A Daisy Day and a Hammock, Please!

The outfit you all saw me in yesterday's post was not actually yesterday's outfit. Nope, I actually wore that pretty little Frances cami about three weeks ago, but felt it was time to let it out of its Picasa 3 prison and let it shine. (There are about 20 outfits still waiting to be released from Picasa Prison as of 3:23 PM Eastern Time, 8/12/10. Poor outfits!)

Speaking of yesterday's post...I need you all to understand that it was one of my molars that is having the root canal and not one of the other (read: simpler) teeth. Turns out I have four chambers that had to be cleaned and emptied, which is why I only have had that done. That is also the reason I am on such a strict diet (SO VERY HUNGRY, btw)...I have very little left under the very delicate dental cap right now, so chewing on real food (mmm, beef) and compromising the cap would be very bad.

My dentist is AWESOME, and I know that some of you have had very successful endodontic procedures done that don't require a million hours of work (yes, a bit of hyperbole on my part), and for that I say, BRAVO. I wish I could have the same experience. :) But I will tell you all something, I am going to do everything in my power to prevent this from ever happening again!

Onto easy, breezy simple SAHM fashion!


Sizes:
Top: Size medium. I like these basic tanks by J. Crew, but this puppy is quite long and the straps are very very VERY long. I need to wash this and dry this on high heat to make it less big. It only looks okay here because I tucked it in...had I not, the tank hem would have been very near the skirt hem (ooh, attractive!).
Skirt: Size 2. This is the Daisy Day skirt from the J. Crew collection made from the always beautiful Liberty Print Fabric.
Shoes: These are Japanese and were purchased at the Japan Pavilion at Epcot Center years ago. Aren't they cool?

I wore this yesterday to take the kids out for the entire day. Long story short...our bathroom is now pink, thanks to an amazing tile repair guy out of Ashland, VA (Jeff Harnish of PTR--in case any of you locally need this sort of work done) who took the paint off of the original tile. Yes, I am a fan of the Pink Bathroom. I figure if it worked for families in the '60s, why can't it work for us now? (Yep, we have a blue bathroom, too.) (BTW, Jeff did NOT laugh at our desire to go back to a pink bathroom so I give him an enthusiastic TWO thumbs up!)

But Jeff uses really awful, caustic chemicals to strip the paint, so we had to be out of the house for 6 straight hours. In this outfit I went to Whole Foods (yummy organic baby food, anyone?), to Rex's preschool, to the bank, and finally to the pool for a dip in the cool, oh so chill waters.

The outfit held up well. No, I didn't wear the skirt into the pool. I wore this Lomellina beauty instead.


Have to add a linen button-down when dealing with the possibility of frozen air (at Whole Foods). This is from Summer 2007 and is a size medium.


Sizes:
Dress: Size small. This is the lovely cotton Hammock dress that is still (somehow) at full price over at J. Crew. It is short, so I limit its public appearances to only the hottest and most humid days (umm, well, I guess that means every. darn. day. this summer).
Shoes: Size 9-10. These are the Kohl's capri sandal knock-offs that I have had forever.
Necklace: Target Seahorse long necklace.

Wore this today for a playdate at our house. Rex is 3.5 today and wanted to have friends over to celebrate. Good times! (Remember when we looked forward to our half-birthdays? Now, I just hide under the covers every New Year's Day...thank goodness my half-birthday falls on a holiday!)

Have a fab day, and remember, take it easy. :)

Since it Now Appears We Have Tank Weather, How About a Review of the Perfect-fit Swirling Petals Tank?

And with the world's longest blog title, comes the world's shortest review of a J. Crew tank, ever.
One word for this tank: AWESOME.




















Okay, I kid. I have more to say. (It is April Fool's Day and have been unable to fool anyone...until now...heehee.)

Size: Small. I happen to also own this tank in the light grey (or stone) color. Interesting story about me and customer service. If you suck at your job, then I won't buy from you. I had really wanted this in the brown color when this tank came out, but when I went to Tyson's, I asked one of the young ladies that works there to please see if she could find it for me in the brown in a size small (all they had out were x-smalls and mediums) and she sort of huffed, "yeah, but I am going on break, so this is me going out of my way for you." Then I, taken aback, told her, "well, okay, thank you, I will be over there waiting for you." (Keep in mind I was with my testy kids that day.) After five minutes and she had not returned and my kids were ready to kill me or each other, I went ahead and said, "fine, I will try on the light grey and forget about the brown." Well, I did like the light grey, and it works on so many levels, by itself, under cardis, under button-downs, I justified it as an acceptable extra purchase, knowing full well at some point I would buy the brown.

When the people behind the counter asked if anyone helped me, I said, "no...not really." (I worked in retail, and I LOVED it, so I don't want to hear I am not sympathetic...I have been there, and have my lunch-time taken from me, too.)

So while I am at the J. Crew in Vegas, I spy it, in the small in the brown color!!! Woop-woop! :)

I love this color, as well, and can see it working just as well as its lighter sister (or brother???).

So you know, I am wearing a bra-cami under the tank, and it is hidden completely. Awesome. How many tanks can you do that with?

Oh, and I love the embellishments. Under a cardi they look especially pretty.

And since tomorrow is supposed to be JUST. AS. GORGEOUS. as today...well, my winter-sad shoulders will be able to see the sun when I wear this out to take CW to her dr. appt. (HeidiG., I will wear sunscreen, promise.)

Have a great rest of the day, you all! :)

Very, Very Quick Review of the Thicket Floral Perfect Shirt...

Ooh, you all, the new arrivals are up on jcrew.com. YAY!

Usually I am late to the game when it comes to doing reviews, but because I was in Vegas last weekend, I was able to take some time and go to the mall to check out some of the new items for myself (and grab some photos). Like gigiofca, I am going to be doing these reviews one at a time, although I normally like to put them all in one post. I have a lot on my plate right now, so I have to be brief. ;)

First up from this weekend's expedition is one of the three items I did buy (and the only one from the new arrivals). (I was feeling some of the others, and was definitely tempted, but I was returning the annalise tops--did anyone figure out how to style these and not look like a clown?--and only had a little bit of money to work with--did NOT want to spend over my return amount.)


Thicket Floral Perfect Shirt, Size 6 (so it fits looser than other perfect shirts I have worn in the past, OR I have lost more weight, who knows?). It is a Cotton/Silk blend and feels so soft. I am wearing the Perfect-fit swirling petals tank in cobblestone underneath, and the blouse wasn't so sheer that you could see the design or color of the tank through the fabric.

This pattern is so pretty in real life...ditsy florals with the prettiest blend of lilac, lime, rose, and pink. You know I love me some florals, and I just couldn't say no to this one. If it had been a predominantly green, yellow, or orange floral shirt I would have said no (I have a lot of florals in these color schemes already). Darn J. Crew, coming out with the one floral color scheme I don't already own. ;)

It also comes in a little girl top, which is darling, too.


I will often wear these perfect shirts in the summer as a cover-up from the sun, and this one seems like it would do the trick nicely. I love the tank, too, and went ahead and bought it in a small. :)

Hope that helped someone out there. More reviews to come later.

Review of the Ruffles and Roses Tank and the Pearl Pebble Ring!!!

Ooh, I have like four moments to myself because I am subbing today!!! Just enough time to publish this post if I only give you the basics!!!

So, do me a favor, if you have reviewed either of these items on your blog, would you mind leaving me your info so I can later put them into my post???

Onward I go...

Ruffles and Roses!!! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Items in this set:
J Crew top, $43
J Crew sweater, $148
J Crew pants, $40
J Crew flats, $145
J Crew tote bag, $298

Here is the polyvore of the outfit I wore with the (wonderful) ruffle and roses tank and the (gorgeous) pearl pebble ring.


I think I wore this the day after I bought the tank. That is my new test of whether I am allowed to keep something I buy from J. Crew or Boden. If I don't wear it in the first month of purchase, it has to go back. This does two things, it allows me to really think about whether or not I want the item enough to wear it that soon, and it also keeps me from spending the money because I cannot justify spending money on something I *may* wear in the future. It seems to be working!

