OOTDs: Three.

Sewing friends, before I begin, I want to let you know there are sewing projects in the queue for publication at the blog, but most of my sewing energies of late have been of the selfless sewing kind.  I haven't sewn anything up for myself since my splatter art blouse!  I knew the first week I would definitely want to take a break, so I sewed up a bunny rabbit stuffed animal for Rex.  I did cut some coat fabric for a coat last week, but then Rex reminded me about his pizza costume.  So I put the coat on hold and decided to make that this week (it is nearly done--woo!).  But the coat will have to wait just a touch longer since I will be receiving my first fabric from Fabric Mart tomorrow for my very first blog post for them.  I suspect most of my weekend will be spent getting a lot of that project done.  :-)

Okay, onto the outfits!

Day: Tuesday, October 29, 2014.

Where:  Joann's, Michaels, and Noodles and Co.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Even though the only reason I could wear these pants was because I had a recent weight loss doesn't make them easier to wear.  They are cute, I like the slim cut with heavier fabric, but the waistband kept riding down.  I had to keep hitching it up.  I don't know what is going on...it wasn't the worst, but I wish there was something I could figure out to do so they wouldn't ride down on me.

The Chepstow top (here, original review here) is awesomely comfortable, so that helped make up for the pants.  But not enough to drag it higher in score.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  My style is usually not this style, even with the Chepstow top, so I would say stepping out of my preppy comfort zone helps up the cool factor. 

Anecdote from the day:  Fall.  Grr.  Fall.  I hate the "oh it's so cold in the morning, but almost hot by midday, and then rainy in the afternoon."  I spent the day wearing this wondering why I bothered.  I am not sure what would have worked for the weather we had yesterday.

Apparently Angus is a Lorde fan.  Upon arriving at Joann's to procure more supplies for Rex's pizza costume, "Royals" came on, and Angus got mad at me for singing because he wanted to sing the song.  When asked if he wanted to listen to the music or go into the store, he didn't hesitate before he said "listen to music."  And to make his day even more complete, they were playing "Royals" in Michaels, too.  :-)

Day: Tuesday, October 28, 2014.

Where:  Bowling and Harris Teeter.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  These johnnie b. jeans are wonderful, but maybe a bit too fitted for bowling?  I should probably just show up to bowling in sweats, but no one else does, so I guess I should just learn how to bowl better in non-activewear.  :-)

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  It's cute enough, I suppose.  That's all I got.

Anecdote from the day:  My games were B-A-D, like my first year bad.  Sad.  Our team was whooped soundly, after soundly whooping others the week prior.  Sigh.

BTW, these photos had to be lightened a ton.  The light during the morning is just off in the house and outside.  I look forward to the time falling back on Nov. 1...it will make waking up easier and getting photos done properly, as well.

(If I use the flash, my skin looks ghostly, and I am 100% serious when I say ghostly...I am paler than I realized.)

Day: Saturday, October 25, 2014.

Where:  Rex's baseball game.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I was warm because of the Blarney Woolen Mills cape, and comfortable because of the J. Crew jeans.  The boots, while awesome, didn't work with the socks I wore, so I had to keep pulling them up to make them stay up.  That is the blemish, and the reason for the 1/2 star reduction.

Cool Factor: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I am giving this one a perfect score.  I really like the way this cape looks when combined with the jeans, boots, and sunglasses.  I don't know if the Sartorialist would dig it, but honestly don't give two flying "you know whats" about his opinion. 

Anecdote from the day:  Rex's team made it to the championships with the game they played that day.  There is a really good chance their team will be in first place.  I am thrilled for them.  We have the most amazing coach, just an all-around great guy, and the kids really work super hard and try their best, so to see the team make it this far is really exciting.  Wish Rex and his team luck on Saturday coming, please!!!

Okay, that's all for tonight!

P.S. Boden fans--20% off with free ship and returns are here starting tomorrow for four days!!!  Will write more on that tomorrow morning!  :-)

OOTDs: Photographic Evidence.

