Five Outfits Take a Vacation in North Carolina...

Compared to my last post on outfits in the Bahamas, I feel like these outfits, while I like them, don't really represent me as well as summer or beach outfits do.

But my winter clothing serves me well, so I decided to take some of them on a little vacation to the hills of North Carolina. (Well, I really didn't...Mr. Dina had a conference there...but still, it counts.)

This was the same vacation that I was able to go to the AWESOME J. Crew Clearance Center in Arden, NC. (BTW, there are some great tips in the comments section...check them out before you make a trek to this store.)

North Carolina in the Fall! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Here is the polyvore of this vacation wardrobe. I have no in real life photos from this trip of the berry trim Astrid jacket (which is really the outlet version), but I wore it last night to go shopping, so it will be on this blog soon enough! The herringbone ecole in pumpkin is another outlet find. (But it looks EXACTLY like the one from J. Crew last fall.)


Day One--Drive from NOVA to NC in five hours in awful weather. Kinda wet, kinda warm, kinda blah. The yellow in my v-neck brightened the world for hours. I think you can read in the dark from the illumination.

Anyhow, we are at my FAVORITE fast food joint ever, Steak and Shake. This place has the best fast food...hands down. It even beats my other fave (and local business gone good) Five Guys. Why? Because Steak and Shake has more variety. If Five Guys had Steak and Shake's variety, it would be no contest, my neighborhood burger joint would win, of course. But since Five Guys business model is to stick to the basics (which they do REALLY well), I think Steak and Shake will always reign supreme. BTW, I always get the Frisco Melt with a side of cheese fries and either cottage cheese or chili. I eat clean the rest of the time...Steak and Shake is for me to INDULGE.

Here is the sadness...there are NO Steak and Shakes anywhere in the Virginia, DC, or Maryland area. I have to drive 5 hours to where Elon College is located to get to our nearest one.


Still Day One--Halloween night. My kids were both their favorite characters from the hit children's tv program, Yo Gabba Gabba, for Halloween, so I decided to be their DJ Lance. Rex was Brobee, and CW was Foofa. I know...a bit ridiculous, but all in fun. Plus, and this is just perfection, when can you ever pull out J. Crew and wear it for Halloween??? I love that this Candace sweater jacket just fit the bill.


Day Two--Drive from Winston-Salem (we stayed at the same hotel as we did when I had the INCIDENT but on the other side AWAY from hilarity and festivity) to Asheville. This top is not represented in the polyvore. It is from Boden probably three years ago? This was when Boden was still making their tops fairly short, which doesn't really bother me, Miss Short Torso, but I remember seeing people complaining about how Boden doesn't really give enough length in their tops on their website. Anyhow, I love the floral detail with the stripes. Plus the colors are pretty and all autumnal.


Day Two--Evening at dinner with the kids at some fancy restaurant at the resort. THE KIDS WERE PERFECT. :) YAY! Anyhow, IGNORE my makeup. I have no idea if the flash did that or if I really am that ghostly, but I definitely didn't look like that in real, actual light.

I love this top...it is very comfortable, but when the bow is tied and you wear it with a pencil skirt, tights, and heels, it gets notched up to "dressy casual." (Which is my favorite type of outfit...) Also, look at it! Not an ounce of actual color. This may be a dinagideon first!


Last Day (Day Four)--Skipped right over Day Three because that was the day I went to the clearance center and none of the outfit pics turned out. Sigh.

This top is the abstract rose victoria cami from the outlet and the jacket is the herringbone ecole (with a button instead of a clasp) from the outlet. The pants are the charcoal minnies, and the shoes are my lovely Alessias in grey. This was the ONLY shot that turned out okay. I think the room had bad lighting. This outfit was actually VERY comfortable. This was the outfit I wore when we ate at Tupelo Honey (which has FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC southern food). If this outfit was still comfortable after that meal (which it was), then those Minnies are God-sends.

