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 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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What I Wore This Week

July 17, 2017Sara 2 Comments

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This Saturday was busy. We don’t usually cram that much stuff into one day but because Tom had to work on Sunday we had to fit our usual Sunday errands in to Saturday. Plus, there was a small carnival down the street that we promised to take the girls to and ended up there until past 11. To say they were bouncing off the walls is an understatement. The rides at those places are soooo expensive too. I think it worked out to $6 a ride per person which makes it really easy to spend a lot of money if you want to go on every ride even though there were only 10 rides (plus a games).

I also realized that while I once was super, crazy adventurous ride rider in my youth, as an adult they give me anxiety. I was even getting anxiety on the Ferris wheel (I’ve never had fear of height issues) which is something I would have thought was great a million years ago. Is this something that happens to us as adults?

I posted yesterday that I was able to go do a walk through Nordstrom to check out all the sale items (which I posted about). We have two in the city and we went to the one in Yorkdale which is a more upscale mall. I always feel like I am not rich enough to shop at that mall which is a reason we don’t hit it up often but I like it and I have become an expert window shopper there. Tom and Roo managed to find a great deal at the Disney store though and were able to add to their Star Wars collections.

I am getting stressed out trying to figure out what to get for Roo for us homeschooling her grade 8 this year. I can’t believe she is one year from highschool. I’m know that I am outsourcing for French to an online program, and I am thinking of doing The Big History Project for history to get a complete run through before highschool starts. I’ve heard great things about it and of course we would add a lot of books that tie in to it and documentaries. I also want to get a subscription to The Great Courses Plus (the online version of The Great Courses). It’s only $19.99 a month for access to thousands of lecture videos from great professors across the world. I think if you just watched these you will have a great education. I Beta tested the site a couple of years ago and I know I would get a lot of use out of it too. I’d honestly rather watch these than tv shows (geek alert). Aside from those ideas I am feeling stumped. Merle is really easy to plan for, except she wants an astronomy course and I’m not too sure where I will find a good, age appropriate one. Maybe a telescope and a star chart? 😉

Have you watched any good historical documentaries lately that I can add to our watch list?

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The Best of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (well, according to me)

July 16, 2017Sara 6 Comments

I don’t usually post on Sunday’s but we had a really full day yesterday and Tom had to work today so I really didn’t feel like leaving the house. For part of our outing yesterday I made Tom take us to the “expensive” mall so I could go through Nordstrom and check out the sale pieces in person. I’m not going to lie, I was hoping I would see the Topshop cardigan that I wanted but they didn’t have it and since it is now sold out online (it might get restocked, fingers crossed) and we only have two Nordstroms here (only 5 in Canada total) I am admitting defeat and I am probably SOL on this pick.

I am going to round-up some of my favourites by category based partly on my personal tastes and partly on seeing most of them in person yesterday. But before I do that I am going to talk about how easy it is to get sidetracked there. And how easy it is to fall in love with pieces that are completely and utterly out of my price range. First was an Acne leather jacket. This jacket has officially become my dream jacket in which I will add to my fantasy wish list. The other one is Golden Goose sneakers which I tried on and didn’t want to take off. I hate trying stuff on with no intent to buy but in reality these two pieces combined equal to more than my whole wardrobe so they are going to have to remain in my “wishful thinking” spot for a while longer;)

Now on to my best of Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2017 picks:

Boots and Shoes

Purses and Bags

Jackets

Dresses and Jumpsuits

Fall Tops and Bottoms

Accessories

Have you shopped the #Nsale either online or in store yet?

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What I Wore This Week

July 10, 2017Sara 4 Comments

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Omg you guys, the fighting. I feel like I am a referee in a cage match today :/ They are so in tune with one another that they know exactly what to do to get the most dramatic results.

I am trying to spend the day catching up on things that I have fallen behind in and all I am doing is running in to the room and yelling. Bah. Weird quirk but Merle hates chips to the point of freaking out if anyone eats them near her and what does Roo do?