Day: Tuesday, August 5, 2014.

Where: So mundane--Joann's to pick up fabric for the boys pjs and Harris Teeter to go grocery shopping.  I live the life, you all.

Ease of Wear: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  By the end of the day, I can push this to a 4, but I always feel a bit exposed in shorter shorts.  I should probably just get over it already or stop wearing them, but to me, these muscle tees that I love wearing look best with a shorter silhouette on bottom, so there you go.  I guess I could just wear a skirt, but eh, three kids, you know?

I do want to include a quickie review of this tee, the photo stripe tank from J. Crew, since I have been wanting it since early July, and maybe there are a few of you out there who are eyeing it now that it is on super sale (I was able to buy mine for $21 plus shipping).  I had first seen it online and knew I wanted it, but at $45, I wasn't willing to do it, especially for a fairly simple/sheer tee.  I then got to the store and tried it on, but again, at $45, nuh uh.  So when it went down to $36 minus 40%, I was then willing, since $21 for this tank seemed reasonable enough to me. 

I tried it on in a small, and seeing that it was just loose enough to keep it casual, but not sloppy, I didn't bother with the extra-small.  I often buy extra-smalls in J. Crew tees, so bear that in mind.  I don't know that I would have liked the extra-small on me, it would have been too fitted for the look I wanted to achieve.

The tee is fairly sheer, but not anything indecent.  I love the graphic, it is well done and very pretty.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I am definitely in love with this look and I felt cool today.

Anecdote from the Day:  If you are a long time reader (like from the very beginning) you will remember me posting about my HUGE crush on Don Henley* way back when I was in high school.  It was mad and redonk, but oh, my, he was my *everything.* 

*The link in that post is broken but it was for an ebay listing for a bag made from this Rolling Stone cover.

I also am from California (born there, spent multiple summers there as a kid).  I moved to VA as a young girl, but I always thought I would move to CA after high school.  I even applied to USC and Chapman, was accepted, but then decided not to go at the last minute.

So the mix of Don Henley/California Love gave me an great appreciation for all things west coast, especially the video for Boys of Summer.  I remember one summer spent listening to Boys of Summer non-stop and thinking of my future as Don Henley's wife under the setting sun on the beach, wearing our Ray-Bans with the swaying palm trees behind us.  (And, yes, our car would be the car from the video.)

Well obviously I stayed in VA, and I married someone else, but the tee reminds me so much of that time/obsession, that I am happy that I have it and can secretly remind myself of being the greatly deluded teenager I once was.  ;-)

Boys of Summer video here.

And just for kicks, California Love video here.

Day: Monday, August 4, 2014.

Where: Doctor appointment, uniform shopping, and Five Guys.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The darling Paris tee from Forever 21 is really fun, but it is a touch short on the sides so I needed to make sure that I kept my cami tucked in so the line of the sides weren't ruined by it.  But, really, other than that, super comfortable.  The shorts are made by me (here), so clearly they probably fit me well.  ;-)

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Shorts may be a touch baggy, but a decent summer look.  I felt young. 

Anecdote from the Day:  Uniform shopping is such a bear.  We definitely knew that while we wouldn't have minded saving $25 on VA's tax free weekend to purchase the kids' uniforms for the year, we also know that place is an absolute madhouse on their slow days, so we chose to go the day after the tax-free weekend ended.  It was still super crowded, but tolerable.  And since all the kids were with us, we need all the help to keep us sane.  I cannot even imagine what the place looked like on Fri, Sat, and Sun.  Yikes.

Okay, that's it for now!  I hope all of you are doing well.

And since I am curious, and I rarely ask questions like this...who was your secret celebrity crush?  Was yours as odd as mine? 

OOTD/Review: Boden Laid Back Dress.

