OOTD: Nordic Tria.

Day: Friday, December 28, 2012 (if my memory isn't failing me).

Where: Lunch out with the family to Applebee's.  Mr. Dina received a gift card there from a client.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Not sweats, so not a 5 for ease of wear, but OMG, this outfit, for all its frilly twee-ness is so easy to wear.  The Tria skirt (one of Anthropologie's best ever) is a stretchy knit wool, plus the (largest sized 13-14) mini Boden Nordic Applique t-shirt is made from very soft cotton. 

Even my high-heeled Frye boots were comfortable. 

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  If I was an Anthro blogger, I would rate this a 5 of 5, but since I am not, I think we all have to admit that it takes a definite strong personality type to willingly wear ruffles, lace, thick tights, an appliqued Scandinavian floral tee, Heidi braids, and an over the top cloche out in public.  I am not a wallflower, so everyone knows.  ;)

I don't anticipate the Sartorialist or his love, Garance Dore, jumping out of the bushes to take a photograph of CW or me in this particular ensemble.

Anecdote from the day: Mr. Dina showed up at 11 am at the house and announced that the work servers were down and he wanted to do something.  I was still in my PJs (I know, quelle horreur!), but quickly got my act together, as I was going a bit stir crazy.

He told me he was going to take me to Applebee's, which I like, and he doesn't (he also hates Ruby Tuesday, the Olive Garden, and Red Lobster...I don't care, I like to eat...).  I told him we would find something his delicate self could handle.  LOL.  I was able to get a drink with his gift card (Mojito, yum), and we still had four dollars on the gift card after our entire order was placed.  So we purchased four mini-sundaes with brownies for a dollar a piece.  They were very very good.  Much better than the rest of  the meal.  ;)

CW, btw, loved that I wore the same tee.  Because she is four.  We'll see how she feels about it at 12.*

*When I was growing up, there was this mother/daughter pair that always went to daily mass dressed up like each other.  But the daughter wasn't four, she was forty-four.  That's right, 4-4.  It was a bit weird.

You all have a great night!

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OOTDs: Posting to Prove I Am Alive.

Ha.  I am still alive.  :)  I took a couple days off of facebook, e-mail, and blogging because I couldn't do it.  Ya know?  I think we all have those moments, mine was actually caused by a whole lot of scheduled events taking the place of the time I would have normally had for my virtual self...but even if I hadn't had a whole slew of child- and bowling-centered activities, I may have still taken the time off so I could rejuvenate.

Anyhow, it has been a bit chilly here, especially at the beginning of this week, so most of the outfits below are my attempt at staying warm without having to pull out the parka and hats (seriously saw that on Monday, it wasn't *that* cold, people!)...

How have you all been?  Life taking you away, too?  Keeping the chill at bay with warm cozy sweaters?  ;)

Wore this for a preschool run on Tuesday. :)  The outfit held up insanely well for what I put it through.

The pants (Boden's Zip Ankle Skimmer) I will discuss further in the Boden Weekly Review Roundup (later today, I hope), but if you want a sneak peek, I did a quickie review here at the Facebook page.

The French Hen sweater is delightful, and I really enjoyed wearing it.  It is a size small, which is one size up from my normal extra-small.  I wore a layering tee under it, but the sweater turned out to be less itchy than I anticipated, so I didn't need it...

However, I ended up getting hot, so I took the sweater off at midday and just wore the tee, so I am glad I wore that layer.

Very simple makeup that day.

BTW, those Anthro earrings are heading for my hall of fame, I wear them at least once a week.  At $15, that is a great cost per wear and they are less than a year old.

I went to TJ Maxx during the preschool run (had to grab a play mat for Angus) and I tried on some shoes and a jacket...you know, because I could...and I fell in deep love with these heels.  They are Kate Spade Jocelyn heels and so swoon-worthy.  However, I left them at the store because I didn't have enough in my account to pay for them, and I figured if they were there when I did get money in the account, it was meant to be...

The jacket is Tory Burch and while very lovely, at $200 (originally $400), I couldn't justify it...this jacket would need to be a-freaking-mazing for me to buy it at that amount.

