OOTDs: Two Target Dresses.

Day: Sunday, June 7, 2015.

Where:  Pret a Manger for lunch, Zara and J. Crew for returns, National Geographic museum for the Indiana Jones exhibit, and a friend's house for dinner.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I love love love this whole outfit.  I really want to pattern out the dress since I adore the way it fits and feels on me, and the fact that even though it is super short on the model, it isn't that way in real life (I bought the medium).  It even has a darling little bow in the back (I like them, the one below has one too).  We'll see when I can get around to it, but for a cheapie Target dress, it did well today.

The fake Birkenstocks are my attempt at being "on trend" without resorting to paying way too much money for white shoes that will likely be either completely out of style (they are very "grandma," lol) or have been ruined by one of my kids spilling something on me.  They were on sale last week, so a good buy then, but the current price is still very good for what you get.  They are super comfortable, I just made sure to size down to a 9 so that they would fit my narrow feet better (the straps do have working notches).

Outfit Details:  Bow Back Cap Sleeve Dress, Target here and in solid lace colors here; Shoes, Target here; Necklace, Madewell here; Sunglasses and bag, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: At Zara doing my returns (number of returns at Zara--always high--such cute clothes cut so so so small), Rex decided he wanted to see what he could get in the boys section, so one of the sales people took him up there and he decided to buy this tee.  I asked him why that one and he was all, "momma, shirts that are just one color are so boring, I want all my shirts to have something on them."  Yes!  Taking after his momma, that one.  :-)

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Saturday, June 6, 2015.

Where:  Mass, dinner with a friend, and G Street Fabrics.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This is a girls dress, size 16 (x-large).  I highly recommend the girls dresses/tops at Target if you can wear a size 4 or 6 (or smaller) in woman's tops/dresses.  Very important to pick the ones out that don't seem super juvenile (so yeah, all the darling ones with unicorns are probably not my best choice, lol).  People seem to like this dress and when I told my friend I had dinner with all about scoring in the girls section (not my first time, btw), she was SO stinking excited.  I think she may have already stalked the Target website looking for it.  :-)

Outfit Details: Circo girls maxi dress, Target here; Cardigan and sandals, J. Crew; Necklace, Target; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: Red Robin is where we went to dinner.  They have these mixed drinks with beer and hard alcohol.  Those are so delicious.  My friend was driving, so I got to have two.  It was a very good night. 

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Okay, you all have a wonderful evening.  Hope your week starts off well with a fabulous Monday.

OOTDs: Summertime Leftovers. And a Giveaway Winner!

Day: Sunday, August 24, 2014.

Where:  Day in DC at the Natural History Museum with the family.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  There is a reason why I keep buying the Garnet Hill Tiered Maxi Dresses, they are so comfortable and incredibly easy to wear on hot summer days.  This year's version is slightly shorter (yet more fitted) than last year's (which I wore here last), and while different, I love them both equally the same.

I have had these Boden sandals forever, I don't pull them out as much as I used to, but they do make their way out to see the sunshine at least a few times a year.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Pretty and breezy.  Better suited for Maui than DC, but I don't exactly live there, so I'll take here.

Anecdote from the day:  They are redoing the entire dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History museum, but until they are done, they have some temporary exhibits up.  When we were there, this live action dinosaur screen was going and you were part of the action ("Walk Among the Dinosaurs").  The kids ate it up.  I love how CW is gently holding her hand up to the T. Rex, like he wouldn't bite her.  Yeah, right, hon.

Day: Thursday, September 18, 2014.

Where:  CW's birthday dinner.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I wish I didn't have to wear a cami with the Boden knot detail dress, but since it was dinner out with the family and not a date night, I knew I wanted to be a bit more covered up.  Otherwise the outfit was very comfortable.

I know some of you will want a little review on the knot detail dress (here on sale), so here goes...I took a size 6L, and you can see that it is pretty long, so I only recommend sizing to a long if you are very tall or if you have modesty requirements.  I may have gotten away with the shorter version, but since most of my height is in my legs, it does help balance my frame a bit.  I also think if you stand the wrong way you could potentially get the question, "are you pregnant," so definitely stand up straight, lol.  I actually never mind if people ask, but I am a weirdo like that.  It is usually kids who ask, so I just smile and say, "no."  The dress is well made and very lightweight.  Perfect for summer.  I wore it with a cardigan at night and it looked cute that way, so it could be transitional, too.