Hey, everyone.  Guess what you get when a 5-year old's elbow knocks a cup of coffee onto a laptop?  You guessed it...a dead laptop.  (SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOB!)  Anyhow, I have been trying to save it but it looks kaput, so my brother (who works at a computer store, phew) will take the hard drive and put all its contents onto whatever laptop we buy next.  Until  then I have a jangly, many years old desktop computer to work on instead, but I find doing anything on it so slow and tedious that it may be unlikely that I am back completely until the new laptop is ours.

I will still do my best to update as I can, and will for sure keep the Facebook page updated.  But there will probably be lots of information in each post so I don't have to publish a new post with every new bit of info out there.

For instance today I would have had three posts--this one on the ootd/review and two others on two separate Boden related items.  But instead I will put those two items in this post to save me sanity and not get me to the point where I want to throw the jangly old pc out the window.  :-P

So, before the ootd/review starts, here are the two big items from Boden today.

1. They started a 40% off 40 items sale today.  This is a four day event and a lot of the items included are really nice pieces.  I would encourage you all to take a look around as some of the items will not be at 40% off during the clearance time.  Amazingly, all items in the sale are reduced in all the colors, which rarely happens, so even if an item's color is fairly popular, it is at the same price as the less popular colors, which does not normally happen. 

At the end of the post I will go over the items I personally recommend and can link to reviews.

2. Boden rolled out their Winter Preview for 2014!  We saw some of the images for winter during the press days (which I wrote about here) but now we can actually order them.  There are some very pretty items for sale.  I definitely will be doing a picks post on these items. (I will also probably do a formal blog post on the rollout happening tomorrow just in case I have readers who only come here for Boden preview stuff--there are a lot of those, actually!)  Anyhow, use the code X7V8 for 20% off with free ship and returns.  That code expires on my birthday.  ;-)  *That would be July 1.*

Okay, onto the ootd/review.

Day: Wednesday, June 18, 2014.

Where: Rex's Swim Practice and Winesday.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Thank goodness for a loose linen shift dress on a ridiculously humid, hot, and ugly muggy day.  I don't sweat often, but by the end of walking Rex to swim practice (it's not far, but it does require around a 1/5 mile walk to get to it), I was definitely overheated and feeling the perspiration. 

I wore a linen costume when I was pregnant with CW and working as a volunteer historical interpreter at the Jamestown site.  They said that a full linen costume would be cooler than I expected it to be and they were right.  Since then, and even though it wrinkles like cray cray, I happily keep all the pieces in my wardrobe since DC doesn't know a cool summer.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Tropical prints are in, as is a relaxed, chill silhouette, so I did well here.

Anecdote from the Day:  Angus came with us to Winesday and was so frustrated with us that he put his head down on the buggy and pretended to be asleep.  Eventually I coaxed him into sipping the watermelon soup and it was literally like watching a hungry flower bloom after a rain storm.  That's all he needed, it turned out.  The watermelon soup was pretty amazing, and made me feel pretty good too.

Laid Back Dress (here).  Size 8 L.  I was so nervous that the 8 L would be too big in the bodice while fitting my hips that I would be frustrated with it enough to send it back.  Happily Anna (in this post) made me less worried and upon receiving it I found that sizing to the 8 L was the right call.  It fits a bit loose overall, even in the hips, and while the length isn't super long, it is more than fine for summer casual outings.

The fabric is a lighter linen, but is not so lightweight that it required a lining.  The pattern is really great, too, and you had better believe that if I was going to someplace tropical this summer (besides DC, lol), I would be packing this one with me.

Side view.  The shaping you see there at my upper back may be because linen's fibers stretch as need be, and since I am thinnest through my waist, it is possible that the fibers stayed most constricted there.  (You can also see this in the fact that the place where there is the most wrinkling is at my hips, the very place where I am widest.)

Back view.  I like that I don't look too wide here.  I find if something looks good from the back then the garment is pretty decent.  There have been a lot of items I have returned because they look just awful from behind and I would never want to torture anyone with that view of me.  Ha.


