OOTD: A New Favorite Look.

Hey, all...before I get started, I have a few announcements to make. :-)

1. Boden started a new promo of 14% off all regular items (specifically from the menswear and womenswear line) with free shipping.  The coupon is in the sidebar and at the bottom of this post.  If you specifically have a mini Boden item or two in mind, you can grab that with a "buy three, get the fourth item for $1" promo.  I have that coupon link also in the sidebar and at the bottom of this post.  Also if you are a new customer to Boden, and you like pretty yellow scarves, this may be the right time to make a first purchase since they are offering a free scarf with first purchase (although it appears you can't use the 14% off or buy 3, get #4 for $1 promos if you want the scarf--use the scarf promo if your first purchase is to be relatively small or you really really really like that scarf!). 

2. I have a giveaway winner ($50 Boden giftcard).  There were 50 entries (49 on the blog and one on facebook*), and random.org declared that #45 was the winner.  So yay for Starla729!  I will be emailing her tomorrow to get more info from her.  I plan to do another giveaway soon, so be on the lookout for that in the near future.

*well two from facebook, but one of the entrants was able to successfully post here at the giveaway post in the end...

3. Sewing website PatternReview.com featured me as their "featured member" of the day.  I am so excited.  If you grab a moment, you can go to their homepage and see my profile in their sidebar.  Woo!  I am thrilled that I was honored with these few hours of sewing fame.  :-)

Okay, onto what I have decided is a new favorite look of mine, a relatively simple outfit that I wore last Thursday.

Day: Thursday, January 30, 2014.

Where: School pickup and classes at the Little Gym with my kids.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The whole darn thing is so easy to wear.  Every piece has a bit of special interest to it, but those unique touches don't detract from the ease of wear. 

The Medallion sweatshirt** (currently on steep sale at J. Crew) is a basic sweatshirt dolled up with an all over white medallion print (which if you look closely is very carefully printed to ensure all the medallions properly line up).  The amazing Sybil coat (one of my all time favorites made by J. Crew) has the pretty stand-up collar and larger button detailing.  The Vince Camuto Trapeez booties are in a fab navy/grey leather with silver buckle finishes. 

**I bought a size small, one size up from what I had been wearing in J. Crew sweatshirts.  I think it runs a touch small to size.

It gets hard carting the three kids around, and it is really tough to actually physically keep up with them, so barring here and there (usually when another adult is around) I have to wear clothes that will allow me to do a mad dash to an open door, numerous bendovers to pick up crackers, dropped drinks, and paper towels, and also allow me to carry the world's largest toddler.  This outfit I could do all three but somehow still look fairly stylish.  (In my mind, I felt I looked the part of stylish mom anyhow.)

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  I think it looks really cool.  The Vince Camuto booties help, definitely glad I tried them out and in a shade that you don't usually find in shoes.

Anecdote from the Day:  The day went really well.  And by some miracle, there was. no. traffic. getting to the Little Gym.  I was being smiled at by someone up there that day.  ;-)

Okay, that's all for now.

Real quick, I am not really around much these next few days since I will be substitute teaching at the kids' school.  I am very wiped right now, so if this post reads funny, I blame it on my sleepiness.

Boden coupons below as promised!

Valid 2/3 - 2/14. 14% Off Plus Free Shipping!

Valid 2/3 - 2/14. Buy 3 Mini Boden Items & Get the 4th for $1 Plus Free Shipping!
(It appears you can use the above coupon with non mini items.  Just so you know, all I had in my basket was some Johnnie b. underpants and it worked.)

OOTD: Notch Neck and a Supermarket.

I had totally intended on wearing this ensemble to church on Saturday night last but then life got in the way when I realized I needed to be away from the house for many hours with my nursing baby.  I always face a sartorial dilemma when it comes to Angus's needs.  As many of you know, I adore nothing more than a summer sundress, and for multiple summers now have worn them in superfluity (of course!).

Well, not counting this one.  I don't know if you have noticed this but all of my sundresses this summer have been on one specific type--the type I can nurse in (for more on good nursing dresses, tops, etc., check out this post that I wrote for a blog friend of mine).  So you haven't been imagining it--all of my dresses have had just the right kind of straps (can be pulled to the side) or they have had a button down front (which can be unbuttoned for access--this is how I made the Riviera shirt dress work for the play I went to with Angus).