I look like I smell something bad.

I wore this on Wednesday to take Angus to his Little Gym class.  Oops.  They decided to do tumbling that day, and yeah, even though the jeans are wonderful, they weren't exactly the best pair for tumbling.  Wearing yoga pants the next class.

Now I clearly smell roses.

No bag here in this photo.

So the Kate Spade heels in the photo two up?  I ended up buying them after Angus's class...they were still there...and I had money to cover them.  (There's a moral of the story there, but I am not going to bother mentioning it.)  :)

I wore this yesterday to do yet another preschool run and bowling (mis)adventure.

Dottie is still kicking my butt in bowling, btw, for those of you keeping track.

I blame my bad score on the pants, though.  Turns out I bought last season's Roma trousers too large (but in my usual size 8 Long) and they kept. falling. down.  Agh!  Not good for bowling.  Will delegate these pants as travel pants exclusively as they were insanely comfortable.

Next week, I am going to kick Dottie's bottom and I will wear well-fitting pants to ensure my success.  ;)

I hadn't worn this Liberty of London for Target tunic top in a while, so I was glad to give it another day in the sunshine.

So this one is from Monday and not anything special, but I will tell you that this cowlneck sweatshirt from the J. Crew Factory is awesome.  Unfortunately it was cool enough that even this didn't keep me 100% warm (had to use a blanket when just sitting in my chair). 

I ended up going to the grocery store that night and this kept me warm enough then, but this was where I saw all the crazy people in their parkas.  It was maybe 50 degrees, but no colder.  In parts of Canada people would be in shorts and a tee if it was that warm (admittedly, we are talking about Labrador here, but still!).

CW had chosen these earrings for me, and though I would have normally not chosen them for myself, she ended up picking up a perfect pair.  Love them.  I am definitely going to have her help me style outfits in the future.  ;)

You all have a great day, will be back later!

ROYGBIV: Green...Not Just for St. Patrick's Day.

Good Monday evening!  (And Happy Memorial Day!)

I can't get over how quickly May has flown by...at the beginning of the month I thought, "oh, I have 31 days in this month, plenty of time to get all sorts of things done."  And then I barely accomplished half of what I wanted to do.

Does that happen to you all?  I am in no way mad at myself for not getting all the things on my work list done, but I am definitely noting in my notebook of life that all the best laid plans often go to waste.  I guess that is why cliches exist, to prove that they will one day happen to you, too.  So watch out!  (The actual cliche is a mouthful, btw: the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.)

A week ago to the day I published the ROYGBIV post on yellow, so I probably should get around to doing green already.

I heart green so much, and wear it all the time.  Something about its earthiness appeals to me.  Since I live next to a forest, it should be obvious that I want green in more than just my wardrobe.  (The walls in my bedroom are lime green.  I could go on and on...)

It's not just the verdant shades of the trees that I adore, either...all those yellow-greens and blue-greens are wonderful, too.

Today I am showing off two outfits in probably my all time favorite shade of green, moss green, a little dark green with just a hint of yellow.

Jacket--J. Crew Factory. (Called the Celtic Country jacket when it was in the retail stores in 2006.)
Top--Target, Mossimo Striped Tee.
Pants--Inc. (Macy's).  These are a pair of black pants that allow me to feel like a normal person even though I may still have an extra five inches on my hips because of postpartum"padding."
Shoes--Missoni for Target.
Necklace--J. Crew.

This outfit was worn on April 12, so Angus was about 18 days old.  Like all my awesome pants that I have had since I had Rex, I (eventually) stop wearing them when my hips return to normal.  I have now retired these to the basement storage area, but to be honest, if I could find these in a size 8, I would buy them in a heartbeat, they fit that well.

I like the look on my face.  I was probably frustrated with the camera's timer here.

Close up of the jacket, necklace, and tee.

My hubby liked my hair that day, big fan of the pigtails.  (Weird.)

This is my hipster/Madewell inspired outfit that I wore to Rex's second tee ball game (no tee ball gown that day, lol).  It was sort of cold that day, but I know that layers are the way to go as I often overheat (I run hot), so I gave a nod to my love for the prep and slung the striped cardi over my shoulders.