Laid Back Dress.  Sold out in a lot of colors and sizes, but the sizes do popback from time to time.  This dress is not part of the 40% off 40 promo, but you can use the sidebar coupon or the one at the bottom of this post to receive the current 25% off everything promotion.


40% Off 40 Items Promo:
Selina Dress.  Review here (use link in BWRR).  I have since received the size up and while it fits better, it is just not right enough for me to keep.  I have some photos of the new size and will get those up ASAP.  I think if you love this dress and want to try this style, 40% off is good, especially if you buy it in a popular color that will not be at 40% off during clearance.

Flowershow Dress.  Review link to Monica's blog here at this BWRR.  Looked really nice on her.  :-)

Nancy Dress.  Review here.  Also worn here.

Casual Jersey Dress.  Review here.  HIGHLY recommended.  :-) 

Lovely Linen Dress.  Review here.  Also a love on my part, but I could see it being the wrong shape for some women.

Ariette Dress.  The original that came to me was reviewed here (use link in BWRR).  The dress must have been mislabeled a 6L since it was massive on me.  I returned it for a 4L, just in case, but the 4L only fit well in the bust and waist.  The hips were too tight to be comfortable.  I will get photos of that one up at the same time as I get up the Selina dress photos.  I could exchange again for the 6L, but ugh, I don't want to deal with this again. I hope that someone at Boden reads this and sees that only so much tolerance should be expected on our parts regarding their down slide in quality control.  Anyhow, it is a very pretty print and a cool fabric for summer heat, but be aware of the possibility of bad sizing.

Emily Skirt.  Review of it here.  Wore it again here. 

There are other items included in the sale that I am sure are great, but need feedback on to make sure they are great.  :-)  If you have a review that you can share of any of the 40% Off 40 Items, would you mind commenting here at this post?

Okay that's all for now.  Be back soon, wish me luck with the new laptop!

OOTDs: Casual Dressy. Or Just Dressy. Part Two of Two.

 Day: Sunday, February 24, 2013.

Where: Clyde's for lunch with my girl.

Ease of Wear: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I am taking a couple of points off because the dress's skirt kept hitching up on my tights.  It wasn't anything unbearable, but I did notice it.  I wish I could be less OCD about things like this, but I *know* other women have the same hangup.

If it had been a touch warmer, I could have gotten away with wearing the fitted ponte dress (review here, btw) sans tights, but since it was only forecast to be in the mid-50s, I knew it was tights all the way. (As much as I adore the velvet Bella jacket, it isn't super warm.)

The effortless suede boots, once again, proved why they will always be a fixture in my wardrobe.  I love how they can give a little lift (literally and figuratively) to most of my outfits, yet are so very comfortable. 

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) I think it looks pretty good, but it may be a bit too much "look" for some of you since I decided that a knee length dress and tights and ankle booties worked.  From what style 101 dictates, that combo is tremendously awful on the leg line, creating stumps instead of stems (remember this scene in Clueless?).  I am fairly tall, and most of my height is in my legs, so I am okay with the *stumping,* but I get it if this is not your thang.

Anecdote from the day:  So I was approached by a friend at bowling yesterday who asked if CW and I had been at Clyde's a couple of Sundays ago.  Obviously we had been, but I was very amused that someone had seen us walking to Clyde's that day.  She said she had tried to find us, but because of how many rooms this particular Clyde's has, she had to give up after the first five or six.  LOL.  She supposedly stopped right before she got to the room we were in.

CW loves Clyde's, which if you know this restaurant, is slightly amusing, since she is 4.  Anyhow, I got her the kids' meal with a hamburger, asked for well done, and out comes a very pink center patty.  Guess who didn't care?  Yeah, that's my girl, giving Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern a run for their money.  However, she won't touch mashed potatoes. 

Day: Tuesday, February 26, 2013.

Where: School Run and Jo Ann Fabrics, but no preschool run that day.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I had to get over the way the bodice fit (since it runs large through there on me--the review is here, btw), but once I did, and sort of *wore in* the dress, I was very comfortable.  It just took a while to get used to the way the casual pintuck dress felt.

