Continued: My Long-Lasting Liberty Love.

Hi!  Before I begin a very photo-heavy post of my love affair with Liberty of London's fabrics, I wanted to let you all know that running around for two weeks after 7-9 years olds took its toll and I pretty much slept the entire weekend.  I *almost* fell asleep at church, which lol, I am sure many of you do without being really tired, but for me is almost unheard of.  :)  So I just didn't have the energy to update my blog.

Regarding Boden, I have taken a look at the winter preview site and I think I will pre-order maybe two pieces.  It's not that I am not inspired, no, much of it is very pretty, but honestly, only a couple of things will fill a need in my life, especially considering that I have a major closet overhaul to do before I can truly justify much more in the dress department, at least.  I do have "picks," though, and definitely will publish those fairly soon.  Also, the maternity coupon expired, which bums me out, but maybe that means a really good offer is coming soon?  (We can hope?  I will let you know if a good one comes along.)  For now, there is a 10% off with free ship/returns running in my sidebar, if you need a coupon.

Onto Liberty!

Ah, the Liberty Bouquet Shirtdress.  I have now worn this multiple times this spring and summer, including twice on my trip to GA/NC/VA.  This time was when we were heading to the Chattanooga Childrens Museum, and I knew I couldn't get super dressed up, but wanted to look decent.  :)

I did a review of it back at this post if you ever see it popback on J. Crew or you find one on ebay that you want. 

The shoes are the Antiqued Stone Flip Flops, and are currently on clearance at jcrew.com.  I took a size 9 (I usually wear a size 9.5).  I quite like them, again, kind of dressy casual, you know?

CW's outfit is all girly a la the way the deep south likes 'em, big ole bow in her hair, gingham, and lots of ric-rac and ruffling.  ;)  Her shoes are the Surf and Sand Salt-water sandals that J. Crew sells.  Since we get to our neighborhood pool by crossing a stream, we actually have a need for good water shoes for all members of our family.  Rex even has toddler sized Tevas.  ;)

Outside the museum, after the visit.  HIGHLY recommended.  I love childrens museums, I wish DC had a better one that was closer to us.  I often will just go to the Richmond one instead because it is big, clean, easy to park at, and fairly inexpensive.

The bag is the Frankie bag (Borge Gavari).  I was lucky to be the only bidder on this on ebay a year ago.  I think I ended up paying just around $100.  It was in perfect condition, btw.  Great bag, nice size, the pink isn't too pink, and if you use it every day, it ages nicely, and looks loved, not used.

The sunglasses are my only real splurge (the Long Floral Swing Skirt would have been one, but the eventual super-discount I was able to get from my amazing Personal shopper brought that down out of the stratosphere) in the past six months.  They are Thierry Lasry and upon spying them at the stand alone Anthropologie accessories store in Friendship Heights, I knew that if the Anthro powers that be sent me a 15% birthday coupon, I would use it for these.  They have the incredibly ridiculous name "Sexxxy," but I do love them so.  :)

Close up of glasses in car ride.  I love how you can see CW smiling away back there in her car seat.  That is one plush car seat...no wonder she falls asleep so easily.

I wore the dress again when we were heading home...here we are at Natural Bridge, VA, and if you can, I highly suggest a stop here.  It is an arched stone natural formation that is really really tall, (can't see it in our photo) surrounded by the beauty of the Eastern woodland, and has a perfect little gurgling stream right next to it.  We try to stop here whenever we head to GA, or on the way home from GA....

And guess what is on the other side of the mountain from Natural Bridge (due east)?  Yee-ha!  Lynchburg, you all. :)  This time I stopped at the Millrace location which is were the actual shipping center is located.  I prefer the Wyndhurst location, which is pretty close to this one, but I still found a couple of goodies for some great prices.  (Quinn hobo from 2008--great price; Lula Snakeskin Ballet Flats--great price; Sevigne Capri Sandals--great price; and for Mr. Dina?  Converse Distressed Jack Purcell Sneakers for the especially great price of $10!) 

