OOTDs: Festive White and Polka Dotted.

Happy New Year's Eve!  I am actually going to a party with some teacher friends, and I really hope to have a good time, but it's been forever since I have gone to a party like this, so I have a feeling I might feel out of place for at least a little while.  Thank goodness for champagne!

Before I begin, Boden is offering an additional 10% off clearance/sale styles.  I have a link for it in the sidebar and at the bottom of this post for those of you interested.  The affiliate program provided me with the link, which is awesome.  (Sometimes the affiliate doesn't get all the good ones.)

Day: Sunday, December 13, 2015.

Where:  Mass at our newly remodeled church.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) It was kind of hot that day, so the topper (which is an ancient spring coat from Anthropologie) was worn for a grand total of twenty minutes.  But overall, a very easy outfit considering we had a very long mass that day (all total around 1.5 hours). 

Outfit Details: Coat, Anthropologie; Dress, Boden; Shoes, Nine West; Scarf, J. Crew; Sunglasses, Ray-Ban (here, they are the Meteor style).

Anecdote of the Day: The church looks lovely and bright now.  It used to be a touch dark in the space.  I was in the first Confirmation group to be confirmed in the original "remodeled" version of the church WAY BACK WHEN, so it is wonderful to know that my kids will be part of another group to enjoy their sacraments in the second remodeling of the church.  (Though Rex had his First Holy Communion in the old church design, and all the kids were baptized in the old design.)  They kept some of the original bits, including the ceiling, which was the one thing I didn't want them to touch.  So glad they kept that!

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Wednesday, December 16, 2015.

Where:  Christmas work party.

Ease of Wear: (4.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) This pretty sparkly polka-dotted dress by Boden is made of jersey, which is perfection for ease of wear.  I thought it was made with a woven jacquard fabric, so I ignored it as a possibility to wear, but by a stroke of buyer's luck, discovered it was a jersey stretchy material right around the Black Friday sales, so I was able to purchase it for a fairly decent price.  It had to pop back in my size, but once it did, I jumped on it, and was glad I did.  The sparkly shoes from last year are flat, so there was no pain there, either.

Outfit Details: Dress, (Sparkle Spot Jacquard Dress, here at Boden; my review of it here); Coat, Halston Heritage; Shoes, Boden; Necklace, Stella and Dot; Tights, J. Crew; Sunglasses, Ray-Ban (here, they are the Meteor style).

Anecdote of the Day: I like my drinks hard and manly, so when offered a neat Scotch or Bourbon, I will happily drink it.  I had the pleasure of enjoying a really lovely Scotch that strongly tasted of peat, which if you have traveled to any bit of countryside in the UK, you have smelled burning in the air.  It tastes amazing, but I do understand that the taste may be an acquired one.  ;-)

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Wednesday, December 24, 2015.

Where:  Christmas Eve Dinner.

Ease of Wear: (4.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I originally planned on wearing this one only in the morning, but in the end decided I was fine with wearing it all day because 1) lazy and 2) need easy waistband for dinner gorging (ugh, must show more restraint in the future).

Outfit Details: Dress, Boden (Casual Weekend Dress, here; my original review here); Jacket, Boden (Boucle Jacket, here; original review here); Shoes, J. Crew; Necklace, gift from my dad; Sunglasses, Ray-Ban (here, they are the Meteor style).

Anecdote of the Day:  Dad brought Popeye's for dinner.  Popeye's.  I was appalled, Mr. Dina was thrilled (he loves Popeye's almost as much as he loves his white tennis shoes).

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Extra 10% off sale prices with code 2SAL plus free shipping and returns over $49 valid 12/31-1/3

OOTDs: Hummingbirds and Hearts.

Hey, all!  Happy Monday!

Before I start, just wanted to remind all you Boden fans out there that the clearance "up to 80% off" deal is apparently ending tonight.  Just what they are going to do with the clearance items after tonight is anyone's guess, but just in case they take it all away *or* they raise the prices back up, you may want to take a look around just in case.  I wrote more about the sale here at this post.

Day: Sunday, February 16, 2014.

Where: Rex's birthday party and Church.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The Heritage Sweater ( here in the clearance sale, numbers are very low, though) is awesome and very cozy and warm, and I am glad I found an occasion to wear the cute sneakers from Boden again (running around at Laser Tag), but I am still a bit iffy on whether or not I like the fit of the pants or the jacket.  I mean technically both fit, but I could use a touch more room on both pieces for comfort.  I think these last *freaking* five pounds of baby weight I have to lose will help the situation, but till I wean, no dice.

Cool Factor: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  Hmm.  A bit of a weird combo, though my hubby just LOVED it, so I am going with the halfway point, a 2.5.

Anecdote from the Day:  Laser Tag is what Rex chose for his 7th birthday party.  A lot of his friends had been choosing this for their parties, and he wouldn't even consider other options.  So there you go...laser tag.  I had done laser tag years ago with some kids from the middle school I had taught at, so I remembered to wear appropriate footwear, even if I really would have preferred a cute wedge.  :-)  I turn into some kind of gun-toting FBI agent at these places, though.  I sneak behind corners, watch covertly, and attack when the other team's players aren't looking.  I am normally so nice, too.  I ended up in third place for our team.  Guess who was first?  Yeah, Rex.  I know.  (Eeep.)  Our team was slaughtered by the other team (all adults not at a birthday party).  Guess you can't count on a bunch of first-graders to attack.  LOL.  Unless they are all Rex. 

