OOTD: Nancy and CW Come to Winesday.

Day: Wednesday, June 10, 2015.

Where:  Winesday with my darling daughter.  Pete (my bro) usually goes with me, but he works out in Manassas now, so this means I have to find alternate people/transportation to get to this event.  He still comes, every once in a while, but not this week.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Even though I mentioned that there was a pencil skirt lining on this dress in my review last year, I forgot about that and when I put it on tonight, I was all, "wuh?"  Sigh.  Should've remembered.  It worked itself out and stretched out, but still.

The Cole Haan sandals (have had them for years) held up well, especially considering we took the bus back from Winesday.  The bus stop is about one mile from my house, so not super close.  :-)  I have to take public transportation if I don't have a ride, I am a super lightweight when it comes to alcohol.


Outfit Details:  Dress, Boden; Sandals, similar style Cole Haan here (I can't find an exact match like mine from this year); Necklace, Uncommon Goods; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: I wore my Nancy Dress because Lou has been talking about #bodentwins over at her Instagram account a lot lately.  When I saw her in her Nancy Dress yesterday, I knew my chance was here, so I took it.  I also plan on wearing this dress that @kdot1990 wore a few days back (probably tomorrow).  I never thought I would get into Instagram as much as I have, but it is more fun than I expected it to be.  :-)

Speaking of Instagram, my Instagram of this outfit is here.

Okay, you all have a great night!  We'll talk soon!

OOTDs: Two Target Dresses.

Day: Sunday, June 7, 2015.

Where:  Pret a Manger for lunch, Zara and J. Crew for returns, National Geographic museum for the Indiana Jones exhibit, and a friend's house for dinner.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I love love love this whole outfit.  I really want to pattern out the dress since I adore the way it fits and feels on me, and the fact that even though it is super short on the model, it isn't that way in real life (I bought the medium).  It even has a darling little bow in the back (I like them, the one below has one too).  We'll see when I can get around to it, but for a cheapie Target dress, it did well today.

The fake Birkenstocks are my attempt at being "on trend" without resorting to paying way too much money for white shoes that will likely be either completely out of style (they are very "grandma," lol) or have been ruined by one of my kids spilling something on me.  They were on sale last week, so a good buy then, but the current price is still very good for what you get.  They are super comfortable, I just made sure to size down to a 9 so that they would fit my narrow feet better (the straps do have working notches).

Outfit Details:  Bow Back Cap Sleeve Dress, Target here and in solid lace colors here; Shoes, Target here; Necklace, Madewell here; Sunglasses and bag, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: At Zara doing my returns (number of returns at Zara--always high--such cute clothes cut so so so small), Rex decided he wanted to see what he could get in the boys section, so one of the sales people took him up there and he decided to buy this tee.  I asked him why that one and he was all, "momma, shirts that are just one color are so boring, I want all my shirts to have something on them."  Yes!  Taking after his momma, that one.  :-)

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Saturday, June 6, 2015.

Where:  Mass, dinner with a friend, and G Street Fabrics.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This is a girls dress, size 16 (x-large).  I highly recommend the girls dresses/tops at Target if you can wear a size 4 or 6 (or smaller) in woman's tops/dresses.  Very important to pick the ones out that don't seem super juvenile (so yeah, all the darling ones with unicorns are probably not my best choice, lol).  People seem to like this dress and when I told my friend I had dinner with all about scoring in the girls section (not my first time, btw), she was SO stinking excited.  I think she may have already stalked the Target website looking for it.  :-)

Outfit Details: Circo girls maxi dress, Target here; Cardigan and sandals, J. Crew; Necklace, Target; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: Red Robin is where we went to dinner.  They have these mixed drinks with beer and hard alcohol.  Those are so delicious.  My friend was driving, so I got to have two.  It was a very good night. 

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Okay, you all have a wonderful evening.  Hope your week starts off well with a fabulous Monday.

Review/OOTD/Made by Me File: Cashmere Nep and a Chunky Knit.

As promised in my last post (after the update), I have a few clearance Boden items that I would like to review for you all before the big "extra 20% off clearance" sale ends on Monday evening.  But because I am so flipping behind in my blog posting, I am putting my posts to hard work and turning them all into multi-taskers.  So today there will be an outfit of the day, a made by me file (knitting!), and a review.  :-)

Day: Thursday, January 1, 2015.

