OOTDs: Some Regular Clothes. Not for Teaching.

Day: Wednesday, September 16, 2015.

Where:  School Meeting followed by Winesday.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) This Boden jersey dress is very comfortable, I dig that it is tighter without being constricting.  It also has shaping at the top part of the dress, which draws the eyes up from my hips/bottom, aka my "trouble" spots.

Outfit Details: Dress, Boden; Shoes, J. Crew; Sunglasses, Target; Necklace, tru.che.

Anecdote of the Day: This was the last Winesday before I left for my cruise (on the 20th).  When I got back to town, the next Winesday there were threats of no more Winesdays (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) and a few of my most favorite employees had received the ax, even though they were all amazing and most deserving of promotions/more money and not firings.  Stupid Whole Foods.  The Winesdays are still on (phew!), but those employees aren't back.  Boo. 

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Tuesday, September 29, 2015.

Where:  Preschool, Swimming, Old Town Alexandria.

Ease of Wear: (4.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Well, gee, I am basically wearing an adult nightgown outside, but because it is shirred just right, and not of flannel, I can wear it and not draw any suspicions.  The scarf helped keep me warm, though I ended up taking it off partway through the day. 

Outfit Details: Dress, J. Crew Factory; Sandals, J. Crew Factory; Scarf, Do Everything in Love; Sunglasses, Target.

Anecdote of the Day: I never had a preschool run where there wasn't a kid attached to me (either CW as a baby, or Angus as a baby), and wow, it certainly is freeing not having any children attached to me at all.  I really enjoyed swimming and going to Old Town with only myself to worry about.   

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Sunday, October 4, 2015.

Where:  Church.

Ease of Wear: (4.25 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I haven't worn a formal skirt in a while.  I felt compelled to wear this because it was so gross and grey out and felt like matching the skies.  It was fairly comfy, the skirt sits well on my hips and waist, and the tights, sweatshirt, and shoes fit with just the right amount of ease.

Outfit Details: Skirt, J. Crew; Top, Boden; Shoes, J. Crew Factory, Boden; Necklace, J. Crew; Tights, Lands' End.

Anecdote of the Day:  I liked the look, but I was surprised by how many Instagram friends liked it, too.  I never do these monochromatic/neutral looks, and I guess people were happy to see me in something other than eye-searing color and pattern, lol.

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Wednesday, October 7, 2015.

Where:  Funeral of a childhood friend and a school meeting.

Ease of Wear: (4.25 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Well I knew I would be walking to the funeral from my school since the parking is a bear around the church where the funeral was to be held.  I also knew I would have Angus in the stroller, so I had to wear comfy shoes for that, too.  Fortunately this older Boden Limited Edition dress is made of a jersey ponte, and the shoes are flat without being so flat that they are hard to walk in.  I don't wear this dress often, but I appreciate it for occasions like this, one where reverence and formality are key.

Outfit Details: Dress, Boden Limited Edition; Shoes, FS/NY; Earrings, Macy's.

Anecdote of the Day: My friend went to grade school and high school with me, and now I teach with her mom, who I have known forever.  I feel for her mom, so if you are a praying type, do send some prayers her way and for the rest of the family.

On another note, I have now seen five of my high school friends die before age 40.  I know death is part of life, but it seem so shocking to lose so many so young.  We didn't even have that large of a graduating class (~250).  

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Monday, October 5, 2015.

Where:  Very little done this day.  I may have done the school run.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Leggings, Sandals, and a Tunic.  Yeah, 'nuff said.

Outfit Details: Tunic, Boden; Leggings, Boden; Sandals, J. Crew Factory; Necklace, tru.che.

Anecdote of the Day: If I had something to give you, I would.  I know I was happy it had finally stopped raining, after nearly four full days of constant rain.

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Tuesday, October 6, 2015.

Where:  Preschool, Swimming, Huntley Meadows for a walk, and the other school run.

Ease of Wear: (4.25 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I found the outfit most comfortable after wearing it for a bit.  The J. Crew Reese pants are great, but sit funny sometimes...it's like I have to find their sweet spot on my hips.  At least they come in a tall length so I can have proper full length pants.  It got really warm that afternoon.  Glad to have it, but wore the wrong top.  Oops.

