Where: Grocery Shopping for Christmas Day Dinner at Whole Foods and Harris Teeter. Is anyone surprised?
Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) The combo of eased pants, soft soft soft Pure Collection Gassato Cashmere Polo Neck Sweater
Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) I think the Oxford Jacket makes for a special addition, as does the sparkly Loft belt, but broken down, this outfit is *just* a step up from the regular old SAHM uniform I usually wear.
Anecdote from the day: It was so crowded at the supermarket. I usually shop in the morning on weekdays, so I am typically the only person there under 85. On that Monday, I was joined by everyone left in the DC metro area. Surprisingly, even with the crowds, it was fairly pleasant. I like to think that it's because the locals are all that are left, and the uber-ambitious types that come to DC from all the other areas of the country have gone back to their hometowns, but in reality, it is probably me that's different. I have learned over the past year that irritation has nothing to do with the person irritating you, it has to do with the fact that you are allowing yourself to get irritated. Since learning that I have decided to take a moment whenever I get irritated and remind myself that it is ME that is getting upset, not the other person doing something to ME. (Because, I mean, really, who walks around a supermarket looking to piss off someone else? Right?) LOL.
Where: Christmas Eve Dinner/Presents at my dad's house.
Ease of Wear: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Ugh. I thought I would be fine in this outfit, but I wasn't. Everything fit fine, even the pants, but the spanx I put on kept doing this roll down from the waistband thing. After an hour, I gave up and put on the black leggings I had brought with me (because I never do anything without backup on Christmas Eve after this incident, lol). I will give these pants another go when I have lost the last five postpartum pounds.
The Lands' End Long Sleeve Meridian Cable Crewneck Sweater
Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) I love the look of this outfit. I think with edgier hair and boots, this could be a winner. The Boden
Anecdote from the day: My childhood home is really small and was built in the late 1920s. Therefore when you put three children, one teenage girl, three adult women, and three adult men in the living room, it is going to be cramped and loud. At one point, you couldn't see the dark wood floor through the ridiculous amount of wrapping paper everywhere. I tried to stay on top of that, but the moment I put one bit of paper in the trash bag, another piece of wrapping paper appeared. I gave up after a while and decided to drink wine instead.
Where: Christmas Dinner at our house.
Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Ooh, very comfortable for being so dressy. I love the city mini in Dublin Tartan. It is a nice soft wool, with a bit of stretch (and a elastic waistband), and a very pretty plaid pattern.
After I discovered that the color of the Lands' End sweater didn't work with the mini, I found this tee on super sale at jcrew.com. It was about $11. :) It is also very smooth and easy to wear. I sized up from my usual size xs to a s since I had read that perfect fit tees run small. This was the right call, but if given a choice, I would want an inch lopped off the bottom since I think it runs a bit long.
Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) Not especially cool. It is great for Christmas, honestly, and it will be fab on my trip to Ireland (early April--yay air miles!), but again, not really anything special or edgy. :)
I do plan on wearing it with a navy sweater and no tights with a pair of boots, so maybe that will help "chic" it up?
Anecdote from the day: Woke up with a terrible migraine that morning. Unfortunately I had a spate of bad headaches that week, and had run out of migraine medication. I went to the pharmacist at the grocery store the day before (see the first outfit) and she said she couldn't get permission from the insurance to give me a refill just yet. Sigh. So I spent a good portion of the day in bed trying to get rid of the pain. I did manage to wake up and open gifts with the kids, but as soon as I was done, I went back to sleep.
When I woke up, I got to cooking. I like to think that when one bad thing happens, something good will happen to keep all the karma in proper order, so that day my bad was the headache and the good was my dinner, which turned out exactly right. ;)
Where: New Year's Eve at our house. We live on the edge. I was surprised we didn't fall asleep at 9.
Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Mmm. This was SO COMFORTABLE.
If you look at the outfit photo, you will see that the pants are from the Limited Express circa 1992. I was going through all my old clothing deciding what would be donated, kept, or packed away. I decided to wash these pants because I saw the elastic waist was still in good shape (that is the first thing to go, usually). After washing and line drying them, I tried them on, and OMG, so freaking comfortable.
Everyone was all, "ooh, you can wear the same thing you did in high school?" and I was all, "people, come on, it has a freaking elastic waistband, of course I can." If I could fit into my jeans from high school, that would be amazing. I don't foresee that happening as I was at least thirty pounds lighter, which is a lot of weight to lose.
Cool Factor: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) No. This is not cool. This was my attempt at being festive without being in anything that had anything binding. The Natalie studded sweater is the coolest bit of this particular ensemble. My brother's girlfriend really liked it, and she has a neck piercing (ouch). So that is why this outfit gets the 2.5. Without that sweater, this outfit would have received a 1.
The "please, Hammer, don't hurt 'em" pants are so uncool. Unless of course they are cool because they are so uncool. But I am not twenty, and I am not seeing these pants as anything other than stretchy harem pants that happened to be living in my closet for longer than perhaps they should have. I have seen the blogs that have the uber-stylish fashionistas* wearing retro 90s looks, but since I actually wore them un-ironically when they were actually really and truly in fashion, I can't really get away with it and call it cool. Unless someone has invented a time machine that will allow me to go back to 1992 and be thirty pounds lighter.
*You know, the ones who go to Fashion Week for free and wear copious arm parties and tulle in the daytime.
Anecdote from the day: My brother usually starts his day at 4 am and is in bed at 9 pm. His job has him working at 6 am most days. On this Monday he had started at 6 am, but because finds my "purse" wine irresistible, by 11 pm, he was upstairs on my couch in the playroom asleep. His date took it well, but the next morning, he apologized to her for not being there for her at the stroke of the new year. I have no idea if there is bad juju from not being there for your special lady friend at the start of the year, but maybe he will get a pass since he was contrite and works hard?
Okay. That is it. I think the festive outfits are done. :) My resolution for next year is to be more timely in outfit postings, but since I am the age I am, I know that if I don't keep my resolution it really isn't that big of a deal. LOL.