It was very cold, windy, and rainy, though, and I was very happy with my choice of the thick stadium cloth coat (rightly called the Elements coat), thick wool knee socks, and leather boots.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) Since I normally am "Miss Pattern Explosion," this very sedate and monotone outfit is out of my proverbial comfort zone.  It is also the first time I tried the whole "knee socks and boots" look that everyone else does so effortlessly.  I really liked the way it came together, but the outfit isn't super special, so 3.5 it is...

Anecdote from the day:  I decided to go to Jo Ann's before picking up Rex from school.  I went ahead and purchased a rotary cutter and self-healing cutting mat (they were 40% off, too!) since I despise cutting fabrics with scissors.  I try to be so careful with the scissors, but I end up making mistakes, and if you sew, you know what a pain in the a$$ it can be to sew on fabric that doesn't follow the pattern properly.  The rotary cutter has taken some getting used to, but I will say that being more careful with that leads to really precise cuts, and can also take curves better, which my scissors cannot. 

CW fell in love with a Japanese girl print flannel cotton and I found a skull print flannel cotton for Rex, so I guess there will be more pajamas in our future.

Day: Wednesday, February 27, 2013.

Where: Body Wrap and Whole Foods Winesday.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I am in a "soft as a baby's bottom" jersey dress, a pair of knee socks (hey, no need for full tights!), and small heels.  It is hard to imagine a more comfortable outfit.  It would be a 5, but the Pointed Mary Janes (review here) are not ballet flats, so a tiny bit more of a challenge to walk in. 

I love this dress, and am very glad that it still fits me well, despite having been purchased specifically as a maternity dress (seen here and here on me while pregnant).

Cool Factor: (2 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Not cool, pretty, but not cool.  The knee socks, now that I have admitted to it, bring the score down a whole point, too.  :)

Anecdote from the day:  I love that my hubby is willing to let me take an afternoon off once a month to get a massage/body wrap/facial.  I never realize how bad my back/shoulders/neck feels until after Miss Michelle gives me her very intense (read: kind of painful) massage.  I usually walk out of there feeling like I am walking on a cloud of marshmallows. 

It is always followed up by Winesday, which makes it even more lovely. 

Day: Saturday, March 2, 2013.

Where: Church and then the school auction.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  For a party frock, this is really comfortable.  The sequinned dress (review here) is a stretch jersey with a lining, so it feels wonderful on, with none of that "ugh, what in the world is pinning/scratching me" feeling that sometimes happens with party dresses. 

The least comfortable part of my outfit was the glitter Mona pumps, but even so, I wasn't dying or anything, and managed to stand up in them for at least an hour and a half of the evening.

I wouldn't have minded keeping the pretty metallic trim ballet flats on, though (bottom photo).  I only brought them, though, so I could wear something far less "in your face" to church right beforehand. 

(Yes, I just said I went to mass in the sequinned dress and ballet flats.)

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) This is such a cool outfit.  It is really hard to mess up cocktail attire, though.  LOL.

The clutch is from Arbonne (comet cosmetics collection), and was one of their offerings over Christmas time.  Basically, you ordered the clutch and it came with four eyeshadows and a bright red lipstick.  I fell for the clutch first (since it is reminiscent of Alexander McQueen), but appreciated the extra goodies, of course.  Only issue with the clutch is that the chain sticks to my hair, but since I don't plan on wearing it that way (as a handbag), it doesn't even affect me.

Anecdote from the day:  AI went to church before because the auction was in the church's basement.  Since I like to kill as many birds with one stone as I can, I decided that I could wear a sequin, spangled dress to church so long as I wore the coat over it the entire time and wore the flats (I brought the pumps and changed into them after).

Once at the auction, it was A BLAST.  My friend (and Rex's girlfriend's mom) and I hung out and drank vodka-spiked lemonades.  Yum.  Mr. Dina bid on two things, a basket of Chik-fil-A free meal coupons, tees, and mugs, and an after-school class for Rex.  He won both.  (Mmm...chicken!)