I still have more posts upcoming. Later on today, I will be doing my next Mid-Century Mom post (I did some cooking, you all). The next couple from My Superfluities will include one on the ruffles and rosette top in black, a recreation of a catalog look from November, some Boden pieces from this fall, and a whole long post with me wearing a bunch of dresses.

Have a nice Sunday!

Oh, I Am a Stay at Home Mom, Now...

Outside of a couple of stints as a substitute teacher this year, I will be exclusively staying at the house with the kids...still working (all you stay at home moms chime in with how true this is)...but it does afford me the opportunity to be a bit more "casual" with my outfits. (Although, I have an idea or two percolating in my mind to try and emulate the fab moms of the '50s and '60s, those who dressed up to do the dishes, but more on that later...)

So here goes...a few of my recent "hot weather" SAHM outfits. Nothing uber-special, but all fun and totally me. :)


HeidiG., this is all for you, babe. Don't you just love the message on the message tee? I bought this in Disneyland and I know it's meant for teenagers, but eh, whatever, I love the way it looks. The citron shorts are J. Crew from years ago, and the capri sandals are the starfish critter ones from earlier this summer. I felt very good in this outfit (probably because I felt like I was ready to go to the beach--and really when is that ever a bad thing?)!

Playdates and Mini-Skirts... by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Here is the polyvore for outfit #2...only polyvore for this post.


I wore this outfit to the playdate with HeidiG., E., M., and Summerilla. Yes, I wore a mini-skirt to the mall for a playdate. Again, who cares? This skirt is so comfy in real life. And that tee...it is so soft, it is unreal. And yep, that is the antique gold manor necklace from J. Crew (the only thing I have been able to wear from the DC JCA shopping expedition to Tysons in August).

The playdate was great...I love seeing HeidiG. and Summerilla, and as a bonus, my kids got to play with HeidiG.'s kids (who were FANTASTIC with my kids...love it)!


And for those of you who are curious...this is my version of workout wear. I workout so much that I find I spend a few hours a day at least in clothing just like this...I even travel now with workout clothing...yes, I know, it is almost sick. ;)

The night that I wore this it was a bit chilly, so I covered the tank with the wallpaper cardigan. This cardi was just the right weight to keep me from being too cold...but portable enough that I could fold it up and put it back into the yoga bag, if need be.


I did a close-up of the workout tank because I want to emphasize to all ladies the importance of having real support for your own "ladies" when engaging in any activity more jarring than say, yoga or swimming. I think I was off to an abs class and although it wasn't, say, kickboxing (no, that special form of cruelty awaited me another day), I found the extra support from a workout-grade top really helped in keeping me comfortable and from hurting CW's main source of food (yes, I am one of those crazy nurse a baby--if you can--until they are two types).

You all have the best night...soon you will see parts two and three to this SAHM thing...dressy nights and my new haircut and new glasses. But depending on Internet access, I may not be able to post again until Monday! So until later...

For Two Days of Summer School, I Wore the Pants...

Wooh! Let's hear it for two posts in one day. (I may not post tomorrow, I have to go to Richmond, so I may be making up for my absence early...)

So I know that when you think of summer, you don't think of pants. But I mixed it up anyhow because that is me, Miss Crazy! I have two outfits in this post and they have the whole "pants" thing in common.

If you have questions on these items, ask in the comments, and I will get to answer you...pinky swear.

Wallpaper Cardi! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Here is the polyvore of outfit #1.


And here is outfit #1 on me! I know this looks like it belongs in the fall, but honestly, as long as I took the cardi off for the walk (this is a nice, brand-spanking new one that HeidiG. personally inspected for me and it has no holes and the pattern lines up...score), this outfit isn't that oppressive for July heat. The Saturday pants are especially lightweight...very nice for the heat. The pants are a size 10 and fit very nicely. An 8 would have been too tight in the hips.

Green and Yellow! by dinagideon featuring Old Navy

Here is the polyvore of outfit #2.


