livelovesara - An over 40 Style and Travel Blog

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2017 Early Access Picks

July 13, 2017Sara 2 Comments

We are literally entering into my favourite shopping season. It has been my favourite since I was younger, when I would get my back to school issue of Seventeen Magazine in the summer and plan my yearly wardrobe (other catalogues were used in this process as well like Sears). I was never one to do a large back to school shop like a lot of people (I worked in retail and have seen people spends thousands and thousands on their kids back to school wardrobes). I wore a uniform to school and instead of buying everything all at once I would get pieces through the year. That didn’t change that those fall back to school issues provided the basis to my style for the upcoming school year.

While I don’t get Seventeen Magazine anymore I do subscribe to a million websites and stores so I am preparing for the influx of sale and style emails that will be rolling out any day now. And speaking of sales the huge Nordstrom Anniversary sale 2017 is starting early access for card holders on the 13th (today).

What does this mean? It means that if you have a Nordstrom card you get access to the sale one full week +1 day ahead of the public so you get first dibs on everything, and by everything I mean across all categories like clothing, shoes and accessories for women, men and kids; along with beauty and stuff for the home. And if you are like me you can get a huge head start on Christmas shopping (totally not kidding. This is the perfect opportunity to squirrel away some gifts you found for a great deal). The Nordstrom card also gives you points for everything that you spend to put towards future purchases. I love points cards.

Details: The sale runs for 3 weeks until August 6th (which is my birthday btw) and things sell out fast. They restock continuously throughout the sale but some many pieces end up on “last chance” which means almost sold out.

Go with a game plan: They released the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale catalogue so you could get a sneak peek of some of the items that will be on the sale which is good for pre-planning. You can also get a sneak peek on the website even if you are not a card member, you just can’t add things to your cart (which totally sucks if you are a competitive shopper like me). If I am going to be honest shopping sales in store scare me, so if I plan on going to a brick and mortar store vs shopping online I like to go with a plan. Browsing the catalogue (women’s and men’s) and online is vital if you want to get in and get out. Browse the site, find your picks, and go in with a list. That way you know exactly what you want and can get it without getting sidetracked and forgetting the pieces that you went for specifically.

Things to look for: I’m all about the staples so my lists usually consist of pieces like bras and bralettes (love the Hanky Panky bralettes), coats, shoes, purses, and denim. After the main pieces are chosen I usually browse looking for things that may fill wardrobe holes or seasonal pieces like sweaters, scarves, and hats.

Nordstrom has free shipping and an excellent return policy so don’t feel bad ordering multiple sizes if you are online shopping and uncertain of what size you may need.

Are you planning on getting anything at the #NSale? I really want that Topshop striped cardigan. Like, really, really. You can check out all of my early access picks at the top. I’ll gather more selections for kids, beauty, and home goods later.

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What to Pack for Greece – Packing Light

July 11, 2017Sara 4 Comments

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I just want to start by saying ugh. My contact form apparently isn’t sending me everything when it is submitted. I just received 6 messages that were dated from the beginning to middle of June that never went through until now. If one of those messages were yours than I am so sorry I missed them. I wasn’t ignoring you. I try to respond back to every single message and I am feeling really bad right now. I think I am going to just remove the contact form and leave my email address there instead to avoid this problem. Once again I am sorry 🙁

Every once and awhile I like to revisit some old packing lists to update them or see what I chose, and how my choices would be different this time around. This time I went back to one of my most popular lists from a couple of years ago, Santorini, Greece. What I like about my choices from that list was the addition of colour. I guess I was feeling more vibrant then. It’s a fun, warm weather list, but in hindsight I included too many shoes and bags and would change that this time.

For this list my choices parallel nicely in some areas and differ a lot in others. Greece can be really, really hot depending on the time of year so slight adjustments might need to be taken into consideration if you are travelling during the peak hot season. Maybe an extra pair of shorts, and a couple of sleeveless tanks would round it out nicely.

My selections are broken down as follows:

I included 5 tops (a graphic tee, striped shirt, printed short sleeve, a plain t-shirt, and a chambray which can be worn buttoned up or over tanks and sleeveless dresses unbuttoned).
Two sweaters for cooler evenings and travel, one cardigan, and one oversized pullover.
4 bottoms, one pair of shorts, jeans (for cooler times and travel), some black, slouchy, casual pants (here is a nice pair of white ones too), and a skirt.
Two dresses, one black, slip dress style (which is great for layering), and one shirt dress.
A bathing suit or two.
Some lightweight scarves in small and big that can be doubled for tying around hair, shawls, and swimsuit covers.
Sunshine accessories like a hat and sunglasses
3 pairs of shoes; sandals, slides, and espadrilles.
Two purses, a regular size purse, and a crossbody

I hope you like the updated version and I will put together 20-30 outfits from these pieces for next post.