Cool Factor: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I like this shade of orange on me, but the length keeps it from being a homerun.  That's okay.  :-)

Anecdote from the day:  The sombreros were out again for CW's birthday.  I think outside of my upstairs railing and our outdoor forest no place has seen more of my photography on this blog.  I don't go there for my birthday, but everyone else does, it seems. 

And now for the winner of the giveaway...Aimee Everrett, you are the winner.  I almost *never* enter giveaways until someone enters first because I figure there is no way #1 will ever win, even though I understand chance from my years of math schooling.  Hahaha.  Was I proven wrong--on my own giveaway--which had 153 discrete entries (after I took out duplicates and extra superfluous comments).  Aimee commented first and won the big giveaway.  Chance dictated that #1 has as good a shot as #47 and #122, but I guess seeing it is believing it.

(I even made sure to screen grab the date and time so you could see that I wasn't fudging it!)

Congratulations to you, Aimee!  Enjoy your prize!

Take care, all.  We'll talk soon.

P.S. Thank you to those of you who took time to comment on yesterday's post or email me.  I feel better today, definitely, still feel like I have a bit of an uphill climb, but most assuredly less blue than before.  Your sweet and kind words really helped make me feel a lot better!

OOTDs/Made by Me Files: Floral Stretch Twill Skirt (Vogue 8916) and Graphic Wrap Maxi (Vogue 8850 c. 1975).

Hey, all!  Happy Monday.

I am sorry if the last post came to you too late to enjoy the 30% off everything at Boden this weekend.  Unfortunately Johnnie and co. didn't feel enough sympathy to extend it into today, but they did start off another round of 30% off items, this time on dresses, shoes/sandals, and accessories.  I am not officially going to be announcing this in its own post, so no picks or anything, but I do recommend that if you really want to grab something from them that is at 30% off to head over to the last few BWRRs that I have published since there are quite a few reviews from those three categories.

Okay, onto the made by me/ootd action!  I will do the ootd portion first followed by a quick look at the sewing details after.

Day: Saturday, June 14, 2014.

Where: To go get drunk.  LOL.  No, we had "won" two school auction tickets (for twenty people total) to go to a BBQ/Mixed Drinks party at one of the school's parents' house. 

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Bad Boden shirt.  I actually felt that everything was super comfortable from waist down, but this Boden shirt, while it looks great with the outfit, is just a wrong fit for me.  It is very narrow in the hips, so I can't wear it loose, but tucking it in can be a challenge.  Meh.  Bummer is that I only own one top in this color.  I may just have to alter the hem (probably up a couple of inches so it falls higher on the hips where I am narrower) to get this to fit better.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) This is a rock solid look.  The lines are clean and classic, and the floral looks fresh but not too stuffy.  I fit the skirt to my exact measurements so the pencil skirt could be fitted but not too fitted.

Anecdote from the Day:  So the house where we were set to go to for the party is literally five houses from us...but not down the sidewalk.  No, the house is behind ours and four down, but since we live on the edge of the forest, we had to trek through the forest and into our back neighbor's sideyard to get to their home. Note the wedges I was wearing.  Well Little Miss Confidence was fine on the way there but the way back, well, let's just say...limoncello...whiskey...big branch...cut on leg.  Ah, yeah.  So graceful.  :-)  At least the skirt is okay.

To add to the weirdness, as soon as we step out of our neighbor's sideyard, I hear my "teacher name" and was greeted by one of Rex's friends from his class, out for a walk with her mom and dad, sister, and twin brothers.  And they don't even live on the street, they are about a mile down, they just were walking to enjoy the glorious evening. 

I had spied this wonderful fabric in G Street Fabrics last fall, but if I recall correctly, it was almost $30 a yard, and as beautiful as it was, I knew that $90 for three yards (I usually try to have three yards on hand so if I want I can make a full dress, or a skirt/top and girls dress) was too much.  Then I saw it at Gorgeous Fabrics for $15 a yard and they had a coupon, so I happily bought my three yards and moved on...but then Fabric Mart had the same fabric on sale for $2.99 or some ridiculousness like that, and I was like, "umm, okay, well, why not add more to the stash and have pretty fabric for muslins, etc."  Then I was gifted a yard from Fabric Mart in one of their free bundles they send and well, I guess I have a lot of the pretty fabric ready to go.  I  think I can make a full dress, a top, a skirt, a sheath dress, and a couple of things for CW.  Really glad I didn't buy it at G Street originally.

