OOTDs: Been Wearing the Shorts.

Day: Tuesday, May 13, 2014.

Where: Little Gym.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I went ahead and got a size 10 in these Vacationland shorts from the J. Crew Factory.  I maybe could have gone to an 8 since they are a bit baggy in the waist, but since these have a fairly short inseam, I knew it was my best bet to buy them at a size where I could pull them down a bit on the hips to make them a touch longer.  They are made from a linen/cotton blend so they are perfection when it is super hot out, which it was that night.  As much as I wanted these in the silk version from retail last year, I am SO GLAD I waited, since these are much more appropriate for my life, and at a much better price point, too.  (They are officially called the Factory Pull-On short in Florida pink, you can still find a size 4 today, and if you are reading this in the future, maybe there will be a popback in other sizes?)

The tee is a dupe of another retail tee from last year.  In fact, it is almost the same exact fabric and look, so besides the label, I can't really tell that it is not the same item.  This I took in a size extra-small, and as I expected, it definitely runs large and long since linen knits always stretch out and get a bit saggy.  This is called the Factory Collector Umbrella Tee and can be found here.


The sandals are a new favorite find at Anthropologie (called the Siempre sandals and can be found here).  They are from a British brand called Esska and even though I am buying less and less from both Anthro and J. Crew lately, these pretty sandals looked so inviting in the catalog and on-line that I figured I could at least try them out and if I didn't find them so wonderful and comfortable, I would return them, full stop.  But yeah, no, they are as amazing as the owners of the brand promised and I find myself wearing them a lot already this summer (and I received them a mere three weeks ago).  I did size down to a 40 since I know that with British brands (cough, cough BODEN) the shoes can run wide, and I didn't want to go through the hassle of buying the "correct" size only to find it was too big width-wise on my feet.  Of course my feet do hang right near that edge, but not so much that it is too short overall.  (WARNING--some of the reviews say they run small.  I think it really depends on your particular foot shape and size. FWIW, I wear a 9.5 in J. Crew ballet flats, and I find they are not too narrow--but know a lot of women who can't wear J. Crew ballet flats because they are so narrow.)

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Yes, this is a pretty cool summer SAHM look.  I felt young that day.  And that is always a good thing.

Anecdote from the Day:  My dad, being the kind man that he is, knew that I couldn't take all three kids from school and then to Rex's baseball practice all by myself without it officially dragging me into the ground.  (My hubby was at a Mastadon concert.  Yeah, Elbow one night, then two nights later, MASTADON.  Ugh.)  So instead of letting me sweat it all out, he joined me and even treated the four of us to a little snack at Grounded, our favorite coffee shop.  Then while Rex and my dad were at practice, CW and Angus and I went to the Little Gym.

Day: Wednesday, May 14, 2014.

Where: School Pickup.

Ease of Wear: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I don't remember these shorts being so fitted.  It is also possible that the combo of just being washed and a bit of "girl" bloating didn't help the situation.  I mean they eventually stretched out a bit (they are a seersucker), but the first hour or so I was all, "why did I buy these in that size?"  LOL.

To make matters worse, I thought it was supposed to be in the 70s and slightly cloudy, but instead I was faced with windy and 60s and cloudy.  I would have been better off wearing the sweater with a pair of pants and cute ballet flats.  Oh, well, live and learn.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) For all my bitching, it is a pretty cute outfit, and looks nice in the photo.

Anecdote from the Day:  Not much happened that day other than me being oh so wrong about the weather.

Day: Wednesday, May 7, 2014.

Where: Rex's batting practice and Winesday.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I forgot to put this in Thursday's post about wearing handmade items.  Oops.  Aw, well.  Anyhow, these shorts are just the same as the linen/rayon version in that post, but because I knew they would be too big in the waist, I went ahead and made this version smaller at the waist.  Therefore these are very comfortable and do not threaten to fall off every time I wear them.  ;-)

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I like the way this looks, but definitely more pretty than cool. 

Anecdote from the Day:  My brother came with me to Rex's batting practice since it is really close to where Winesday is held.  Last few seasons of baseball practice we only had one practice a week, but now that Rex is older, we have a regular practice and a batting practice.  Here's the thing...we live a good twenty to forty minutes from where practice is held (depending on traffic--which of course we have to deal with in the afternoons heading in the direction away from DC), so this extra practice for a whole fifteen minutes seems not worth it, but is worth it if we can tack on something else to the trip.  Lucky for everyone involved that his batting practice just so happens to fall on the same night as my favorite non-kid activity (well, it *used* to be non-kid, lol).

Day: Friday, May 30, 2014.

Where: Little Gym.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) This outfit was very easy to wear, but the boots have a weird smell (that kind of fresh from the box leathery smell), and I found it obnoxious, so I am taking the score down a bit.  The smell will go away soon enough, so when that happens, future outfits with these cute Anthro boots (called the Ring Toss Boots and can be found here in clearance) won't be dinged.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I think it looks cool, but this is very much different than what I normally gravitate towards, so I wasn't 100% comfortable with how I looked.

Anecdote from the Day:  The day also included a trip to Harris Teeter.  Of course it did, because why wouldn't I go to the grocery store if I can?  :-)

Okay, that's it for now. 

I forgot to announce anywhere at all yesterday (even on the facebook page) that Boden started up a 30% off beach-y items.  You can find the items on sale here (swimsuits, etc., are at the bottom).  This sale will probably run the rest of the week and into the weekend.  If you like something that isn't in the sale, you can either use the 25% off coupon below or the one in the sidebar to get the extra % off, along with free shipping.