BTW, those of you wanting Mona heels or a Edie purse?  There were a lot of those, and it was barely into the fall season when I went.  I think you can either go and get them for yourself, OR know that some ebay reseller will have them up for sale, I promise. 

So you all know, the clearance centers sell really nice things.  Only the purse had a slight stain on it, but one that I knew I could get out with leather cleaner.  The other items were in wonderful shape.

This is a Liberty print in Tana Lawn fabric by Theory that I got from Saks on deep clearance a few years back.  Still love this dress, and try and find a reason to wear this at least once a summer.  The reason this time is that I was using the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in my teaching last week, and wanted dresses and outfits with a floral theme.  (You will see the rest of those, plus the "fish" themed ones from the "Swimmy" week later on this week.)

Yes, I am wearing the frog clasp double strand necklace with this dress.  It has held up well all these years I have owned it.  Only thing, and this is important to note, this is the ONLY jewelry item from J. Crew that I own that does not have the "J. Crew" circle indicating it was made for J. Crew.  So if you get one from ebay, know that it will not have that circle, and that's okay.  Mine was bought from J. Crew, so it is an actual piece from them.

The sandals are the Reese Studded Snakeskin sandals.  Yet another ebay find.  I know these were from the clearance center because they have the tell-tale black mark, but other than that, nothing wrong from my vantage point.  And for $40 versus (I think) $400 (YIKES!), I will take a black mark, fine. with. me.

Finally, Liberty a la Target.  Still love and wear this top, even though it is poly.  We were just going to IKEA that night for dinner (yum, Swedish MEATBALLS!  with LINGONBERRY SAUCE!  and ROSE HIP DRINK!), but any chance to match CW?  Um, yeah!

The shorts are from the J. Crew outlet and the sandals are old school J. Crew circa Spring 2005. 

Alrighty, thanks for indulging my "have seen already" outfit choices.  I guess, if nothing else, it does prove that I do wear items again and again.  LOL. 

Have a great night.  Stay healthy!  And long live Liberty!

Cinco de Meh...

Thank you Cinco de Mayo for allowing me the opportunity to entitle this post "Cinco de Meh." This is my homage to five meh outfits that I have worn in the past month.

You all have been so sweet these past few weeks loving a whole bunch of the outfits I have put out there for you all to see. (I think, though, you all have a weakness for sequins and since I have been "sparkle-happy," you all have been very very receptive to this.)

So to prove that I definitely don't always get it right, here you go...

QUESTIONABLE STYLING CHOICES...


Isn't it sad when you know something will work, but because of accessories or just overall feeling, it just ain't happening? Tis the case of the lovely Boden dress. So perfect and pretty, and I let it down in a BIG way. I couldn't even bother to take the photo with my hair dry for crying out loud.

I know silver/gold accessories work with everything, but I truly believe this outfit would have been chic-er with a pair of blush pink heels, a smaller bag, and a simpler necklace. No, I definitely over-did in the accessories, and the beautiful Boden dress suffered. So very sorry, Johnnie!

Sizes:
Dress: Size 8 (or UK 12).
Shoes: Size 10.


Not only did the Boden dress suffer, the GORGEOUS stone garden tote by J. Crew Collection suffered. This bag is made to be worn with a Chanel-esque outfit. My Dauphine outfit would have been perfect, eh? :)


Onto a good concept, not so good in reality outfit. I even created a polyvore for this, and it just didn't come together properly. Ugh.

My dad and CW look great, though!

Sizes:
Skirt: Size 8. Very comfy and a lot of fun. Don't worry, I do plan on wearing something else with it in the future, a cute little lilac tee, a belt, and a pair of sandals.
Top: Size small (I think).
Shoes: Size 9.5.


Yes, that is the Claudette tote. I HEART this bag so much. The appearance of this bag *almost* made this outfit better, but alas, even its loveliness couldn't save it! :)

BTW, it is sold out, but I supplied the link just in case it pops back some day.


