livelovesara - An over 40 Style and Travel Blog

What I Wore This week

October 9, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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Today is a holiday because it is the Canadian Thanksgiving (even though we celebrated yesterday), so I am trying to spend the day getting some things done that I have procrastinated on. First I want to make Roo’s Star Wars duvet, and secondly I have a crafting project that will add the finishing touch to Merle’s Halloween costume, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a lot harder than I first thought.

Last week I went through the girls’ closet to see get rid of stuff and see if they need anything for winter. I think they are pretty good (except they both need socks and underwear) and Merle needed some new leggings in the next size up. So we headed to Zara because they have them for a good price and they always have really cute prints and designs. While we were there I got sidetracked looking at stuff for me and came across the skirt that I used in my Los Angeles Work and Weekend Capsule. In that post I mentioned how I was totally in love with it and could visualize a million ways to wear it, but when I looked for it online it was sold out in my size. Lo and behold my store had one left in my size and when I tried it on the love was still there. So a new skirt has been added to my wardrobe which works because I don’t really have a lot of skirts (two that fit, and one of those is borderline too small).

This is totally embarrassing to admit but I had a laundry basket in my bedroom with clothes that needed to be put away for like……3 months. Yep. Well, I finally got that shit folded and put away this weekend. Just in time to do 5 more loads of laundry and have another few baskets to put away. The feeling of accomplishment lasts for literally one second before you realize that it’s like Sisyphus and the boulder…..It’s a never-ending cycle.

Even though I have one kid that eats everything, one that eats nothing, and a husband that has recently decided to cut out all carbs, I was able to throw together a halfway decent Thanksgiving dinner. I hope my fellow Canadians had a great holiday.

Now I just need to work on the grown up tablescapes. It’s not quite the same serving dishes off of Hello Kitty plates 😉

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How to Build a Plus Size Capsule Wardrobe for Fall with 30 Outfit Options

October 6, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

How to Build a Plus Size Fall Capsule Wardrobe

Plus Size Capsule Wardrobe Outfit Options 1-15 via livelovesara #plussize #capsulewardrobe #plussizecapsulewardrobe

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On Wednesday day Merle and I got stuck in the rain badly. I knew it was going to rain but I thought I had timed it better.

We had some things to pick up at the mall and I figured we would get there and get home before it started, but we got sidetracked in Zara.

Isn’t that always the case?

I went to find her some leggings because they always have cute prints for 8-$10 a piece, and while we were there several things caught my eye that I will talk about later 😉

Anyway, I lost track of time and had to speed shop to get the things we actually came for and when we went out you could tell it had rained.

I thought maybe it passed and we were in the clear but as soon as we set out the sky opened up.

We hid in alcoves, doorways, and under trees in between downpours but were soaked anyway.

The bag for my new purchases got so wet they started to tear and I had to tuck them under all of my groceries which got drenched too. After we got back to the condo every surface had things draped or laying across it to dry.

It hasn’t rained in a long time and was crazy. The whole way home Merle was laughing like a maniac, she thought it was great.

Also on Wednesday I post a Plus Size Capsule Wardrobe for Fall.

The premise was a neutral wardrobe palette with lots of black, mostly pants, and a cool edgy vibe.

I hope I accomplished that, and so you can see what my vision was I put together a months worth of outfits from the pieces (which are located 15 at the top and 15 at the bottom).

I tried to show the versatility by pattern mixing and layering and there were many more outfits that I could have made but it was getting late when I was working on it and my concentration was fading.

This capsule will easily transition from fall, to winter, to springs, and even pieces in to summer (with a few seasonal changes here and there like a winter coat, a summery dress or skirt, and sandals).

It’s a very versatile capsule wardrobe, and although it leans towards casual, there are also options for dressier looks in there.

I noted in the original post that the pieces are very easy to replicate with items from your own wardrobe if you choose to use this as a guide.

