Nice Casual for a Warm Early Spring Day!

Sorry I didn't post at all yesterday (March 7, 2009). I spent the ENTIRE day outside with the kids and Jim. We spent the morning at Rex's classes at Lee District Rec Center (he takes a play class--weird, I know...and he takes an art class, in which Jim and I basically do everything). The afternoon was spent in Bethesda where Jim got his comics, we ate lunch at the fantastic Louisiana Kitchen (yummy Cajun), got our hair cut, and I got to visit a Japanese shop (I love cold Japanese green tea).

This outfit got me through it all...and stayed crisp and pretty the entire day. I actually received a compliment from the waitress (so sweet). All of the pieces I wore are J. Crew. The blouse is the Lydia blouse in peacock, size medium. The cardigan is the snow-leopard Tartine cardigan. The pants are my favorites, the colored-chambray cocktail capris in blush. The necklace is actually the seychelles necklace from last summer 2008 (scored on ebay). The sandals are actually from 2006...the sequin capri sandals in gold.

You can view this polyvore here: http://www.polyvore.com/nice_casual_for_warm_early/set?id=7052723


Here it is, full length. The blouse is quite blousy, but this really doesn't bother me too much...the halter means that it will fit my shoulders no matter what, and the loose bottom means that I can treat it like a tunic top, which is why I paired it with the capris. The cocktail capris started out the perfect fit, but by the end of the day had stretched a bit...but in that way that is comfortable versus annoying (like they were about to fall off). The capri sandals are pretty but not very practical. Just in case I was going to walk long distances, I brought a pair of plastic flip-flops. I didn't end up changing footwear, but I would have if I had needed it!


This is a close-up of the cardigan's print...so pretty! I wore the cardigan about half of the day. The other half of the day, it became too warm, so I went ahead and took it off and showed the Lydia off in all its glory!

I love this necklace and missed out on it in its original run. Guess it was a good thing, because I ended up paying less than 1/2 of its original price. SCORE! :) The beads are NOT glass, but plastic (which is really great if you have a teething baby--she loves it). The clasp is a precious seashell in gold with sea-colored gems. Very pretty and looked so nice with the Lydia. I thought all those ruffles on the blouse would mean I couldn't wear a cardigan or a necklace, but I was wrong, wrong, wrong. This may be one of my favorite outfits I have created yet!

Today is supposed to be pretty, too. I look forward to wearing the slub-cotton cottage dress, so I should have that review/outfit up on the blog either later today or tomorrow!