And here it is on me...I think I look young in this outfit. I really, really like it! :) I wore the red and blue version of this cardigan way back when, and loved it so much that I got it in another shade.

This outfit was also summer-friendly, as long as I didn't wear the cardigan on my walk to school.
By the way, the top is not J. Crew, it is actually Ann Taylor Loft from a long time ago. The denim is Old Navy and is a bit big, but I don't mind...they still work for me (although hopefully not for much longer...come on, last ten pounds...).

You all have a great rest of this Thursday!

A Couple of Outfits from July!

I will never, ever make it to the present time in blog posting if I don't just bite the bullet and start posting all these long ago outfits. So, in order to spare me some time so I can actually catch up to real time, I will post most of the July and early August outfits in pairs or triplets.

Today I have for you three outfits from mid-July. None have polyvores which makes this post especially easy...and easy is what I need because baby CW is being clingy, needy, etc. and I am finding it hard to type and hold her at the same time. (Stay at home mom doesn't mean less work it just means a different kind of work...) :)


Here is one I wore to the gym on a Saturday morning (for a while there I had a Pilates Allegro class on Saturday mornings)...

Info: Cardi: J. Crew, Summer 2009, size small; Tank: Athleta, Fall 2008, size medium; Shorts: Wal-Mart, size large (has to be, that inseam is way too short otherwise); Shoes: Born from forever ago, size 10.


Mr. Dina affectionately called me a "hippy-chick" in this outfit. Haha. He is right, though, I do look a bit crunchy-granola. And the skirt...man, it is long...

Info: Top: J. Crew, Fall 2008, size medium; Skirt: Target (Merona), Spring 2008, size 10 (this may be why it is so long now); Flip-Flops: J. Crew, Summer 2007, size 10.


I actually really like this outfit, worn to summer school. I just wish the skirt was shorter. I think as I get smaller, the skirts still technically fit, but since they ride lower, they look longer, which on me reads as dowdy.

Info: Tee: J. Crew, Spring 2008 (maybe), size medium. Skirt: Macy's Style & Co., Fall 2008, size 10. Shoes: Earth, Spring 2009, size 9 (their shoes run a bit wide and long).

There is more to come. If you have any questions, please comment. As usual, I will comment back...I always *eventually* do. (For example, I have commented back if you have left a comment on the last two posts...)

Ikat Short (In-Store Only) and Me from Who Knows How Long Ago!

So I still have 78 followers by some miracle. I have been absent from blogging for a long time! I apologize...sincerely.

My worst offense? Not commenting at all for the last three posts. I DO intend to comment back (I LOVE commenting back, that is why I am so irked by not being able to)...but my dear friends, please give me a few more days...

My second worst offense? No posting, either...and I have so many neat pieces to show off...like the Ikat print shorts that I alluded to in my last post (and you get to see today in this post). I also have worn the Jennifer shirtdress from Fall 2007 recently, and on my trip to NYC this weekend, I wore the rolling-ruffles tank with some fierce matchstick jeans and a grey cardi, plus I wore the same top as Heidi wore in this post and I am eagerly anticipating the time I will get to show how it looks on someone else. I also met the very pretty and sweet Marietta when I was up there...and I have an "illegal (not supposed to take pics in the Collection Store)" pic of her and I that I want to show you all. Sigh.

But here is my third worst offense...I am still NOT done with cleaning my classroom or grading. I am near the point where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel but man, it is AGONIZINGLY slow-going. Probably the worst I have ever gone through. I know it is because my life is full (superfluous you might say) of other wonderful things that have distracted me...but that doesn't make these last few days of my school any easier.

Oh, and get this...I was attempting to get some stuff down from the high shelves in my room...and just like in the movies, I FELL OFF THE CHAIR. ONTO MY ANKLE AND KNEE. I feared that I had twisted or sprained my ankle, and I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. Thank goodness I didn't hurt my ankle, but for a few moments I was just like in that old commercial, "I've fallen and I can't get up..." Wow. When that happened I took it as a sign from God that I needed to take a break...and what a better break than to say "howdy" to all you all!



