OOTDs: Rest of Georgia on My Mind.

Day: Wednesday, June 17, 2015.

Where: Atlanta to visit the World of Coke Museum, the Georgia Aquarium, and the Varsity for dinner.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) God bless you, Garnet Hill.  I can always count on them to make jersey dresses that are sublimely comfortable, beautifully made, and in gorgeous bright colors and patterns.  The Born sandals I have had for years and I finally realized that I had to bring the straps in a notch, which made them fit my narrow foot better.  I wish that lightbulb moment had occurred earlier.  :-)

Outfit Details:  Dress, Garnet Hill (find this version from last year and this year's version here, I have bought the navy floral from the current year and have plans to wear it soon); Sandals, Born, but there is a similar style from Clarks available at Amazon.com here; Necklace, Madewell here; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: Two things! 1. At the World of Coke, they have this amazing tasting room with all the flavors of soda throughout the world.  I am not really a soda person (though I was as a kid), but it was a blast trying them all out.  My favorite from when I was a child in Germany was there, Mezzo Mix (I also drank Spezi, which is similar), I was giddy with excitement over remembering it.  It is now my mission to find it at the German Gourmet store up the road from my house. 2. We took the kids to the dolphin show at the Georgia Aquarium and since I have never seen dolphins up close, I didn't know what to expect.  Although the show was super cheesy (it was bordering on Stilton, you all), I get the love dolphins get now, they are pretty darn magical creatures.

INSTAGRAM HERE (outfit).
INSTAGRAM HERE (day in Atlanta).

Day: Thursday, June 18, 2015.

Where:  Watch the movie Inside Out.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) It's made by me for both my husband and me, so I would think his would also be a 4.5.  (You can read more on that sewing adventure here at my blog post for Fabric Mart's blog, where I am a regular contributor.)  I always find sitting in movie theaters in a dress is weird, but overall not an uncomfortable night.

Outfit Details:  Dress, handmade from this Japanese Pattern Book (you can find a copy of it at Amazon.com); Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com; Necklace, Target; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: So there are volcanoes on our clothes (Mt. Fuji to be precise), and the intro cartoon before Inside Out was called "Lava," about a lonely volcano singing about wanting to find his Lava Love.  It was such a sweet little cartoon and I felt it was serendipitous we wore these clothes that night.  ;-)

INSTAGRAM HERE and HERE.

Day: Friday, June 19, 2015.

Where: Steak and Shake. Yes, I dressed up for Steak and Shake.  :-)  Earlier in the day I had been at a pond/pool in Cohutta, GA. 

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I love this dress.  I actually decided to get the blue version of this dress (similar pattern but not the same), I love it that much.  It is a touch short, but I wear enough conservative dresses otherwise, it is nice to let my legs out from time to time.  I wore this one a few weeks back, btw.

Outfit Details:  Dress, Target here (the version I am wearing in this post is here and the version I just purchased is here); Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com; Necklace, Madewell here; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day:

INSTAGRAM HERE (outfit).
INSTAGRAM HERE (day at pool).

Day: Saturday, June 20, 2015.

Where: Drive home from Georgia to Virginia.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I was comfortable enough, but it is really hard to be comfortable in anything when sitting in a car for twelve hours straight.  The Turner pants do well considering.  :-)

Outfit Details:  Turner Pants, J. Crew here; Top, Zara; Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com; Necklace, Madewell here; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day:  You all probably think my Steak and Shake obsession is weird, but my husband adores something even weirder, Krystal.  Most southerners will understand, either with me in my "ugh, more Krystal," or with my husband in the "OOOOH, Krystal."  Krystal serves these steamed burgers and hot dogs and fries, and while it's *okay,* that's kind of low praise from me considering I'll eat almost anything.  Anyhow, Mr. Dina HAS to get at least one last meal at Krystal before we leave Tennessee, so we always have to stop right outside of Knoxville to grab his grub.

Their sweet tea is awesome, though!

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Okay, that's all for now.  I am so glad I was able to write this post up.  Our internet has been really spotty since getting home, and since I can't blog from my phone (I mean maybe I could, but no thank you, very very much), I have been unable to do much.  It should be fixed up real soon.

You all have a great Monday night!

OOTDs: Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia. In Reverse.

Day: Tuesday, June 16, 2015.

Where:  Haircut with my sister-in-law, niece, and daughter, here in Georgia.  Apparently I only cut my hair away from home.  ;-)

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This Boden casual weekend dress I bought last year and I fell in love with it then, and still love it now.  They have the same style this year, but none of the colors spoke to me, so I just said no this time 'round.  Had they had a pattern I really loved, I would have probably gotten another one.  The pockets are the best, and it is so soft. 

