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What to Pack for Rome, Venice, and Florence – Outfit Options

September 15, 2017Sara 3 Comments

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First off I want to share this jacket that I spotted when I went out to buy cat food yesterday. Yes, I can get easily distracted. It just so happens that we were walking buy H&M and I glanced over and there it was, right up front on the mannequin. It wasn’t busy at the mall at all at that time so I went in to try it on. If you go over to my Instagram you can see the photo. I didn’t buy it because only on a mission to buy one thing but now I am regretting it 🙁

Today’s post is for the outfit options for the Walk to Pack for Rome, Venice, and Florence packing list. The trip is for 8 days at the end of the month for a honeymoon (sounds amazing!) and she didn’t want to end up packing the same old stuff she usually does. I said I would put something together to give her an idea of the types of pieces she could bring and what types of outfit combinations you can make out of them. I put together 15 outfits from the following pieces listed below:

Five shirts sticking to a generally neutral palette. One tank for layering of if it gets really hot, a graphic or plain t-shirt (I chose graphic because it adds some fun to an outfit), a wrap blouse which can be dressy (or dressed down with jeans, sneakers, and a leather jacket), a blouse, and a striped long sleeve (this style is more of a light knit).
A few sweaters of varying colours and styles. A bold colour pullover, a neutral one, and a cardigan. The cardigan also works as a shirt when belted at the waist so you get more versatility form this piece.
Three bottoms. I chose a darker denim, a cropped black/grey denim, and black trouser.
Two dresses. You could easily get away with one but I included a black basic which will be very versatile as well as a dressier wrap style in a dark colour.
A light coat or coats. This time of year can still be hot during the day but cool down at night so I chose a leather jacket and a checked blazer which is really on trend this fall.
A few accessories. Scarves are a nice choice for an easy way to change a look (and for cooler weather, rain, as a cover-up) I picked a bright floral print, and a neutral dark. A hat for sun and/or rain, and sunnies.
Several pairs of shoes. A short boot, a comfortable walking shoe, as well as a flat or other shoe that you will get a lot of use out of.
Two purses in different colours and sizes. A crossbody, and a regular sized bag.

As for packing as light as possible. Make your outfits ahead of time (this is why I do the outfit options), so you have something to refer to when you are deciding what to wear. Omit anything that you don’t think will get much use. Pick your travel wardrobe from your packing capsule and layer well, wearing your bulkiest, hard to pack items, and roll everything. Rolling really works.

Now back to that jacket. Yay or Nay? On the Instagram comments they said yay unanimously but I thought I would ask here to.

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What to Pack for Rome, Venice, and Florence

September 13, 2017Sara 2 Comments

Rome Packing List

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What I Wore This Week

September 11, 2017Sara 2 Comments

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I had a nice surprise when I woke on Sunday. The online site that I use to watch television shows (we don’t have cable) already had the season 3 premier of Outlander. It was a great way to start the day, but now I have to wait until next week 🙂 I wish I could do the “wait until all the episodes are up and then binge them” thing but when it comes to certain shows I just can’t wait.

Saturday as a family (it’s usually just me and the girls because Tom works so much) went for a walk around the neighbourhood to go to Spirit Halloween, the mall, and pick up some groceries. Tom got a full dose of what it’s like to have to carry a lot of groceries home. I always bitch about it since my shopping cart broke last year but he has never experienced it in real-time. I was chuckling to myself when he was loading heavy things in to the cart like jugs of juice and such and told him it was going to suck to have to carry it home and he was like, “no, no.no. It will be alright.” so I was like, “okay dude, just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” And it did suck. and I laughed while I was doing my lamaze breathing that helps me carry the weight. I don’t think he will volunteer for that again 😉 I need a new shopping cart before the winter but I can’t seem to decide on either this style or this (I’m leaning towards the 2nd because it can go up stairs). I had a big boxy one before and while it carried a lot to was a pain in the ass and didn’t turn corners very well which isn’t good for snow and slush.

I’ve tried to clean and organize my closet so my fall sweaters are now more easily accessible but it’s such an awkward configuration in there. I’d love to be able to do an Ikea closet revamp but a) we rent and I am not spending money to re-do a closet only to move in a couple of years, and b) I don’t think it would really work that well because of all the extra storage crap in there. My goal is to one day have a nicely configured closet. It doesn’t have to be a big walk-in closet (I don’t have tons of clothes, shoes, or bags), just something that looks neat and completely organized. I like this one and could probably just get 2 sections instead of three. Three would be nice though 😉

I did some good purging this week in clothes, toys, and furniture that needs to be dropped off to donate next weekend (the only time when the car is home), so now it is piled and cluttered in my front hall while it waits. It kind to makes me want to just go put everything back to get it out of site but it’s better if it goes.

This is random but I’m not looking forward to having to wear high socks again 🙁

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An Interchangeable Work Capsule Wardrobe – A Month of Outfits

September 8, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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When I was 17 I read the book Outlander for the first time. Over the years I have read it many more, along with each and every book that followed in the series over the last 20+ years. When I heard they were making a television show out of it I was excited and scared. Too many times I have seen books ruined when put to tv or film and this is a series that could have been so easy to get wrong. They not only surpassed my expectations but seriously hit it out of the park. I think this is probably one of the best book to screen interpretations that I have seen, so I just wanted to say how excited I am that season 3 starts on Sunday. I have rewatched and am skimming/rereading the books in preparation. Is anyone else super stoked for Sunday?

I just had to get that out before continuing this post. Some like Game of Thrones but I prefer historical time travel 😉

On Wednesday I posted an interchangeable capsule wardrobe for when your work, and personal wardrobe are combined. It was requested with a specific style in mind; a “librarian who likes metal” with many pieces picked from both H&M and Zara which are her favourite places to shop. In this post I put together a month worth of outfits from the pieces in the original post. You can refer to the original to see all the pieces that were used to make these outfits but I will also give a general breakdown of what and/or why I chose them.

Three t-shirts, (a black graphic tee, a band tee, and a plain white tee) t-shirts are good for layering or stand alone as a fun way to add some personality to an outfit.
A classic white blouse for its versatility and a black blouse because I find black pieces are a quick and simple way dress up a look.
A striped shirt. It is a classic piece that every wardrobe should have.
Three sweaters and one cardigan. The sweaters should be in different colours, with or with prints. I chose a bigger fit grey pullover, a black fitted pullover with a small polka dot, and a bold striped pullover. The cardigan is an oversized fit in black and is easy to just toss over an outfit.
One pair of dark denim, and one in a black ankle skimming style, a pair of black trousers, and a mid length, skirt in a brown check.
Two dresses of different colours/style/prints. Both styles I chose are easy to dress up and down, and both are a mid length; one b+w polka dot, and a bolder red and black print.
A blazer in a great print; this one is Jacquard but I also love floral, and one mid-length jacket* that I chose in a houndstooth print.
A few scarves to change-up daily looks.
Two purses in different colours like a standard black and fun red (one should be more structured).
And finally 3 pairs of shoes. One should be a boot, one a flat, and the third in a fun colour or style.

I have provided enough outfits to get through 30 days but really there are many more that could be made.

*the list is for a woman in Los Angeles so if you are from a city that experiences all four season then your jacket and shoe choices might include something a bit more hardy 😉

Now off to my Outlander countdown.

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When Work and Home Collide – An Interchangeable Work Capsule Wardrobe

September 6, 2017Sara 1 Comment

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Many of us have a separate work and home wardrobe. The clothes you wear to work during the week are not the same pieces that you wear on weekends or when going out. Sometimes it’s a uniform, sometimes it’s a suit, and sometimes it’s clothes from the store you work at even though it’s not your style (ahem, been there). I’ve worked all three. Then there are the lucky ones who work in a somewhat casual/business casual atmosphere where your work and personal wardrobe are seemingly interchangeable (obviously to a certain degree) and this is who this capsule is for.

I have a work/personal capsule for a librarian today who lives in California. So note that some different choices might need to be made or things added if you live in a place that experiences all seasons. She is a new mom, loves mostly H&M and Zara clothes, and wears mostly dresses but is looking to branch out in to dark denim/pants.

Style: black on black, edgy, and a mix of rock ie: librarian who likes metal 🙂 I feel that I channeled that, and this capsule will be extremely versatile. I plan on putting together a bunch of different outfit options featuring the pieces to show its versatility for the next post.

In the meantime let me know how you like this capsule and check this post to see what I came up with for outfits.

Side note: I am super digging that skirt from Zara, and the more I see it the more I can envision how I would wear it. I do have the brown striped sweater and brown shoes, both are true to size and great pieces (the sweater is not long, it hits perfectly at the low waist/mid hip level. And the H&M Shaping Jeans are a godsend. I have two pairs, one in greyish black and one blue. I would like to buy more but my local store sells out of my size fast and I prefer to try them on vs buying them online because you need to size up in them. They are kind of like spanx and that makes the fit smaller.

Are your work and personal wardrobe interchangeable?

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What I Wore This Week

September 4, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

Grey oversized sweater, faux leather pants, and slides

Vintage Poison Tee, trench coat, brown shoes

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