If I can't give Angus his meals, then I need to be able to pump them in advance, and sometimes I just forget when I need to do so, and there you go--I just can't wear the dress I had wanted and settle for something more baby friendly.  ;-)  No big deal, yes, I know, but CW was a bit bummed because she really wanted to match momma at church (her choice, I wasn't sure I could even fit into the dress--yay postpartum!).

So I gave into her and wore the dress on Monday instead, when we went to the grocery store.  Yes, I wore the dress below and my mini me wore her dress (last photo) at the same time for a trip to get broccoli and fruit snacks.  I don't think we stuck out too much (folks were coming from work, so a lot of dressed up people), but we definitely caught the attention of the sales clerks who were really excited by our matching patterns.  It is actually kind of sweet to see a 23-year old guy get jazzed about that sort of stuff.  I assume he is bored otherwise and our outfits gave him something to talk about, but still, I'll take it.  And you all know how little girls are, right?  You lavish them with any praise and attention and it's all big eyes and "thwank you swo much."  ;-)

The outing meant that I could bring just a clutch that was nearly empty.  This is such a treat.  CW is now the age where I don't have to amuse her with thousands of toys and wipe her down and inundate her with constant motion.  Rex still needs all that, but he will likely grow out of it soon enough, especially now that the Kindle Fire exists.  Gus will need more as he ages, but even as an infant I could only get away with a clutch this size if we had the van nearby (filled with all the emergency diapers, etc.).

I mentioned this in the post on the pleated blouson dress, but I really am having a hard time with these yellow sandals.  I love them...on their own.  In all three outfits I have paired with them, I have been slightly dissatisfied.  This outfit is probably the best one with them, but still not a homerun.  As I told CC in one of my comments back to her, I will likely try wearing them with a pair of jean shorts and a simple tee or tank and see how it goes.

Do you all have thoughts on what you would pair with these sandals?

The notch neck dress by Boden is one of my favorite designs they have ever made (worn here last year).  Sadly this one from Spring 2011 is a bit small though the hips, so I felt very conspicuous.  The notch neck shift from this spring fits me better, but is the same size, so I think Boden fiddled with it and made the dress a wee bit bigger overall.  It wasn't enough that I couldn't wear the dress, I just felt very on display.  Of course Mr. Dina loved it, but he's a man.  My comfort is only really an issue if he hates what I am wearing, and then it's all, "yeah, if you don't feel comfortable, you should totally take it off."  Blah!  With this one, he was all, "you should keep it on, it's so pretty!" 

Although the clutch is a striped pattern, I think it paired nicely with the bold florals.  The Madewell shades are a nice match for the dress.

This outfit is definitely very derivative, though.  LOL.  Nothing fashion forward about it...just a simple sundress in gorgeous colors paired with matchy match accessories.  Very dinagideon formulaic, for sure.

The info on the pieces are in the photo.  CW's, too.  Note...her shoes light up when she walks.  Yes, I got her a pair (thank you, Nordstrom anniversary sale, only purchase made is a big success).

If you like this Notch Neck Shift, there are still a few available in the clearance section at Boden, and there is a short-sleeved version for this fall available in the regular women's section.

You all have a great night.  Be back with the Review Roundup tomorrow (fingers crossed)!

Boden Knitted Dresses for Me and Floral Dresses for Her! How Funky.

The sixth photo you will see today (of the ones from my camera, at least) will be of CW and me wearing our St. Patty's Day outfits (and it is on topic--my dress is a Boden knitted dress), but the great majority of this post will highlight some Boden outfits that CW and I have worn recently.  All you Boden babes are gonna love today's post.  In fact, today is the very first IRL fitting room photo of CW wearing mini-Boden.  ;)

So it was insanely pretty a few days ago, and I had to dress both CW and I in bright florals.  Yes, it is a bit much, but I tell you, people do respond positively when seeing pretty colors in the early spring.  CW's hair helped up the cute factor, too.  LOL.

I am wearing a Boden cotton knitted dress from Spring 2009.  I believe it was called the Funky Knitted Dress (which is what they call anything with crazy mod flowers or shapes, I've decided...Boden doesn't go real inventive with naming things...cough, cough, Anthropologie).  I wanted it so bad after seeing the cover of the Boden catalog with the beautiful model in it (fourth photo from the top), and when it went on sale, I bit as soon as I could. 

