This Week

What I wore this week #ootd

What I wore this week #ootd

What I wore this week #ootd

What I wore this week #ootd

What I wore this week #ootd

Outfit 1 – Sweater • Mango | Jeans • H&M
Outfit 2 – Band Tee • Thrifted (similar) | Leather Jacket • Zara | Jeans • Gap | Vans
Outfit 3 – Dress • Asos (similar) | Leather Jacket • Zara | Converse
Outfit 4 – Kimono Top • Madewell (similar)
Outfit 5 –  Striped Shirt • Zara | Blazer • H&M (similar) | Shorts • H&M (similar) |
Sandals • Etsy

What a weekend. I swear to god I was ready to run out the door and down to the closest pub and drink myself into an oblivion. This is a quick summary:

  1. My kids can’t keep their room clean for shit. It is always a complete disaster and I have no idea how it gets that way one day after being cleaned top to bottom. I asked them to get in there 50 times this weekend and I am about to box every thing up and throw it down the garbage chute. Do you think that would get a good reaction?
  2. Tom threw a pair of gross, dirty dark coloured running shoes into my load of white laundry I was washing. I got pissed and removed the water-logged shoes and tossed them in the tub to drain telling him they can go in with the darks. He took them out of the tub and put them in the dryer while still saturated. Seriously dude? What are you, new?
  3. I went grocery shopping, bought a bunch of stuff, bananas being one of them. They have somehow disappeared along the way from paying for them and home. They are on the receipt but not in any bag. I have tried to drink a green smoothie everyday for the last few weeks to up my healthy food intake and bananas are important to add a sweeter flavour. Now I have to walk over tomorrow and get some more which is a pain in the ass.
  4. We went to Ikea today because I was on a mission for a new mirror. I saw one in Kijiji to buy second-hand but that didn’t pan out. Ikea offered some nice large ones for a really good price but it was chaos in there today so I wanted to get in and get out as fast as possible (which isn’t very fast when you are stuck in a mob of people). I presume it was so busy because school starts next week and they were all buying things to outfit their new apartments or dorms. When I worked retail the week before Labour Day and back-to-school was our busiest time. I was also the time that our computer systems crapped out and we had to do all transactions on handbills and calculators (this happened two years in a row). Talk about stressful 😉 Anyway, Merle was being so bad in there that I wished I owned Dorothy’s shoes so I could click myself home.
  5. I have kept forgetting to buy some paint for Merle’s wings for her Weeping Angel costume for Comicon/Fanexpo which is next weekend. I asked Tom to bring home some grey spray paint because he works next to a hardware store and he brings me home silver costume hairspray :/ So I sprayed the wings to give it a lighter base and have to try to find some tomorrow when I picked up bananas. Why can’t people follow simple requests/directions?
  6. Tom just cut his hand with a knife. He is currently in the hospital getting stitches. Edit to add: He got 15 stitches and groaned and moaned all night. He asked me why they didn’t give him anything for the pain and I was like, “I had a caesarean and all I got was Tylenol and Ibuprofen to deal with the pain at home. They don’t just hand them out like that.”

I know that these are all “First World Problems” but crammed in to two days is annoying. At least have the courtesy to spread it over the space of a week 😉

How was your weekend?

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Amsterdam Netherlands Packing List for Older Kids

Amsterdam Netherlands Packing List for Older Kids #travel #travellight #packinglight #traveltipsT-shirt • Kohl’s | Striped Shirt • H&M | Long Sleeve • Gap | Dressy Shirt • GapPlaid Shirt • Century21 | Pullover • GapCardigan • Gap | Parka • NordstromLeggings • H&M | Jeans • H&M | Casual Jeans • Gap | Sleepwear • GapSocks • Boden | Underwear • JCPenney | Knit Hat • NordstromScarf • Nordstrom | Messenger Bag • NOVICA | Slip-ons • VansBoots • Doc Marten’sSneakers • Converse | Suitcase • TJ Maxx

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Amsterdam Netherlands Packing List for Younger Kids

Amsterdam Netherlands Packing List for Younger Kids packing light #travel #travellight #packinglight #traveltipsT-shirt • H&M | Long Sleeve • Boden | Tunic • Boden | Chambray • Gap |
Sweatshirt • H&M | Dress • H&M | Sweater • Gap | Cardigan • Gap |
Leggings • H&M | Jeans • H&M | Knit Leggings • Carter’s | Yellow Tights • Boden |
Parka • Columbia | Sleepwear  • Gap | Underwear • JC Penney | Socks • Boden |
Knit Hat • Joe Fresh | Mittens • H&M | Scarf • H&M | Flats • Vans |
Sneakers • Converse | Boots • Hunter | Suitcase • Pottery Barn |

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What I Wore This Week

What I wore #ootd

What I wore #ootd

 

What I wore #ootd

What I wore #ootd

Outfit 1 – Dress • Asos (similar) | Hat • Thrifted (similar) | Shoes • Zara (similar) |
Purse • Urban Outfitters
Outfit 2 – Tank • H&M | Black Jeans • Zara | Shoes • Vans | Hat + Purse above
Outfit 3 – Dress • H&M (similar) | Jacket • Zara | Shoes • Converse
Outfit 4 – Pink Blouse H&M | Necklace • thrifted (similar)

Do you know what is cool? When you find out that a mall you go to regularly has a secret flea market in the basement on weekends. We discovered it this weekend and there was all kinds of great stuff. The girls found a couple of things to add to their Harry Potter collection. Then they found a 2ft tall life-like Gollum that they wanted. Where the hell would you put that? It was $300 anyway.