Where:  Dinner out with some friends.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  It was so cold that night and I wanted to be cozy and comfortable and warm.  This outfit is exactly what I needed.  The Cashmere Nep Button Back sweater (here at Boden on clearance) is very warm and lightweight, the super chunky knitted infinity scarf easily blocks the cold wind, the J. Crew Turner pants (here at J. Crew) are easy to wear and interesting to look at, and as per usual, my loafers are my go-to whenever I want casual but without being *too* casual.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  The Turner pants are very unique.  They aren't for everyone, but even my most conservative friends really dug them.  They quite liked the silhouette of the pant and the unusual elastic hems.  I thought for sure that when buying them that I would be returning them, but the size 8 I chose (one size down from what I think I should wear at J. Crew) fits great, and the pockets with the exposed zip application meant they were keepers.

I know big chunky scarves are in (well, provided they aren't *that* big), and I was thrilled that after (not even kidding here, people) a YEAR of work on this one, I finally finished my first *people can look at this and not gasp at how shoddily it is made* project.

If you knit, you will no doubt notice that on my left side in this photo (your right side), there are a few stitches that are off.  I was distracted when knitting up a few rows and made that mistake.  Fortunately, it is easily hidden.  ;-)   For the rest of you, it may not even register that there are mistakes.  Regardless of the mistakes or not, I am so excited that my knitting worked and I have an actual wearable garment.

I have to say, if you want to give knitting a try, give the Knit Lab class over at Craftsy a go.  I had tried for years to use books to teach me how to knit and it never made any bleeping sense.  After spending an entire afternoon giving the process a go while watching this class, I finally got it.  Now, I was NOWHERE near good enough, but at least I could make the basic knit and purl stitches.  Problem with my knitting beforehand was that I was trying to learn continental style knitting and my hands like English style knitting more.  Thankfully the Knit Lab class covered the English style and that was when it all clicked.

It took a few months of working on my tension before I was able to get a good grasp on what properly knitted items look like while knitting, but confused me got there.

If you like to knit, I used this pattern for the above cowl.  She had a knit-a-long at her blog and it is full of very useful information.  I made mine a touch shorter than she did hers.  I used this Lion Brand Alpine Wool yarn for the scarf along with size 11 needles.

Cashmere Nep Button Back Sweater.  Size 6.  You have seen the front view above, but the back view is really what makes this sweater interesting.  I am a bit bummed that the placket at the top you see the facing bit on the underside, but at least it is in a great color to be showing through.  :-)

The buttons do stay very well secured, so there is no worry about that.  The color is very close to a baby pink, but the little bits of differently colored specks (the "nep") take it from being a juvenile color to something a bit more sophisticated.

That said, I like to wear this when I want to feel laid back and comfortable, it is a great weekend kind of top.  I mean, of course I will wear it at other times, but it just screams to me that kind of sweater you go to the farmer's market in.  Ha.

I couldn't have sized down in this, it would have been far too tight.  The size up would have been okay, since a little looser is more of the "look" Boden was probably going for.


Cashmere Nep Button Back Sweater.  The stocks are decent, but the blue sweater is all gone.  That one sold for something like $60 back around Christmas (when they had the extra 10% off) and it was a great deal if you liked that color.  I did like the blue, but have a lot of blue and green in my closet, so I knew I would be better served with this pink one.  The price for the pink version is decent, I think I paid a few dollars more back in December for it.

Okay, that's all for now.  Have a few other reviews coming your way over the next few days.

OOTDs: Three Celebrations.

Before I start, two things to let you all know about.

1. I have completed my first blog post for the Fabric Mart blog.  Eventually you will see all the pieces I made for that blog post dissected here in separate "made by me" files and in a special packing post, but for now head on over to see the pieces I slaved over the past week.  :-)  I love the end result, and am very excited that I have these for my trip to Mississippi in a couple weeks.

2. Boden's 25% off sale ends tomorrow.  For more information on that one, please do check out this post.

Onto celebrating!

Mr. Dina didn't intend to make this look like a catalog shot, but it turned out that way.  He probably thinks he is a "photographer" now.

