To see her photos of the day (what she has put up so far, of course), head on over here (accessories, shoes, and bags), or here (womenswear). I have a major crush on that hummingbird sweater, btw.
Where: Girl's Night Out Dinner.
Ease of Wear: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I finally fit into this Boden
I like how it looks, but I felt a bit "swaddled." It got better as the night wore on (probably because of that beautiful drink in the third photo) but this is not my most comfortable outfit ever.
Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) I think I look cool. Maybe the print is a tad much, but the boots, fun clutch, and unique jacket seem "cool."
Anecdote from the day: My kids could have stayed home with Mr. Dina, but my friend, E., and I had chosen to take our eldest rugrats to the Little Gym for "Parents Night Out." It really was just an excuse to get our kids playing together in a super safe environment for three hours while also giving our husbands a bit of a break from all the kids.
E. and I ended up going to Virtue Feed & Grain, a very hip restaurant in Old Town Alexandria. I was surprised that E. suggested it, but once there, I was thrilled. Nice to have an outings sans kids, all dressed up, and being able to truly enjoy the ambiance of the place. Virtue's shtick is that there are no freezers anywhere and that all you consume is as fresh as can be. Sounds good to me, but honestly Ruby Tuesday without children would have been just as awesome. (I make parenting sound SO glamorous, don't I?)
Virtue is housed in what used to be a darling little independent bookstore, Olssons. I remember going to Olssons as a kid, then as a teen, then as a college student. Now we have exactly one bookstore left, a Barnes & Noble. Sigh.
I recently drove past where my ex-boyfriend grew up and his house is completely gone. It was sort of shocking to see it (well not see it). I don't know why but it made me sort of tear up. Probably sentimental, I suppose, but I usually am more logical and practical than that. Maybe I am just getting old. I cried a few times while watching the National Geographic channel's "The 80s: A Decade that Made Us." The baby Jessica getting caught in a well story nearly did me in. ;)
Where: Movie with Mr. Dina and CW.
Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I love the Audrey Dress
You can't beat this one for comfort and practicality. If I worked in an office, I could wear it there (with tights or hose, though). But since that isn't me, I just use it for my casual dressy option when I need one.
And since I paired the dress with pink flats (old school J. Crew, btw), even my feet were feeling good.
Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) Hmm. I looked polished. I had a pretty Liberty print invitation clutch (Tresco floral) that matched my (homemade) hair tie. I made sure all of the pieces were exactly right with each other. In other words, probably not especially cool since it is clear I tried too hard with this look. Some of you will love it, though. :) My J. Crew gals, especially, since we tend to be the matchy-match queens of the universe. LOL.
Anecdote from the day: Rex had ZERO desire to go see "Oz: The Great and Powerful," so we took CW by herself to the movie. She was thrilled at the absence of her brothers (tiny Angus was not there either...he is way too mobile now to take to movies) and enjoyed her day from start to finish.
She and I have decided that next year we will do Oz costumes again (you can see what we did last October here) but I will change up my costume to better reflect Glinda's costume in this movie, so while it will be similar to the one I wore last year, it will be white and silver instead.
(I am a huge, ginormous fan of Oz, by the way. I have been reading the books since I was a child and now have one whole bookcase devoted to the L. Frank Baum classics. There are fourteen books, and countless pieces of memorabilia out there, so it isn't exactly hard to make a collection. Even the walls in the front living room are covered in Oz posters, some from the movie with Judy Garland, and others, artist's interpretations of the books.)
Where: Angus's First Birthday Party.
Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Can't get much more comfy than Citizens of Humanity jeans that are really just very thick leggings. I am not sure there is any cotton in these. :)
Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) Gotta cut my hair, which I have done since, but besides Miss Shaggy, the look is pretty cool. I love the lace tee (J. Crew factory from last year) and think it looks especially interesting with the black cami underneath.
My shoes match Angus's face in the fourth photo. LOL.
Anecdote from the day: Well all first birthdays are supposed to include a ridiculous party with a child over-indulging in cake, right? That is not just a tradition we made up. ;)
We do not, however, do these indulgent theme parties*. I really admire some of these parties, but OMG, how in the h-e-double hockey sticks do these moms do it? They mustn't sleep. Right? Or do they all hire party planners? It gives me a bit of a complex, really, seeing them all on blogs and/or in real life...I start to feel like a loser mom that I bake vanilla cupcakes with blue icing, slap together some gumbo, make sure some wine is chilled, and call it a party.
Angus didn't seem to care that there was no theme, btw.
*the first link on that google search had me breaking out into hives...
Where: Angus's Birthday Dinner.
Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Those JCP leggings, yum. And they are a bit too big so they are so super comfy. :)
The Alex sweater dress is another old school J. Crew one, from Holiday 2007 that I found on ebay last year. I was able to wear it pregnant, and I am happy to report that it fits way better than I expected not pregnant. Definitely going to be pulling this one out a lot next winter.
You might note I am wearing a sweaterdress, a scarf, and boots on a late March day in Virginia. Last March I was wearing shorts and a tank top. So why the cold weather gear? (See photos below for the answer.)
Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) With the Phillip Lim Pashli Satchel in tow, the scarf tied jauntily, and the just tousled enough hairstyle, definitely cool. Really want to re-wear this outfit.
Anecdote from the day: See photos below for anecdote from the day. Each photo is captioned. ;)
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| Gus wakes up on his first birthday (IN LATE MARCH IN VIRGINIA) to snow. More snow, in fact, than we have seen in two years. I don't ever remember seeing snow this late in VA, latest I can remember is early March, sometime in the 90s. |
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| CW happily wore her "Let it Snow!" tee. LOL. |
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| I bought Angus gifts, but I made him these pj bottoms. Unfortunately size 1 in sewing patterns is equal to about a toddler size 2 in Target (or baby Boden). I just went with it and rolled the cuffs and adjusted the elastic in the waistband. |
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| We love sombreros on our birthdays! |
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| CW, Angus, and Rex shared Angus's birthday dessert. Well, sort of...while Gus looked on, Rex decided to try and grab some of CW's part of the dessert...which resulted in... |
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| CW standing her ground, all assertive. Good for you, CW. Gus's expression cracks me up...he is such a third child. |
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| After a very involved discussion with Mr. Dina, Rex gave up and instead decided to sulk. I wish I could say this is the first time I have ever seen this happen in our household. The only one who doesn't sulk is Angus. I really hope he doesn't learn how. ;) |
Alrighty, that's it! I hope you all are having a great Friday night and/or weekend. Talk with you soon!
BTW, if you are a fan of the Boden Autumn 2013 items that you see on Lou's blog, you can comment here, but my plan is to do a post with picks from what Lou grabbed pictures of...I would like to believe there will be a preview sale, but with no preview sale for the high summer items (released last week), that has me wondering if previews are a thing of the past. :-P