I’m kind of excited to get a few of the things I ordered this week (a couple of sweaters and a t-shirt). I’ll take some pictures of Instagram in a few days to show them if I like them. If not they will go back and I’ll pretend I never bought them 😉

I recently started taking some Magnesium supplements to try to improve my physical and mental health. I heard that they could help with brain fog and general fatigue which are two things that impacting my daily life. I started them last week and while yesterday I was exhausted (I think that was because of a 3am bedtime and otherwise piss poor nights sleep) today my head felt clearer. I don’t know if they are really starting to work or if it is the placebo effect and will come back next week. I am remaining optimistic though because something has to give.

Have you ever taken a magnesium supplement? And if so did it help you?

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Some Fall Style and Home Inspiration

 

Fall Style and Home inspiration1

I can’t believe we are almost here but we are. I really should know better, because it was always the same when I was a kid. Once my birthday past, the summer seemed to fly by. I’m morphing into panic mode though because I homeschool my kids and I haven’t finished buying all the curriculum we will need. I have Roo going into her 7th year (our 8th year of homeschooling) and Merle is starting 1st. I was excited for a bit because people on my local homeschool Facebook page have planned to start a coop. Which is a weekly gathering of similar aged homeschool students to be taught a subject or two in a group setting. Then I found out it was a Christian group. Which in itself is perfectly fine and the most common type of coop in the homeschool world but it is frustrating when you are a secular family in the minority and it wasn’t mentioned until 2 weeks before school starting. The group is open to people of all beliefs, but we won’t join it because while I can usually skip over any religious talk in other subjects, I can’t in this type of setting and refuse to do that for Science. I need to come up with a science alternative and have spent hours pouring over ideas and plans. Honestly, you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find a secular homeschool science curriculum. It’s like the unicorn of curricula.

So to take myself off the science ledge I put together some things I like for fall. Things that have been on my want list or in my online shopping cart lately. Back to school shopping was my favourite time of year as a kid because of the new wardrobe (I hated the school part). When we were going through the mall the other day Roo was pointing out all these things she liked and I was laughing because I felt like I was transported back to fall of my 1994-95 school year. Half the things she liked I once owned in a similar version. So funny.

  1. Room Darkening Curtains – I don’t know how people can sleep without a dark room. Maybe they get up when the sun rises? I have always wished that I was that type of person but I am a roll over and make a pillow tent to avoid the sun person. At 37 years of age I need to accept that and gets some damn darkening curtains because the pillow over the head makes me wake up with a headache. I saw these curtains at Ikea last week.
  2. Fall Sweaters! I’m not going to lie, I bought these two.  The grey one arrived yesterday, the brown one should be coming Monday. The brown one has some awesome wrist ties. I love interesting accents on an otherwise plain sweater.
  3. Grey Sweater from above – This is a sightly shorter, wide sleeve sweater. It will look great alone with high waist jeans or with a longer t-shirt/tank layered under.
  4. Cropped ankle jeans – A 5’3″ any time I get excited about an ankle jean and try them on they fit like regular jeans 🙁 I would love to give these a shot though. Damn short legs, I might have to cut a pair off myself.
  5. Bralettes – I have said I want some for a while and have yet to bite the bullet. I only have two bras that I wear regularly, I just alternate. My size isn’t a size you find in the store very often (28DD) so I order them online which can be pricey. But wearing underwire daily is a literal pain and since I don’t have a large chest I would love to get a few bralettes for under t-shirts and sweaters. They seem loads more comfortable.
  6. Some cool barstools – one of the things that I want in our future home is an open kitchen with a breakfast counter that has barstool seats. I love the wood/black combo of these.
  7. Throw – Where I am partial to neutrals I am also very partial to bright/colourful/patterned accents throughout. This vintage, handmade throw checks all the boxes.
  8. Black Chelsea boot – I want these. They are great for fall with cropped jeans (if I ever find a pair that actually looked cropped on me).
  9. Black Leather Crossbody – I have a brown cross body and would like a black one too. Regular leather, not suede since it is partial to stains and marks when it gets wet which is hard to avoid in the fall.
  10. Red Adidas Gazelles – These come in a variety of colours. I think I narrowed it down to black or red even though the green is awesome.
  11. Black Adidas Gazelle – Same as above.
  12. Yellow Rug – my living room rug is ugly. It is big (covers a very large area and helps to muffle the sounds of loud children. It was cheap, and totally does the job but how amazing would this bright yellow one look?
  13. White Book Case – Quite a few years ago we bought 4 large bookcases to house my collections. They are in a dark black/brown wood and are starting to wear. I want to slowly start replacing them with white ones. This style from Ikea with the partitioned shelves is awesome.
  14. Mirror – This flower shaped, painted mirror would be a beautiful addition to any room. I don’t have a lot of empty wall space (weird shaped walls and windows in random places) but I could probably find a place to squeeze it in.
  15. Oversized t-shirt – Once again, I just ordered this. I love how comfortable oversized tees are. This striped version also comes in a thicker striped pattern. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted as usual.

I notice that I haven’t bought a lot of new things over the last few months. One pair of jeans during a 2.5 month period. But now that it is almost fall it is inspiring me. I wanted a couple more sweaters and t-shirts so this is a good start. What I really need aside form underwear and towel 😉 is a pair of winter boots. I haven’t owned a pair for 6 years since Tom puked both in and on my last pair (which is a story I will share later).

Do you have anything new on your list for fall?

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