livelovesara - An over 40 Style and Travel Blog

What to Pack for Cambodia Packing Light

October 6, 2016Sara Leave a Comment

Cambodia is one of those destinations that can have completely different packing requirements depending on the activities you plan on doing. This list is more for if you are staying in the cities and/or at the beach resorts. If you are going to spend a lot of time in the jungles (because Cambodia has some amazing things to see in the jungles) you will need to pack accordingly.

Pants that can zip off, in a quick dry breathable fabric is a good start, long sleeve shirts with ventilated zips, hiking/jungle footwear, and if it is the rainy season then some leech socks are a good idea, along with mosquito spray, sun/rain protection gear, and anti malarial pills.

For now I am going to focus on more of a beach style vacation. Cambodia is a little more modest than many hot weather destinations in some regards so plan accordingly. It is really hot no matter what time of year you go, but this request is for a December trip which is slightly less hot and not during the rainy season.

Lighter, breathable fabrics is important like linen. Loose, flowy styles will be more comfortable, or long sleeves/pants covering the skin from the mid-day sun . A sun hat and sarong are good beach protection and a sarong can double as a beach blanket as well. Bringing a lightweight scarf to keep in your purse can work as sun protecter, and as a shawl to cover your shoulders when entering temples or buildings that require it. It is easy to keep in your purse and throw over your shoulders if you are wearing a sundress or tank.

You could probably get away with two pairs of shoes, (a trekking sandal, and a dressier espadrille) but I decided to also include a slide because they are an easy beach footwear options. Another good style to bring instead would be a pair of flip-flops, because everyone wears them there and they are easy. I included a cardigan mainly for wearing on the plane where it can get cold. If you don’t feel you will need it just omit it. This list is for 6 days and outfit options will be in the next post.

Have you ever been to Cambodia?

*Most of the items in this list are from Mango. I was asked to include as many as I could because it is the one online store that ships to her location.

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What’s Really in my Bag – Mom Edition

October 4, 2016Sara Leave a Comment

I have meant to do this for a while so I figured I’d might as well dump everything our quickly and get a quick shot. I always see the What’s in My Bag Posts and think, “that’s not in my bag, not even close.” So I thought I would take whatever purse currently has all my stuff in it, and dump it out on my bed so you can see what really, and truly is in my bag. Anyone that is a mom also knows the random shit that you end up carrying because of your kids and this reflects that as well. I should totally do this when I use my large purse, that thing holds everything plus the kitchen sink. I can just imagine what it would hold after a week or so. I also have the tendency to not clean them out very often so I find I probably carry a lot of shit around that I don’t need. This is all from the past weekend.

Here is what is in my bag as noted in the above picture:

My sunglasses
Merle’s sunglasses (yellow)
Scent card from Bath & Body Works
Two packs of gum (because the mint is “too spicy” according to Merle)
Chestnuts from a walk
Crumpled Kleenex
Pink cat ear headband
Old lottery ticket
Rubber Angry Bird (blue thing)
Compact
Lipstick
Wallet
Loose change
Hair pin and elastic
McDonald’s coffee card
Archie comic
Starbucks gift card with barely a balance
A handful of raw sugar packets from Starbucks (apparently I don’t need to grab some the next time I am at Starbucks)

What is the most random think in your purse right now?

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What I Wore This Week

October 3, 2016Sara Leave a Comment

I figured out something that I don’t like about condo living this weekend. Certain circumstances can cause extremely long wait times for elevators. I was taking my daughter to a class which really close by so we left only 20 minutes before the class started. On a normal day we would had arrived within 5-10 minutes depending on how pokey they were walking, but this time the elevator didn’t arrive for 20 minutes before we decided to take the stairs. In which I had to carry Merle for 7 floors because she gave up and moved at a snail’s pace. We were already late so by the time we reached the bottom and speed walked there I was ready for a rest 😉 It turns out that one elevator was booked for someone moving, another someone broke the door (by trying to move without booking the moving elevator), which left two for the entire building which has 32 floors. It was ridiculous and I can’t imagine what would have happened if there was a medical emergency or a person couldn’t physically walk down the stairs. It kind of reminds me of when I lived in Peterborough. The city was really terrible at staying on top of the snow and clearing the walks. It would get so bad in the winter you literally had to climb over huge drifts in some places. It pissed me off because I don’t know how elderly people, or people in wheelchairs managed to get around during the snow season. I am thankful that I don’t have to deal with that in this city.

Aside from that fall is in full force and I actually wore a toque, beanie, knit hat (whatever you call it where you live) for the first time this weekend because it was cold, windy and rainy. I missed wearing one 🙂 I also tried to clean my closet today but success was definitely not in the stars. Maybe tomorrow, but I am predicating no 😉

How is the weather where you are?

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What to Wear on a 4 Day Fall Getaway

September 30, 2016Sara Leave a Comment

This post gives the outfit options for the What to Pack on a 4 Day Fall Getaway from last post. The list was by request for some ideas on what to wear on a 4 day fall getaway that includes a birthday and an outdoor wedding. I put together 9 regular mix and match outfits from the 8 pieces of clothing and one dressy wedding outfit. At this time of the year, wearing sweaters and a light jacket will be warm and comfortable enough for everyday wear. Two bottoms, two tops, two sweaters, two shoes, and one jacket are the pieces I picked for the main wardrobe. With the bottoms I chose one denim and one pair of waxed black pants. The wax coating gives them a leather look without the heat or expense of leather pants. You may prefer two pairs of jeans or a skirt and pants as your bottom options instead, I just find that black is easy to dress up in a pinch. Whatever works best with your style is what you should bring.