Eat chips and then proceed to touch all of Merle’s belongings with her chip residue fingers. I wish it was dinner time and I just I could skip it and send everyone to bed.

I mentioned last post the I was dancing around buying a shirt from Zara that was on sale. I ended up not getting it (at the moment) and went in and actually tried on a few other things.

These were pieces that I had my eye on online but wanted to see in person and was mildly disappointed, so I ended up with nothing (which I guess is good for my debit card).

I did go into Brandy Melville and found an awesome Pink Floyd vintage looking t-shirt and decided that would be a good purchase for me. I must say though; I spent almost 4 hours in the mall Saturday (wasting time while Roo was in a class) and only bought lunch and a shirt.

I was impressed with my self-restraint. Oh wait a second. I’m lying. I also bought the girls a bin/hamper from Simon’s. It is llama print (Roo loves llamas) in both of their favourite colours (yellow and Tiffany blue) so it seemed like a no brainer since it’s purpose is to help keep the room clean.

But that was all I got.

Sunday was our 13th wedding anniversary. It so doesn’t feel like 13 years. We just went to the antique flea market for the day with the girls.

Both of us couldn’t remember our wedding date and had to google “July 2004 calendars” at the same time trying to answer first. It’s been a long time when you can’t remember your wedding date 😉

The blood curdling screams have begun again. I’m sure it’s just because she accidentally made eye contact with her. After I mediate this I am spending the rest of the evening working on my genealogy family tree. Or a least trying to since I hit a wall with it. Any tips for someone who has a parent who was adopted?

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What to Pack for a Road Trip – Plus Size

July 5, 2017Sara 7 Comments

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I just walked in the door from a really long outing with the family today (Tuesday). We were out for longer than we have been out in one day in a long while and I was totally hoping it would knock the kids out but it seems to have energized them. I’m ready to sleep though. We hit up the museum where we each had our favourite parts; Merle was in geode heaven, I am all about the Middle Ages, Roo thrives on Greece, and while Tom isn’t a huge museum fan I think he secretly liked some parts because I caught him reading lots of information plaques and taking pictures. Maybe I will win him over 😉 Then we hit up the big Value Village where we found some books, and then we went out to dinner. Now I am writing this blog post while eating my leftovers and trying to stay awake. Maybe I’ll rewatch Friends in the background to keep me alert.

This week I have a packing list for a 2 week road trip in summer than starts in California and goes to Arizona. Arizona is pretty bloody hot right now so I didn’t bother adding any type of light jacket. The thought behind this list is comfort, and I may or may not have included an extra shirt or two in case the heat is so intense you sweat through them all before laundry time 🙂 The breakdown is as follows:

A t-shirt, graphic tee, tunic, peasant top, black “dressy” shirt, and a chambray shirt for layering (or by itself).
One cardigan, and one pullover which will work for air conditioning, and cooler days/evenings.
For bottoms I included one pair of shorts, jeans, wide leg (loose fit) pants, and a midi skirt.
A cute, knee length style, and a flowy summer maxi/midi dress.
a bathing suit for any beaches, pools, or water parks you may hit along the way.
Accessories which include a woven summer hat, sunglasses, and a lightweight scarf.
Three pairs of footwear which should include a casual sneaker, sandals, and then something fun like and espadrille, mule, or flat in a good colour/print.
Finally a big tote to easily throw all the car crap in quickly when needed, and a regular shoulder bag.

I made this quite a casual list because car travel needs comfort. If will have any situations that require something more dressy than black pants, and a black shirt then you will have to adjust the options accordingly. I will put together the outfit options from this list for the next post.

What are your go-to’s for a long road trip? I get car sick easily (it sucks) so since I can’t read then music is the next best thing. I would say a good playlist is a top rank for me, along with books and an iPad for the non driving parts.

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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