This etsy seller has some available, btw. Not at $3 a yard, but still less than G Street or even Gorgeous Fabrics had theirs at...

So this skirt is made from the Vogue 8916 pattern, which is a wardrobe pattern and includes a top, jacket, skirt, and simple sleeveless dress.  I liked how long the skirt looked, and thought the silhouette was classic (neat tidy waistband added to the skirt and not folded over like some pencil skirt patterns have).  It also included instructions for lining the skirt, which I wanted to do so I could wear it in the winter with tights.

I was tremendously worried that the skirt in the largest size on the package would be too small (this is the smaller set of sizes--up to a 14), but I figured I would at least do some flat measurements.  Well, even after doing the flat measurements I was worried, but figured I could take the seams out a bit to 3/8" if need be.  Then I had the idea to measure this pattern against a stretchy pencil skirt of mine from J. Crew, and get this...the pattern was more than big enough in a 14, in fact a little bigger than the J. Crew skirt, so I knew I would be okay. 

Putting this skirt together took me AGES.  I labored on it for a month.  Now admittedly I was working on other things, including the dress below, but really, people...a MONTH for a pencil skirt.  I may win the slowest sewer on the planet award.  The pattern itself was not confusing, the instructions were fine, and the fabric wasn't especially tricky (other than getting bunched up on the sewing machine since the machine's foot tension was too loose and gathered this super thin fabric easily).  I just took a lot of time getting it done.

I think taking my time made the skirt look nicely finished though and when I grab a few moments, I will photograph the inside of the skirt since I properly finished all the seams and the hem.  It isn't 100% ready to wear, but it is the closest I have come since my Vogue Paris Original dress from last fall.

I would like to make the top from this pattern, but in a different fabric.  The fabric above I will likely use with this New Look pattern since it is a darling peplum and hey, the fabric is exactly the same.  So original.

Day: Thursday, June 5, 2014.

Where:  CW's Kindergarten Graduation.  Then to the city to celebrate with her at Pret-A-Manger and the Natural History Museum.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Although this dress was made for me by me, because I didn't take out extra length in the bodice portion, the overall shape was a bit too blousey for my frame, especially since the extra volume was extra extra in the skirt. 

I will say that running around the city with the breeze in place was very nice...the skirt kind of swirled around me and was very refreshing.  I just wonder how much more awesome it would have felt if the top portion fit a bit better.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Very nice summer dress and cute sandals.  My baby was the star, though, and her outfit was the winner that day.  (She received a lot of "OH, SO CUTE!" comments.)  I did make that dress, btw, and you can see more on that one here.

Anecdote from the Day:  The IRS building was being evacuated when we were walking by.  The nice security fella walked with us to the end of the block (instead of making us cross the street with the employees) and he and CW got into a conversation about the stuffed owl she had just bought at the museum store.  We asked him his name and he said Laurence, and we said we would name the owl Laurence. But then CW thought about it and looked at him and said, "no wait, this is a girl owl, so I am going to name her Laura."  ;-)

The dress, based on the vintage Vogue pattern 8850 (from 1975) looks SO good on my form.  I feel like Triple D needs to wear this dress all the time.  Triple D is longer than me from neck to waist, though, so the extra volume is less present on her, and requires no fiddling with the wrap to make her perfect.

I am not going to go into the ins and outs of this sewing project, but I did publish a lot of information on it here at this review at Pattern Review.

Okay, that's it for now.  :-)

If you would like 30% off dresses, shoes/sandals, and accessories, this sale will go until next Sunday night.  For anything else that is on your list that is not one of the above categories, you can use the coupon below or in the sidebar for 25% off.

OOTDs: Silky Vintage and Made by Me.