I also loved baby CW's funky dress (LOL) when I saw it on the most precious little girl model in the catalog (fifth picture from the top), and I bought her's at near full price (you know Boden, you can always count on at least a 10% off coupon).  CW was only FIVE months old.  She couldn't even fit into it until last spring.  :) 

I love their knitted dresses and tunics because they feel so darn good.  The lightweight knitted cotton is perfect for spring, keeps you warm, but isn't too warm like their merino wool (which I love in the fall and winter).  They are machine washable and the colors are vibrant and in my opinion look exactly as I expect them to based on what I see on the website (although some people read they grey in this dress as brown, which I didn't at all).  Notice my shoes.  These J. Crew ballet flats are in constant rotation in my wardrobe.  (I wore them again today.  I feel so predictable!)

Front view.  This dress is in no way the right dress for everyone.  You definitely will *not* fade into the background wearing this.

Cover that made me SWOON.  So glad I could upload it so it is FOREVER on the internet.  :)

On three, AWWW.  That little girl is so precious.  I also love the furniture, the other model's outfit...in short, everything! (We actually own a chair from the 60s that is that exact shade of yellow. I understand it is an original Herman Miller or Eames???  Maybe?  Whatever it is, they are pretty hot in the mid-century modern furniture market right now.)


Funky Knitted Tunic.  This is what is currently available from Boden in the "funky" knitted range.  I still like mine better, but I can see how this would be more appealing to those of you not into bright yellow florals.  This also comes in a grey/white and teal/green version.  (You can click the photo to go straight to Boden's website to see colors, sizes, measurements.)

This is from today.  I am wearing the funky knitted dress from Spring 2010 here (at least that is what I call it, they may have named it the sassy knitted dress or the smart knitted dress, whatever).  The green is perfect for St. Patty's Day.  The necklace is J. Crew's from May 2008, and I won it on ebay (yay!).  The shoes look familiar, eh?

CW is in a mix of Target and Gymboree.  The pants are actually from when she was 6 months old.  Turns out you can REALLY extend the life of pants because baby pants have a stretchy waistband and the legs may be short on a two-year old but will fit fine in the waist.  Instant shorts! 

So what is this year's version of the dress CW wore in the first photo?  Surprise!  It is called the Funky Print Dress!  Ooh, la la.  :) 

CW was so sweet at Nordstrom's today.  She tried on three different outfits from mini-Boden (you will see the other two next week during the Boden Weekly Review Roundup) and calmly posed with all of them.  It was actually a lot of fun.  We will buy one of the outfits tomorrow (I have to wait till I have enough money in my bank account--Rosemary from Nordstrom's at Tysons is so great she is calling me to take the info tomorrow and we are going to have them shipped to me for free--Nordstrom's really does have great customer service!).  This dress is *not* the outfit we are going to buy.  I let CW choose and this wasn't her favorite.  So, I will wait for a sale (I hope it will get to sale!).

One more view.  Hey, Johnnie...would she work as a child model?  LOL.  I think I might be biased, but come on, adorable, right???


Funky Print Dress.  You can see the different options, etc., if you click the photo.  I like the blue daisy the most, but they have a pink floral and red spot.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.  :)  Don't drink too much green beer, okay?

I plan on getting up my next 40 and 40 post.  I just couldn't get my act together on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Don't know what the 40 and 40 is?  Click here to see all the posts!

Forgot About This Outfit (Overdyed Cropped Matchsticks for Anyone?)...

Hi!!! I finally have commented back on the last FOUR posts. Oops. I forgot that I had taken that long. I guess travel does that to you, makes you a bit stupid and forgetful.

Speaking of travel, I am STILL recovering. There were multiple times on the trip (Thanksgiving visit to Mr. Dina's family) where I felt every imaginable feeling possible. Let's see there was EXTREME DESPAIR on the flight down (I cried nearly as much as Rex did--we were not the friends of anyone on that flight), there was FRUSTRATING ANGER when attempting to discipline him while many eyes watched me with either disbelief ("what? a mom who yells at her child? no, wrong!") or rudeness ("why is that woman letting her kid yell and scream and cry so much?"), and the ultimate, there was INCREDIBLE EXHAUSTION after attempting to put CW down for just one minute but she screamed and hollered like I was cutting off her toes because I wasn't holding her for every minute of every day. Sigh.