I hope you can find some ideas from these pieces and if I inspire you to try a combination that you’ve never tried or something out of your comfort zone than I have succeeded in my intent. I hope you all have a great weekend. It’s Thanksgiving here this weekend and I have no idea what I’m making 🙂

Easy Plus Size Fall Outfit Ideas

Plus Size Capsule Wardrobe Outfit Options 16-30 via livelovesara #plussize #capsulewardrobe #plussizecapsulewardrobe

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This post contains affiliate links. By using my links to shop I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you). Thanks for supporting what I do

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Plus Size Capsule Wardrobe for Fall

October 4, 2017Sara 2 Comments

Plus Size Capsule Wardrobe via livelovesara #plussize #capsulewardrobe #capsule

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I don’t just get requests for packing lists, I also get them for capsule wardrobe ideas. This week I have a fall plus size capsule wardrobe.

The requirements for the capsule wardrobe palette are black, grey, neutrals, black denim, leather, and military/modern for someone who predominantly wears pants and likes a little edgier look.

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What I Wore This Week

October 2, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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This weekend coming up is the Canadian Thanksgiving. It seems ridiculously early this year even though it always around this time give or take an week or so. That probably means that I should get my dinner plan ready right? I have no idea what to make. One kid eats most things, one barely eats anything, and a husband that is one a perpetual diet that doesn’t involve anything probably other than turkey and vegetables. Any ideas? 😉

I should christen Sunday as “Headache Day” now because it never seems to fail every Sunday I have a headache of some kind. Usually I can catch it before it gets bad but today I can feel it creeping into migraine territory. Not a way that I want to start the new week.

I bought a cardigan from Zara a few weeks back (up in the last photo). I used my birthday gift cards that I was saving for autumn clothes to come in and I am in love with it. I am living in it so much that I want to get another colour. I just hate justifying the cost of something when there are birthday’s and Christmas coming up. Both girls’ birthdays, and Tom’s are within a month of Christmas (two at the end of November and one in the middle of December) and it’s a stupid expensive time of year.

Speaking of Christmas and birthdays, while I’m about 60-70% done. I thought that I would get this for Merle for her Birthday and then some of the smaller, extra pieces (like furniture, rooms, and an ambulance) to finish up her Christmas gifts. She has been talking about it forever (she’s obsessed with doctors and all things medical) and this is actually the best price than I have seen for so far. She really likes the Calico Critters too but they are so expensive, even thought they are ridiculously cute. And while I know Christmas and birthdays are not all about getting gifts, her birthday is so close to Christmas she gets the inevitable birthday/christmas combo gift from most people. I am so not trying to be ungrateful (although I know it sounds like it), but she is getting old enough now to notice that her sister gets both so we very much emphasize on keeping the two separate for her at home.

Can you believe it’s already October? It feels like summer vacation just ended.

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H&M Dressing Room Selfies

September 30, 2017Sara 1 Comment

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I am going to preface this by saying that I didn’t realize how dirty the mirrors were, so no I am not actually covered in fuzz from head to toe 😉 And please ignore the half assed painted toe nails. I haven’t work sandals in well over a month (insert cringing emoji). Once again I have a Saturday post but I promised myself I would get these up by today. I went to H&M for a try-on last week and took some photos of several of the pieces I have featured lately. I thought I would try them out to see how they fit and then post photos.

It’s so windy right now the girls are scared of a tornado. I told them that while it is quite windy out, it seems worse because we are on a higher floor. But yay for fall finally being here, it’s actually starting to smell like it.

Merle is pretty much in every shot. She is my shadow so it should be expected that any place you see me she is some place close by. For the record she got both the witch hat, and cat ear muffs in the photos. She was super indecisive, but although the ear muffs make more sense you can’t really pass up a jaunty witch hat 😉

I showed several of these pieces in my last packing list What to Pack for Italy and Greece and in my Fall Jacket Round-up.

Black fuzzy jacket $59.99: Fits true to size, comfortable, and a fun statement jacket. I’m not sure how it would look if it got wet though 😉

Black Moto Jacket with fur collar $69.99 – Fits true to size but I went up a size because I like to have room to layer sweaters underneath. If you get it too fitted then your arms end up looking like stuffed sausages when you wear something bulky underneath.