You have already seen these sandals on me before, but they really are quite a buy.  Target did good.  The original review of them is here.  I am very glad I brought these with me on vacation.

Outfit Details:  Dress, Boden (find this year's version here); Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com; Necklace, Madewell here.

Anecdote of the Day: I got sick in North Carolina (food poisoning) and haven't been able to eat much since the incident, so to get calories, both Monday lunch and Tuesday lunch I ate milkshakes.  Well, half a milkshake each day.  It is a sad day when a milkshake, half-drunk, gets passed to a husband to be finished off.  :-(  On the plus side, I usually gain a couple pounds on vacation (hello, yummy Steak and Shake!), but this time I will probably not have to worry about that.  

INSTAGRAM HERE.
INSTAGRAM OF OUR HAIRCUTS HERE.

Day: Sunday, June 14, 2015.

Where:  Church and a Mexican restaurant.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I made these dresses for both CW and me for a Fabric Mart blog post back in May.  If you are interested in the construction, fabric, or thought process that went into these, definitely check out that blog post.  (Also check out my latest make--a button-up shirt for my husband for Father's Day--yeah, he got it early!)

They are Lilly Pulitzer inspired, you are not imagining it.  The fabric turned out to be actual Lilly fabric from the summer of 2014, and you better believe I was thrilled to find it and buy enough yardage to make the two dresses (and have a touch left over for an American Girl dress).

I used a vintage pattern for my dress, and while it fits fine, I feel like I should have shortened the torso since I feel like the extra length there puts a narrower bit of the dress's body at my larger hipline.  The next time I make it up, I will shorten it by an inch at the bodice and lengthen it by an inch at the hem to make up the difference.

Because I made the dress for me to my needs, it is long enough for church, and even though it is not as loose as I would like it at the hips, it still fits great.  Most actual Lilly dresses are too short AND too tight in the hips.  I rarely purchase Lilly Pulitzer for myself because of that.  (The only one I have, in fact, is an altered size 10 dress I found at a consignment shop, its bodice is much smaller than a size 10, but the hips are still the larger size 10.)

I wish I had a different pair of shoes to wear with this dress, but since we are on vacation, we are limited in our choices, and no one threw things at me because I dared to wear Birkenstocks with "Lilly."  In fact, if I am being honest, I kind of think it looks cute together.  Kind of 1960s Palm Beach.  ;-)

Outfit Details:  Dress, handmade; Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com.

Anecdote of the Day: The Mexican restaurant we went to that day is the restaurant that made me sick.  I forgive them as they have never made me sick before, but dang, what a vacation bummer, you know?  

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Saturday, June 14, 2015.

Where:  Mellow Mushroom and downtown Greensboro.

Ease of Wear: (4.25 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  We had driven the whole day after being at Rex's baseball game early in the morning, so no matter what I wore, I was going to feel not the best.  Considering all that, though, the comfort level was pretty high.  These Bistro shorts are from last year, but this year's versions have some cute designs.  One thing to note about this year's version is that the long is a very long inseam, at 9 inches, I think they added 2 extra inches to their inseam from last year.  I don't mind the extra length, but I think seven inches makes them more casual and easier to style.  In fact, because of the extra length, I haven't worn them yet since I am still a bit stumped on how to wear them and not look too frumpy.

The shoes are awesome, duh, lol, I already loved on them in the above outfits.  The tee is from American Apparel and while it's cute, it is very thin fabric and required both a cami and a bra.  That's a lot of coverage for someone who is not especially well-endowed.

Outfit Details:  Tee, American Apparel; Shorts, Boden here; Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com; Necklace, J. Crew.

Anecdote of the Day: I point a lot in my photos.  I don't know why I do that.  It's weird.  And sometimes when I point, I think I am pointing at what I should be pointing at (this time yummy drink), but instead I am pointing at something I didn't even know was in the background, this time the waiter putting an order into his till.  It looks like I am pretty excited by him doing that instead of the amazing drink I received.  Hee.

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Friday, June 12, 2015.

Where:  Last Day of School! YES!

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  How did this knot detail dress get so long?  I mean seriously?  Last year it wasn't this long (three inches below my knees) but this year it is.  It grew!  I don't want it to be that long, so I dinged the points on ease down.  The outfit, though, is seriously very comfortable. 

