livelovesara - An over 40 Style and Travel Blog

For the Weekend

December 2, 2016Sara 3 Comments

I am so tired today because dumbass me had a brilliant idea at 2am. A few weeks ago I bought Merle her own Alvin and the Chipmunks red hooded sweatshirt for Christmas (red with a big A) and my brilliant idea was to get a matching one for best bud Alvin (aka I.T. Bone).

You’d think that wouldn’t be a ridiculously hard thing to find for a reasonable price, but man-oh-man I could not find what I was looking for.

At around 3:30 I found a woman on Etsy who makes clothes for American Girl Dolls. One of her products is an awesome red pullover for the 18″ dolls.

It will fit him perfect, and the cost was only $10 with a $6 shipping charge which shocked me because most people were charging like $20-$30 for shipping.

I think I struck gold with this, and I bought an embroidered yellow A patch to sew on when it arrives. She is going to lose her mind when she opens the matching sweatshirts.

The week kind of flew by I hope you have a good weekend!

This makes me laugh, like, really, really laugh and totally sums up my feelings of 2016. Note: this has a lot of harsh language but I use this language so it doesn’t bother me 😉

Ever since I started loving fashion I have wanted a red Sergeant Pepper style jacket. It’s on my lifetime wardrobe list and recently Zara had one but they sold out almost immediately 🙁

This past weekend Ancestry.ca had a $50 discount on their DNA Ancestry kits and I finally bit the bullet and bought one. I’m tracking it’s trip here and hoping it arrives by Monday.

I would love to complete it and ship it off before the holidays hit and it lengthens the processing time. I’m so excited to finally find out my background (my dad is adopted and his family tree is a big question mark).

This is still one of my favourite tv scenes of all time.

I love the The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning and am literally counting down the days to the final book Feversong‘s release date. I’m currently rereading the series in anticipation.

I saw this video for a cutting board on Facebook and kind of really want one. I’m a messy food prepper with zero counter space and this would be amazing.

I think this message board would be pretty easy to make and so fun for the girls room. I may have to attempt it, maybe make it more magical and less mermaid for their tastes.

In one of my Facebook groups we were discussing books that changed your life.

I couldn’t really think of a life altering book, although I have read tons but then I remembered how when I was 16 I read A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and was deeply disturbed.

Disturbed to the point of thinking about it repeatedly over the years but now as an adult, it disturbs me in a more prophetic way. I think that might classify as life-changing in a way.

Do you have a book that changed your life in any way?

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The Sci-fi and Horror Geek 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

December 1, 2016Sara 4 Comments

The first gift I ever bought for my husband was in 2003. It was a KISS collectible that I got off Ebay that he had mentioned in passing. Those were the days when Ebay was a high collection of one of a kind items that people would find and post for reasonable prices. Where you would sit refreshing your page until the auction was over hoping that you wouldn’t get outbid at the last-minute. Those were the good days of Ebay, before it got flooded knock offs and over priced crap that you have to weed through to find the good shit. You can still find some good stuff on there if you search though. Several of todays links are to Ebay items.

Since then I always try to buy him some sort original gift for one of his many collections and it has passed on to my kids. They both have seemed to inherit the sic-fi/horror (much less horror) gene from Tom and it has been my most favourite things to shop for. So I have compiled a list for my fellow sic-fi/horror geeks of fun and original gift ideas in a reasonable price range. Two of my favourite shops for finding this stuff are Hottopic, and Thinkgeek. Mostly we hit the Hottopic in the mall because it is too expensive to ship to Canada with the exchange rate, but Thinkgeek is strictly online and always has great deals so you should check them out. Some of the items in my above gift guide are from each of those stores.

You can see my Introvert and Homebody 2016 Gift Guide in this post.

Do you have a sic-fi/horror fanatic in your life?

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What I Wore This Week

November 29, 2016Sara 6 Comments

Last week was Roo’s birthday, she turned 12 which makes me officially ancient. We took her to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them which was AMAZING. We loved it, it was great being back in the Harry Potter Universe and I think this series is going to be outstanding. I can’t wait for the next one. We went to an early afternoon showing on a Thursday which was perfect because it was 99% empty and Merle didn’t annoy anyone when she was talking (she is a massive talker and even the movie didn’t quiet her completely. I know her limitations for this kind of thing). I am working on some Holiday gift guides this week. I posted one yesterday and will have another one Wednesday or Thursday. The next one will be for a sci-fi/horror geek, my favourite people to shop for 🙂 I may or may not get to a packing list this week because my Husband is off work for the holidays and he is slowly driving me batshit (he spent almost $200 on groceries and we have NOTHING to eat except expensive cheese, a massive container of pepperoni, beer, and frozen fruit for smoothies. I think he expects me to give him a meal planning gold star though) so I may not get to a packing list this week. I’ll try though.

I hope you’re having a great week!