Hey, all!  Happy Thursday!  :-)  Just a quick reminder before I start that the 30% off dresses promotion ends tomorrow night over at Boden.  (At least that is what I believe will happen since the sale started last Saturday morning.  I would be more than fine if Boden made me a liar by continuing it into the weekend.)

Okay, in honor of May and the "Me-Made May" phenomena that happens all over the sewing blog world, I thought I would parade out five recent outfits that feature one item that was made by me, in conjunction with a bunch of non-made by me items, of course, since I have only been doing this sewing thing for so long.  I expect that maybe in a few years I could actually feature entire ensembles made by me, but I ain't there yet.

Day: Sunday, May 25, 2014.

Where: Angus's friend's birthday party.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) The Silky Vintage Top (currently at 25% off here) is very comfortable and I am stoked I bought the size 6 since it was fitted enough in the upper bodice while being nice and swingy at the hip portion, where I need it the most.  I like this one so much that I decided to purchase the multi-colored yellow floral version to make up for the fact that the Selina dress didn't work at all for me in either size I tried (see the original review of it here at this BWRR). 

The shorts (see original post on them here), though, are the reason for the fallen ease score.  I am okay with *why* it fell since the shorts are now so big on me in the waist that it is somewhat laughable how close they came to falling off of me by the end of the day.  See even though they look fine in the original shots (the last three), you can see that I had to untuck the top in the first photo to cover up how loose they had become.  (The fabric is a loosely woven linen/rayon blend and while it is very nice to sew and feels pretty soft, it is very stretchy and very wrinkle-prone.)

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I think this is a solid effort.  Feels very vintage inspired, of course.  LOVE the buttons on the back, adds to the retro feel.

Anecdote from the Day:  Angus's friend loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as much as Angus does so he was THRILLED to see all the Mickey/Minnie decorations at the party.  He was also one of the only boys and so he felt like he was the littlest king at the party.  Oh dear.

Day: Monday, May 26, 2014.

Where: Hanging out with friends and their kids.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) This pretty little skirt that I made last year (see here) will always be one of my favorites since it fits my shape so nicely, and is a mini without being too mini.  I realized after wearing it that I have nearly a yard of this gorgeous tana lawn left, and I can make a top from part of that (still plan on making some hair ties for some blog friends from the rest of that, cough cough, I know I am late).

The sandals are great and went well with the outfit, but do feel a bit tight upon first wearing them.  They do stretch out, though, so there's that.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I have had this tee for a while, having bought it back in 2010.  I never thought of pairing it with something more "upscale," and have always worn it with shorts or pants, but after realizing the colors worked exactly right together, I knew I had to wear it with this skirt. 

Anecdote from the Day:  I spent half the night holding our friends' littlest boy, who fell asleep on my lap in a monkey position.  He's only seven months, so I was in heaven.  I love little tiny babies.  So cuddly and squeezable and huggable!

Day: Wednesday, May 28, 2014.

Where: Volunteering at the school, Winesday, and Rex's batting practice.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I felt good, but bear in mind that it was stupid hot and humid yesterday, I had a migraine in the morning, and the only way we could get to Winesday this week was to drag all three kids with us.  Since bringing all three to the world's most uppity Whole Foods is insane, I decided to put Angus in my carrier on my back so I would at least have one kid away from all the goodies in the aisles.  Yeah, my poor top was a bit soaked after that.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) This top is made from a beautiful tana lawn from Liberty of London (see the original post on it here), so that ups the cool factor a bit.  The combo of the slim denim shorts and darling tied striped sandals with the top make it look very 50s/60s, so I would say I felt pretty cool, even if my poor tired soul was anything but...

Anecdote from the Day:  So even though I felt crazy for dragging the three kids to Winesday, it turned out that this week's theme was "for the kids."  Well, hot damn, I chose the right day to do the impossible.  The foods were all things kids love, and of course my three went crazy for the yumminess (food only, of course).  Their favorite was the tomato soup, which was pretty darn tasty.

Day: Thursday, May 29, 2014.

Where: Bowling, G Street Fabrics, Barnes & Noble, and School Pickup.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Yesterday was H-O-T, and today was cool and rainy.  Ugh.  I prefer hot to this, honestly.  I felt weird dragging out my boucle sweater (post on that one here) in late May, but the temp barely reached 65.  Sigh.  At least I had it all washed and ready to go.  And I am glad I had a cool-weather top to wear for part of my Made by Me outfits quest.