If you open the photo, you will see the info on the pieces.

Those J. Crew sweatpant trousers are ridiculous.  They are comfy and awesome, but they had been in the sale section, at the same sale price FOREVER.  J. Crew...folks aren't buying them at the higher sale price, LOWER the price.  Honestly I am surprised they are sold out, they just sat there for months and months and months.

(Ha, I know I bought them at the higher sale price, but I did get the 30% off...and in my defense, I was able to wear it when I was early in my pregnancy without fear of the waistband digging into my belly.)

Close up of the cardi and the top.  I really do love this shade of green, so pretty.

Speaking of Madewell, the photo of the French woman reading the book from their spring catalog inspired my outfit.  No, it is not an exact copy, but I love the ease of the look, and I think I came close.

No, it isn't green.  But like a dummy, I forgot to put this outfit in the last ROYGBIV post, so let's just pretend that it was part of my "yellow" post.  In fact if you click over real quick, take a peek, and go back in your browser, it will be *almost* like it is in the right place.

He wears green, too!

Aww...so cute!  Angus was 20 days old here (he was 2 months on May 25, btw).  If you open this photo up, you will see his onesie proclaims that he is indeed the "cutest monster."  ;) 

Okay, that's it.

I am heading to Miami tomorrow (whee!) and will be around "virtually," but not with any regularity.

Also, I have news of a sale for Boden tomorrow, but you will have to wait until I publish that post tomorrow morning...but for some of you, this may be the sort of % off that you need right now for all your Boden wish list items.  There is a chance that I won't be able to get it to go live until later in the day, and if that is the case, please bear with me and know that when I can get the link up, I will!

Night, night!!!

Fall Colors in Superfluity.

Since I am leaving on a jet plane tomorrow, I figured I would just smack out a whole bunch of ootd photos in one fell swoop, but because I work by categorization (teeny bit ocd, that's me!), I had to find a "theme."

I also was waiting to publish some of these because most of them were taken before you all knew about little Gus, and I felt like these would be better published later than sooner.

I do plan on publishing posts whilst in Mississippi (go wifi!), but it may not be daily, which I know is cool and all. ;)

BTW, you all said so many nice comments in yesterday's post.  THANK YOU!  I definitely feel good most of the time, but there are moments when a little boost certainly helps.  (Like this afternoon when my belly literally felt like it was sitting atop my bladder.  Oof.)

Onto my fall colored clothing...

Picniked the heck out of this photo, but the coat and turtleneck were begging me for saturation.  :)

I wore this on the day before Halloween, wanted to be festive without being too "in your face" (that will be in the next set of photos, lol).

Coat: J. Crew Bonbon, last year, size 6.
Turtleneck: J. Crew Cashmere, Winter 2008, size medium.  This is yet another item pulled from my postpartum with CW wardrobe (handy to have held onto...).
Pants: J. Crew Pinstripe Suiting Trousers, Winter 2007, size 10.
Boots: Aerosoles from a long time ago, worn constantly by me when the temps dip.

No coat here, but the necklace is Chicos.  I love this color turtleneck, I believe it was called Tangelo.  So pretty.  We had a few trees round these parts that turned this color when autumn officially showed up (first week of November, really).

Actual Halloween outfit.  I didn't overdo it, but the jack-o-lantern earrings are a bit much.  :)

Cardigan: J. Crew Cashmere, I can't remember what season, size medium.  Really nice color here, too.  J. Crew really does color well.
Top: J. Crew Drapey Sequin Tank, winter 2010, size extra small.  Here is the crazy thing about J. Crew, there sizing in tops is so wacky that even nearly five months pregnant with a small belly, I CAN WEAR THIS SIZE.  Nuts.  No wonder I go to crewcuts so much of the time.
Jeans: Maybe Calvin Klein?  Pulled from postpartum with CW pile.  Size 10.
Shoes: Cole Haan, Size 9.5.  I wear these a lot.  Very comfy and go with everything.
Necklace and earrings: Ancient and brought out exactly once a year.