Day: Saturday, November 8, 2014.

Where:  Rex's baseball team's championship win celebration.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The party was at 3 at a local Italian restaurant and even though I ate well (although that time--weird, right--hard to decide, late lunch or early dinner), I didn't feel like I was being pinched or pulled, so I would give this one a thumbs up for comfort. 

The New Balance 620 shoes are a recent purchase.  I have to say even though J. Crew has been falling down style-wise for me of late (too blah and not enough color), their shoe collaborations are awesome.  I took these in a 9.5 and they fit perfectly true to size.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  This one is pretty cool.  For me.  :-)

Anecdote from the day:  Since I spent all of last weekend celebrating, any moment I had free at the house was sewing.  It was a weird situation to be in, I far prefer to do all my sewing at home for an extended time (cocoon-like and hiding away), but this put me in a different frame of mind.  I didn't dislike it, but my hyper-focus had to be shut down, which was a little unnerving.  It was probably good for me. 

Day: Sunday, November 9, 2014.

Where:  Mass and El Paso for my dad's birthday dinner.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This dress was made by me, so it fits perfectly, so that made it very easy to wear.  That said, the Naturalizer booties were not my best choice of footwear for that night, though (see the anecdote for more on that).

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Nice, but very buttoned up.  The scarf is fun and the boots put a fresh spin on an outfit with a tailored sheath, but it is still very conservative.

Anecdote from the day:  I suffer from weird hip pain in my left hip, and it flares up once a year without fail.  I have had this since the very end of my pregnancy with CW and it makes walking very difficult when it comes around.  It usually is around for a week and then disappears.  This is why choosing booties was probably not smart.  This was the first night I experienced it, btw, and have been in a bit of pain since then (though it gets worse at night than during the day).

I haven't seen my brother in ages he has been working so hard.  It was good to just be able to sit and chill with him.  He is starting a new job, so we are very excited for him.

And how cool is it that the Berlin Wall has been down for 25 years?  I remember when it came down in 1989.  Since I had been there many times as a girl (my dad's dad lived in Berlin and that is where my mom's mom is from), the idea that the horrible barrier was gone was truly uplifting.  (One more cool fact--my mom's mom and my mom's dad met during the Berlin Airlift!)

Day: Friday, November 7, 2014.

Where:  Dinner out with my besties from high school.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This one was very easy to wear, the only bummer was the scarf which I needed to keep warm.  I think it looks fine and definitely helped keep the biting cold winds from my neck, but blah for style in this particular outfit.

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Necessity is the downfall here.  I just don't love the scarf with it and can't see beyond it.  Really glad I still have this Boden dress in my wardrobe from all those years ago, I still love it as much as when I first bought it.

Anecdote from the day:  I love that I can still hang out with my friends from high school.  They are some amazing women.  I can't get over how much more I laugh and let loose around them than I do with other adults I have met since then.  I don't know what it is, but it is just easy to be fully me around them.  Maybe I feel less judged by them?  I also let my hair down around my kids and my brother, so maybe the "no judgment" thing is a huge part of it.

Okay, that's all for now!  I hope you all are having a great Wednesday!

OOTDs: Silky Vintage and a Colorful Maxi.

Quick Reminder: Today is the last day you can save 30% off everything at Boden.  (It ends midnight tonight.)  I wrote more on it here at this post.  Hopefully this means the big clearance sale will start soon.  :-)

Day: Saturday, June 21, 2014.

Where: Rex's end of season baseball party and birthday dinner (mine!!!) with a friend.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I got frustrated with the shorts because they fit but they get wrinkly so fast. (They are a cotton stretch sateen that is lightweight, so they wrinkle when you breathe on them.)  The lighter color shows the wrinkles, so even though they feel great on, I am acutely aware of the wrinkles and my OCD goes into overdrive.  LOL.  I really need to get over it.

The Silky Vintage top (here at Boden, review of the green floral version here) is fab, though, so comfortable and easy to wear.  After realizing that the Selina dress in the same color was not going to work for me (latest review on that one here), I decided two Silky Vintage tops would work instead.  Probably better for my lifestyle, too, honestly.

