OOTDs: Celebrating Grey.

Day: Wednesday, January 30, 2013.

Where: Winesday at Whole Foods.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) This Garnet Hill Cap Sleeve Lace Dress is so comfortable, it felt like wearing a nightgown out.  Of course since it isn't a nightgown, it was absolutely appropriate for going out.  ;)  If you like this dress, I bought it in a size 6, which fit very well, if a squidge too big in the bust and waist, but I wouldn't have sized down to a 4 since there are no zippers which means the extra room is necessary for getting on and off the head and shoulders.

It was also very warm that night, so that Anthro "Decorating Committee" cardigan was all I needed for warmth.  (Since that day, though, we have returned to winter, with the highs in the 30s to prove it.)

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Definitely a twee girly outfit, but for some of us, this is cool.  LOL.  But for a lot of you, it isn't.  I am not going to split hairs here, but will give it a 3.

Anecdote from the day night:  These Winesday nights are my saving grace for the week.  I spend so much energy running around from one toddler friendly thing to the next that I seriously forget that I am an adult sometimes.  Being able to really get my drink on (and not have to drive, either, thanks, bro!) helps me feel my age again, and in a good way, not a "oh, look at the new wrinkle" kind of way.

One of the wine samples from that night was from a $25 bottle of wine from Tuscany. It was really  good.  I did not bring that bottle home, though.  The small little taste I had will have to suffice for now.

Day: Thursday, January 31, 2013.

Where: Preschool Run and Little Gym with Angus.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Boots are kind of a pain in the butt to get on and off at the Little Gym, so I am downgrading the comfort from a 4, but if I hadn't had to take the boots off, this would have been a 4, hands down.

The J. Crew factory puffin sweater I have on here is a teeny bit itchy, probably due to the fact that part of it is made from acrylic and rabbit hair, but a cami helped with that.

BTW, I did not have Angus wear his Puffin tee from Boden, but next time, I promise.  Why not sort of match your infant?  Ha.

Cool Factor: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) Well, I sort of look like a brightly colored, critter-loving girl who rides horses.  I am sure such a thing exists in Virginia's horse country.  People in that part of my lovely state are a bit eccentric, right?

Not in any way, shape, or form is this a cool look, though.  Sorry, Miss Havisham*.

*I have always imagined that somewhere in horse country that there is a wizened old lady just getting mustier and mustier at her grand brick estate.  (Either that or that there are four kids, trapped in an attic by a narcissistic mother and a sociopath grandmother.)

Anecdote from the day:  My dad picked up CW from preschool, so I was able to bring Angus straight home from the Little Gym.  Having just one small child for one small part of the day made me feel insanely relaxed.  I even took a long hot bath while he took his nap.  Luxury!

Day: Wednesday, January 30, 2013.

Where: Harris Teeter for lots and lots of groceries.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Ain't gonna lie to you all, that skirt is maternity.  ;)  It doesn't look that way because of the shape, but the large elastic band at the top of the skirt definitely proves it.  That is why the darling little fox "silk keyhole" top from Lands' End Canvas is only sort of tucked in (bloused out, just like I did it when I was ten, back in the 80s!).

This was from the same day as the Winesday outing (first outfit), so it was very warm, in the upper 60s.  I ended up having to take off the boucle peplum jacket, so I could have left that at home.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  If I didn't admit to the skirt being maternity, I probably could give this a 4, but I did admit it, so 1/2 point deduction.

I made up for it, sort of, by wearing the darling little Pade Vavra birdie/cuckoo clock necklace and the peplum jacket.  Foxes are probably on their way out...unless of course you are an eccentric living in Virginia's horse country.

Anecdote from the day:  Harris Teeter sees me way too much.  Those of you with kids...do you find you go to the grocery store twice a week because your kids eat their school snacks on the sly, empty the box, and then return said empty box to the cabinet?  I have lost count of how often this has happened.  And it's not like I am away from the kids in the house enough to not see them eating, they must be doing it when I dare to sneak away, and you know, do all sorts of crazy things, like going to the bathroom, or putting the laundry in the wash.  Sigh.

Day: Saturday, January 26, 2013.