And though I am not usually a Birkenstock fan, I guess I have changed my tune.  I guess I was so oversaturated with them in the 90s (I wore them a ton--I seriously looked just like this girl on a daily basis, minus the socks), I never thought I would want to wear them again.  I still am not sure about my current "I am wearing them all the time" choice either.  :-)

But, like the white Target versions above, I do really like these J. Crew Birkenstock Metallic Madrid sandals.  I think these are a whole lot more sleek than the white ones, so I think they can be worn more easily with more outfits.  I had to try two sizes before I discovered what worked for me.  Because I have a very narrow foot, I often have to size down, and I kept reading how the sizing was big on these, so I chose to try the 39 first, which is equal to about an 8-8.5.  That would be a full size down from my normal J. Crew size.  And while the 39 fit me, they were too short, by a lot.  (I do have long feet, though.)  I had very little hope that the 40 would fit since I figured they would be too wide, but nope, as long as I did the closures up to the next to last hole, they were fine.  Eventually I will have to cinch it to the last hole, but that won't be for a summer, at least.  For those of you with thin and long feet, go to a half-size down (the 40 they say is a 9), but remember to cinch the closure tighter.  After having done that, it was perfect.  :-)

Outfit Details:  Dress, Boden; Necklace, tru.che here; Birkenstock Metallic Madrid Sandals, J. Crew here, but you can also find them at Amazon (which I recommend if you have Prime for free shipping, since the price is the same as J. Crew right now, they also have more sizes!); Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: I got a farmer's tan that day.  It was so flipping hot and sunny.  So not only did the dress grow on me from last year, I got the world's funkiest burn on my shoulders and neck.  Drrrr.  I am so good about SPF normally, too.  But, on the plus side, NO PICKUP from school for a couple months.  Woo!

You all have a great day.  I should be back on with more vacation outfits soon.  If you want to keep up with the vacation, I am posting at Instagram a bit.  :-)

OOTD/Review: Maximizing the Summer.

Yes, that's a new haircut.  Finally!

Day: Tuesday, July 23, 2013.

Where:  Mint Condition (Consignment Shop) run, Cosi, and Anthropologie.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  As you are all very aware by now (unless you just discovered my blog), I heart heart heart all my long jersey maxi dresses from Boden.  I love them because they are ridiculously comfortable and very cool on the hottest, most humid days.

Anyhow, as per usual, this dress is very much in the same vein, and I feel fortunate that I was able to grab this one on popback, since it was the original color I had wanted but had been sent another color.  Only drawback was that I had to grab in the size down, a 4 Long.  (Still fit, more on that in the review bit down below.)

The sandals are the versatile Seventies Wedges, and I continue to think their low wedge heel are a great lift without pain.  If you can get a pair of these on popback in your size, I highly recommend them (my original review of them is here, btw.)

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I think I would give this outfit a half-point more if I had worn flat sandals since the effect of the maxi is a bit marred by the heel of the sandals lifting the hem a bit off the floor.  Since I went down a size, the length ends up being a bit shorter on my frame (probably since it is hugging my curves a bit more than the 6 Long does), which means I should wear these with absolutely flat shoes in the future.  That said, the sidewalks in Old Town are a bit dirty, so I was okay keeping the lovely fabric off the pavement.  :-)

Anecdote from the day:  It was nice spending the day in Old Town with Rex.  I had my dad take the youngest two to CW's Bug Walks and Critter Talks class and my oldest and I just chilled at the various shops and one of his favorite restaurants, Cosi (weird, right, but that's my guy!).

I had a 15% off bday coupon from Anthro, but try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to spend a load of money on items I can sew on my own, so I bought a cute pair of sunglasses, a darling embroidered tea towel, and a knitted short-sleeve cotton sweater.

Mint Condition took nearly all my consigned items from this post, so yay for that! 

Review: I actually thought there would be a slightly bigger difference between the 4 Long and the 6 Long (here is my original review), but this Jersey Maxi Dress is very forgiving in the size 4 Long, which makes it appear to fit nearly the same as the 6 Long.  The only (pretty obvious) difference is the length, since the 6 long is worn with a higher heeled shoe, yet appears much longer.

So if you see a popback in a color you like, and it is one size up or down, go for it.  The jersey works out all the issues because it truly is a miracle fabric.

Mr. Dina lol-ed that the camera was fogging up due to the vast contrast in temps between his sister's house and her front porch.  He really loved the halo effect the camera gave the image.  He insisted I use this one in today's post. 

Day: Wednesday, June 17, 2013.

Where:  Ruby Falls, you all!

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Exactly like the above outfit, just substitute the dress for last season's version (original review here) and the sandals for Johnnie b.'s leather clogs (no longer available, apparently due to a fault in the wood used in the sole--they sent me a letter saying I could return, and I was all, "feh, no way!").

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Very pretty outfit, but definitely very in your face with all those glorious bright pinks.  I suspect I should tone it down a bit if I wanted to be "cool."