Cool Factor: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I received a lot of compliments on my outfit, especially the combo of the Silky Vintage top in the party floral and its matching sister bag, the Chelsea Clutch (here).  Of course I live in the land where Lilly Pulitzer pink and green flamingo dresses are a very good thing, so take all that with a grain of salt, especially if you are not very preppy. ;-)

Anecdote from the Day:  The house we went to for Rex's end of season baseball party had this insanely pretty pool.  It was finished with these deep grey slate tiles and the color of the water was this gorgeous teal blue.  Since I am used to the bright sky blue you see in regular neighborhood pools, it was a nice change of pace.  I immediately wished we could have a pool like that.  (In our millionaire dreams, of course.) 

Day: Sunday, June 22, 2014.

Where: CW's friend's birthday party.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Hi, pretty Boden jersey maxi dress!  It is nice to bring you out again for another year!  :-)  You are still as comfortable as I remember you being in years past, and as usual, the brightly colored graphic was an instant mood lifter.

(BTW, I wore another one today to Angus's Little Gym class--this green and purple one--and a friend confessed wanting a Boden maxi dress in her cart--I assume this one--and I told her to go for it.  Of course I enabled her...I really think she needs to be in on the secret of the "almost as comfortable as pjs" dress.)

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Simple colorful summer easy dressing.  Pretty cool for me. 

Anecdote from the Day:  Rex acted up at the lunch we all went to, so we had to take his opportunity to go to the movie with his dad away, so while CW and I played at her friend's party, Rex had to sit around with his daddy and brother doing nada instead.  What made it worse for him is that we were already on our way to the movie/party at lunch (I was going to go to the party while they were at the movie), so he couldn't even do nada at home, instead he had to do nada at the local Wal-Mart.  Sigh.  But I bet he won't do that again.  Let's hope, anyhow.

Okay, that's it for now.  I hope everyone is set to have a wonderful weekend!

Link to sale...remember the 30% off ends tonight at midnight:
30% Off EVERYTHING plus Free Shipping

OOTDs: Three Pairs of Pants and One Purse.

Day: Tuesady, March 11, 2014.

Where: CW's Bible Play.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I love the ease of this outfit.  I normally try to dress up more if I am going to the kids' school, especially if it is for a play/performance, but I wasn't feeling up to getting kitted up that day, so I figured a dash of color would make up for the fact that I am wearing jeans.  :-)

The Must Have Tee is super soft and just warm enough, even though it is fairly lightweight (see my original review of it here).  I didn't have to wear a coat that day, by some minor miracle in this Canadian winter of ours, we had a day of semi-warmth.

Cool Factor: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  Very pretty, but also very casual.  Just somewhere right in the middle of cool...

Anecdote from the Day: You can never hear kids when they are performing, huh?  There is a chance CW did say her line properly, but we aren't sure.  They all sang the songs really well, though.

Day: Wednesday, March 12, 2014.

Where:  Home sewing and school pickup.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Again, a super high score for comfort.  Those Pure Collection pants are sublime, and I am so glad I have these in both the navy and the black color (I am wearing the black now as I type).  Even though I haven't been able to do a lot of in-depth reviews of Pure Collection lately (budget constraints, boo!), I do look over there from time to time (and keep their coupons in my sidebar) since I LOVE everything I have from them.  Looks like they have a near dupe of these pants in their current collection called the Pure Silk Tie Waist Trousers, and I kind of think I need to save up for the ones in jade.  My pants are made from a heavy poly mix, so I suspect the silk ones would be even more luxurious and special.  Pure is having a big mid-season sale and the pieces in there look to be very pretty, especially all the cashmere in sherbert shades.  The Pure Silk Tie Waist Trousers are not in the sale (the sister, the silk tie waist skirt is, though), but you can use the sidebar coupon to get an additional 25% off those, if you like the look.  (The 25% off does not come off the mid-season pieces, though.)

Cool Factor: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  The Downtown Field Jacket seems to be the coolest bit of this look, as it is so popular that J. Crew keeps bringing it back season after season.  The rest of the outfit is fine, of course, but not especially cool.