Ikat Print Shorts (In-Store Only)!!! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Here is the polyvore. If any of you all have the shorts and use polyvore, you can grab the shorts from my items as you please!


I was walking to school this day, so bear that in mind...not the most awesome outfit I have ever worn, but certainly no "lamest outfit of the day ever," either.

I bet some of you HATE this print. And I get you, I do. I really only like it in certain pieces and on certain people. The orange Ikat is okay, the yellow is very very hard to wear, and the navy blue Ikat (as they have on the Collection dress) is GORGEOUS. I wish they made more in the navy blue and the orange, but nope, J. Crew loves its yellow IKAT!


Here is my sweet boy. You all see CW so often that I felt I needed to show Rex off a bit more. He hams it up so much his eyes disappear because his smile is so big. :) That makes me happy. I also want to point out that HE is HUGE. He is 28 months old and weighs 38 pounds and is 38 inches tall. I think we should get him into either baby ice hockey or baby Scottish gaming! What do you all think...should my son brandish a hockey puck or a caber?

Have a great couple of days. I probably won't be back until Friday at the earliest!

Dina Lives Down on the Farm!!!

Red, White, Blue, and Black!!! by dinagideon featuring American Eagle Outfitters


Yee-haw! So I actually REALLY like this silly, stupid outfit I am wearing today...but yes, I fully realize that it kind of makes me look like a hayseed.

I wore it mainly for comfort (I am walking home in this heat and humidity), but I still wanted to be somewhat colorful. So out came this beauty (laughing as I write this):

The top is Liz Claiborne purchased from TJ Maxx in February. I have no idea when this was made, but I GUARANTEE Isaac Mizrahi had nothing to do with it, so I am guessing 2007 or 2008? I bought this top because I love the plaid in these colors, plus this cotton is SOOOO soft. The shape is basically shapeless, but eh, whatever, not only is it comfortable now, I can wear it if I ever get pregnant with #3!

The capris are the lovely roll-up capris from this post. They are just functional...although the color is very lovely, especially in real life.

The shoes are some Earth Vegan (no animal products at all) sandals that I bought off Amazon for a steal last year (I have never paid full price for my Earth shoes...ever).


Yep, for polyvore...although I do like the plaid top in my set. Although I doubt it would come in my size (that is, adult).

More to come...by the way, does anyone have any interest in a video of my daughter cracking up as she flings a balloon back and forth in front of her face? Mr. Dina and I of course LOVED it...but just asking you all if any of you would watch it?

Cocoa Beach...Here We Come!!!

So we chose Monday (4/6/09) to be our "beach" day. Hmm...looking back, not very wise...but that is hindsight for ya. :)

IT WAS WINDY that day. WINDY!!! Hot, but my goodness, the sand was 'a flying at us.

We chose Cocoa Beach because it is fairly close to Orlando. That seemed wise at the time. When we got there not only did we face incredible monsoon strength winds, there was a riptide warning, and many, many people. Sigh.

I am a Polly Anna, though, and will not let the odds stack against me. Turns out for all the mess that we faced, it was an enjoyable day in the end. :) Yay for optimism!!!


Here is the outfit I wore to the beach. It includes the beautiful green flower tissue tee from J. Crew this spring (and still for sale), a pair of 9-inch inseam shorts in citron from J. Crew in 2006, and my lovely critter flip-flops you most recently saw here.

I love this tee. And washing it has seemed to take a bit of the length away, making it the perfect length on my hips. SMILE. :) I love it when washing it makes it better for me to wear and not worse.

I officially have a love affair with J. Crew shorts. They fit me like a comfortable glove. Their shorts fit model must be shaped like me (yeah, right, I think I have just lucked out). I think I own twenty pairs of J. Crew shorts. (Yes, in all colors including--SHOCK--neutrals!)