Since this wedding they will be attending is an outdoor wedding in the fall, then planning an outfit that will be warm as well as fashionable and wedding appropriate took some thought. I figured that a black dress is always acceptable and versatile, and instead of wearing a jacket, a nice wool wrap will be both chic and comfortable. I chose the leopard print flats because they accent the wrap and add a nice touch to the outfit and the colours reflect autumn. While the trip is only for 4 days you can easily go for longer with the above options.

I hope I was able to ease some of your packing woes with these suggestions. I hope you have a great time 🙂

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What to Pack for a 4 Day Fall Getaway

September 28, 2016Sara Leave a Comment

I tend to stick to a 10 day packing list on here but once in a while I get requests for shorter durations. Anywhere from a weekend getaway to a month have been the norm for me and this week it is for a 4 day getaway that includes a birthday and a fall outdoor wedding. I needed to come up with a list that included several days of seasonably fashionable outfits and one wedding outfit that will be suitable for fall weather.

Two Sweaters, a white blouse, striped long sleeve, a pair of jeans, and black pants, flats and sneakers cover the outfits. A black dress with a camel coloured wrap and leopard print shoes are for the wedding. The outerwear is the wrap and a trench, with one scarf, a regular purse, and a clutch or the wedding.

Any jewellery is easy to pack and won’t take much room. The wrap is warm, dressy and the perfect fall colour, but any kind of cape, shawl/wrap, or pashmina will work as long as it isn’t too casual looking. There is enough clothes to get at least 10 days worth of outfits so there should be plenty of options for 4 days.

I will put together a 10 outfit options list for this Friday’s post.

What do you like to wear for a fall wedding?

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What I Wore This Week

September 26, 2016Sara 2 Comments

Every year at this time the moms in my Facebook groups get on to the topic of “what are you buying your kids for Christmas”. Sometimes it’s hard not to get sucked in with the comparison and ideas from others so you feel like need to buy your kids more because others are buying their kids a lot or “better” things. So bear with me. This post has all of my Christmas present thoughts and ideas as I am trying to avoid the Facebook discussions. I have some notes but If I don’t get them down in a more coherent way I will probably forget them.

It’s Saturday night (as I am typing this) and I have one kid in the bath and one cleaning her room and I am trying to covertly browse/shop for Christmas presents. It’s really hard to buy anything in secret when we go out because there is at least one child always with me. I remember last year we were at the mall in the Disney Store and somehow I was able to smuggle a Cheshire Cat stuffy into the view of the cashier. He saw what I was trying to do and gestured for me to throw it to him when Merle wasn’t looking and stuffed it in a bag for me. It was pretty funny and helped me out that day. My oldest will stay home with Tom, but Merle has a stroke if I leave without her. She has been that way since she was a baby and it is very exhausting. Anyway, because of this I buy 99% of the gifts online now but even that is hard since I can literally see in to each bedroom while I am sitting at my computer and whoever is in them can see me and what I have pulled up on the screen. I have become the master of minimizing windows and having 9 million tabs open. I have also been staying up extra late just so I can shop in peace.

I am glad that I started way back in June and I actually think that I am really close to being done with. The girl birthdays are November 24th, and December 14th so this time of year is quite expensive (hence the super early shopping). This year I have had an easier time buying for Roo than for Merle though. She has a lot of very specific hobbies, likes, and passions now so it’s easy to stick with those and find a lot of cool things. A couple of my favourite gifts I bought her are a Coraline collectible doll by NECA, and a replica Potions textbook from magicworldHP on Etsy. It has 10 reproduction pages with hand written notes from Snape in the margins to make it seem realistic. She is going to love it. I’m stumped for Merle though. She wanted a Kitty Surprise but for some reason they aren’t easy to find in Canada and buying from the U.S. is so expensive. Plus, she doesn’t like the pink one which makes it even harder since that is the easiest one to find. I have been buying her random things like a fake fur blanket, a cat matryoshka doll, a snow globe, weeping angel string lights, an Avada Kedavra shirt (her favourite spell) a Voldermort wand, and a beautiful Wizard of Oz pop up book. This probably seems like enough and it most likely is and she will be happy as shit but I am a good bargain hunter and dollar wise I have spent about $115 (the pop up book cost me $0.01 on Amazon used even though it looked brand new. Everything else I bought when on sale or had discount codes for) and I like to keep them fairly even in dollar value. I think a pair of pyjamas, a few books, and a board game may round us out if I can’t find the kitty surprise.

I’m not sure what I am getting for Tom. I saw a collection of Kiss records for a great price that I know he would appreciate and would love for his collection. My next problem to figure out is to find a spot to put our Christmas tree because there is a bookshelf in the spot we put it last year and there really isn’t many other options. I may actually have to move the entire room around to find a spot.

Where do you hide your Christmas presents?

Previous years it has been easy but as they get older they get sneakier. I have them all in random different areas since there is not much storage space. I literally have a little hand sketched map and notes of where I put each one so I don’t forget.

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