A Dream Realized and Two Weekend Outfits...

You all remember this post, right? This was when I officially admitted to my love of things Liberty (of London) and begged and pleaded that someone, anyone out there help me find a blouse that had (sadly) gotten away from me.

Since then, and with multiple posts on the weekly exchange "Looking to Find" on the Mothership, I have had TWO separate success stories with this blouse.

1. I have a saved search on ebay called "J. Crew Liberty." Whenever anything at all with this in the title is put up for auction, I get an e-mail. For a few months, nada, although there are a lot of very nice Liberty blouses and skirts, etc. that people are willing to sell. I also have a saved search called "J. Crew Laura," as this blouse is a "Laura Femme Fit." This is how I scored! The ebay seller knew it was a J. Crew blouse, and knew it was a Laura blouse, but did NOT know that it was Liberty. Only problem? It was a size 0. Eeek! Well, I know I have been losing some weight, and I do like this blouse as an option to wear over tanks, so I thought, "I'm going for it." I e-mailed her and the seller said she would do a buy it now. I ended up being super-excited to get it! YAY! It came in the mail, and I was shocked to see that the shoulders fit PERFECTLY and the waist fit. WOW! Then the kicker came, the bust and hips...nope, no way, no how. That was okay, as I knew I could just do the "over the tank" deal, and it would be all fine.

Then I had an idea. I checked out Ema's blog, and remembered she had worn this way back in March of 2009, and I saw that the blouse fit her a bit big, as it was a 6. I thought, "let's see if Ema wants to trade." Then I saw she would be out of town for her hubby's bday, so I put off asking her about it until this week.

2. Fast forward to the second part of this story. Ema INDEPENDENTLY e-mails me and asks me if I would like to buy the blouse this week. I, of course, said yes, but told her what I had been thinking just. last. week. Yep. Perfect timing much? She was not interested in a trade (totally fine with that, btw), but I just loved how it all came together so very nicely. I love my blog friends.

3. On that note, I now have a GORGEOUS, still NWT (a line through the tag prevents store returns), size 0 (ZERO) Laura Femme Fit Blouse in the beautiful Liberty Print from January 2008. It originally cost nearly 100 dollars, but I will sell it for $72, if anyone is interested. :)


And here we are:
Sizes:
Top: Size 6. See the story above for more on that.
Pants: Size 8. Grey J. Crew Minnies.
Shoes: Size 10.

Wore the entire outfit to church. Very comfy, yet very nicely put together. BTW, baby CW is not crying because she doesn't like the blouse (no, she loves the "fworers"), but rather because i dared to put her down to take the photo. Toddlers! ;)


Okay, onto a much, much more somber outfit.
Sizes:
Top: Size Small. Silk-Linen V-Neck Sweater by J. Crew. Love these as basic staples in a wardrobe. Definitely not my typical colorful tops, etc., but still very necessary, and often I am glad that I have them around.
Pants: Size 8. Super 120s Trouser in black. These fit tight. Very very true to size. I had to wear Spanx. They look good, though, so I'll keep 'em. Weird thing--they were more comfy when I was SITTING!
Shoes: Size 10. These are some Cole Haan lovelies. Again, a very nice, basic nude mid-heel. Definitely a necessity in any closet.

The necklaces are the Crystal Colettos. I am wearing two of them together, a lilac one and a muted green (petrol) color.

This is a somber outfit because my best friend's (from high school) dad passed away last week and tonight was the wake. I took a photo of the outfit because I know that fashion has to extend to our sad moments, too. Please pray for my friend and his family. They are doing incredibly well considering, but I just know there is an incredible amount of pain right now for them.

Talk with you all tomorrow for the next installment of Mommy Style Monday.

Crystal Cardigan IRL (Casual, Easygoing Style)!

Crystal Cardigan and Stripes! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Above is the outfit that I wore the day before we went to NYC. This was the same day that I had about a billion things to do, but because I knew I was going to Mint Condition to drop off some of my clothes for resale, I couldn't just show up in yoga pants (LOL). :) I figured this outfit was a nice mix of casual plus a bit of style and a bit of comfort.