I love this tank. It is black, and the ruffles and roses get lost in this first pic, but look how nicely it layers in this outfit. I felt like I looked good, but also felt good as every piece of this outfit is made from some nice material. The ruffles and roses tank is made from the tissue material so it is nice and soft!!! I bought a small, which fits very well (I often have to get x-small in the tissue tops). It does seem to be a bit steep at $42.50 but I believe that if you wear it enough, then it is worth the money. I suspect I will get a lot of use from this in all seasons, so I felt like at least this color was worth it.

There are more colors and sizes at jcrew.com.


Here is a close-up of the tank without the cardi. You can see the "ruffles and roses" better here. See how nice this could look with a summer skirt or shorts??? I suspect I might get another color for summer when they go on steep discount (and yes, I will remember my "wear it by one month rule).


Onto the Pearl Pebble Ring. I bought it for $25, I believe. This is a size medium which means I can wear it on my index or middle finger. I wore it on the index with this outfit.

The gold color is a rose-gold color, which is a pretty, muted color, and matches well to the little pearl pebbles.

I honestly think for the price, I got a deal. I think even at $55 this is a nice ring and of a good value (its original price). I do not see it for sale at jcrew.com. I think it has sold-out and I am not surprised.


Close-up of the ring from the front. Dresses up my hand. Love it! (Although, and I get this, costume jewelry is not for everyone...)

P.S. Mid-Century Mom is updated and so is Cash from My Closet!

Quick and Easy Mini-Review of the Sequin Tiered Ruffle Tissue Tank...

Hi, and hello! Sorry for the time away. As some of you know, I published a post over at Mid-Century Mom this weekend, but that is not my whole reason for being away. We are getting ready for Thanksgiving here in our household, and between packing to go see relatives (I spend way too much time at polyvore creating sets--God bless you, creators of polyvore, you have an activity I can do while nursing--and this has made my packing WAY easier), looking up recipes I may want to make while down there, and taking care of my ever-restless children, blogging has taken a backseat.

I did decide to try and be a bit more up-to-date with this post. We took these pics last night for two reasons...one, I wanted to see if this outfit would work while down visiting his relatives, and two, I wanted to review it for you all.

As far as I can tell, there haven't been a ton of reviews of this tank because it is very similar to the rolling ruffles tank, seen on me here, but it does have more bling, AND I took a smaller size, so I feel this tank needs a separate review.

CDP did a mini-review of it in one of her polyvores.


Yes, I am barefoot (but not pregnant). :) This is the tank under the very gorgeous evening primrose cardi. I like the way the whole outfit looks. The pants are surplus chinos in grey (am I the only person who has to size up in these?). I am planning on wearing the outfit with a pair of low-heeled mary janes in black.

So, the tank. I ordered an extra-small, which is one size smaller than the rolling ruffles I bought over the summer. I am glad I did. The extra-small is short enough on the body that it doesn't come to my mid- or low-hip which means that I don't have to wear a larger size to make up for my larger than average hip size. This hits at the high hip, which for my body type, is perfection. Plus, with the ruffles, I DO NOT need extra emphasis on my lower half. (But I do need it on my upper-half, haha.)

I purchased it when they were having the special pricing over the weekend of $39.50. I had free shipping in my account, so I just paid the taxes and it came straight to my door. AWESOME for us stay-at-home mom types. I decided on this mid-grey color because I have a lighter rolling ruffles (champagne) and a darker rolling ruffles (charcoal) already, and feel they are such good layering pieces that I could definitely make use of one more. Plus, this one has sequins. SEQUINS. I normally detest sequins because they make me over-OCD...in other words, I have to make sure all the sequins line up exactly with the one next to it, and it drives me crazy to wear sequins because that is all I can think about when wearing them, "Are they even with each other?" But this only has a smattering of sequins which make them so lovely, and they are placed in such a way that I don't need to worry if they all line up.


And here is a close-up of the ruffles and the sequins. I probably will not wear this tank on its own. I feel like it is a bit untethered by itself and can look kinda funky. Mr. Dina doesn't even like the tank under the cardi, so he would probably have a cardiac arrest if I wore it by itself. ;) I know...men.

You can find the loveliness here...and at the 20% off till midnight (TONIGHT 11/18/2009), it is still only $39.50!