My friend told me that the live auction was crazy.  The Robert Griffin, III. jersey went for 1000 dollars, which we totally expected, but the handpainted bookcase that Rex and his classmates made (that was from the day I spent entirely at Rex's school--also Rex and RG3's birthday) went for 900 dollars.  You read that right...a very basic, very diy-looking bookshelf went for almost as much as a jersey from a Redskins' quarterback.  Guess it was good we put all that effort into making it!  Yeep.

Day: Sunday, March 3, 2013.

Where: Bethesda run, which means one thing--LOUISIANA KITCHEN (and their amazing cajun martinis).

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Love how comfortable this outfit is, even though it looks like it should be more uncomfortable.  It isn't fully comfortable since the tights aren't control top and I had to hitch them up every hour or so.

Monica H., my good friend from CA (seen here with me in this post at Winesday), gave me this skirt a few months ago since her wee little hips couldn't fit into them anymore.  I was more than happy to accept her gift, and am glad we are now getting to a point (read: warmer days) where I can wear this, finally.  :)  So thank you again, Monica!

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Some of you J. Crew ladies are gonna love this outfit, since many of you love this skirt.  Others of you will be all, "yeah, not so much."  Let split the difference and give it a 3.

Anecdote from the day:  Mr. Dina is a terrible parallel parker.  He will give up and drive really far away to find an easier spot to park in, which is no big deal when it is warm and sunny, but on days when it is blustery and cold, it is nice to be closer to where we need to be.  It wasn't that cold that day, but with three kids, and the *perfect* spot nice and wide open, I told him to just let me park the darn car.  If you grow up around here, learning to parallel park is absolutely a necessity (unlike in Mississippi, home of wide parking spaces EVERYWHERE!), so I can get into the tightest spaces imaginable.  Mr. Dina always seems amazed that I have no problems doing so, and to further mess with him, I usually take a bow afterwards.  LOL. 

Anyway, after my (only known) feat of strength, I was more than happy to imbibe the Cajun martini.

Okay, that's it!  You all have a great Friday!  :)

OOTDs: Sequins, Morning, Noon, and Night.

Day: Wednesday, January 9, 2013.

Where: Whole Foods Wines-day, Anthropologie, and La Madeleine in Old Town Alexandria.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) 4. Outside of a bit of scratchiness in the skirt from the sequins, this outfit was very comfortable.  The tights were a touch too big, so that wasn't awesome, but they stayed up, so whatever.

Glitter flats?  Pretty and easy to wear.  Love!

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) 4. I think wearing the combo of bright blue with a gold base works.  And since I am not in France, the beret looks okay cool.  LOL.  ;)  (At least I think it does.)

Anecdote from the day:  I was able to see a good blog friend of mine, Monica.  She used to live in Maryland, but moved all the way across the country last year.  Amazingly, we have seen each other multiple times since her move, so I guess 3000 miles is really not that big of a deal.

Also, we went to the Anthropologie in Old Town that night and I found the Goldspun Paisley Dress for $39.  Yahoo!  Monica found it, hung all alone, in my size. It was meant to be. (I like it best belted and with a black cardigan.) :)

Day: Monday, January 14, 2013.

Where:  Rex's first piano lesson.  More on that frivolity in a moment.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) 3. It felt easy at first, and actually would have continued to feel easy, but because of the nature of the piano lesson, I ended up having to carry Angus for half of the time, which isn't super easy in a sequined top.  It's my bad for choosing this outfit, but it is rare for me to have to hold Angus all the time, he usually prefers to toddle around and explore. 

I wore this cardigan way way back when, and I really like it.  I far prefer it styled like this though.

I also was able to bring out my most favorite pair of jeans, they finally fit again.  I still have some baby weight to lose, but these jeans prove I am almost there (woo!).