CW is all princess, all the time.  That's Princess Aurora, if you don't mind.  :)

Really unnecessary to publish this photo twice, but OMG, CW's smile is darling.

I only got one good shot this day, but I kind of like it, makes me feel like I am some sort of warrior in this pose.  A pregnant warrior.  :)

Top: J. Crew Button Down, Fall 2009, Size medium.  They offer these all the time.  This is likely a suiting top, but I liked it layered with the Missoni for Target "dress."
Dress:  (Chortle, dress.  Tunic if you are 5' 6" or taller.)  I was able to order one item from Target the morning of the Missoni madness.  You are seeing it.  I had also ordered some tights, for around $15.  I mention the price of the tights because when they canceled that part of the order they sent me a gift card for $25 to say "sorry."  I appreciated the gesture, but I think in the end, I won out.  Huh.  Anyhow, I love this tunic, very unusual, not too much stripy madness, and the black panels are slimming.  Plus this tunic looks cute with a tiny belly.  I may even wear it later when I have a bigger belly, we'll see.  I ordered the small, and it fits well enough.  Obviously we'll see next fall how well it really fits.
Pants:  J.C. Penney, Duo Maternity.  I had these from the past two pregnancies.  These are simply the easiest pair of pants for me to wear while preggers, they go on well without struggle and they stay up well (although this early on I have to use the bella band to keep them up).
Shoes: Cole Haan Ada Low Heels in Nude, Size 10.   Great pair of heels, low heel, but high enough to improve the leg line.

I had a day out with my mom (she visited in very early November), so I wanted comfort but pretty comfort, so I pulled this one together.

Cardigan: J. Crew Factory, Golden Roses Merino Cardigan, Size small.  I finally found something I like with this cardigan.  Until this point I hated everything I paired with it.  I think the neckline on the dress, plus the dark grey color, work nicely with the print.
Dress: J. Crew Carly, Winter 2009 (maybe early 2010).  Don't wear this a ton, but I do always love it when I do.  They had a factory version for awhile, I wonder if the quality was the same.  FWIW, this was a size 8 and it fit fine over the belly, meaning that its waistline is a bit loose in general.
Tights: Target Assets, I believe.  Love the Spanx off-shoot.
Heels: Anthropologie, Miss Albright Prised Rose Peep-Toes.  You all have now seen this pair of shoes at least a half a dozen time this season.  I am so glad I was able to buy them (and on sale, to boot).
Headband: J. Crew.

I run "hot," even when not with child, but OMG, when pregnant I am literally on fire every day.  Hence I need layers.  With Rex it got so bad that I wore a sundress and sandals with an overcoat towards the end.  It was freaking February and there I was, wind whipping, and temps in the 20s, with no overcoat on, and looking like it was a nice mid-May day.  Only other moms got it.  Men thought I was NUTS.

Heehee.  I see a happy outfit here, but  really should have worn these with boots or at least a pair of closed toe flats.  It looks less odd with the Bella off, but only just.

Jacket: J. Crew Factory Bella, Size 4, coral color.  These came out one season post the original, so Fall 2008.  Love this jacket.  :)  Lucky me, I was able to get a pink herringbone version in a P6 (like a 4, but with slighter shorter sleeves) off ebay.  I paid near full price, but I know how hard it is to find the pink one, so I was stoked.  It is in great shape, just waiting for a "pink" mood to strike so I can wear it.
Tunic: Boden Terazzo Tunic.  Size 6.  Such a fan.  And its stretchy modal fabric is genius...it looks great when you are not pregnant, and stretches (without hurting the fabric) when you are.  Love!
Pants: J. Crew Minnie in twill, navy, size 8.  Fit fine that day, but were retired soon thereafter.  Could unzip an inch or so, but eh, no.
Shoes: J. Crew Collection, very cute, but probably too summery here.
Scarf: J. Crew Mohair, Winter 2008.

I like the top half better than the bottom half, especially with the jacket.

But when the jacket is gone, the shoes look okay.  Still not great, but better.  LOL.

I thought I had uploaded the shots of me wearing an adorable crewcuts collection cashmere cable knit sweater (woo, that was a lot to type) in heather citrus, but I appear not to have done so, I guess I will leave that one for another day.  :)

You all have a great late Sunday or Monday!  Hope you all don't work too hard this week...

