Friday, July 5, 2013

OOTD: Festive Red, White, and Blue Made by Me.




Day: Thursday, July 4, 2013.

Where:  Bethesda for a trip to our favorite Cajun eatery and then the comic book store (yeah, not for me).

Ease of Wear: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Okay, so I am going to cover this more in depth when I actually do a write-up of the sewing process, but because of my "square shoulder" line and a pattern issue (other sewers have had this issue, too), the armholes were insanely tight, while the rest of the dress fits beautifully. 

I had to scramble to fix the armholes, which involved a bit more of my time than I had hoped, but by the end of the project, I had a gorgeous dress made from a fabric (Alexander Henry's La Paloma) I love in a pattern that is pretty special (Amy Butler's Anna Tunic/Dress).

Even with the armhole fixed, it was so flipping hot and humid yesterday that anything outside of the airiest, lightest dress would have felt a bit constraining.  I look forward to wearing this beauty on a day that is not so unkind.

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I love that I had an unusual look for my fourth of July celebrations.  It is the patriotic red, white, and blue without the traditional flag tee and matching shorts.  (I did wear that look, not photographed, to the fireworks viewing last night, though.)

It is a pretty dress, yes, but the look itself is not super cool.  But I'm okay with that.  ;-)

Anecdote from the day:  You know what?  They didn't have my soft shell crab po-boy* at the Louisiana Kitchen.  I was SO sad.  {Tear.}  My kids were even bummed because they wanted the soft shell crab as much as I do (to Mr. Dina's horror, of course).

I made up for it by really enjoying my Cajun martini*, though.

*Photos of yummy food from this post from last year.

Other news!

1. I was featured in Boden's facebook page album, "Bloggers do Boden!"  They chose the photo from this post, when I wore the gorgeous Lace Dress.  :-)  I am so happy and thrilled they put the photo on their facebook page. 

2. So Boden sent out a flier earlier this week announcing the start date to the end of season clearance...this Monday, July 8, 2013.  I really appreciate all the advance warning (as I am sure most of you do, too) and I hope this trend continues.  I also appreciate the facebook friends who e-mailed or posted on my facebook page regarding receiving the notice in the mail!

3. Because Boden's sale starts Monday, I will work double time to get one final BWRR written.  Today and tomorrow I will do a couple of IRL reviews that I have in the queue, with the BWRR ready in time for the sale (Sunday, so there is some time before the sale starts).  Until then, you can read prior BWRRs to see what may be worth your while from the sale.

4. One thing, though, if your item that you want has been popular, and is sold out in some sizes and colors, it may be worth your while to grab it with the up to 25% off coupon with free shipping.  Sometimes items don't get reduced much in price during the clearance AND you have to pay shipping on top of the clearance price (flat $10), so buying it beforehand may make more financial sense.

Okay, that's it!  You all have a fabulous Friday, and a belated Happy Independence Day to my U.S. readers!