livelovesara - An over 40 Style and Travel Blog

What to Pack for Boston and San Francisco

November 9, 2016Sara 2 Comments

Now on to the post. I got a message from an Australian that is coming to run the Boston Marathon this April (Kudos to you because I could never do it in a million years). The trip will also be extended to San Francisco so we have a mixed list today. It’s really hard to predict weather in April. It’s that season that can have both a hot spell and snow within a 24 hour period so pay attention the weather stations up until the day you are leaving for your trip so you can adjust what you need to bring if needed. You might have to swap out for a heavier coat, or different footwear.

Take this list as a generic suggestions not written in stone. I based it on the weather averages for both cities in April which ranges from 11°C – 16°c with a drop at night, so a few sweaters and a mid-lightweight jacket will be sufficient. I included a moto and a trench because a) a trench is good for rain and b) I usually like to include a blazer with but I figure it may be too cold for that as a light jacket and a moto would work better in its place. Use your discretion.

The trip is for 3 weeks but the general rule is when going on vacation for 1 week, pack for 1 week, going for two weeks, pack for two weeks, for a three week trip pack for 1 week because you will probably have access to laundry at some point during that time. I usually stick to a 10 days because it is the average number of days for a long distance vacation.

The look I was asked for is an Audrey Hepburn classic look with some Euro, and the colour palette is fairly dark leaning towards navy blue and black. I added a little colour with the purse, but it can easily be added with colourful/printed scarves, shoes, and/or accessories if that is what you are looking for.

Outfit options are in this post.

Good luck in the marathon!

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

November 7, 2016Sara Leave a Comment

*I found this top and tweed jacket when I was going through one of our old baby clothes bins in storage. See, it sometimes pay to hold on to things and forget you own them 😉

This weekend we went to got to Hogwarts. While I wish we actually got to go to either a) the UK to do a Harry Potter tour or b) Harry Potter World at Universal Studios that is obviously not a spontaneous trip. Neither of those being an option we went to Guelph University where on Saturday they turned it into Hogwarts and offered kids a day touring around getting sorted, taking Hogwarts inspired classes, and playing Quidditch.

It was a ton of fun although I didn’t take a many pictures. I don’t like to take and post photos that have other people’s children in them (and they were everywhere). When we are doing things we are generally living in the moment and not thinking about photo ops and I always get home thinking I took a picture or two to commemorate. Some parts of the University are old buildings and they looked a lot like the real Hogwarts campus with the fall leaves, a million kids in their house robes walking through the fields with the Quidditch hoops in the distance.

I learned some interesting things about my kids too while taking these classes. Merle can place all the human organs in their correct places without help, and Roo really enjoys owl pellet dissection. Trying to figure out what it ate and reassemble the bones of the animal remains was a fun challenge for her (sounds gross but she was totally into it and I may have to get her an owl pellet dissection lab). It was a good day and I am glad that all of us as a family got to enjoy it together even though Tom was tired because he worked until 6am that morning.

Signing off now because Tom set off the fire alarm making spaghetti and everyone seems to have forgotten how to shut off the alarm key pad even thought they have all been shown a million times.

I hope you had a great weekend!

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What to Wear in Spain for Winter

November 4, 2016Sara Leave a Comment

Here are the 20 outfit options that I put together from the What to Pack for 10 Days in Spain in Winter packing list. This was a request based on a 10 day December/January trip to the Murcia region of Spain. It is a visit to meet the family of a significant other for the first time and she wanted to pack smart, while still keeping a casual elegance with a slight edge.

The average temperature for this region at this time of the year is 10°C-12°C which is a comfortable range without having to worry about winter storms or extreme cold. Although the chance of rainfall is higher at this time of year. For 10 days I put together 20 options that will cover a variety of situations from casual to a dressy New Years Eve party if needed.

I always recommend wearing your bulkiest and heaviest pieces layered on your flight to lighten your carry-on and since the reader is coming from a warmer, humid destination this is especially true. Wear your warmest pieces so that you aren’t too affected by the change in weather when you arrive at your destination (or if there are any layovers in colder cities). Have a great time!

Happy Friday guys! We are going to “Hogwarts” tomorrow 🙂

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What to Pack for Spain in Winter – Packing Light

November 2, 2016Sara Leave a Comment

Scenario: Travelling from your warm and humid country to the Murcia, Spain region at the end of December – beginning of January for 10 days. You will be meeting your boyfriends family for the first time and want dress weather appropriately while still looking casual but elegant with an edge. Dress to impress while still keeping it minimal.

Solution: While Spain isn’t cold by a lot of standards (you are looking at an average of 10°C – 12°C) at this time of the year if you are coming from someplace that is warm and humid in comparison it will feel cold so it’s best to be prepared for that. It won’t be necessary to pack a down filled jacket (unless there is some freak freezing cold spell) so a standard wool jacket along with some sweaters, and tops for layering will be your best bet and will also work if there is a freak hot day 😉

I decided to get a causal elegance look that I would include dressier tops to pair with jeans which will bring in the casualness. The colours that she likes are black, grey, blue, green, light pink, and colourful prints. It’s hard to get all of those colours in together and still have a fully mix and match wardrobe so I just made sure my selections reflected the colours she likes in various forms.