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  3.  This cardigan was probably cool when it came out in the Fall of 2009, but since then, I am sure it has fallen out of favor, regardless of the Marc Jacobs label.  The jeans, though, will always be cool.  (Again, at least in my mind.)

Anecdote from the day:  The piano teacher, bless her heart, was a bit *confused.*  It made for a very interesting "hour" with Rex, CW, and Angus.  Basically, you walk into the lesson, put your name on a list (Rex's), and wait for your turn.  With five to seven kids in the class, each kid should get 10-15 minutes with the teacher at the piano.  The first child (who also goes to Rex's school) got 25 minutes, and the next kid got 20 (and the book that was supposed to be used by all the beginners).  The next child had the book, so that kid got 15.  Are you doing the math?  That's three kids in 60 minutes.  There are still 3 kids to go, along with the *next* lesson's kids coming in, plus some random family whose kid wasn't signed up for the lessons, but wanted to sign up for lessons.  That random kid got five minutes.  We still haven't gotten to the last three kids, and it is now 5:10 pm.  (That is 70 minutes after we showed up.) 

Rex was a champ and sat there and waited patiently, CW did okay, but poor Angus, because we were in a music room with lots of breakable instruments was struggling.  Sigh.


Eventually she saw to seeing Rex, but because the book had been given to another kid, Rex didn't even get to sit at the piano.  The whole time he kept looking at me and saying, "I get to play the piano, right?"  And I, thinking it's gonna happen said, "of course, honey, thank you for being patient."


So when she saw us she told us what book to get and that she looked forward to seeing him at the next lesson.  If this happens again, though, regardless of her sweet personality, I will probably drop the class.  Would you do the same?  Just curious...

Day: Tuesday, January 15, 2013.

Where:  Little Gym with Angus in the AM, and El Paso Cafe in Arlington for my brother's birthday.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) 4. This outfit felt good.  I am really glad I chose to size up by two whole sizes in the Neiman Marcus/Target Tracy Reese blouse.  I had originally thought I would buy it in the size small, but when I tried that on in the store, it was too tight in my hips.  And really expensive for what it was.  But by waiting until the VERY END of the life of the collaboration (I bought it on Saturday night, 1/13/13), I was able to try on all the sizes and get it for $20.  (I also grabbed the Marc Jacobs pewter clutch for $20.)

This was the large, and it is large overall, but nicely skims over my hips, so I can wear it as a tunic.

The jeans are a wonderful stretch denim material, and the Naturalizer flats are made for making lives as easy as possible.

(BTW, the first photo up there is from me trying the outfit out the night before.  I guess I was so traumatized by the piano lesson I had to do something to calm down.  That means making outfits and seeing how they look in real life.  Ha.)

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) 2.5.  No lies, I don't know that any part of this outfit was that cool...even if the name on the shirt is Tracy Reese and the name on the pants is Michael Kors.  The colors of the outfit are currently "in," but I am not sure that I am wearing this outfit the way the cool blogger girls are, so there's that.  But those girls probably don't have a Little Gym class to attend, so let's call it even.  ;)

The sombrero definitely helped up the chic factor. 

Anecdote from the day:  The sweet, earth mother teacher at the Little Gym class LOVED my sequin blouse.  Other people kept feeling it up, all day long.

The dinner was fabulous, and halfway through dinner, my brother decided to give me his phone, and because I am me, I went to his facebook page and wrote "Peter is hot," as him.  So he basically looked like he wrote that himself.  Hahahahaha. 

A few years ago, I got hold of my dad's facebook account and wrote as him on Peter's page, "Peter, I have always loved you most.  Your sister, Dina, drives me crazy.  It is no secret to everyone that you are my favorite."  LOL.  Peter sniffed me out pretty quickly, sadly...within mere minutes he outed me as the real author.  Dang.  Practical jokes are no fun.  ;)

Okay, that's it for tonight.  Don't forget, tomorrow is the last day to enter my big four year blog-o-versary giveaway!