Once we got to the beach we got into our swimwear and hit the sand. What you see here is my cover-up. This is from J. Crew February 2008. Love it! Just what you need to keep your heiney from being exposed walking from the changing room to your towel.

Oh, and yes, my GORGEOUS fresco bandeau bikini is underneath...and NO...no one but my family and friends get to see it in real life. Gotta keep something a secret from you all! ;)

No one ran away screaming and yelling, so I will assume that I looked okay in it!


Because I am a fan of changing multiple times in one day, especially on vacation, I brought the cottage dress to the beach to wear afterwards. Originally I was supposed to wear it on Sunday as represented in the polyvore found in this post, but because I moved the Lisa dress to Saturday, I decided to move Miss Cottage to Monday.

As you can see, the dress held up pretty well. By the time this pic had been taken, I had worn it in the car for an hour which is why the skirt is so wrinkled. But this is not meant to be a fancy dress, just something fun and pretty for summer.

The dress made its original appearance in this post, if you will recall.

By the way, the shoes are my Earth sandals in bronze. These are great because the force you to stand properly because the heel sits lower than your toes. I love wearing them because I feel nice and tall (yep, just what I need at 5'8")!

I hope you have enjoyed viewing this almost as much as we enjoyed (eventually) our day at the beach! Have a great night, everyone!

Here it is...Outfit #1 for Trip to Florida!!!

You all have already seen the polyvore of this day's oufit, but just in case you haven't go to this post and see "Saturday." Oh, and so you know, that pretty green dress also shown as part of Saturday's outfit? Well, it wasn't worn till Sunday, so you all will have to wait to see me in it (I know, the anticipation is JUST killing you...heehee). ;)

I am glad I chose to wear this outfit on the plane...it was UBER-comfy. The cardigan is the same merino michelle cardigan in melon that I wore on April 1, see this post here. The tank is the J. Crew painted tank that I searched high and low for...and finally bought from some store in Connecticut. It is VERY long on me, but I think I will tailor the straps to make it a bit shorter. It is weird...for as tall as I am, I have a very short torso so even smalls are sometimes too long or large. (I definitely never have that problem on my bottom-half...sigh.) The pants are J. Crew Madison stretch chinos and even though they are a little big (should be retired), I decided to keep them for this trip exclusively for the plane...there is nothing I hate more that having a too-snug waistband when you can't get up and adjust (you all know what I mean). The belt is the darling skinny-belt from J. Crew this season. Its perfect hot-pink color works so nicely with this cardigan and tank. The shoes are Earth shoes, and yes, they are ugly, but I have to wear them...they are perfect for travel. I also have on a pair of compression socks. I suffer from something called MTHFR disorder, which basically means that my blood clots too easily, and that can lead to BIG problems on flights. Here is a great explanation of the disorder. You probably have heard the stories...young girl on flight...gets off flight...collapses...discovered that she has a huge clot in her lung...she dies because it was too late. I also have to take extra aspirin (I take one baby aspirin a day to thin my blood everyday without fail) during this time for extra-blood thinning power...woo!

Aren't the kids just precious? Yes, I did dress CW to match me. And no, Rex is NOT dressed yet. He is still in his PJs...smart when you have a two-year old just learning to eat properly with a spoon!!!

Up next will be the post with the outfits from Sunday (the day we went to Magic Kingdom and this awesome restaurant called T. Rex in Downtown Disney).

Have a great night, everyone!!!

What I wore on my trip to West Virginia (THREE OUTFITS)!!!

Here is the polyvore of many of the items I wore on my trip to West Virginia. I don't have the time or inclination to discuss each item, so I will just tell you what items I do not have from that set. I have a different dress, bought from Kohl's. I have a different striped shirt, bought from J. Crew last spring (2008). The Lady Day is actually a Sybil coat in the same color, bought from J. Crew last winter (2007). The necklace is different, but looks very close to the one in the polyvore.

I really do have that Andie Bag, I did bring my camera, I did tote my laptop, and I drank copious amounts of red wine. YUM!

