livelovesara - An over 40 Style and Travel Blog

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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What to Wear in Paris and Prague Outfit Options

June 29, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

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When I go to bed at night I always reflect on the day and 99% of the time I shake my head at how unproductive it was. Then I go to bed with the promise to myself that tomorrow I will do better. When I actually pay attention throughout the day to exactly why it is so unproductive I think about the meme that says “trying to accomplish something with children around is like having 152 things going through your head while someone is continuously hitting you with a stick.” That applies to so many things with kids and people who have more than two and still have it all together, I tip my hat to you. Twelve years in and this shit is still hard. So currently I have allowed my older daughter to have her PS4 back (taken away due to ridiculously messing room) and my youngest is quietly watching Charlotte’s web on the iPad so I can sit in silence and actually string two thoughts together on here. Annnnd she just asked for milk and cookies, like 45 seconds after typed that :/

This post is part two, to the What to Pack for Paris and Prague request I got on Instagram. Last post I mentioned how I tried something new and picked the entire list from the store & Other Stories. I found that I kept picking pieces from there so I made the decision the put together the entire list strictly from them. I pretty much want their whole inventory so it was easy. I also talked about how my choices reflected my personal wardrobe the most out of every packing post I have made (I think).

The trip is for 10 days so I put together 18 outfit options from the pieces in the list. A quick breakdown of what the list includes in case you missed last post or you found yourself here from Pinterest (or another social media site) is as follows:

Several shirts (a tank or camisole, striped t-shirt, a graphic/band t-shirt, and a silk blouse)
A couple of sweaters (an oversized, off the shoulder sweater, and a pullover) a cardigan might make a good substitute for one of these choices as well since they are very versatile.
Three bottoms (a blue denim, a grey or black denim or trouser, a skirt)
Two dresses (shirt dress, summery casual dress) this lace one is great too.
A light jacket for cooler evenings or rain. I picked a linen jacket that looks great belted on the website (there is also a leopard one that I have my eye on that almost made this cut).
Shoes, 3 pairs. This is were I always have difficulty but ultimately a walking shoe, a slide, and a sandal made the list. An alternative to the slip on walking shoe would be a sneaker or some kind.
Accessories. The pieces that tie everything together and what you will use to change-up your looks. These include a hat, scarf or scarves of varying colours and prints, sunnies, and possible some simple jewelry. Like a dainty necklace, bracelet, or rings.
Purses. Ultimately you only need two maximum. A larger tote/shoulder bag, and a crossbody. These two should get you through any kind of travel situation that may arise. Any more than two is just a waste of precious suitcase space.

So as you can see the pieces above can be worn is so many ways. I put together 18 outfits but the possibilities are much more with some creativity.

This weekend is Canada’s 150th birthday and there is so much going on. I’m not sure what we are doing yet, but I hope you all have a great weekend!

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What to Pack for Paris and Prague Packing Light

June 28, 2017Sara 2 Comments

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What I Wore This Week

June 26, 2017Sara 2 Comments

Apparently I love these distressed jeans since I wore them 3 out of 4 days 😉

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Holy Value Village scores batman! This Sunday was their summer clean out pre sale for their savers club members. Monday is the actual sale date for everyone. It’s 50% off clothes, shoes, and accessories and we hauled really well.

There were a few non sale items we got that were also great finds like the Harry Potter Monster Book of Monsters licences plush which has been on our Wishlist for a long time. I honestly can’t believe we found that there, and the bonus is that when you pull his tongue he growls. I have a thing for old product advertising posters and I found a replica alcohol advertisement from 1922 (on a large, wooden wall plaque). But my biggest score of the day was a Botkier Trigger Satchel that is $300 new but I got for $4.50 (50% off $9.00). I just happened to walk by and thought, “hey, that looks like a moto bag that I would carry.” Then I recognized the name and did a quick google search and saw the price. I was like, “yep, sold.” I also found another purse which is a vintage, hand tooled leather purse similar my other one I use frequently but a darker leather and a slightly different shape, a pair of culottes (actually capris but are culottes on me) and a cute dress from H&M.

As per usual Roo found some fun t-shirts, and a pair of Little House on the Prairie style boots she wanted. They are Steve Madden and are in great condition. Merle got an Ikea wooden artist dummy to replace one that she had before that broke, a board game, and some Mexican marionettes that are creepy as shit. She has a thing for marionettes and animatronics which she definitely doesn’t get from me.

Tom found some work clothes and shoes. He usually has more success there than I do but today I seemed to score well which surprised me since they clear out fast during sales. So we spent the day traveling to various Value Villages, hit up the grocery store for the week, and then took the girls swimming. I am tired now so I am signing off. I have a packing list for 10 days in Paris and Prague coming up this week that I kind of love. It emulates my style perfectly. I hope you like it as much as me.

Have you found any good deals thrifting or store bought recently?

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