Target Love, Merona/Missoni Style.

All, hi!

How has everyone's weekend been? Ours has been great, a bit tiring overall, but that seems to be status quo for me lately, huh. :)

We went to a restaurant called Texas de Brazil last night, and if any of you have been there, you will agree with me on one thing, that restaurant is like my blog name turned into an eating establishment. Holy freaking cow, what overabundance. I am not a huge eater, so I definitely didn't get my money's worth, but my son, oh, yes, the $5 it cost to feed him was definitely not wasted.  That outfit I will present tomorrow, and no, I did not wear an elastic waistband.  LOL.

Anyhow, I thought I would present you all with two recent outfits from the past week that include a Target item. I don't buy a ton from Target anymore, but I will say that I rarely get rid of a Target item, they wear well, and are usually distinctive enough that I want to keep wearing them.

This skirt you have seen before, here, and if memory serves correctly, you all have seen all of these pieces before.  :)  I don't have time to look up all the pieces to show when I last wore them, but I read somewhere recently that people love it when blog authors show how items can be worn in different ways and with different pieces.  I will try to get back into that, I had done it for a while, but for one reason or another, I stopped doing it.

(And so you know, I realize that the way I wore it last time is similar to this time, but ah, well, no big deal, I am sure I will blow you all away with my creativity at some other point in the future.)

Merona Collection Paisley Print Skirt, the pattern being a exact match for J. Crew's Coppelle Paisley Pattern.

Anthropologie Moth Paisley Gust Sweater Jacket.

J. Crew Sevigne Capri Sandals.

Open Sweater Jacket showing off the cute Goldfish Graphic Tee by J. Crew.  BTW, I love the sweater jacket both opened and closed, I am a fan of the draping both ways, each way doing something great for my outfit.

And no sweater jacket here.  It was a warm-ish day, but I knew that buildings can still run cold-ish, and I would prefer to be nice and warm no matter what.

BTW, I did own the dress, but now KDot does, and I think she rocks it way better than I ever did.  :)

Missoni for Target Girls. by dinagideon featuring j crew pants

Above is the polyvore of the next outfit.  You will notice that the top is actually a Missoni for Target GIRLS dress, which I bought in a size extra large (thank you non-gouging ebay seller for only marking it up $5) so I could use it as a tunic.

My hubby bought us tickets to an Elbow concert at the 9:30 club here in town and I knew I wanted to be comfy, but still kind of cool, hence the outfit.

BTW, you know how I know I am verging on old?  I have been going to the 9:30 club for EIGHTEEN years.  One of the first bands I saw there?  The Crash Test Dummies.  Yes, I loved all things Canada even back then.

What makes me feel even older?  I saw Blur at the Capitol Ballroom back when no one in the US knew who they were and there were {maybe} 100 people there?  Yes, that old.  Cripey.  And although the Capitol Ballroom was HUGE, they couldn't fill the space.  Definitely wouldn't happen today if Blur came back (although the Capitol Ballroom became Nation and then became an office building, sigh...).

Elbow was amazing.  Haven't heard of them?  Check this song out then...

Missoni for Target Girls Zig-Zag Sweater Dress (worn as a tunic).  It is definitely short.  Ladies over 5'1" have to wear this as a tunic.  It fits beautifully though, not too tight, with armholes that are more than wide enough for my arms.  Probably better to be a B cup or smaller if you want to wear it, but try it on to be sure.

J. Crew Painter Tee Boatneck Top.

J. Crew Signature Leggings.

Frye Ada Heels in Black.  Mint Condition was selling these for $22.  I think that is more than a fair price for these...all you Anthro ladies who love Frye?  I get it now.

Bloomingdale's Aqua Brand Multi-Strand Gold Necklace.

Bit dark this photo, but gives a good view of how all the pieces worked together.

Okay, that's it for tonight.  :)  I have a really neat outfit to show off tomorrow (yes, the one from the "let's go and gorge-a-thon" night).  I got inventive with the "top."  And no, it didn't have elastic, either.