The shoes are too loose, should have bought the 40.  They work, but the toe area is very wide, and the 40 would have likely been more narrow there.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I don't know that I love the whole look together, but I am glad I wore the pieces together, and popped some crazy neon color in the sandals.  Otherwise my grey outfit would have blended into the cloudy background.

I really like how my makeup turned out, though.  Very simple, but I felt like it worked.  Now if only I could get my eyebrows freshened up, and a good ninety hour nap, I could take care of all of my cosmetic wants.

Anecdote from the Day:  I got a 139 in bowling.  Whoop!  Now why can't I get that score every time I bowl?

Day: Sunday, May 11, 2014.

Where: Mother's Day Mass, Zaytinya, and 9:30 Club to see Elbow.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) This dress may be one of my favorites I have ever made for me (see more on that here).  I find getting shift dresses to properly work on my slimmer upper body and larger lower half very challenging, but hey, you make your own, you can make it fit you just right.  Aw, yeah.  Go comfort!

So you all know, I am not dumb, and did not wear those darling J. Crew strappy wedge sandals to watch Elbow in the concert.  I changed into a pair of black sparkly flip-flops for that.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I think it is pretty darn cool, and since neon tropical prints and shift dresses are "in" (see this Just Cavalli one), I would say yeah, I looked cool.  (And was still "modest" enough for mass.  So yay for that, too.)

Anecdote from the Day:  Zaytinya is great, and I love almost everything Jose Andres does, but I still prefer Oyamel, and its tasty fried grasshopper tacos.

At the Elbow concert, there were about ten percent of the crowd who must have only been at the concert to *go and do something, anything* that night, because they kept TALKING LOUDLY while the wonderful Guy Garvey of Elbow sang his sweet tunes all romantic like to us.  I kind of wished that Guy would have come down to them and gone, "whatcha you all doing?"  But he didn't.  Instead this kind of nerdy fifty-year old guy walked up to them and said "SHUT UP."  LOL.  Go, you!  I loved that!

Okay, that's all for now.  I hope everyone is ready for a nice weekend.  :-)

Boden: 25% Off!

So this image has nothing to do with the 25% off sale (well except those items above are on sale).  I just thought it was so precious!  I actually wore the green version of the Silky Vintage Top this weekend, it is really cute IRL.

Hello, and a Happy Memorial Day to all my American friends.  Here in the DC area every Memorial Day is marked by the sound of Rolling Thunder, which allows us to have a audible reminder of the service the men and women of our armed forces have given to our country during its history.  They specifically ride to honor all captured troops (POW/MIA), btw, but the reminder of all our troops' service is not lost in their ride.  I love it all, and look forward to seeing all the men and women on their loud motorcycles come in once a year, flags whipping in the wind behind them.  Very cool.  However you plan to celebrate, do enjoy!

Okay, so I announced on Saturday that Boden had started the 25% off sale very early (two days to be exact).  They had started the 30% off dresses sale on time but the 25% off everything else sale was not supposed to happen the same day as the start of the dresses sale.  Whoops!

Oh, well.  They didn't end up pulling the sale yesterday or on Saturday, but I can officially announce that the sale is going on today.  :-)  It is slated to stick around for a while, which is great since popbacks can happen at anytime.  (I will probably announce any sightings of popbacks at my facebook page--here on the blog it takes too long to get posts up, etc.  So if you want to follow over there, go ahead on over and check it out.)

The 30% off dresses sale ends on Friday, I believe, so that is more limited than this 25% off sale.  From what I can tell, the sale is working on dresses, and a lot of the very popular dresses are losing stock F.A.S.T.  There will likely be popbacks in dresses, but just as a reminder, if you see the color/size you want and it is in a pink "low stock" box, that means there are less than five available.

Alrighty, off to enjoy my Memorial Day.  Will be back this week with outfit posts.  As much as I love these Boden sale posts, they seem to come quickly and in spurts, lol.  And since I usually only have enough time in my day for one post (if that, being honest with myself here), I push the outfit posts to the backburner.  ;-P

There is a link to the sale in the sidebar, but I have put one below, too.

OOTDs: Thursday, Friday, Sunday.