Last night I was tucking him into bed and he was gently holding his baby doll (yeah, he has one that he asked for) and I was struck by his very different personalities, all aggressive in one moment, and all gentle and sweet in another.  Maybe he will be a cop when he gets older, protecting all the innocents while going after the bad guys.  Hmmm.

Day: Saturday, February 15, 2014.

Where: IHOP in celebration of *finally* being able to leave the house.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This outfit is so comfortable.  Both the top and skirt are now a bit loose so they were perfect for the gorge-fest I engaged in at IHOP.

Cool Factor: (2 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  I think the "Heart Throb" dress made from the skirt/top (seen here at J. Crew back in the day) is cute, not cool, but cute.  I like the *dress* paired with the Target wedge shoes, but I think a different pair of shoes would have worked better with the darling Halston Heritage coat.  Next time I will grab a pair of shoes that are tan or navy to better anchor this look.

Anecdote from the Day:  Before we left and while taking the photos, Angus snuck in and photo-bombed that last photo you see there.  I had no idea he was standing there.  Ha.  I decided to include it even though I am in a silly pose and I clearly had not properly tucked in my blouse.  He looks so cute there...

We had been stuck in the house on both Thursday and Friday because of the storm, so Mr. Dina insisted we go out for dinner to celebrate our now cleared driveway.  I had no opportunity to wear my Valentine's look (yeah I know it's derivative--and I am so fine with that), so I wore it to IHOP.  I ate the chicken fried steak dinner with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a salad (Angus had the bread that came with it), and for dessert I enjoyed a peach and cream cheese crepe.  Oh it was all so very good.  I know it's just IHOP, but yum. 

If you want free shipping on the Boden clearance sale, you can use this coupon below, but be aware that if you are not a new customer, the bag won't be coming your way. My sidebar coupons, btw, have stopped working, which is annoying. If you have a need for anything not in clearance and need the discount, use the code Z4W8 for the "Buy Three, Get the Fourth Item for $1." I suspect I will get a new batch of sidebar coupons soon, just not in the affiliate directory right now. :)

OOTD: Halston Heritage and Retro Boden.

Good day, and Happy New Year, everyone!

Trying to start the new year off right by actually posting an ootd on the day I wear it, let's see how long this lasts.  LOL.  I give it a week.  ;-)

Find this darling "i heart Virginia" necklace here.  Read more about why I wanted this necklace from tru.che's etsy shop and not urban outfitters here.  I was so annoyed for tru.che that I immediately told my husband that this necklace would be a great Christmas present.  (He listened!)  I know the story of tru.che versus urban outfitters is old, but I feel like you can still show your support years in the future.

Day: Wednesday, January 1, 2014.

Where: Brunch at Louisiana Kitchen (home of the yummy Cajun martini) and my hubby's favorite comic book shop.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear) Felt great in all the pieces.  Was a bit concerned that I wouldn't fit into the Boden dress since it had been years and one full grown baby boy since I had last worn it.  All fears were quelled once I found it slipped right on without any puckering or uncomfortable pinching.  Yay!  I made it a goal to not gain weight in Mississippi (no particular goals to lose weight, though) and was glad to find that the scale showed that I had kept my goal. 

The Halston Heritage coat is sublime, made from a cashmere/wool blend and lined in silk.  I found it at Mint Condition for a LOT LOT less than it originally cost at Net-a-Porter, so woo and hoo for a pretty, unique coat that keeps me warm, too.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Lovely, perfectly put-together ensemble.  Bit mumsy overall to be "cool," but the coat and sunglasses help a bit.

Anecdote from the Day:  Not much to report, really.  There is this guy at the comic shop that basically hates children, especially mine, since my husband often goes in there without me, and I am the "disciplinarian" of the two of us.  Anyhow, the owner is fine and has really started to enjoy the kids, and kind of laughs about it with my hubby, but the other lovely fellow had words with me today since I chose to sit with my darling girl on the floor (in my dress and heels, natch) and *carefully* read a book about the Miyazaki's art in the film "Spirited Away."  (Tell me that's already not kind of over-the-top nerdy of us.)  Anyhow, he was like, "NO...NO!  NO!!! Please NO!"  And I just looked at him like "really, fella?"  Anyhow, we even *more carefully* looked through it, the whole time he bore his tiny little angry man eyes at us.  And then of course I *very over the top carefully* put the book back.  I am not the one for karma, but a little part of me would like to hear that he went over to see if we had inflicted any damage on the book with our pedestrian fingers (we did not, btw) and in doing so dropped the book on the floor damaging the cover.  That would have me lol-ing.  But then I remember I {heart} the owner of the shop a ton and don't wish that fiscal damage on him.  But, still.  ;-)

By the way, my husband will purchase so many comics from this shop, I am somewhat sure that this fella's salary is paid for in large part from my husband's stupidly huge comic collecting.   That in no way means I condone my children acting like crazy fools, but they were very well-behaved today ('cause Momma disciplinarian was in the house).  Ah, good times!

Okay, that's it.  You all have a great rest of your start to 2014!