The outfit did get better with the untucking of the shirt, but it still was off, you know. I blame the shoes. Maybe wedge flip-flops?


Okay, overall this is okay. But just not exciting.

Sizes:
Top: Size small. This is from the Liberty of London for Target line.
Pants: Size 8. I have since decided that size 6 in the Minnies is a much better fit, but it is nice to have these for my big meal days, lol.:)
Shoes: Size 9.

I love when CW mixes stripes.


POP THE COLLAR, DINA! (Why did I forget to do this? It looked so COOL!)

Sizes:
Shirt: Size 6.
Cami: Size Medium (I like the length, although WAY TOO LONG for this particular outfit. Sigh.)
Pants: Size 8. Yep, I am wearing the navy (excuse me, Blackberry) Minnies again.
Shoes: Size 9.5. These are the Galaxy leather ballet flats that went on sale today. I bought them at the Lynchburg Clearance Center for way less, $85 or so. These are WAY TOO EXPENSIVE at full price. I mean...they are all leather, but come on, now.

CW is obsessed with taking her shoes off. Drives us nuts. Rex did this, too, A LOT when he was her age. Must be developmental? ;)


Okay, it gets better when the cami is tucked up a bit...but still.

I then tried to button it up, and it was fine, but MEH. MEH!

BTW, the necklace is the lilac colored crystal Colletto necklace. This is a beautiful necklace and is bling-y enough for me and all my need for sparkle, but understated enough for all you ladies who desire something less show-y. :)


Oh, you. This outfit could have been so much more if it weren't for the stupidity of cotton sateen and its ridiculous "let's wrinkle just cause the wind is blowing," and the bangs of my hair, all wavy from humidity. Man.

Okay, so imagine this skirt ironed and my hair flowing like a Disney princess...then you can see it, right? Much, MUCH better. ;)

Sizes:
Dress: Size 8.
Cardigan: Size medium. Bit big, but it is a SHORT cardigan otherwise.
Shoes: Size 9.5.

I hope you enjoyed (or maybe not so much) this retrospective of the almost-suck. :) LOL.

P.S. Thank you all for your SUPER-NICE words about my Arbonne business. I have gotten GREAT feedback from a lot of you, and it sounds like quite a few of you may be interested in learning more...and trying some of these products, so woo-hoo!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Tweed Dauphine and Alecia Suede Heels Review plus Zebra and Teal Sparkle!

Hi! I am back! Yay! Travelling was great, but it really limits my ability to keep up with my blogs. Pretty much the whole month of April we were off places, so it is nice to be back and in my (somewhat) relaxed SAHM mode. :)

Up today...two reviews and two outfits of the day.


This is both an outfit of the day and the reviews.

Sizes:
Jacket: Tweed Dauphine Jacket, Size 2 (!!!). Wow. This J. Crew Collection jacket runs large. I even checked with the sales assistant and she says that the jacket fits me exactly like it fit the model in the catalog, so that made me feel both good and outraged, all at the same time. Admittedly I am smaller on top than bottom, but wowza, you really petite women are probably completely sized out of this jacket. It is a beauty, too. (See next photo for a close-up.)
Top: Size small. This is the linen-cotton tiered tank that came in one moment and the next was out (probably because it went on 20% off and is a really nice tank). I bought it in the light purple which goes very nicely with the jacket and the pants.
Pants: Size 8. These are the infamous silk-linen pants from the holiday season that it seems very few of us liked. Even I was unsure UNTIL I wore them. Golly they are comfy...and shiny...which makes me feel like the are sweats but a little dressier, and really what could a SAHM want more? :)
Shoes: Alecia Suede Platform Peep-Toes, Size 9.5. A bit tight, these, but I am glad I got this size as I KNOW they are going to stretch out. I love these...and feel that they are worth the price WITH a discount of some sort. I got them in the February 30% off your whole purchase promo, which is way more reasonable of a price to me. (Speaking of, when is the next one???) I love the zipper detail at the back, plus the whole "I am now nearly 6 feet tall" thing.