If you would like to see any of these pieces closer, click on the polyvore, and then click on the individual items. The sandals are definitely still for sale, but the rest of the items are probably only on a popback basis only.


Sizes:
Cardigan: Size Small. I really don't know how J. Crew could justify trying to sell this (nylon) cardigan for over 100 dollars. Really? It is very pretty and I love the name (Crystal Cardigan) but come on now! That is a lot of money for something that could snag if you are not careful (think of your nylons and you will get an image of how delicate this cardigan is). I saw it at the Clearance center, and *almost* got it for 40, which is far more reasonable, but the two they had already were showing signs of small snags. I waited until the cardigan went on sale on-line and got it whenever they last had an extra20 off. It came in perfect condition, and I must say, it does a nice job of dressing up a fairly casual outfit.
Top: Size Small. This is from last spring and I had to get it altered as the straps are very long and if I were to wear it as it was originally, there would be a lot of decolletage on display (and since I have very little to show off, it would just look kind of sad). :)
Pants: Size 29. These are just crazy. Bought on sale from Anthropologie, the Pilcro Low Rise Slim Straight runs REALLY big. I read that you should size down at least one size, if not two. They weren't kidding. I think I should have sized down to a size 28 because by the end of the day I was hitching up the waistband. Other than it being a bit big, these are crazy comfortable and very nice looking jeans.
Shoes: Size 9.5. These are from Rachel Roy and are called the Sian. They are very edgy for me. I thought well I will give them a try and it turns out that I do like them a lot. This is an example of stepping out of your comfort zone and finding it suits you. (Can't say that for every time I have tried it, but it worked here.) I sized down, but because it has ankle holders, and I must have one ankle that is bigger than the other (weird, right?), I had to place TWO shoe pad thingies into the ankle portion to keep one of my ankles secured. (My right ankle is the skinny one.) After I did that, the shoes were perfect.

By the way, I took this photo of myself. I have found the perfect way of placing my smaller camera (the Olympus, not the huge Nikon) in a bowl (full of toys) and putting the timer on...and voila, perfect self-potraits! No more badly focused mirror shots for this lady!

Sorry for the wait on this outfit (and the many more to come), but I have "themed" posts upcoming--NYC outfits, Mommy Style Monday #6 (going out with the gals edition), and a Summer Dress Extravaganza--so I haven't really had a ton to work with. :)

Have a great day!

Ruth Barzel Jewelry--My Summer Picks!!!

Yay! I finally have a few spare moments to spend on my blog! :)

And with these few moments, I want to take you back to last week when I introduced you to the awesome Ruth Barzel, who is an AMAZING jewelry designer who lives in this area and I have had the absolute pleasure of knowing through my (other) job as a swim coach.

Her collection is vast and comprehensive, and I do want you to check it all out, but I feel like with summer upon us (90 degrees today here in DC with a dew point hovering in the upper 60s equals HEAT and HUMIDITY), it is best for me to highlight some beautiful pieces from her collection for showing off that (hopefully fake) tan.


Above is a collage I created of my picks for summer from her collection.
From Left to Right and Top to Bottom they are:
1. "Heartbreaker" short gold-filled pendant with cz and charms. What can I say? I am a sucker for all things nautical during the summer and this shorter necklace with a starfish definitely would have me feeling "ship-shape!" ;)
2. "Heartbreaker" long sterling silver pendant with cz and charms. Ditto to the statement I said in number one, except add to that some length (this is a long necklace) and replace the five-armed underwater creature with one that has no arms (a seahorse).
3. "Soulmate" gold-filled 4-strand bracelet. Honestly, this gorgeous bracelet could easily transition to fall and winter, but I see it with a white tank and denim bermudas as a perfect "fun in the sun" accessory.
4. "Trend-setter" silver bracelet with gray mother of pearl. I find this to be utterly stunning. The larger chunks of mother of pearl are really quite spectacular and would be the right counterpart to sun-kissed skin. I would be surprised if Ruth doesn't sell out of these bracelets.
5. "Glamour girl" gold-filled earrings with hot pink jade. This summer, J. Crew has really piled on the brighter shades of lavender and purple, and even though this is called "hot pink" jade, I believe it would do quite well with the hues that are everywhere already in our clothing. (Jaipur skirt or blouse, anyone???)
6. "Glamour girl" gold-filled earrings with blue chalcedony. I picked these as I thought the color of these blue earrings were just perfection for the months of June, July, and August, and it turns out I am in great company. My blog friend, Ginger Girl, had bought these same exact earrings last week (she had told me, but I had forgotten which ones), so when I saw her post this morning where she is wearing them, I *knew* my last choice was a good one. Don't they look just marvelous on her???

Remember, Ruth Barzel has offered all readers of this blog a 15% discount if you use the code "SUPER" during checkout. Shipping is always free. :) Have a great, super-sparkly day!

Busy Little NYC Beaver...

Hi, all!

I promise, I have not fallen off the face of the earth, rather we have been in the city that never sleeps (yours truly understood that on Sunday night when all the horns of taxis kept beeping all. night. long.). I have not stopped moving (and that statement is pretty much truth) since Friday morning.

Timeline:


Friday: Spent the whole day gallivanting around Alexandria in order to prepare for the trip to NYC. By the time I get home I have expended so much energy that I literally fell into bed as soon as the kids went down for a nap. When I woke up we needed to clean the entire house as the cleaning crew was coming in the next day to scrub down the walls and windows, etc.

Saturday: We leave bright and early on the train to NYC. Thank goodness my dad works for Amtrak, as we got to get on the train a bit early to get one of the sought after 4-seaters (four seats together facing each other). Spend a good few hours on the train, kids don't sleep. After pulling into town, we rush to the hotel, and its postage stamp-sized rooms, get changed and head off to a night alone, just Mr. Dina and me. We watched a show called "Stuffed and Unstrung" (improv puppetry) and saw a marriage proposal (the sweet couple from Long Island were in the seats directly behind us), and once the show was done, caught a cab to go relieve my dad, who went home immediately after we got there (that is the benefit of working for Amtrak, free rides whenever!).

Sunday: After chilling for a bit, I discover there is NO free internet in the room. And the business center? Laughable at best. There goes my idea of contacting all my NYC friends and seeing if we could meet up at the J. Crew in SOHO. Thanks, crazy hotel that advertised free internet (I mean, yes, technically, there was, but in this day and age of random hotels in rural North Carolina having free WI-FI, why is this huge NYC hotel a hold-out?)!

You all are going to love my Sunday...I traipse around NYC from Mid-Town (48th and Lexington) all the way down to Prince Street, where the SOHO J. Crew is. I think that may be a walk of 3 or 4 miles in one direction? And even better, we walked that back, too. Yes, I did easily 8 miles of walking in one afternoon. (Shh, don't tell anyone, but I loved it! And it was a gorgeous day to take a walk!)


Walking to Times Square...did Rex leave something behind?
That night, we went with the kids to the big Toys R Us in Times Square and rode the Ferris wheel. Rex and CW loved it! And at 4 dollars a head (CW was free), we had a fairly inexpensive good time. :) Highly recommended if you have kids.

Monday: I found it difficult to awaken as I was kind of sore, but managed. While Mr. Dina is out and about with Rex at Mid-Town Comics, I went to the J. Crew over on Madison and 45th. (Quick aside: Mr. Dina was the one who found this one on Sunday night on the way back to the hotel--he said, "ooh, look, how come you didn't go to this one...is your homing signal broken?" Haha, you are so funny, Mr. Dina.)

After having lunch from a street vendor at a street fair, we went uptown to go visit the American Museum of Natural History. This is like the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, except twice as big and it costs money. I think our favorite room was the one with the BIG. BLUE. WHALE. If you ever get a chance, head on up there, and see the whale...there are no words to describe how incredible a life-sized whale (model) is in real life.

We then headed to the train station and bid NYC a fond farewell. :)

And to you all, I bid you all a hearty "HELLO!" Glad to be back.

Two more items:

1. I will write up my post of the amazing Ruth Barzel Jewelry as soon as I can. I want to make sure it is well-written and not just thrown out there. Her designs deserve my full attention.

2. My outfits from NYC will be up soon enough. Promise. I took my dinagideon style a bit more daring and really enjoyed the chance to be a little different than usual.

This is Why I Should Avoid Any Searches with the Word Sequins...

Yes, I should have just stopped myself. But, no, like a magpie curious about what other pretty, shiny things J. Crew has on offer, I did it...I searched for "sequin."

And up comes this sad excuse for quite possibly the LEAST appropriate thing I have ever seen J. Crew, much less any other retailer out there, come up with for (gulp) our children. You read that right. This embellished glam pair of short shorts is for little girls. Little girls whose mothers wanted to be Mariah Carey but were unable for one reason or another, and so are buying these up for their little ones to wear. You can bet your bottom dollar CW will NOT have a pair of sequined showstopper shorts. And, nope, I will not be putting them into my Spring Into Style class rotation.

This pair of shorts has been out for a while. And a lot of sizes are GONE!

Oh, and so you know, the size 14 is available. I think that means that if you are a teeny-tiny size 0 petite, you can wear these. That may be the only instance of it being marginally appropriate...if you are over 21 and are tiny and are just itching to be "FABULOUS!"

Do you think they had it in a size 4? Or, worse, a size 3???

Or am I just a hopeless, out of touch momma? ;) LOL.

Another Day, Another Dauphine (Jacket)...

In the annals of blog-writing, this will certainly not be my most scintillating, however, because I am in a rush this morning (yes, it is 5:30 am), this will be one of my shortest! :)

I am off to the Virginia Historical Society today to view a leck-chore (lecture for those of you not schooled in the Richmond accent) and because my dad is a bit of a nut, we are taking the train to get there and back. It will take twice the time as the car would, but hey, at least we can drink wine at lunch thereafter. ;)

BTW, the title of this post is for HeidiG. who clearly LOVED my last post's title of "These Target Finds Really Hit the Spot." Gotta love a little pun action, eh?

Another Day, Another Dauphine (Jacket)! by dinagideon featuring J Crew bags

Above is a polyvore of an outfit worn a couple of weeks ago. I am only bothering to show it because every other day or so someone over on the Mothership will ask what to wear with the Dauphine jacket. So here is another way I have found to wear it. I still prefer the first way I wore it, but since I have to be practical when taking Rex to preschool (Alecias and running around after him--not so much).


Sizes:
Jacket: Size 2. Still some Dauphine jackets available!
Tee: Size Small. This is the Spray Art Tee. I think this is well made and lovely. I have no idea why it hasn't been snatched up. (Oh, yeah, because J. Crew tees have a bad rep. Don't worry, this one is a good one, ladies.)
Pants: Size 6. These are the faded denim Minnies. Very comfy. Unlike the denim minnies, where you have to size up, these denim Minnies you should be in your normal minnie size (i.e. size down from your normal J. Crew pants size). Oof, my goodness...the head spins.
Shoes: Size 10. Cole-Haan has an UBER clearance store RIGHT across the hall from the J. Crew outlet at Potomac Mills. Can we just spell H-E-A-V-E-N? ;)


This is a sneak peek of some jewelry that I will be highlighting tomorrow in a special post over here at My Superfluities. Lucky me, I get to meet some incredibly talented people. Ruth Barzel is a lovely lady that I know through coaching swimming. Turns out that we are two peas in a pod when it comes to fashion (in other words, Ruth is a definite JCA). Except, get this, because I show up for swim coaching in (gulp) sweats and a swimsuit, Ruth had NO IDEA that I was all into fashion and accessories, or that I even had a blog (well, okay, I totally get that--I am not exactly Dooce, am I?).

Well one day we got to talking and it turns out that Ruth is amazing jewelry designer. Look at the GORGEOUS "rebel" oxidized silver chain bracelet that she made. Umm, Fenton Fallon for J. Crew? You have some serious competition.

For those of you looking for something a bit simpler, Ruth has you covered. More on her other designs tomorrow, but if you want a quick sneak peek, take a gander here. :)

P.S. Because you all are SO FAB, Ruth says that we can have a discount of 15% by putting the code "super" during checkout. All her designs come packaged in an elegant box, AND there is always free shipping (yay!).

Talk soon. Wish me luck on our trip today!

These Target Finds Really Hit the Spot!

Bit over-tired today. Must be the crab apples my children have turned into--you know, when they are getting better is when their mood goes sour? What in the heck is up with that?

I love Target, and spend a lot of time in their Women's section (sometimes even their children's and junior's sections have finds but today's post is all for the misses). As you well know, I really LOVED the Liberty of London for Target line, and I also really heart the Merona Collection.

So today is really just a nice compilation of some (fairly) recent outfits where the main piece is a Target find. :) Enjoy!


Sizes:
Top: Size Medium. Preferred the larger size in the Pink Dunclare Print Halter.
Shorts: Size 8. J. Crew Stretch Summerweight Bermuda Shorts from last year.
Shoes: Size 9. J. Crew Driving Mocs.

Yes, it is another outfit where baby and I match. :) She is wearing the toddler girl's Pink Dunclare dress (they say it is purple, but no!). We actually were driving a long distance on our vacation (this was back in late April) and she was fine wearing this the entire time. My outfit was pretty comfy, too!


Agh. I LOVE this photo! :) So darn cute.


Sizes:
Dress: Size Small. I had bought a medium in the Sixty Halter Dress, but found that the small was the right fit. You can wear it on its own, but I felt like a cardigan, albeit a bright one, cut down on the print's jarring impact.
Cardigan: Size Small. J. Crew Jackie cardigan in light citron.
Flip-Flops: Size 10. J. Crew skinny flip-flops.
Bag: Beacon Tote. This is a great bag, as I highlighted yesterday in my Mommy Style Monday #5. It is big, though, so keep that in mind! :)

Wore this to an outing with the family a few weeks back. I usually have to "adjust" when I wear a halter dress (the straps bug me sometimes), but I didn't fuss at all that evening. Big thumbs-up, Target!


Sizes:
Top: Size Small. I am glad I got the Black Isis Print Tunic Top. It is incredibly comfortable. I also like that it is versatile, for winter and summer. I wanted to be careful with proportion, so I wore the top with shorter, fuller shorts, and kept the rest of the outfit simple.
Short: Size 10. J. Crew shorts from a long time ago.
Flip-Flops: Size 10. J. Crew skinny flip-flops. The teal color is a perfect match for the teal in the top.

I love how baby CW looks like she sees something dangerous, like she is ready to pounce and be my body-guard. LOL.

I wore this to go out with drewablank when we scored all those great finds at the outlet last Thursday!


Sizes:
Dress: Size 10. I bought this Merona Collection Pleated Sheath Dress in this size because all the reviews said to size up. Reviews are so helpful and I am glad the Target, Boden, and Anthropologie websites have them. Come on, J. Crew!
Shoes: Size 9.5. Banana Republic Nora Jeweled Flat, bought from the amazing Suzy aka Bichonluvr! :)

I got a compliment from my hubby on this outfit, very sweet, and then a compliment from my favorite coffee guy, I think the two of them are connected in their brain waves. The coffee guy said he liked it because it reminded him of June Cleaver--haha, a Mid-Century Mom! ;)


Sizes:
Cardigan: Size Medium. Was a bit cool that day, and the Haley foil-print cardigan fit the bill...very warm wool!

Baby is perfection in her matchy-match outfit, too.

Untitled by dinagideon featuring Liberty of London

Above is a polyvore with all the items (including baby's Dunclare dress) highlighted.

You all enjoy your day. Get thee to Target for some great finds! I am going to go collapse and maybe when I wake up I will finally comment back to you all (great comments lately and I thank you for that)!