Outfit Details: Sweatshirt, J. Crew Factory; Pants, J. Crew; Sandals, Birkenstock (can find them here at Amazon.com ); Sunglasses, Target.

Anecdote of the Day: I (heart) Huntley Meadows so much.  It is a local wetland/forest preserve that has a boardwalk over the wetland portion.  We always see something, whether it be a snake, a beaver, a heron, etc.  This time was huge numbers of box turtles out sunning themselves.  Every time Angus said (more like like loudly spoke), "ooh look at the turtles, Momma," they would dive off their sunning logs and go hide.  Can't blame them.  He would look terrifying to me if I was their size.

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Sunday, October 11, 2015.

Where:  Lazy day at home.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I feel like I am on repeat here.  Loose fit pants, a sweatshirt, and some Birkenstocks.  'Nuff said.

Outfit Details: Sweatshirt, J. Crew; Pants, Walmart; Sandals, Birkenstock (can find them here at Amazon.com in gold and silver ); Sunglasses, A.R. Trapp.

Anecdote of the Day: My facebook feed was filled with Redskins chatter (SO BORING, GAW) or people exclaiming they had just run the Army Ten-Miler (not boring, but made me feel LAZY).  I need to go away from FB sometimes.  Better for my mental health. 

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Saturday, October 10, 2015.

Where:  Housewarming Party.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I love how polished this looks without being polished "feeling."  The Turner pants will always be in heavy rotation in my closet (every color I have fits well no matter what I am feeling that day, weight wise).  Even with the elastic banding at the cuff, they still manage to suitable for my version of dressy.  The linen Lena top is a bit wrinkle-prone, but manages to cut a nice shape without being too form-fitting.  (It actually swings away from my hips, so its a-line shape is perfect for my pear shape.)

Outfit Details:  Top, Boden (here on clearance, I took a size 6); Pants, J. Crew (they are now available in wool--yes, I bought them in grey); Shoes, Target; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: Our minivan's battery died.  We manage to get it restarted and went to the housewarming party.  It started again after the party, so we went to Joann's since I needed to pick up some patterns.  That's where trouble started again.  No battery power.  We found the nicest person in the world to take ten minutes of her time after work (she had just gotten off) and she let us jump the van with her engine.  I need to make sure to pay that forward big time.  :-)

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Boden: Fall/Winter 2015 is Here! And Boden Icons!

Longer Line Cable Sweater here in two colors...

Hey, you all.  I am back from Florida. 

CW made a beautiful Princess Anna.  I am pleased she was pleased after all the saving up of money (it's expensive to be pricessified), and having to deal with a five hour delay going there (hello, 3 am arrival) and a cancellation on the way back (come on, really?).  I am happy to go back to Disney, but it's going to be a few months, at least.  ;-)

I am off to a cruise for my (big, OMG I am how old) birthday with my aunt at the end of this week, so if the blog goes fully silent, blame lack of internet access.  Which is fine, I know.  I just am used to being super plugged in.  It's probably good for me (at my age, lol) to be unplugged from time to time.

Okay, so that out of the way, onto Boden.

1. There were quite a few new arrivals on Monday.  Couldn't write about them then (travel day) and couldn't write about them yesterday because of...

Angus at his first day of preschool *yeah*,

so I am writing about it today. 

There are quite a few lovely items and it seems I must have missed many of them in my original picks post way back when.  Or they didn't have these in the preview.  I don't know.  These multiple rollouts are to hard for me to follow (at my age, lol).

2. The folks at Boden must be doing well since the current promo being emailed around and on the back of the catalogs are for 11% off with free ship and returns.  I haven't seen one that "low" in years.  Probably 2010?  But...and because I have access to it, and so do you, the affiliate program has a promo for 15% off with free ship and returns (over $49), which is pretty great, so use it if you need it, of course.  I probably will (after I have paid for the princessification of Little Miss CW).