She likes both skinny and boyfriend style jeans and mostly shoes with a flat sole. Cute and comfortable is key. I decided that pretty blouses in various colours and prints would be a good choice to pair with jeans, I also included a lovely velvet blazer, and a few sweaters. Since this trip is during the holiday season I also chose a nice black dress that would work well for New Years if you plan on celebrating. These options should easily get you through 10 days. Outfit options will be in the next post.

I hope you have a wonderful time in Spain meeting your boyfriends family.

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 and A kind of Halloween DIY

October 31, 2016Sara 2 Comments

So Hallelujah we finished Merle’s costume on Friday which was perfect timing for a practice run. There was a Halloween kids festival across the road on Saturday and we were able to test everything out and see if we needed to buy anything new or tweak anything in the costume. I learned that I needed to add more white and yellow coloured hairspray as a base before adding the green so it would be light enough to look more Beetlejuice and less Joker green. We also added some green accents (after I took pictures) to her make up to resemble the mold Beetlejuice has on his skin in the movie.

I actually planned on doing a costume DIY blog post since I don’t do a lot of them. I used to DYI a lot but over the years have lost the drive to do many projects so when this came up I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to add one. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way and instead of sitting down and photographing the step by step process over a weekend it became a long draw out process of passing the baton between Tom and I in the evenings. He would take the suit to work on his less busy nights and we would send each other shitty text photos of its progress.

This is the quick and easy basic breakdown:

Supplies needed:

White suit jacket/blazer (found at Value Village)
White pants
1″ painting tape
2 black Fabric markers (thick) or fabric paint

Process:

We first found some movie stills to get a good idea of stripe placement.
Pick a section to start. I suggest starting with the back so you can get used to it without messing up the front.
Lay three pieces of tape in a row touching one another, then remove the middle piece. This empty “stripe” is the piece you paint/colour.
Lay down more tape before removing the old ones because your paint stripe will be the width of the tape.
Repeat process until the section is complete. Let dry. Pick a new section.
Areas like the collar and arms took a little longer to place the tape because of the different directions the stripes angled. With the arms I suggest keeping the sleeve flat and complete the stripes on one side of the sleeve, then flip over and just match up the tape to the other sides completed stripes (if that makes sense).
Follow the same idea with the pants. Just work one leg at time, front then back.

I’m sure that totally sounds confusing but once you figure the tape placement it was easy because you just repeat the same steps over and over. It was just quite time-consuming and was often done on a flat tv tray/table while watching Netflix.

The costume was completed with a white dress shirt, black tie, and black shoes. For hair and make-up I used 3 different sprays on the hair, a white, yellow, and a lime green. That is also the order I layered them as well. Then I teased her hair and rolled up and pin the long sections in the back. Her makeup was a base of white, with dark purple around the eyes and then green smudges along the hairline, neck, ears, and mouth (added after the below picture). I’m hoping to get some better pictures on Halloween that I can add to this post.

Roo’s costume is Coraline which was actually quite simple to thrift everything (except the wig). I found her a yellow coat which technically should be a rain slicker but I found a nice yellow wool pea coat which is more weather appropriate anyway. Some leggings, rain boots, a burgundy cross body, and a blue bobbed wig were the final pieces.

I used to love dressing up for Halloween parties but haven’t for years but if I did I would want to wear something like this 🙂

*Updated to add some more pictures from Halloween night.

Did you dress up this year?

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What to Wear in Paris, France for Spring Outfit Options

October 28, 2016Sara 4 Comments

Spending 5 days in Paris followed by a 7 day cruise along the Rhone River sounds like an incredible honeymoon, which is what these outfits were put together for. This is the outfit option post from What to Pack for Paris, France in the Spring (where you can see all the pieces laid out in a packing list fashion). While the trip is for 12 days I put together 20 outfit ideas that would take you through a variety of outings. Sightseeing, dinners of ranging levels of formal, walking, shopping, or just hanging out on the cruise ship enjoying the view.

April is an unpredictable month weather wise so I included a lot of sweaters and easy to layer items. Tights, or leggings are a good option to bring to layer underneath skirts, dresses, and even jeans if there is a really cold spell or on the boat where it can feel colder on the water. I really like this colour palette, and one of my favourite colours accents to add to blue, black, grey, and white is camel. It is only in 3 pieces (flats, cardigan, and scarf) but it really pops when you scroll through. I think an important step in putting together a travel wardrobe is to pick an accent colour that really contrasts nicely with what you have. It really ties things together.

Next week is a packing list for Murcia, Spain in Late December – early January.

Red is the accent colour I seem to have in my personal wardrobe, but I would really like to introduce more camel tones because I love it. Do you have a favourite accent colour?

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