For what its worth, my hubby hated this outfit. I have enough confidence now to laugh at him. He was wearing white tennis shoes, an oversized tee, and light-wash loose fit jeans when he said this to me. I just pointed to his shoes and said, "you are giving me fashion advice wearing those???" ;)


Here is the Dauphine close-up. The price on-line is EXCELLENT, with the current extra 20% off sale items. At 160 dollars, I thought I GOT a steal...turns out, no, those of you who waited until now got the BEST deal, so BRAVO!



Zebra and Teal Sparkle! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Up next is today's outfit. I felt a bit iffy about the combo of zebra stripes and teal sparkles, but, eh, you only live once.

By the way, I visited the Lynchburg Clearance Center in Wyndhurst (the second of two clearance centers in Lynchburg, VA) on Tuesday and found these pants for $30! Down from $170, these may be my FAVORITE pants ever. They are the Collection Minnies, in the grey stretch wool and I just about died when I put them on, they were that comfy and sleek. Yay!!! (Oh, and my 15% educator discount was applied, which made it more like $27. It made the sewing of the ripped seam--tiny, by the way--feel like nothing!)


And here it is on me. Yes, my hubby had a hey-day with this one, too. He said I was a "dancing queen." Haha, real funny. But, then he said, "no, that's okay, I actually really love this outfit." And then he winked, all rico suave-like. Hmm, okay.

Then the coffee guy was all, "ooh, sparkly!" I guess guys like sparkle. Good to know. :)

Sizes:
Cardigan: Size small. Love me some zebra-print. Yum!
Top: Size Medium.
Pants: Size 6. YAY!
Shoes: Size 10.

You all have a great, sparkly day!

Stadium Cloth Winnie Coat (in Yellow) plus the Beaded Ribbon Front Top Equals Casual Confidence!!!

I promise I will get to the review of the ruched-waist dress from Boden, but I want that to be a stand-alone review, so I will either write it tonight or tomorrow morning. It appears it isn't close to selling out in the patterns (solids have been sold out for awhile).

Winnie Love + Bow Top=Perfect for a Saturday!!! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Yay...I am on this whole "let's blog about my daily outfit thing" with startling regularity lately. Wooh! Above is the polyvore of the outfit I wore for our monthly visit to Bethesda, MD. We always head up there to go shopping, hair cuts, eating awesome food (either Indian at Haandi or Cajun at Louisiana Kitchen) and various sundried other things.

I will highlight the top and the Winnie Coat today, because it seems to me you all might need a review on those more than on the Jackie Cardi (my first!!!) and the boyfriend chinos. :)


Cardigan: J. Crew, Jackie Cardigan, Dried Orchid, Size Small, Winter 2009.
Top: J. Crew Collection, Beaded Ribbon Front Top, Antique Stone, Size 6, Fall 2009. Totally sold-out, but may be worth a check for a pop-back. Great sale price for what it is, so I would jump on it if it pops back in your size. I bought it full price (but with some sort of discount).
Pants: J. Crew, Broken-in Boyfriend Chinos, Khaki, Size 8, Fall 2009.
Shoes: J. Crew, Montebello Driving Mocs, Toffee, Size 9, Fall 2009.
Earrings: (Ann Taylor) Loft, Sparkly Earrings, Sparkly Color, Summer 2009.

The whole outfit was so comfortable...the only time I worried or fretted at all was when we were eating Indian food. I went ahead and buttoned-up the cardigan and then layered a napkin on top of it to make sure that no yummy food ended up on that gorgeous top. But when I was getting my pedicure, I was able to show off its loveliness. (I want this top to be a piece I wear a lot, even if it is "special.")

The silk in the top is very similar to my Cecelia dress, so it is substantial...and the beading is very tight and well-done. It is a collection item, so that might be why, but who knows?

I am wearing my regular cami size in this top. Check out Ema and gigiofca in theirs.

I don't know that I can wear this top by itself because the antique stone is a bit pale on me, but I think it looks so pretty layered with the Jackie cardigan in dried orchid.

I had never purchased a Jackie Cardigan before because the times I tried it on in the store, I would try on a medium, and the shoulders were a bit wide on me, so I just assumed the Jackie wasn't my girl. But on a whim, and at a wonderful price of $37.50, I decided to take the plunge with this color and a smaller size. Yay! (Normally, I wear a medium in cardigans.)

If you have thin feet, and would like to wear the montebello driving mocs, please try a whole size smaller. I am now getting to the point where I won't buy a size 10 in J. Crew shoes because they fall off way too often...so I get a size smaller and then it fits fine width-wise, and the fabric then stretches a bit to accommodate me in length. Anyone else noticing a change in J. Crew sizing in shoes???


Coat: J. Crew, Stadium-Cloth Winnie Coat, Bumblebee Yellow (maybe???), but is actually Butternet Yellow...I prefer my Bumblebee version more, Size 4, Fall 2009. This was my favorite purchase made at the Arden Clearance Center, NC. Yay!!! There are no more coats in this color on-line, but there are a couple in navy still available.

The warmth factor is high in this coat, what with it being stadium-cloth, but I like that its shorter length is perfect for days when you don't need to be SUPER-covered up. The color is just that bright in person, and honestly, you could see me coming for miles amongst the sea of black and navy at the Post Office, but well, there you go! :) The sizing doesn't surprise me much. My hips are what make me a 6 or an 8 in tops. If the top is short enough, I wear a 4. This coat grazes my hips, so the 4 worked very well. The other thing I love? The sleeve length is REALLY long, and it is RARE for me to find a top that fits my short torso AND my sleeve length. So yippee, J. Crew...

HeidiG. loves her Winnie. Check her out in it here.

Have a great night (for those of you reading tonight); otherwise, Happy Sunday! :)

J. Crew Clearance Center, Arden, NC...It Is as Awesome as it Should Be!!!

I have to be fairly quick in this post, but I definitely want to give you the highlights of my trip to the Arden, NC, J. Crew Clearance Store. There is a closer store to me in Lynchburg, VA, but that is still about a 2.5 hour drive, so I have never been there (but do plan on it someday...hopefully with some of my DC JCA friends). My hubby was down in Asheville, NC, for a conference at the GORGEOUS Grove Park Inn and Spa, and he decided that he needed his family around, so the three of us tagged along. :)

I certainly enjoyed Asheville to its fullest, and even got to go the very yummy Tupelo Honey while I was there...AppGal, you were SO right about its delicious menu, but I knew that at least part of the time I was there I would HAVE to go 20 miles outside of the city to visit the smaller enclave of Arden. I mean, yes, I did visit it mainly for me, but I also knew I would have my JCA blogroll place revoked by Alexis if I didn't go to this clearance center and report back my findings. So you all know, AppGal has been there before and did a very nice write-up of her experience, as well.

Turns out we had kind of different experiences while visiting. (Granted, AppGal visited at a different time of year...so that may be why she found less "deals" and I found less shoes to ogle.)

I found a lot of tempting goodies in my hour or so there. I have created a polyvore for you all to peruse so you can see the details, but let me put it to you this way...if you are ever in western North Carolina for any reason, and you are travelling I-40, stop by. It is worth the 20 extra miles or so off the highway.

Here are some things I want you all to know:

1. Your GPS can find this location (1 Clifford Way, Arden, NC). It is not that far off the beaten path. However, if on the way back to your hotel or location you request "no highways," you may very well end up driving on a mountain on a tiny-a** little road. Yes, this happened to me. Alexandria has very few hills. I was actually told by my realtor to avoid buying a place near a fairly steep hill (what we here in NOVA call hills) because of my fear of hills. It was an interesting drive back to the hotel. I obviously survived, no thanks to Miss "I drive these here mountains all the time" teenage girl willing to tailgate me on the entire drive on the mountain.

2. If you have kids, the clearance store has toys. Oh, yes they do. Thank you, very very kind people of this center for thinking of all of us mommies whose toddlers may recognize J. Crew (and shout "ooh, J. Crew momma" from the back of the car) but really don't enjoying shopping at said J. Crew. :)

3. Speaking of kids, they have crewcuts. Not very recent crewcuts, but crewcuts nonetheless. I bought three items. Two from spring 2009 and one from fall 2007.

4. They are NOT an outlet. Everything they sell is from the actual "J. Crew" retail store. There are no double diamonds, etc.

5. If you ever see a really good price for something on ebay, and it has a mysterious designation of "tag marked with a black line to prevent returns," the person selling it has bought it either from the J. Crew Clearance Center (Paisley Petunia, an Ebay store I adore, does sell these things, and if you look, they are from Virginia, so they probably buy their items from the Lynchburg clearance center) or from TJ Maxx or Rugged Wearhouse.

6. It is probably worth buying these items with the tagged marked to prevent returns, because the clearance stores do NOT do charge-sends, as one of my blog friends tried when she saw the great deal I got on the stadium-cloth Winnie Jacket. The two Winnies that I purchased (one for me and one for HeidiG.) had nary a thing wrong with them (and the other items--nothing wrong there, either). Turns out that sometimes the retail stores get returns and instead of going to the warehouse, some of them get sent to the clearance store. Why current items go there is beyond me, but, hey, it worked out for us in the end! I am sure some of the items have issues, but I didn't see anything on the items I looked at (and I am a very careful observer...I have to be frugal with my money now as a SAHM/sometimes substitute teacher).

7. One place you will see the "black line through tag to prevent store returns" means that the item may potentially have an issue is at places like TJMaxx or Rugged Wearhouse. I have seen items at these stores that are from J. Crew that have missing buttons or a seam that is wonky, etc. But that said, I bought a Super 120s Black two-button jacket in a size 4 at Rugged Wearhouse that had a button missing. That was all. And it cost $25. Down from $235.

8. The hours at the clearance store seem super-friendly, like 10 am to 8 pm on M-Sat., and 12-6 on Sundays (maybe...didn't check Sunday hours as closely).

9. The staff were very sweet and helpful. I think they liked my kids. :)


Here I am outside the store. I had to take the pic myself, so don't laugh too hard. It wasn't like I could get CW to take it for me. :) I am wearing the Liberty print button-down from last spring, the pewter one with the big florals on it. I saw NO liberty print items that day...sadly.

Untitled by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Items in this set:
J Crew jacket, $245
J Crew jacket, $178
J Crew hoodie, $70
J Crew top, $158
J Crew tote bag, $298

Here is the polyvore of what I did get. Note--the cashmere cardi is actually a paler, heathered silver color that is just divine with my skin tone (I normally can't wear greys very well, so I was pleased to find this). Another thing, that navy schoolboy blazer? I bought it in an 8, and the 8 is BACKORDERED until sometime next year. Crazy. And the sherpa hoodie? I had bought it in the same color and same size just last week, and knew it would be on my doorstep, but for $30, I knew this was a great price, so I just chanced it. Turns out it is THE SAME exact hoodie, just 40 dollars cheaper. Yes. That is all. I am returning the new one this weekend. The one with the black mark through the tag--it's the keeper for me.

I wish I could get to a Clearance Center every weekend and help more people out (HeidiG. seemed pretty happy to hear I scored her a Winnie for well under retail), but not in my cards...however, I will make sure that anytime I am on I-40, I take a tiny little detour to the west to Arden. :)

Questions? I should be able to answer sometime tomorrow (along with commenting back on my last two posts).