3. So in this last catalog they sent out there was an insert for the "Boden Icons" collection, which is like the Boden Limited Edition of yore (RIP).  It is intriguing, but it was no secret that I was a HUGE fan of the Limited Edition stuff. In fact, I have only ever sold one item from my collection, and that was because there was a fit issue.  I on the regular wear my beautiful silk jersey dresses from that line.  Here is a look at the lookbook, courtesy of the Telegraph.

The Belgravia dress is gorgeous, and I am a fan, but woah, that 250 pound amount is roughly equivalent to $375.  The other pieces are lovely and if I was an independent gazillionaire I would happily purchase most of it and put in my gorgeous MASSIVE closet.

This is a "huh" piece, the Spitalfields Coat, which at 400 pounds maybe should have plaid that lines up properly?  I suspect this is intentional, but my seamstress eyes are really bothered.

Okay, that's all for now!  Do you have any picks from either the rollout from Monday or the Icons line?  I would love to read your thoughts!  I will be unlikely to respond for some time, but do know I read all comments and do appreciate them all.  I eventually do write back, but it often takes me some time.

Have a great night everyone!

OOTDs: Three Dressy.

Agh!  I fell down the sewing rabbit hole this week.  Again.  It was worth it since I really like what I made, but I am really glad all that hand sewing is behind me.  (I have  link at the bottom of this post with where you can find out more about the project.)

Day: Saturday, February 28, 2015.

Where:  Rex's First Confession.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The coat dress is one of my favorites from J. Crew, mainly because the coat dress is angled out from the waist to make the skirt portion in an a-line shape, which covers my curves but also is comfortable over my curves.  I realized too late that the dress was a touch short for church, so I made sure to cover it with a longer coat (also from J. Crew).  I didn't end up taking off the coat at church, but you could see the collar of the coat dress poking out.  In general, though, if I am going to dinner or out, I don't let the shorter hemline bother me too much (in fact I never noticed until this event that it was shorter than I thought).

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) I don't have a big opinion one way or another, I mean the look was fine for the event, but ultimately it was more about being right for the occasion than being cool.

Day: Wednesday, March 4, 2015.

Where:  Rex's doctor to get the long cast off and a visit to Harris Teeter.

Ease of Wear: (4.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This is the way I would dress everyday if I didn't ever want to shake it up...but I fear tunics, leggings, ballet flats, and scarves would become a bit repetitive.  But so comfortable, and because of the tunic and shoes, it has a dressier edge than the typical jeans and tee.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) I thought the pink scarf matched the tunic, but in these photos the color looks so much brighter and it seems to have a bluer cast.  I suspect the camera has a problem with properly capturing the colors as the hallway's lighting is subpar.  I almost always have to adjust the white balance in picasa to get the colors accurate.  But anyhow, colors aside, tunics are not cool, but I wear mine with pride as I love them so much.

Day: Thursday, December 18, 2014.

Where:  Substitute Teaching.  (This was an outfit I forgot to publish way back when...)

Ease of Wear: (4.25 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I really wish Boden would bring back this fabric to their designs.  I think they only used it a handful of times, and only ever in their Boden Limited Edition line (RIP) or their evening wear collections.  It is made from a silk jersey and it is so lovely, with thicker hand and an incredible drape.  As it is a knit, it has some give, but doesn't fall out of shape.  The lining is a very soft knit fabric and helps maintain the life of the main fabric but also gives the dress a bit of heft for warmth. 

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  This dress has a timeless cut and feel to it.  I have had this one since 2010 (I think) and I can't imagine a time I wouldn't want to wear it.  This kind of dress is like the DVF wrap dresses, it is kind of magical on how it frames the female form.  The fabric is a bit out there, but since I wear prints constantly, it isn't inconsistent with my style.

Okay, so above is a photo of the jacket I slaved over this week.  I wrote up a lot more on it and its construction over at this Fabric Mart post.  Hope you take a look if you are into retro fashion or if you enjoy sewing related things.

Have a great Saturday!  Talk with you all soon!

Boden: Winter 2014 Preview Picks!

