livelovesara - An over 40 Style and Travel Blog

What I Wore This Week

February 20, 2017Sara 2 Comments

I’m taking a break right now from researching some genealogy to make a quick post. I got my DNA results back from Ancestry which is why I am researching. I plan on making a separate post for that this week.

This weekend the weather was glorious. So beautiful and spring-like I could almost believe that winter was over but since it is still only February I know that we are still in for cold and snow. It was nice to only have to wear a sweater out though and leave the windows open. I love spring and wish that it lasted longer. Its seems to go from cold to hot rather quickly without much in between so I am thankful for these nice couple of days. I even enjoy the mud and slush from the rapid melting even though I had to play hopscotch over the puddles.

Tom’s at Value Village right now (Sunday morning) , and he always sends texts of things he finds on his solo shopping trips to see if he should get it. He just sent me a picture of an amazing pair of red Puma’s and I was so excited, but they ended up being too big for me when you convert from men to women’s sizes 🙁 Now I’m super bummed and want to search online for a pair of Puma’s in that colour, even though they won’t be the $5 they were at VV.

Something that I am looking forward to as winter starts to wrap up and summer gear floods the stores is a new pair of sandals. I have no idea what style I am looking for this year (I think it’s been 3 years since I bought a new pair) so I am excited to see what styles are out there. I usually only have one pair of sandals that I wear through the summer since I also wear my Vans slip-ons a lot and/or sneakers and flats. One or two pairs is all I need. I can’t imagine having so many shoes that I needed to dedicate an entire closet to them. I’d have no place to put them, and I’d rather save the money for a vacation anyway 😉

Have you spotted any great sandals yet?

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What to Wear in Amsterdam Outfit Options Plus Size Edition

February 17, 2017Sara 2 Comments

I’m kind of excited to coast in to the weekend for two reasons:

1. The weather is supposed to go up to 10°C + which means we can spend some real time outdoors and open all the windows to air everything out. I hope this means we will get an early spring. I love spring.
2. It is a long weekend. Monday is “Family Day” which is a designated holiday to spend time off work with your family. The only bad part is that everything we may want to do as a family is going to be filled with a million other people with the same idea.

On to today’s post. These are the 24 outfit options that I put together from the What to Pack for Amsterdam packing list. The list was by Instagram request, for a 14 day June trip to Amsterdam, Berlin, and Paris. The selections are plus size as per request and the 24 outfits (with room to make more) will take you through all kinds of activities (minus really formal or adventure tourism wear). The options do cover dressy dinners, walking, sightseeing, shopping, and a variety of temperatures. I hope these suggestions give some good ideas of what you could wear and pack for Amsterdam.

How is the weather where you are right now?

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What to Pack for Amsterdam – Plus Sized Edition

February 15, 2017Sara 4 Comments

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What I Wore This Week

February 13, 2017Sara 3 Comments

It’s Saturday night and I have one kid cleaning her room, and one in the tub and Tom is out of town for the weekend. This is about as much alone time as I get. And how I am taking advantage of it? I’m writing a blog post. Pretty exciting huh? If I had planned properly I could have bought a bottle of wine and some kind of dessert while I was out today. Unfortunately I don’t think my food delivery app SkipTheDishes offers either of those.

My house is full of collectors. Tom is a major collector, has been since the day I met him. I introduced him to Ebay and it all went to shit after that 😉 There was one point in out first apartment together (it was a really good apartment and was only $400 a month and I keep slapping myself for leaving it) that our living room had an actual store display counter in it to show off his Kiss collection. The girls seemed to have inherited that gene and our house is definitely showing it. I need to figure out a better way for everyone to display their collections without adding to the clutter of the already small condo. I think something that integrate the tv and gaming systems, (with hidden storage for all the crap we don’t have a home for, but also shelves along the top for display the collections. Here is the hitch, we don’t have a lot of wall space. Our living room consist of one wall with the windows that have small sections of solid wall in between each. Another wall is the balcony doors. Everything else is open area with no spot wide enough to encompass and kind of shelving unit except one spot that is about 2.5 ft wide and 7 feet tall ( it would be higher if it wasn’t for the heating duct). I’m not sure if I am going to be able to fulfill that tall order.

For the girls, their whole room kind of needs and overhaul. We bought them a bunk style bed when we moved here to save on space but they are really wanting two separate beds now. Merle says that Roo drops too much stuff on to her bed from the top bunk and Roo wants something a little easier to get up into and keep tidy. This is going to take a lot of planning to pull this off in that tiny room, and I think a lot of condensing and getting rid of furniture/items is going to have to happen. It’s so easy to have these grandiose plans in your head, not so easy to implement them with lack of space and a small budget. I need to search for some small space bedroom ideas for kids. I’m sure Pinterest has tons.

Do you have recommendations for small-space decorating sites?

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What to Wear on a Danube River Cruise Outfit Options

February 10, 2017Sara Leave a Comment

Did anyone do anything eventful this week? I found it kind of just flew by while I watched the news and picked my jaw off the floor on several occasions. Just when you think it can’t get worse it does, I guess I should stop being shocked. What I am really enjoying in these low moments are the bands of people who are coming together. It is so inspiring and gives me hope. There are so many more good people than bad, we just have to have a louder voice.

Now after that bit of emotional purge I am showing the 24 outfit options that I put together from the pieces of the What to Pack for a Danube River Cruise list. The cruise takes place in April for 8 days, so the weather will be cooler in general. Even more so on the water and during evenings. If you are someone who can’t tolerate cold at all you may want to bring a long sleeve thermal shirt/leggings to layer under your clothes. If you come from a place that experiences colder winters you should be fine.

I put together 24 outfits but there is room to make a lot more when you take in to account that you can switch up looks by layering the blazer over. The black sweater has a removable cowl neck so you will have two different looks with the sweater, the scarf is reversible to black, and the clutch has removable strap to make it a cross body. These small changes make everything more versatile. This cruise incorporates one really dressy dinner which is why I included heels. On most occasions I would have included another pair of flats instead of the heels. I hope this gives you some ideas for an early spring cruise on the Danube River.

I’m spending this evening drawing The Chipmunks and Chipettes for my 6-year-old. I promised her I would if she had a good week and she did. I kind of wish I promised one not 6 though :/ Any great plans this weekend?

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What to Pack for a Danube River Cruise

February 8, 2017Sara 4 Comments

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