You can find my set here: http://www.polyvore.com/trip_to_west_virginia_in/set?id=7195152


This is what I wore to drive to WV. Or I should say, what I wore to be driven to WV in our VW (heehee). I have a fear and hatred of driving, so usually Jim drives me...I know, very, very sweet.

The turtleneck is so comfy and cashmere and J. Crew, this winter (2009). The pants are from Athleta and are super-stretchy, perfect for long drives. The shoes are from that brand Earth (not Wal-Mart but the walking shoes) and I bought them last summer. The necklace is a Macy's find, very inexpensive, but a great piece for layering. It reminds me of the cheaper version of the stone necklace J. Crew has now.


Here the outfit is with the Sybil Coat. I LOVE THIS COAT. I actually can tolerate winter in this coat...so cheery and sunny! I usually receive many compliments wearing it...I think because people need the dash of yellow in their lives.

This is the dress I wore out to dinner with Jim. We didn't go anywhere fancy, but I just had to dress up. The dress is from Kohls, and I have no idea who made it. I believe it is a juniors dress. I love the empire waist and fuller skirt--perfect for us pears. The shoes are the Jane suede flats in brown. The necklace I have discussed already, but the clear necklace is the Target find I wrote about on Saturday night (3/14/09). This necklace is Erickson Beamon for Target and I think it worked well with the other necklace and with this dress. I really, truly think I will get a lot of use out of it!

This is a close-up of the Andie Bag in flame. It is GORGEOUS in real life. I could never have spent what it originally cost, but I got it at a significant savings (THANK YOU EMILY)...and it is just so much fun. I will not go on much more because My Delightful Obsessions did an amazing review of it here: http://mydelightfulobsessions.blogspot.com/2008/10/fabulous-andie-bag.html. Suffice it to say, if you like it and you can find it, I would recommend buying it. It was sold last summer (2008).

Here I am holding the bag...nice size for lugging a lot of stuff around. It does get heavy being leather and all, but I have my vera bradley when I need lighter stuff. If I am just going around to show off, I am bringing my Andie Bag. You also see the Sophie sweater peacoat in this pic. This is the only red I can wear this close to my face (I have mentioned this before). I like the way the reds and browns all work together in this outfit. I felt very stylish...I know we were just hanging out in a simple Italian restaurant, but it was so nice to feel pretty!

No Andie Bag, but you get a nicer view of the Erickson Beamon necklace.

This is what I wore to hang out on Sunday (the day I received the best facial ever--seriously, I have never felt that relaxed). The cardigan is the Lea from this winter (2008), the pants are some Levi's that I have recently started to be able to wear again. I have already discussed the shoes, necklace, and tee. This is a very comfy outfit, and I think it manages to be a sleek casual, as opposed to messy casual! ;)

It's been awhile since CW has posed with me...so here you go. She makes the outfit SING!

You all have a great day. As you can tell, my weekend was pretty awesome...definitely making Monday way more tolerable than it normally is!!!

My Lamest Outfit of the Day, Yet!

Why this is my lamest outfit of the day, yet:

1) The individual pieces are nice enough, but together, total yawns-ville. The pieces include: tissue turtleneck in stone stripe (winter 2007 J. Crew), cashmere honey-glaze beach sweater (summer 2007), brown cords by dockers (costco purchase this winter), and earth shoes (not the brand at wal-mart, but the walking shoe brand). At least my hair looks nice! :) (Yay for straightening irons...)

2) You all have seen other outfits I have put together for my walks, and just because I am walking home when it is cold does not mean I should lose my style entirely.

3) Just 'cause Jim is sick and I have to get the babies ready does not mean that I can take a break...but I did...

4) I think I look like myself, just from my college years, when I had zero style. It's not that this outfit completely sucks, it is just a reminder of my years when I just "didn't care."

Tomorrow should be better. Oh, and tomorrow should have a much better picture...even though this isn't the worst self-pic I have ever taken, it is nothing like the ones Jim takes...get better, Jim!