Anecdote from the Day: My stinking Pants Sloper I worked SO HARD on is TOO BIG!  I spent hours redrafting the sloper into a new pants pattern with a yoke and pockets only to make the whole thing up and find the whole thing was too big by one whole inch on each side.  Sigh.  I put the redrafted pattern against what I had made in class and it was the same, so the only thing I can think is that because I wore tights and not bare skin to the lessons that the friction from the fabric allowed the pants to stay up since they definitely were falling off of me when I finished all the hard work on the pants I made at home.  I can save them, I took an inch off each side seam and they fit better, but still a bit loose.  I think I need to redraft the pattern again and hope for the best.  I can save the pants I worked on, but they will likely become "at home" "fat day" pants.

At least the crotch length and depth is accurate, so small favors, right?

Day: Saturday, March 15, 2014.

Where: Finishing the kindergarten class quilt, the Veronica Mars movie, and Girls Night Out with B. and T.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The Peter Pilotto for Target tee is very soft and comfortable (and worth the $20 I spent, only thing from the collection not overpriced in my estimation).  The points off are for the jeans, which while look fine on me are just not *super, over the top,* pj comfy the way I have decided I want all my pants to feel.  LOL.  I am getting soft in my old age. 

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  This outfit is pretty cool.  I think the whole look makes me look a touch younger, maybe not super youthful, but maybe, possibly, *not a mom with three kids* young?  :-)  Here's to hoping, anyhow.

I cannot believe how much the people in the UK were willing to pay for these Target pieces.  They were sold at Net-a-Porter UK and from what I could tell they simply took the American price and put a pound sign in front of the amount instead of a dollar sign.  So this tee would have been 20 pounds, or nearly $35.  Yikes.  And then of course some of the items sold out and the ebay people over there then double or tripled the UK price.  Seriously.  Wow.  I made a joke with some of my UK blog friends that I could go to the local Target, buy most of the pieces on sale, and then make a *stupid* amount of profit if I did that.  I guess we didn't want these pieces as much as the ladies over there did.

Anecdote from the Day: My hubby and I love Veronica Mars.  I loved it enough to obsessively watch it, but my husband was obsessive enough to actually give money to the kickstarter to get the movie funded.  It turned out that he couldn't give money in the end since the whole project was funded in one day (fast!!!).  That's some serious love.  It was a good movie, but it was weird, like it should have been on TV, but there I was, along with other adults reliving their *decade old* youth in a theater.  Did anyone else out there see it?

Okay, that's all for now. 

If you have a Boden review, I will be writing the BWRR up tomorrow if you would like to include yours in it.  You can either comment your review here at the Boden Reviews tab, or you can email me at dinagideon AT aim DOT com.

OOTD/Review: Boden Harbour Island Dress.

Day: Friday, May 31, 2013.

Where:  Rex's Tee-ball Practice and Girls Night Out.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The Boden Harbour Island Dress review is below, but I will point out that I am normally not a fan of the sheath style dress for myself since my hips and butt feel constrained and miserable while the bust feels like there is all sorts of room to spare.  Because of the way this dress is constructed, my bust felt fitted and my hips and butt felt nicely contained, but not all sad-like.  Very comfortable, and pretty, too.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  The fun take on an animal print helps elevate this rather simple dress.  The teal/black/olive green combo is also fresh and different, making it cool. 

I should have worn a necklace or a scarf, but I think we may have been in a hurry to get to Rex's practice (which is why the photos are at the park), and accessories were clearly not on my mind.  (The sunglasses are stashed in the car, fwiw.)

Anecdote from the day:  I have been out on four separate girls' night outs this year...and it feels awesome.  :)  The ladies are definitely an eclectic mix, ranging from hippy/crunchy La Leche League leaders to my bowling buddies and of course, yours truly.  I think I may have to have these ladies over for a night of wine drinking at my house in celebration of my next birthday.  I imagine that free drinks may be the ultimate draw based on what I have seen the ladies consume left to their own devices.  ;)

Review:  I decided to purchase the size 6 Long after reading the measurements on line, viewing Avril's review, and seeing that the fabric was a mix of a viscose front and stretchy cotton jersey back.  Since I knew that the jersey would work with my curves, I felt pretty confident that the size would work.

I am really glad I didn't buy the regular length as I think the length would have been far too short on me.  This knee length also allows me to wear it to places like church, so I am a fan.