Hi!  Good Monday to you all.  :-)

Both computers in my house died, you all knew about the first one, but this second one took us by surprise.  Sigh.  We do have a new computer on its way to us, but won't be with us till tomorrow (happy birthday present, I suppose!), so I am typing away on my best friend's computer.  She is in town visiting, and thankfully she is willing to let me use hers for a few moments to get this post published.  I definitely wanted to spend more time on the preview picks, but given the limits on time and all the hardware issues we are having, I think this will be the best I can do.

My blog friend Monica already did her picks, so definitely check hers out when you grab a moment!

So this 20% off preview code X7V8 is ending so early this time.  We just got news of the preview a couple of weeks ago (at this post here) and here it is, only one day left to enjoy the code.  Hmm.  I remember a time not that long ago that you had nearly a month to make decisions.

The big Boden clearance sale hasn't started for spring/summer 2014 yet, and I have never seen them start the sale on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, so maybe we'll see the big sale start this Friday?  Anyhow ALL of my coupon links have expired, and I haven't heard from the affiliate program on any new coupons, so if any of you all have a code you can share on current spring/summer items (just in case you wanted to buy something before the sale), would you mind sharing with us in the comments?  :-)  Thank you!

Okay onto the picks!  I am linking to them tonight but won't be able to add any commentary other than a link to a review of me wearing it (if I own it from last season).  During the day tomorrow I will add a few bits here and there about each piece when I get a few moments to sit down and write!  :-)

Amelia Coat. 

Claudia Coat. 

Ingrid Coat.  Link to the review from last year.  Here it is in a more casual outfit. 

Charlbury Dress. 

Chic Tweed Shift Dress.  Review here.  Second outing here.

Hartland Dress. 

Milano Dress. 

Sequin Shimmer Party Dress. 

British Tweed Mini.

Millie Skirt. 

Everyday Sweater. 

Festive Fun Sweater. 

Sequin Cardigan.  I own the original of this from way back when the Boden Limited Edition line started.  This current price is STEEP.  WOW!

 Multi Stripe Tee. 

Perfect Party Top. 

Textured Silk Blouse. 

Wool Blend Cowl Neck Top.

Bistro Crop Trousers.  Have these in a similar check from last season.

Jewelled Flats.

Printed Scarf. 

One Piece Sports Swimsuit. 

Okay that's it for my picks!  Did you all see anything else that you would like to add to the mix?  Talk with you all tomorrow!

OOTD: Navy and Turmeric. And a Crazed Toddler.

All, before I write this ootd post, I wanted to remind you that we are in the waning hours of the Boden diminishing discount sale (which I wrote about here).  At midnight tonight, this promo expires, and becomes 15% for Friday, and 10% for Saturday.

Day: Sunday, October 27, 2013.

Where: Church.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  So easy to wear this, the only issue I had was a tiny bit of discomfort in the shoes, but they are fairly new Target wedges, so they have to be worn in just a bit.  (On the plus side, though, they are made from suede uppers, and not manmade materials, so they will conform to my feet over time.)

The rest of these items are tried and true favorites of mine, including the Boden Limited Edition Amazing Embroidered skirt from two years ago that is *hands down* my favorite Boden item EVAH (reviewed here and worn here in a similar outfit).  The only item that is currently available (and in the sale for 22% off for a few more hours) is the Evie Bag which I reviewed here.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) I felt very pretty and put together.  This outfit is a touch too buttoned-up to be really cool, but for what my needs were that night, I don't think being cool was really that important.

Anecdote from the Day:  Angus now is unable to even enter the church for mass since he literally is begging and pleading for us to let him down so he can go run around like a crazed madman toddler.  I mean that is all he does--the entire time--he runs, runs, runs, stops to point at an airplane in the sky, runs some more, stops to examine some grass, runs, runs, runs, notices a helicopter, more running...you get the picture.

I take the first half of church to run around after him, and Mr. Dina does the last half since I need to get communion (he can't since isn't fully converted yet).  It is physically demanding, this whole running around after an overactive child.  The other two were never quite this athletic.  (That last sentence is an understatement, btw.)

Okay, that's it for now.  I hope everyone's night is going well.  Have BIG plans to write up the picks post for the Spring Preview tomorrow.  Wish me luck that I have the time!

Link to the sale is below for those of you who need it: