OOTDs: Mississippi Missus.

Good Sunday!  I hope everyone is well.  :)

Before I dive headfirst into the many Boden reviews I have (most positive, a handful not so), I wanted to get the ootds published from my last trip to Mississippi.  Unlike last year when we stayed there for nearly eleven days, this year was a mere eight total, so I was happy to have far less to pack and to think about.

Anyhow, since I have done this before (2009, 2010, and 2011), I don't think I need to go into much more. 

Travel Day.  I love the idea of looking fabulous while traveling, but the reality of flying with three young children means I can't go all "7FAM jeans, button-down fitted shirt, crisp wool jacket, and high-heeled boots." 

So instead, I take three lovely and comfortable pieces, wear just a touch of makeup, and fix my hair just so, and am happy when I make it through the process relatively unscathed.  (Which we did--the first travel day was wonderfully easy, for once.)

I had read the temperatures in New Orleans would be in the 70s on the first day, so I decided to pack some tees for us to wear once we landed (it was cooler in DC by twenty degrees).  The tees have a hand-printed bicycle (I used a stamp I found at AC Moore), with the words "hipster" and "mini hipster" below the bikes.

I hadn't originally planned to make a tee for CW but she saw me making mine, so she asked if she could have one, too.  I actually like hers better.  :)

The second day we were there was mild enough to go without a coat, but I knew that a sweater was necessary.  The sweater was reviewed by me here, and I have to say it has held up well, and looks wonderful with a variety of different colors.  Of course, this shade is nearly sold out (as is much over there at Boden).  The Effortless suede boots were my go-to the entire time I was in Mississippi, and I was glad to have brought them.  They are also almost completely sold out, but if you like them, I reviewed them here.

The Madewell scarf I received for a song, as it was a popback sale item with an extra 25% off.  The cords are a wonderful color, and even though I usually stay away from J. Crew pants, I have lucked out this season, since the ones I have bought have fit well and are special and unique.

BTW, the whole day was very relaxing, a bit of shopping, a bit of eating, and a bit of visiting.

Two days later (didn't get a good shot of the in-between outfit) was Thanksgiving.  We do a very easy midday meal, so none of us ever really "dress" up, but we do at least make some effort.

The collection pencil skirt in windowpane was one of my favorites from the J. Crew Fall lookbook, but OMG, the original price was so expensive.  I can see why they *wanted* to charge that amount, as this skirt is made from the softest virgin wool imaginable, but what J. Crew *should have* done was to mark it at a bit above what they wanted to get for it, and I guarantee they would have sold out immediately.  Instead, the skirt sat in the sale section until it was priced where most of us could afford it.  (And at 30% extra off, at least in my case.)

The rest of the outfit is old, except for the shoes, which I mentioned in the last outfit.

No cardigan in this shot.  I cannot express to you all how much love I have for this tee.  These were from the holiday 2007 season, and I have two of them, this one in silver, and one in a gold stripe.  If I was only allowed to have two tees in my closet, I would immediately grab these two and not look back.

Funny face!  (I love my self-timer, it always catches my *best* moments.)

I wanted to wear the Carriage coat dress again this year, and since I have plans to try it like it was styled by J. Crew (see here), but knew it wouldn't be cool enough to do so down there, I came up with the idea to wear it with lightweight leggings, some black boots, a tank (not shown), and the Madewell storyteller scarf.

And a bag that holds everything a mother of a baby and two kids might need while at a nice restaurant in town.  ;)

I wore the dress here last, while pregnant, so it is nice to see that even though it fit me then, it still works on me now (although the a-line shape is much more obvious now).

I am throwing this in here because Angus turned 8 months while we were there.  :)

Just another simple outfit from another simple day.

The sweater is the dreaded dream v-neck sweater.  For those of you who are not a JCA, the dream sweaters are dreaded because the fabric pills nearly immediately, usually if you decide to look at it the wrong way.  Now I have no idea how I lucked out, but this year's version in this lovely heathered mint color has barely a pill on it.  Sure, it is a bit "lofty" but I don't need to get out my sweater shaver and I have worn it at least three times since purchasing it (mainly lazing about the house, that's why this is the first time you have seen it on me).

Two days before we left, CW, Angus, and I went to town to get some things.  I love this Liz Lange nursing dress, especially since the colors and pattern seem right for fall festivities, but I wanted to see if I could make it work as a skirt with a buttoned up cardigan.  It almost works, barring the bit of dress you see poking out of the top of the cardi.  (I wore it last here, more traditionally.)

I didn't really grab photos of the outfit the day before we left or even the day we left, but I did ask Mr. Dina to grab a photo of the food I ate at Mother's.  Now I know that this food looks kind of gross, but WOW, it certainly doesn't taste like that.  In fact, as much as I enjoy cooking Cajun myself, and have done so for years, the food at Mother's is my personal holy grail, and if one day I can manage to cook a jambalaya like Jerry's jambalaya (my fork is pointing to it), I would be exceedingly thrilled.

I also kind of dig what Angus is doing there in the back.  Any quotes?

Since I knew I wouldn't get a photo of the last day's outfit, but I really dug the sweatshirt I was wearing, I wanted you all to at least see that, so Mr. Dina grabbed this shot of me.  It is from JC Penny's and looks and feels way more expensive than it actually is.  I liked it so much that I went ahead and grabbed it in heather grey on Black Friday (it was almost half-off, so cheap went down to insanely inexpensive).  I am wearing this in a small, and I would say it fits well (I wear a size xs in J. Crew for reference).

Mississippi Missus. by dinagideon featuring columbia jackets

Above is the polyvore of my packing list.

Okay, that's all.  Will be back later tonight with more.

OOTDs: Weekend at Skippy's.

So last weekend we were in North Carolina.  It was thrilling.  :)

No, really, it was a lovely time with our very best friends and their three daughters (yes, all three of mine were beyond happy--CW had girls to play with, Angus had girls to flirt with, and Rex had girls to torment).

Anyhow, it was a very brief weekend away, just a nice little journey to get out of dodge and out of our routine.

We happened to celebrate our 11th anniversary there, but beyond that, there wasn't anything over the top special, so I was able to bring the very bare minimum as far as packing goes, and with all the extra kids I pack nowadays, the less I can bring means the easier it is on me.  Blah.  One day I can go back to packing amazing clothes and shoes and accessories in multiple suitcases, but for now and the next eighteen years of my life, the less the best.

(Oh, who am I kidding, I never had amazing clothes and shoes and accessories in multiple suitcases...but one day, it will be the way I travel, oh, yeah.)

Here they are!

Wore this on the anniversary evening, which was last Saturday (10/13).  We came down from VA that day, but the traveling outfit on the way to NC was kind of boring, so you will only get a very brief glimpse of it later in this post.  And the only reason you are getting a glimpse of the outfit from the way home is because it has two J. Crew reviews.  :)

This outfit looks so professional, but underneath that amazing Robert Noble wool jacket (J. Crew--2006) is a very inexpensive Target nursing dress and Macy's necklaces.

The heels are from Boden last year, which I love having around, they are literally the perfect little heels for most occasions.

And there it is, the world's most lovely, cheap, comfortable nursing dress.  (Technically it is maternity, but because it is made from jersey it doesn't read maternity if you don't have a pregnant belly.)

Wore my makeup fairly bare, but definitely made the lips as rosy as possible without being too done up.

The next day we had church, so I wore this ensemble of navy and chartreuse.  ;)  (I didn't blind the folks at mass, I wore the jacket from the last ouftit during the service.)

The top is the Roll sleeve silk t-shirt from Pure Collection, the same one I reviewed here.  I tucked it into some spank shorts as I hate it when silk is so silky that it comes out of the skirt it is tucked into, but other than that, it was the perfect blouse for the longer baby cord midi from Boden.

That skirt, btw, is my very first purchase ever from Boden, way back in 2003 or 2004 (can't remember).  It is so old that the tag only has the British sizing (12 L, thank you very much).

Close up of the shirt, makeup, hair, and jewelry.  The jewelry is by Premier Designs, and my gal Rachel is the lady to go to if you are interested in any of these pieces.

With the jacket on so as to not disable the vision of reverent Catholics in the greater Greensboro area.

Next day we were headed home, and while I planned to be comfortable for the ride, the addition of the shrunken anorak by J. Crew turned out to be a good choice (last photo of this set of outfit photos) as it was definitely needed in the lovely drizzly rains we had that morning.

Anyhow, the outfit under the rain jacket was functional enough.  I really do love the Peter Pan Collar Tee (J. Crew) and was glad to have grabbed it before it sold out in my size (extra-small).  It does pop back on occasion, and if you like the look of this top and have a short enough torso to wear it (definitely runs short, even on me, it barely hits my high hip), this could be a winner for you.

It is super soft and the neckline and collar fabric is silk, so big thumbs up.  I know that J. Crew could have used a poly fabric (and am frankly surprised they didn't), so to pay near full price for it seemed reasonable enough (I think I had one of those 20% off coupons when I ordered it).

The Desert Bloom bracelet was an "on a whim" buy from the Greensboro J. Crew, where it was marked down to $29.99 and further reduced by 30%, making it a whopping $20.  I have now worn it twice since I bought it, so I would gather I made a good choice.

I just like the way this photo turned out.  :) 

The Leather Loafers are still available from Boden, btw, but on deep backorder.  I did a review of them here.  I actually purchased them for traveling, I find that I wear loafers on long trips, especially ones involving airplanes, as I can get them on and off easily through security.