The detailing is not readily apparent on first view, but the neckline has a darling crochet detail insert in it.  The color of the detail on this dress is the olive green color (like the sleeves and back), and on the other colorways, there is a similar contrast detail.

I am not normally viscose's #1 fan, but at the price I paid (the same as the price it is now, on 30% off sale which I discussed in this post), I am happy and anticipate this being another of my go-to summer dresses.  I think if you can buy a viscose piece on deep discount or it is already at a fairly good price, the material is worth it.


Harbour Island Dress.  The hot pink color will stick around for the big end of season clearance, but the purple version and the olive version may not make it to clearance in all sizes.

Okay, talk with you all soon.  Since I know that the dress sale ends on Wednesday, I will make it a point to publish my "queued" dress posts before then.

Direct link to the sale going on right now.  To see the dresses in the 30% promo, the homepage of Boden USA has a direct link, but you can always click here, too.  :)

OOTDs: Striped and Handmade.

Day: Saturday, April 27, 2013.

Where:  Rex's Tee Ball Game and Bethesda.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This Target dress is so soft and cozy, and even though I have worn and washed it multiple times since last summer, it hasn't pilled or looked worse for wear.  I also own this in the other color, and have seen many other women in it, so clearly I am not alone in my love for this dress.

It was literally a perfect day, nice warm temps without the oppressive humidity.  I don't mind going to Rex's games when it is oppressive, but it sure nice to not be all sweaty and gross by the end of the game.

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Very average outfit, but pretty!  I love teal, and I appreciate that the designer of this fabric used chartreuse and brown as the complementary colors, definitely not what would "traditionally" be used with teal.

Anecdote from the day:  Just another typical Saturday in our family, way too much to do, with very little time to get it all done.  At least we are now sort of used to it, and from what parents of older kids tell me, it gets even crazier and busier as the kids get older.

Day: Monday, April 29, 2013.

Where:  Rex Pickup.

Ease of Wear: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Well this is a dress made for me, by me, but because I lined it in a cotton/poly that is not "slippy," it kept getting caught on my leggings.  I really wanted to wear the dress, so I just dealt with it, but clearly I need to only wear this one when the temperatures are warm enough to get away with wearing it with bare legs.

The rest of the outfit was super comfortable, though.

Cool Factor: (2 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  It is hard for me to judge my own creations.  It is probably cool that I made this and still wear it, but it isn't an especially fashion forward creation.  :)


Well, and I am wearing an old pair of Boden maternity leggings (SO so soft and non-binding), so definitely not cool.  LOL.

Anecdote from the day:  Mondays are pretty boring.  I usually spend the day updating the blog and commenting, shopping, doing chores, and picking Rex up from school.  Now that summer is here, Mondays will be a bit different, but they may become even lazier, in that I may just wear a swimsuit and shorts and be done with it.

(The grocery run will for sure disappear, though, 'cause this momma ain't crazy enough to take THREE crazy kids to the store.)

Day: Saturday, May 25, 2013.

Where:  Girls Night Out to J. Crew and Meaza.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This is another handmade creation, and while the skirt fits great, the sweater kept tugging the waistband up so the skirt felt like it was too short, which led to a bit of tugging.  When I make this skirt again, I am definitely lengthening it by three inches. 

I love this sweater, though, and was thrilled when J. Crew had it on sale for $70.  Cashmere at that price is definitely easy to swallow. 

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  The nice teenage girls and the young manager at J. Crew (was making a return) complimented my skirt, which made me feel so happy.  I know they have to be nice to me because I am a customer, but still feels good to be told your creation looks good.  :)

Anecdote from the day:  My friend #1 had never eaten Ethiopian food before and was willing to give it a try.  My friend #2 is like me, a regular customer at the area's Ethiopian restaurants. 

At the end of the night we were told that if we were going to be eating Ethiopian ever again, it would just have to be friend #2 and me, since friend #1 didn't like it, at all. 

Okay, that's it for today!  Hope everyone is having a great Sunday.

P.S. I am preparing my "Boden Autumn 2013 Preview Picks" and will be doing a few posts over the next week, so be on the lookout.  If you have any items that you just love, definitely let me know here at this post!