Anecdote from the day:  I was a bit stressed once down in the cave for Ruby Falls since my youngest is a mover and shaker now, but I used my wrap to keep him next to me the whole time, and so long as I was moving, he was fine.  The moment I dared to stop, he would whine and complain, loudly.  Sigh.*

Rex loved it.  He actually exclaimed loudly, upon seeing the falls, "THIS IS AWESOME!"

*I have a flight with Angus at the end of August.  Unlike my past few flights with him, he now wants to be running around almost always.  My hope is that I have had enough sleep and patience to deal with him, and with any grace, maybe I will be blessed with a baby willing to sleep at least part of the flight.  Fortunate for me, he likes blowing kisses at ladies, so maybe a few of the flight attendants will be charmed by him, and will blow him a few kisses back.  Wish me luck on that!

Speaking of moving, I move constantly with him, but the last five pounds of weight is not budging off my body.  I think that I have a reason to hold onto them, but it is a wee bit frustrating to not see the results on my scale.

Alrighty, I hope all of you are having a great day, and maximizing your summer!  ;-)

Georgia on My Mind (with a Dash of North Carolina Thrown in...)

So remember way back in late July when I went to Georgia and Indiana? Remember when I posted about the portal to hell that was the hotel room that we stayed at in Winston-Salem, NC? Well, I FINALLY have put together a big polyvore of all the things I wore on the trip, two mini-polyvores for some of the outfits, and I have uploaded all of the images, edited said images for publication...phew. This took me a better part of three hours today. Yikes. Blogging is fun but very time-consuming!

(Oh, and so you know, I have many, many outfits to post from late July and August...eventually, my friends, eventually!)

By the way, I did comment back on all the latest posts...not individually this time (unless you had a question or such)...but I did it! YAY!

Oh, and also...I loved my last week (August 23-30, 2009). I did not stop moving. Between three separate DC JCA get-togethers (Tysons for shopping, Tysons for a playdate with HeidiG. and Summerilla, and the White House/Occidental Grille with Cleo26, Slastena, 3PP, Kelly, and Rosa), working out with my brother, and jetting to the pool with the kids, I have been a bit busy...but that really good busy that makes life worth living, you know? BTW, I would be back to school preparing my classroom if I was still teaching full-time. :) I am so excited to only substitute this year...WAY less pressure!



Untitled by dinagideon featuring J Crew

First Polyvore is of all the items I brought with me to both Georgia and Indiana. You will see this in this post and the next one on Indiana.



North Carolina by dinagideon featuring J Crew

This second Polyvore is of my first and second day's outfits. The first outfit (on the left) I wore to a yum-tastic Mexican restaurant in Winston-Salem. We specifically request a journey there every single time we visit. Man, it's good. The second outfit (on the right) I wore the next day (Sunday) to Biscuitville (umm, biscuits, gravy, and grits...mmm...) and on the ride to Georgia...


Here is the first outfit. This is the lovely Liberty print fabric jacket that you all have seen before, but this time I scrunched up the sleeves. I LOVE it this way...very pretty and very (dare I say it), chic. The rolling ruffles tank is the champagne color, a lovely light yellow.


Here is a close-up of the jacket and well, the real reason I put the pic up, CW. On three...1, 2, 3...Ahhh!


This is a tee I bought from Boden for a song. I also purchased it in a navy blue/grey stripe. Why this was not more popular is beyond me...it is pretty and comfortable. Of course it is citron hued, so that may be why! ;)

I know this is going to sound odd, but I got my color inspiration for the trip from CW's onesie that she is wearing in this pic...it has many colors but they all worked so nicely together, I chose those colors as my theme.


OMG--Ignore my face...I look like I just smelled CW's diaper (which is entirely possible)...
This third outfit is from Georgia, and I wore it on Monday. It is the boyfriend tee in aqua (yes, HeidiG., just for you) in size extra-small (that's right, XS); some Ann Taylor Loft shorts I got from Rugged Wearhouse for next to nothing (and it's a short inseam...look out!); and the starfish capri sandals that I hearted so much I bought for full price (minus 15% educator discount).



Untitled by dinagideon featuring J Crew

This third polyvore is from my last day in Georgia. I knew his family would like to see a tee celebrating New Orleans, so I wore it just for them...


Not much to say about this except that the sandals are ancient, but have lasted forever. Hmmm...if Mickey and co. read this, keep these sandals in mind the next time you make something...they are beautiful and built to last...J. Crew, I know you all have it in you to make awesome products again (of course, they still do, but even I, Miss "Rah-Rah" J. Crew has noticed a decline in many of the products' ability to last a long time).

Have a beautiful Monday (no, seriously, try to...)!