Where: First Class of Sewing One.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Yummy warm cashmere on top, stretchy denim leggings and shearling lined boots on the bottom.  This is daytime comfy at its finest.

The sheepskin lined boots were on my radar for months, but even as much I LOOOOOOVE Boden, I couldn't afford the original price of $298.  (Ouch.)  Once they dipped down to $119, I could afford them.  Since I bought them (size 40, so down one size from my usual 41), I have worn them a lot, as it has been cold enough most days to justify it.

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) I think the cashmere snood is the coolest bit, but it is obvious that I am trying to stay comfy, so I doubt this would be considered cool.  I bet cool often means "fashion can be painful, deal with it," and since I felt no pain, points off. ;)

Anecdote from the day:  This was the day I discovered my Singer machine was BROKEN.  This was also the day that the *really cute* guy at the small appliance shop (in my neighborhood--one of the last type of shops like this in the country) said he could fix it for, oh, the exact cost of the machine originally.  So I bid adorable man "goodbye," and got home to find the highest rated sewing machine on Amazon.  I spent more than I wanted (albeit it had free shipping and no taxes), but wow, what a difference.  Sewing is now a huge pleasure, and because I don't have to use a foot pedal, Miss "Clumsy and Uncoordinated" me can actually sew with a reasonable amount of skill.  LOL.

I am currently working on a very easy short tunic that I hope to have done by next weekend.  I am using this Liberty fabric from B & J for the project. 

Okay, all, that's it for now. 

P.S. If you are a Boden fan, they have restarted their "Spring Trim" promo today.  This will last for one week and all items in the trim are 15% off.  With the sidebar coupon, the total off is 28% and has free shipping.  You can find the women's deals here.

OOTDs: Dusk Pink, Bright Blue, and Some Sequins.

Hi, all.  Happy Monday night!

I am so appreciative of all the words of support with regards to my current state of affairs (redonkulous pain thanks to mastitis).  It really helps to know what works, what doesn't, who has gone through it, who knows someone who has, etc.  I am floored that after three babies (who each nursed many many months) the dreaded mastitis happens now.

Anyhow, I am feeling better, but I need to stay on top of the ibuprofen and the antibiotics in order to feel good.  :)  I also read that resting up is helpful, so Mr. Dina has insisted that I only do as much as we need this week, so no extra runs to the grocery store, Target, school runs, bowling (sob!), etc., until I feel better. Aw!  (I think Dr. Ma letting us know that I would have been hospitalized had I waited too long to be seen scared the you know what out of my husband, hence Mr. Dina's strict instructions to lay low.)

Okay, I can and will do blog posts in between naps and warm compress applications.  LOL.  That isn't terribly taxing, right?

Worn last Wednesday to Winesday with my bro.  I had thought I wanted something a bit dressy since my brother had just come from work and figured I didn't need to be the schlub standing next to "Mr. Hot Stuff Working Man."

The tee is the Fabric Mix Long Sleeved T-Shirt (Pure Collection--currently in the sale section).  I sized down in this tee to a size 4 since I personally believe that all of Pure Collection runs large.  I took a 4 in this top, but if I had ordered a 2 (the smallest size they carry), I would have fit into that, no problem.  Do not order this tee if you are tiny...it won't fit you.

The skirt is the Tall No. 2 pencil skirt in the mauve blush color.  I chose a size 8, and because of my hips this was the right call.  I am glad they are carrying talls, this one fits exactly right, with only the littlest bit of extra room at the waist.  I love how long it is, especially, hitting right below my knees!  Only Boden skirts hit there on me, so I am happy that J. Crew is doing this.  I also got this one on super sale, so ladies, the price it is right now is pretty darn good for what you get.  Also, I think this pink can act as a neutral, and looks very nice with the teals, greys, browns, and warm yellows.

The other pieces are just really old.  I wear them a lot.  Especially those tights.  I LUURRRVVEE my Wal-Mart Tights (George brand if you need to know).

Added the Boucle Peplum Jacket and the Tulu bag in grey to keep the outfit extra coordinated.  ;)

This outfit is from the night I went to the urgent care with the dreaded mastitis.  Imagine the feeling of pain in your "lady bits" in this top.  Yeah.  It hurt. *Bad.*  Thankfully the pain came on at the very end of hanging out with our friends, but this tee, though a nice knit cotton, is not the best choice when experiencing the pains of motherhood.

I love my bright blue pencil skirt, but I seem to always wear it with black and white (or I did last year--before that I paired it with guava).

The polka dot sequin top is fun, I preferred the cream version to the black version because too much black near my face is a bad idea.

I took an extra-small and it fits fine.  The small would have been better *that* night, but I am not planning on those events ever happening again.

I added the Bella Coat in black with my Belgian beret (all my friends tease me about my ubiquitous beret that comes out every winter--since 2000!) and the big red Andie bag.

We went to DC to see the White House Christmas tree.  We parked near the American History museum and the Washington Monument.  I have lived here long enough (almost 30 years--woo!) that I have a stupid number of Washington Monument photos.  How many can one girl have?

I do like this one a lot, but last year's had the babies and me.  :)

There the tree is, along with the Menorah behind my friend A.'s shoulder.  His girlfriend, J., has never been to DC, so he was excited to show her around (and off!).  A. looks like he could be my brother, but he's not.  My soul brother, maybe, but not my real brother.

Rex graced us with a photo.  Barely.

Today I took it really easy.  I decided that I needed to get out of my PJs (had been wearing them since late Saturday night), so I threw on the Cashmere Herringbone Sweater (dusk pink color).  I love these two colors together, and I had lucked out into buying it one real late night over the Thanksgiving weekend when all those crazy sales were running (so I ended up getting it for near half off--yay for delaying shutting one sale down before starting another, J. Crew).  I took this in a size small, which is one size up from my normal cashmere size.  It has a nice long length this way and since the knit on this a bit tighter of a weave, the fit is less close.  Definitely do not size down in this one.  The cashmere is not exceptionally soft, but oh, it is SO warm!  Exactly what I needed to feel good today.

Here is a detail shot of the knit, so you can see just how nicely woven this particular piece is.  Didn't pill at all today, btw.

Okay, that's all.  Thanks again for being so sweet to me!  :)

OOTDs: Figuring it Out.

Well, hello!  :-)

Giving you all a warning, lots of outfits in today's post.  I really should be better about publishing the outfits more than once (maybe twice) a week, but since I have started putting the outfit photos (at least one from each day) on facebook, I have definitely been a bit slower about publishing the outfits here.  Oh, well, guess it keeps it from cluttering up your blogger feed, I suppose.

Anyhow, I called today's post "Figuring it Out" because all of September and October (so far) has been a guessing game of what layers I should wear to be comfortable throughout the day.  Some mornings it will start off in the low 60s only to rise to mid 80s by midday.  Other days it will be fairly warm in the morning but because of an approaching cold front, the latter half of the day will be chilly and windy.  And because many of my days have me far away from home all day, I need to make sure that outfit I wear will cover all weather possibilities.

Here are my attempts (for better or for worse):

Worn last Sunday (09/30/12), I consider this a mildly successful attempt at keeping myself cool/warm.  The day started out chilly enough, which is why I wore my longer sleeved tee under the floral dress, but I knew if need be, I could either roll the sleeves or take the tee off completely and be fine if the temperature rose to summer levels.

I loved having the pops of red, not intending to be patriotic, mind you, but since we were headed into DC, I am sure many folks thought that was my intention.  ;)

We went to the Botanical Garden to see the Venus Flytrap exhibit.  By the time we made it through the gardens, I had unbuttoned my placket on the dress.  I like it this way, but definitely looks less crisp than in the first photo.

CW and I really wanted to have a photo together, but random people kept photo-bombing us.  One guy in particular kept coming back for more.  Mr. Dina and I kind of wondered if he was enjoying himself he did it that much (five times, I believe).

After the Botanical Gardens, we went to the National Gallery of Art to check out a limited exhibition on George Bellow's artwork.  I didn't much care for the his boxing art, but LOVED his portraits of ladies.  My favorite thing about his artwork was the use of light...even his most wintery scenes seemed nearly spring-like with his ability to paint in luminescence.