The lighting was off in this photo, but you can get the gist of the jacket from what you see. 

It really is a "shrunken" anorak.  Much like the Peter Pan Tee, it is shorter through the body than most anoraks.  HOWEVER, I prefer that as my hips are wider than my bust and waist, and for an anorak to normally fit me, the bust and waist has to be huge to accommodate my hips.  But this one doesn't even hit my hips, just lays there on the top of my hips.  Awesome.  :)  I am possibly the only person this one worked for, which is why it is on super sale now (yay for super sales, I even got mine for a good price a month ago--that is how unpopular it is).

It is not the best at keeping water out (is canvas, not nylon), but for mild drizzle and wind, it will do the job.

OH, and for those of you wondering, I did happen to have a version of this back in 1992, the one that inspired this current version.  I also had a rain jacket from 1995 *still have it, in fact* that bears a passing resemblance to this one (but is red).

You can't see it from this pose, but it has side pockets where I could stick my hands in for protection.  And all those zipped compartments?  I totally used those, 'cause I'm a nerd, and see no reason not to...so the big one there in front?  Held my cell phone.  And the next time I wear it, I wouldn't be surprised if I stuck a size 3 diaper in the pocket, too.

Okay this one and the next three photos are just some fun shots from the trip.

I told you my "going to NC outfit" was boring.  I only put the info in the photo because who knows, maybe one of you is all, "ooh, where are *those sunglasses* from--must. know. right. now."

Okay, so why in the world am I posing with the Hamburglar and Birdie from McDonald's?  Well...it turns out that the South Hill, VA location was having a GRAND OPENING spectacular the very day we decided to eat there for lunch.  Oh, yeah.  My kids were in heaven...and omg, if you ever want amazing service from a McDonald's, you must go to McDonald's on an opening day celebration.

And, yeah, the folks at McDonald's totally loved Angus.  I think it was because he matched Grimace.

Speaking of Angus, look!  He is literally one big dimple.  I can't stand the cuteness!

(There were other photos of my kids from the trip, but to keep my friends' privacy in mind, I won't be publishing any of them here.  I know you all are cool with that.)

Guess where I am?  Steak and Shake.  Mmm...Steak and Shake.  Mmm. 

Okay so the rains are definitely a bother when driving, however, when you get to see this for nearly a half-hour of your drive (don't worry, Mr. Dina was driving, I took the photo from a non-driving position), it is totally worth getting wet. 

And that's it!!! :)

BTW, if you are interested in getting any last minute "Catch of the Day" sale items from Boden, the sale ends in less than two hours.  ;)  Thought some of you may want to know...

OOTDs: The Frock Fantastic.

I love a good dress, especially a good summer sundress.  Even through the heat, and the humidity, and the (occasional way too bleeping often) power outage, I adore summer and would prefer to always have highs in the 90s to highs in the 40s.  I don't know if that is because I was born in CA and raised in VA, or if I am just crazy (probably the latter), but fall and winter just don't do it for me.  ;)

In fact, by this point of summer, I would have normally exhausted every single dress in my closet and would be returning for seconds, but this summer I have had to say "so long and see you later" to the vast majority of my dresses because they are not nursing friendly, and while I am fine with that, I do have to admit to missing a bit of the fun I have summer sun-dressing. 

All of the below dresses are nursing friendly*, which means I have given them a go multiple times because I am so happy that I can wear something less constricting than shorts and a tee (I far prefer the airiness of a dress to shorts and tee in the humidity we have here, in CA the shorts/tees were absolutely fine). 

*Well, I did manage to get away for a couple of hours to dinner with my bro, so I was able to wear a nursing (un)friendly dress.

If you have been over at my facebook page in the last few weeks, you have already seen all of these outfits, but stick around, I added some additional detail shots, etc., so you haven't seen it all *quite* yet.

Target.  Oh, how I adore you for your easy, fun, and cheap fashion.  I wear you, I love you, and when I am done with you, I donate you.

This dress reminds me so much of this skirt by Boden.  (I realize the colors are different, but the basic look is very similar.) In fact, Target has a skirt just like that one, and yeah, I picked that one up, too.   I loved the Boden skirt but never bought and then it was gone.  Poof!

UPDATE: The eagle-eyed lolcatgirl let me know in the comments (below) that the dress and skirt are dead ringers for this skirt and dress from J. Crew.  Thank you...I knew that the Boden skirt was more of a distant cousin, but really couldn't figure out which skirt and dress I had seen that were the parents.  Here is what the skirt looks like on Tabitha.  :)

I will probably keep the skirt the longest, for as much as I love the dress, it more serves a purpose for me than is a "home run" the way I feel about so many of the other frocks in my wardrobe.