Hey, all!  Happy Monday.  If you have today off in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., I hope that your day off has gone well.  We have kept it fairly sedate here, but sometimes sedate is the best kind of day.  :-)

Anyhow, onto the outfits from my recent days.  (I have some from earlier last week, but these three "go" best together.)

Day: Thursday, January 16, 2014.

Where: G Street Fabrics/School Run/Little Gym.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear) The pants are now kinda big, but since I am a big fan of comfort, especially when going to the Little Gym (all three kids had classes that afternoon), I keep the "they're just a touch too big" pants just for that purpose.  I wish that they wouldn't have that weird whiskering at the crotch area, but any pair of pants is going to have that, *unless* you get the exact right size for your body.  And I can tell you from all this sewing experience I am gaining, that even if you sew the exact right size for your shape, that still doesn't mean anything, you could still end up with weird lines everywhere.  Sigh.  (Even really loose pants will whisker if you put your legs together, you will have very deep frown lines radiating from your crotch.  LOL.  That sounds funny.)

The rest of the outfit was super comfy, and even though I don't wear the Fiona jacket that much anymore, I am glad to pull it out once or twice a year since it is so pretty and warm.

The shoes are the Penny Loafers from Boden that I just received the day before.  It took me less than twenty four hours to pull them out and wear them in real life.  Yep, like I feel about all my Boden loafers, it is love.

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) This is a pretty preppy outfit, so I think in some circles it would be cooler than in others.  Fortunately most of you who read here seem to like this brand of preppy, so I think there will be a few fans of this look.  :-)

Anecdote from the Day:  I went ahead and purchased a class at G Street that starts this Saturday (the 25th) on drafting a pants pattern to your exact measurements.  Maybe, just maybe, I will eventually have a pair of pants that have no whiskers, at all.  (Crosses fingers!)

Day: Friday, January 17, 2014.

Where: Little Gym/Harris Teeter/Sushi Dinner.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear) Overall a very comfortable, weather-appropriate outfit, but I wish that I looked less "matron of a German women's prison" when the jacket is buttoned up.  I rarely button it up, but it was chilly enough that day to have a need for the full buttoned-up look.  No biggie, I am sure no one was staring and saying, "get back to the Fraus, dear lady," but still.  I guess the more severe cut is emphasized in the name, the Military Wool Jacket ( here--and on deep discount in all shades). 

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I like this look.  I really like it most without the jacket, but again, cold day and all.  :-)

Anecdote from the Day:  That is not a typo, we went to the Little Gym twice in two days.  I had missed so many of their classes when we were gone in December, that I have had a lot to make up with them.

And I went to Harris Teeter with all three kids.  They were very well behaved, by some minor miracle.  Hallelujah!

Day: Sunday, January 19, 2014.

Where: Day out in DC with the family.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear) It was windy and cold, so any plans I had to wear anything other than a thick cashmere sweater and snood went away after I went outside briefly that morning. 

On the fly, I kind of dig how easy this outfit is and how cute it looks all together.  The Anthropologie boots (made by Pied Juste, more on the brand's history here) are super cool, but not super warm, so they are the reason the outfit had a point knocked off.  (Well and the fact that I triple-looped the snood around my neck, which meant it felt rather tight...warm, but tight.)

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I reckon this is a pretty cool look.  I felt cool anyhow.  My girl was probably the coolest.  Standing at the J. Crew, trying to figure out what time it opened (we had a return to make), a lady remarked on how well-dressed CW was.  Aw!  (She picked out her outfit completely on her own, btw.)

Anecdote from the Day:  We had intended to have me take the oldest two to the city on Friday (they had the day off--hence why they were so well-behaved at the Harris Teeter), but those plans fell through after Angus's babysitter fell through.  In the end, we decided to all head to the city on Sunday instead and I took CW to the Portrait Gallery, while Mr. Dina took Rex and Angus to the Spy Museum.  I then grabbed Rex and CW and went to the Pret a Manger, while Mr. Dina took Angus to the Shake Shack.  (Rex, CW, and I LOVE Pret a Manger, and we go whenever we can.)

Okay, that's it for tonight.  If you haven't had a chance, don't forget to enter my five-year blogoversy giveaway here.