The cloche I am wearing is based on one worn by a lady in one of his paintings.  I tried it on, fell in love (cloches are my winter hat--obviously the fedora is my summer one), and nearly considered coming back for it.  I asked the lady how many were left and she replied, "this is the last one."  Mr. Dina (not usually a fan of hats) decided this beauty was worth purchasing as an early anniversary gift (our #11 is this Saturday).  ;)

Speaking of Mr. Dina, here is our attempt at a family self-photo at the Capitol.  Yeah, almost there.  ;)  In our world, this is almost a work of art.  LOL.

Even though the lipstick wore off by the time we made it to the Botanical Garden, I quite liked it with the outfit.  (Another pop of red!)

On Tuesday last week, it was decidedly cooler, and very rainy.  Those are rainboots you see on me there.

The top is part wool so it helped keep the chill off, but since it wasn't that cold, I only needed this, no jacket or coat necessary.

I was *supposed* to go with CW, Rex, Angus, and Mr. Dina to the Nats game that night.  But the momma in me made the executive decision not to drag a six-month old to a dreary night game, no matter how cute everyone looked in their matching blue and red (even Mr. Dina and Rex had on navy and red).

The scarf is the Boden Westminster Silk Scarf, which I did a review of here.

Yeah, I was fooling around with the self-timer before picking up CW from school that day.

By Friday, though, the weather had turned warm again (with a brief chill in the AM), so I pulled out the LemLem maxi skirt (I bought it on sale, and am still investigating local Ethiopian merchants for any future purchases of these beautiful Ethiopian textiles--I have a few I was told about that I still need to visit).

The skirt plus the longer sleeved top were perfect for the school mass I went to (Rex's school has mass once a week), but still allowed me not to overheat on the walk we took to get lunch after school.

The necklace was a huge hit, btw.  Some lady came up to me at the mall and asked where I had bought it.  I told her she could get it from J. Crew, but if she searched "bubble necklace" on ebay, she could get it for really really cheap. ;)

I love this skirt.  I am also glad I was able to get it on sale.  As a reminder, I bought this in a size medium, which *just* fits my 28.5 inch waist.  Definitely size up if you run larger through your waistline.

Why not have an arty-farty shot thrown in?

This was from Saturday (10/6/12) and that was officially the weirdest day of all.  The day started off fairly warm, but while I was grabbing these photos, the cold front came in (I could feel it...like some kind of weirdo, I feel significant drops in barometric pressure, I get a migraine and my whole body tingles).

I knew it would be cooler, but I forgot about the windy, so by the time I took this ancient Ideology (from Hecht's 2003?) dress, I was struggling to keep the skirt portion down.  Since I was in Maryland, my hubby quipped that I was having a "Marilyn in Maryland" day.  GROAN.

I also own this dress in a pink with apples.  I don't wear them enough, but like any good dress in my closet, I always make sure to pull it out eventually.

The dots on the polka dot invitation clutch were a nice complement to the print on the fabric.

I kind of have a big huge crush on the Pioneer Necklace, by Premier Designs Jewelry.  This was another one of my purchases from my friend's Premier Designs party that she had a while back.  If you like this necklace, contact my gal Rachel here at her FB page.  She also has some pretty cool giveaways and fun styling ideas over at her page, so like it as well, so her fun can stay in your facebook feed.

I wore this to get Rex from school one day.  I wanted to wear this dress one last time before summer ended, but again, it was a bit too cool to wear it bare...so I added the Madewell top so it would look like I had on separates.

I dug how closely the print on the scarf nearly matched the dress.  (However, it is not an exact match--the palms on the dress are far larger and less uniform than the palms on the scarf.)

Again, another fairly casual look for getting Rex from school.  Though this Target dress is very summery, the chambray helps keep it from looking too "stuck" in one season.

This is the boucle peplum jacket by J. Crew, and if you can find it, the jacket is a great buy.  It is a bit like a cardigan, but still structured enough to be considered a jacket.  I am wearing it in a size extra-small, which is my usual J. Crew cardigan size.

The jacket was way too warm, though, so I took it off and just wore the outfit as you see it here.  This may be the simplest outfit I have ever worn here on this blog.  :)

Okay, that's it!  Are you all still in the weird summer/fall period where you live, or are you all autumnal?