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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 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 Wear on a Road Trip – Outfit Options

July 6, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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I’ve been sitting here with the Zara sale page open to a shirt that I like for 45 minutes debating whether or not to get it. I have been putting it in and taking it out of my basket for the last 4-5 months. I guess I’m going to have to check and see if you can return sale items. If you can I will probably get it. I hate being so indecisive, I do it with everything and it’s a quality about myself that frustrates me :/ I’m always second guessing myself.

These are the 30 outfit options (15 at the top of the page and 15 at the bottom) that go with the What to Pack for a Road Trip packing list (if you want more details on the trip and the pieces you can check it out over there). The road trip is set for two weeks this summer going from California to Arizona. The desert states are pretty hot so I made this a comfortable travelling capsule that will work well for this type of weather.

Remember that I list things in general terms so a graphic tee is any tee you have that has a band or print on it. This applies to all the pieces. You pick comparable items that you have that will work with the colour palette that you choose. I do these because a lot of people are visual and actually seeing how everything is put together helps them immensely when they are trying to figure it out at home. Below is a short summary of what pieces I used to put these outfits together.

5 shirts ( t-shirt, graphic tee, tunic, peasant top, black shirt) and a chambray shirt for layering (but also works well by itself).
a cardigan, and a pullover for any air conditioning, and cooler evenings.
The bottoms include shorts, jeans, wide leg pants, and a midi skirt.
A cute, knee length style dress, and a maxi/midi dress.
a bathing suit for any beaches, pools, or water parks you may hit along the way.
Accessories like a woven summer hat, sunglasses, and a lightweight scarf.
Three pairs of footwear which should have casual sneaker of some kind, sandals, and then something fun like and espadrille, mule, or flat in a good colour/print.
A big tote works well to keep crap in, in the car, and a regular shoulder bag.\

I will leave you off with some current weekend sales:

J.Crew Factory extra 50% off sale with the code EXTRA50
Ann Taylor – 40% off select with code WEARNOW
Lands’ End 30% site wide with code LAWNCHAIR
Tory Burch – extra 30% off sale with code EXTRA30
Aeropostale – extra 40% of sale with code EXTRACLEAR
Club Monaco – up to 60% off select no code
Boden – up to 60% off with code NS19
Net-A-Porter – Extra 20% off select no code
Anthropologie – extra 30% off sale no code
Coach – 50% off sale no code
West Elm – 25% off one item with code YOUR25
Williams Sonoma – extra 20% off sale with code JULY

Have great weekend guys!

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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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What I Wore This Week

July 3, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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The weekend is over and I can now speak from personal experience that Ikea can in fact almost cause you to get a divorce. Man oh man it was a doozy. On the way back I was ready to jump out of the moving car and then hitchhike home. Now we have to build the furniture which should be fun :/ We did get a new light fixture for the main room which is really cool. It replaces the monstrosity that Tom always banged his head on.

We are heading to the zoo on Tuesday because we haven’t been to the ROM in such a long time that Merle barely remembers it (I don’t know why it’s been so long because museums are literally my favourite place to be). Last time we were there she was still so young that she ran right in to a plate-glass window and fell on her ass because she didn’t know it surrounded the exhibit. I’m kind of looking forward to seeing how freaked she gets by the bug section. Is that mean? First time around she was literally in love with the hissing cockroaches, now she freaks out the she sees a dust ball blow across the floor.

I ordered a pretty cool pair of flats from Zara two weeks ago but when they came one was noticeably lighter in colour like it was in a window display and bleached by the sun. I was disappointed but returned them then re-ordered them (not available in my store) so I am hoping that they work better this time. Of course they get stuck in the mail for the long weekend so they weren’t delivered on Friday. I was kind of hoping to break them in this weekend but I don’t think I want to risk wearing them for a full day at the museum.

So all in all aside from the Ikea battle our place is kind of coming together here. I’d still really like to freshen it up with some white paint though because whoever painted this place beforehand thought it was a good idea to paint the vent surround (that hangs lower on the ceiling) a much darker shade. It should be white so it kind of blends with the ceiling. We didn’t have time or money to repaint before we moved in and now it’s a pain in the ass to do it since there is no place to move the furniture out of the way.

Have you ever had the whole Ikea fight experience? It shouldn’t be missed 😉

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