Polka Dot Midi Dress $34.99 – I really like this dress. It fits well but you might need to size up if you have a larger bust. The waist is a wide elastic cinch and there are pockets which are a huge selling feature for me. It also comes in a very bright but awesome red-orange.

Grey V-neck Sweater $29.99 – This is just a standard v-neck sweater in a great price. Fits true to size, but a slightly looser fit. Is a soft knit with a stretch and comes in a variety of colours.

Polka Dot Blouse $9.99 – This blouse should be sized up because the waistline has darts that make it slightly more fitted in that area. The fabric is gauzy but not sheer, with a large easy to tie bow. The price is only $9.99 so this is a steal and would look awesome paired with a print blazer (to check out how I paired it you can see my outfit options post from yesterday).

Oversized Sweater $59.99 – This sweater comes in camel and soft grey. It is oversized but I am only 5’3″ so it would be shorter on a taller person. The neckline is a loose mock neck and the knit is extremely soft. I actually really like this sweater and wouldn’t mind getting it in both colours. There is an identical style in their Conscious line that is made from a cashmere blend and is lovely.

All in all, these pieces worked. There were two that I didn’t post a photo of because the pants wouldn’t fit over my ass and they didn’t have the next size up, and a wrap shirt that ended up being way too cropped at the waist and was not cute with my muffin top 😉 The top would have work with a high waist pant or skirt though.

Here are some sales this weekend that may inspire your own dressing room selfies.

Neiman Marcus: up to $100 off select with code NMSAVE

Macy’s: Extra 20% off select with code FALL

Lord + Taylor: Extra 15% off with code LOVE

American Eagle Outfitters: Up to 40% off no code

Lou & Grey: 30% off sale styles no code

Urban Outfitters: Up to 20% off shoes no code

Madewell: Up to 30% off elect with code YEASANDYES

Luisaviaroma: Extra 20% off sale no code

J Brand: extra 25% off with code FAMILY

Pottery Barn Kids: Up to 20% off select no code

West Elm: 20% off elite purchase with code FFSALE

Wayfair: Up to 70% off elect no code

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What to Pack for Italy and Greece Outfit Options

September 29, 2017Sara 2 Comments

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My youngest was so wound up last night driving both her sister and I batty that I took her out for a very long walk at 6:30 and we made it back by 9. That’s way past the time I like her to get ready for bed but with the past couple of weeks going though a heat wave she didn’t get out and spend long periods of time in it. I think it was catching up to us. She’s still at the age where she enjoys going out for walks with me so I put off getting this post done until we got home. I hate scrambling around trying to get them done before bed but I was hoping to tire her out, which actually backfired because she came home all hyper and was bouncing off the ceiling :/

Do you remember the game Mastermind for the 80’s? A couple of weeks ago I was telling the girls about it and was thinking of buying it from Amazon for them because I saw they reissued it. We were in the dollar store looking for some headphone cords and toured down the toy aisle and what did we see? The same Amazon version but for $4 (except they call it Codebreaker). I thought it was a weird coincidence since I hadn’t even thought about the game in years until I told them about it.

Back to business, and this post which offers 24 outfit options from all the pieces in the What to Pack for Italy and Greece packing list. It is for late November/early June. The original post gives details about the trip, and why I made these selections. This week I decided to focus completely on one retailer, H&M. I have a been a loyal customer for years and always find some gems when I go through the stores. I did a try-on of a few of these pieces a couple of days ago and will get a post up about them in the next day or so. But for today’s post I will let you know that you probably need to size up on the polka dot blouse because it has darts at the waist line which make it a tighter fit. I loved the polka dot dress. It seemed true to size, has fitted gathered, slightly poufy sleeves (in a cute way) with a shirred elastic waist and has pockets. It also comes in a vibrant orange-red which is popular this season.

With 24 outfits for a 12 day trip there should be no issues coming up with something to wear. Now that the heat wave broke and fall is truly in the air it is easier to get in to the mindset of putting together fall outfits. I hope you enjoy these.

I finished The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. So good, so heartbreaking, so horrifying. Remind me that if I ever get a chance to time travel not to go to England 1348.

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