We were heading to go to Brick Fair, a big huge meeting of the minds of men, women, and children who really get into building Lego models.  I was not one of the minds, although mine did marvel at the creations.

Close up detailing of the dress and accessories.

The Frock Fantastic. by dinagideon featuring shoulder handbags

Above is a polyvore of this outfit (only polyvore I made for this post).

Oh, the Boden maxi dress.  How do I love thee?

I have now worn this dress and its sister (the purple/green one) and its cousin (this summer's multi-hued one, also at the bottom of this post) multiple times already.

These dresses do hit a homerun for me, which is surprising to me because I lived through the 90s and wore maxi dresses and skirts all the time.  As I aged I associated the longer hemlines with my less satisfactory sartorial past and gave them up completely until I tried the Boden jersey maxi dresses last summer for the first time.  You all, I will never let these go.

The kids and I were headed up our local path to our local shopping center to do usual errands, you know, bank run, dry cleaner run, grocery store visit, McDonald's.  So exciting.  I will say that this outfit is more than fine for the 1.5 mile round trip we take when we do this (about twice a month).

I liked my makeup and hair that day.  The earrings are from the J. Crew factory and I was surprised at how long they lingered in clearance.  I think I got them for six or seven dollars.

Another Saturday, another nursing friendly dress.  :)

Headed to sushi buffet with my brother, CW, and Angus with a side trip to the uniform store for Rex's school uniform for next year.

I forgot how much the Caroline Dress wrinkles, but I guess a bit crumpled gives it a bit of a safari chic look, huh?

The Palazzo Dress from J. Crew got almost no love in the blog world, but from what I could tell, somebody out there liked it as it sold quickly and in all the colors.  This is the bohemian red color and it is unbelted here.  I kind of dig it unbelted, but I didn't actually wear it out this way, I just wanted you all to see you could unbelt it and it wouldn't look terrible.

I lied up above when I said there was only one nursing unfriendly outfit.  Oops.  This one is as well.  I was headed out with CW for a girls night out, so I knew that I wouldn't have to worry about it as Mr. Dina had Angus during that time.

Here is the way I wore it out.  This is a very very VERY comfortable dress.  If you wanted a really expensive nightgown, I would highly recommend this one.

I had to size down to an extra-small.  The small was HUGE on me, even through the hips.

This is the nursing unfriendly dress I spoke of initially.  I wore this just two nights ago to go out with my brother to Ethiopian food.  :)

We took Rex with us and Mr. Tiny (yes, Angus) and CW stayed with Mr. Dina.

It was actually cool enough (read: below 85 degrees) for me to wear a lightweight cotton cardigan over top the dress.  I like the look, but probably won't replicate this again, since I now see the darker green in the striped cardi is not close enough in hue to work with the dress pattern.  In real life the outfit read differently.

I was super excited to not have a diaper and wipes in that clutch, btw.

Hey, it's a Boden maxi.  And a fedora!  LOL.

Remember the derecho?  Who could forget it?  Anyhow, to escape the heat the day after the derecho occurred we went to Kingstowne (shopping center) to grab lunch and get into some air conditioning.  This dress made my mood significantly happier, although it should be clear that I am definitely not cool as a cucumber, even if it doesn't appear that I am sweating in the above photo.

Those Cole Haan Air Catalina sandals are amazing.  Not only are they glittery and girly, they are insanely comfortable.  If you can grab one on ebay, I highly recommend them.

Dah...the baby is so cute!  I am definitely sweating.  And this was inside the Burger King, so that should tell you something about air conditioning power when it is overused...meaning it has none.  Sigh.

I love this Garnet Hill dress.  I wore it to go out with my brother to the Winesday event at our local Whole Foods.

If it seems my brother and I have been hanging out a lot, we have...and I couldn't be more stoked.  For a while there his work schedule was crazy and we only saw each other randomly and not all that often.

Okay, this one is O-L-D...from right after Angus was born.  I threw it into this pack because I am wearing a literal nursing dress from Target here (under a Target cardi from years ago).  I have to give Target major thumbs up for making dresses that make it easy to nurse and still be somewhat private about it (it has a panel and a built in shelf bra).  I still wear a cover, but my sides aren't exposed, which happens when I wear tees (I lift the tees up for nursing access).

I also own this in a blue shade.  I only like these dresses for their function, and will be very quick to sell them when Angus is nursing less (likely at one year of age--I am an extended breast-feeder, but I don't exclusively nurse past one year).

I still have a tiny baby belly here.  Angus was probably just around a month old, which also would explain the hair color (hadn't had a chance to get out in the sun and really blonde it up).

Another view of the dress.

Okay, that's it.  :)

Any of you who nursed have other types of dresses you remember wearing that made it easy for you and your child?