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The Introvert and Homebody 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

November 28, 2016Sara 4 Comments

Top: Star Pyjamas // Cactus Light // Grey Scarf // Reading Socks // Cat Eye Mask //Mr. Tea Teapot // Ivory Knit Pouf // Key Bottle Opener // Paper & Tea Loose Tea // Moon LED Light // Kiehl’s Creme de Corps // Anthropologie Pillow // Faux Fur Throw //

Bottom: Library of Flowers Candle // Jane Austen Book Set // L’Occitane Relaxing Essential Oil Blend // Bunny Robe // Hand Signal Bookmarks // Long Camel Sweater // Cuppasaurus Tea Diffuser // Grey Faux Shearling Throw // Prismacolor Pencil Crayons // The Curated Closet by Anuschka Rees // Ugg Scuffette II Slippers // Pink Striped pyjamas // Pusheen Kitty Coloring Book

I realized this weekend that we are almost into December and I haven’t compiled any gift lists yet. I am not a huge gift guide person but sometimes it’s nice to give a few ideas that you may not have thought about before. My first gift guide is for the Introvert or Homebody. So in other words someone like me who prefers home to crowds, curling up in bed with comfortable pyjamas, warm socks, a throw, some tea, and a book. I’m always cold so I like warm things and things that are unique or quirky like the teapots from Lennymud (I have a mug from there that is my favourite mug ever), a cute LED light for the wall, and fun pillows.

My daughter is an aspiring artist and wanted some better quality pencil crayons so I picked her up some Prismacolor which come in several price ranges depending on the quality level. I bought her some mid level ones that cost me $25 on sale (regularly $50). Some good quality pencil crayons and an adult style colouring book are great gifts (I got her a learning to draw Anime book as well).

A warm yet fun robe for someone who is always cold, some loose tea and a cute diffuser for a tea lover, or The Curated Closet by Anuschka Rees for your minimalistic friend are some ideas that would be appreciated.

I officially bought my last Christmas present this weekend from a Black Friday sale (I still need some stocking stuffers but those are quick, easy, and inexpensive). It feels good to be done. How close are you?

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Some Christmas Sales 2016

November 25, 2016Sara Leave a Comment

Some of my Christmas tree decor.

I don’t usually post twice in the same day but as we just entered one of the most busy shopping periods of the year I thought I would share some sales that I know about to save you some money. Since Black Friday is of the start crazy shopping time this is when all the sales start rolling in.

I hate being so sucked in to consumerism but I do love Christmas and I really, really love buying gifts for people. Finding something that I know a person will love gives me a little thrill and finding a way to save money on that is a win-win. I use Ebates for as many purchases as I can because they offer you a certain percentage cash back on every purchase at participating stores. Even if it’s just a few cents it can add up fast over the holiday season and so far my tally is $38. They often have higher percentage cash back deals at this time of year for incentive so it is well worth it to sign up. It just really sucks when you buy something online and forget to use Ebates. I do that often :/

P.S I’m glad Canada doesn’t have the Black Friday crazy shopping like The United States does. The thought of venturing out in the crowds like that scares the shit out of me. Kudos to those that do, you are braver than I. I’ll stick to online deals 🙂

Here are some known sales that I have come across.

Asos – 20% off all weekend with code GOGOGO
Topshop – Up to 50% off From November 24th-28th
Nike – (only on Black Friday) 30% off sale items with XMAS16
Revolve: up to 50% off
Yoox: Extra 60% off top designers. Valid until November 27th 8:oo a.m.
The Outnet: Various sales and 20% off your first purchase with code BLACKFRIDAY20 Offer excludes Just In & full-price styles.
Missguided: 50% off everything with code YESYESYES (excludes sale)
GAP: 50% everything with code TGIF50
Old Navy: 50% off everything-ish
Banana Republic: 50% off everything with code BRFIVE
Chapters Indigo: 25% off Select Toys and Baby (and various other sales and markdowns)
Thinkgeek – (for the geek in your life) 40% – 60% off 100+ amazing gifts
Lenny Mud – (where I got my awesome coffee mug) 25% off featured products with code CYBER16
Everlane – The Back Friday Fund. Purchases from Friday go to raising money for helmets for Vietnam factory workers.
Hunter Boots: 25% off Cyber Weekend exclusives
GoldiBlox: (STEM toys for girls) 30% off everything with code GoldieLove16
Cody: (online exercise videos) 30% off everything with code BF2016
Soft Moc: Up to 50% off
UrbanEars: (awesome headphones) 50% off
H&M: $3 deals and up to 70% off
All Saints: 30% off with code CYBER
Anthropologie: 30% off everything
J. Crew: 40% off with code HOLIDAY
Club Monaco: 25% off $150, 30% off $250, 35% off $400 with code THANKS
Crate & Barrel: 15% off full price purchases
Disney Store: 20% off site-wide
Zara: 30% off in-store and online
Target: Doorbusters, 30% off clothes, shoes, and accessories, Bogo for some toys, up to 30% off home items.
Forever 21: Take and additional 30% off with code EXTRA30
Free People: 50% off select styles
L.L. Bean: 20% off when you spend $50 with code THANKS
Mango: 20% off everything

Have a good weekend! Happy Shopping!

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What to Wear in London, England for Christmas and NYE

November 25, 2016Sara 1 Comment

This is Part 2: Outfit Options for What to Pack for London, England from my last post. I put together 20 example outfit ideas from the pieces I included in the packing list. The Trip is for London at Christmas and New Years so some juggling with the footwear might be necessary depending if there is any precipitation on the ground. For each outfit option it is assumed you will be wearing a coat, I just don’t include it in all of them because it is to cluttered looking. Every piece is easily layered under the sweaters or cardigan, even sweaters can be layered under the cardigan you need extra warmth.

I suggested in the last post that wearing your heaviest and bulkiest pieces and rolling the rest of your items will save room in your suitcase and let you to pack any small gifts you may be bringing with you for the holidays. I hope that I was able to give you some outfit ideas for your trip. Thanks for the request and have a great Christmas in London.

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