I made it through the trip intact...but by the end I had kind of thrown my hands up in the air and just let Mr. Dina start making the decisions. And if you know me, you know I don't give up control very often. :) (That said...once I had given up control, I felt better. Like A LOT better. It was nice not having to assert myself...I think I may try that more often. Too bad I waited till the last day to try it!!!)

No polyvore for today's blast from the past. This is simply a look I like for summer (yeah, haha, great timing there, dinagideon).

The outfit consists of:

Top: Navy Blue with graphic floral image shirt from Nordstrom's juniors' section, probably 2004? It FINALLY fits again! :) Yay!

Pants: Overdyed cropped matchstick denim in misty lavender from this summer, 2009, J. Crew. These are a 30. They are very comfy. LOVE THEM. Also loved the price (something like $30).

Flip-Flops: Metallic Atlantic Wedge Flops from last spring, 2009, J. Crew. Size 10.

Necklace: Scattered glass necklace from this summer, 2009, J. Crew. One of my favorite necklaces, I wear it a lot! (No longer for sale over at jcrew.com, either. Not surprised it sold out...)

Watch: My old standby, white leather Fossil watch.

Have a lovely day. I hope to update my Mid-Century Mom site soon. Wish me luck! :)

The Double Serge Cotton Pencil Skirt...for Review and for Real Life!!!

Some of you...like the super-sweet Amy...have been waiting a while for this post!!! I am so sorry, my friends, for taking so long. As you know my weekend was chock full of family fun...the zoo on Saturday, and then the pool and church on Sunday. Yesterday I just had enough time to post the mini-skirt info (and by the sound of it...miniskirts ARE my friends...thank you all for the feedback). Today, and for this I do believe God will grant us teachers some grace, we went to a field trip on the National Mall (Air and Space museum, American History museum, etc.). Somehow...no one died...no one broke anything...the guards managed to not freak out when they saw us coming...

BTW, if you are in this area, there is a film being shot at the Mall. I so wanted to be plucked out of the crowd to be an extra. Sigh, maybe next time they will notice my inherent camera-readiness (snort...).

Onto the review...this outfit was actually worn on THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2009. This was the same day my lovely coworker wore the orange shorts/white tee/grubby shoes combo that I talked about in this post.


Here is the outfit full-length. It consists of an Anthropologie top that I bought in 2006 (and have not been able to wear in close to 3 years...yay), the double serge cotton pencil skirt from J. Crew this spring 2009 (for sale here), and some Linea Paolo kitten-heel mules that I bought probably in 2004 from Nordstrom's.

The skirt is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. I had heard really good things about its predecessor (the double serge WOOL pencil skirt) over at J. Crew Aficionada but knew deep down there was something better for me. I love wool but honestly, because I run HOT, I can only wear the lightest of wool clothing (for instance, the Merino Michelle Cardigan is a perfect weight for me). Plus, I have a deep distaste for having to store wool. I have bags and plastic containers and a hanging implement in my closet for the storage of wool pieces, but it honestly drives me batty that such storage is required because of moths. Ugh. So the less wool and cashmere I have to store, the better.

I saw this for the first time in the May 2009 catalog and ADORED every single color it came in...especially the bronzed twig and slate colors. I decided to hold off on the slate until I tried the bronzed twig and I am glad I waited (more on that in a minute). I figured that if I could only own one of these skirts, I would want the bronzed twig because of it being a brighter neutral that would work so well with many of my summer tops. I went ahead and ordered in a size 10.

I tried it on and was happy to see it fit well. It was a tad big in the waist but the rest of it felt great. Then I wore it to school all day. This puppy stretches!!! By the end of the day, the skirt was very, very comfortable. :) It still looked good, but was very loose. So with that on my mind...I knew the slate skirt would need to be ordered in an 8. So an 8 I shall get.

So...here are the basic FYIs on this skirt:

Length (regular): Perfect on my frame, but bear in mind most of my height is in my legs. So if you are tall but have shorter legs you may need to hem this to get it to hit at the right length. Shorter ladies, I highly recommend the petites.

Colors: The bronzed twig is a bronze color but with a hint of a green...very special. I have yet to see anyone else do this neutral. It isn't khaki, it isn't brown, it isn't olive...just somewhere in between.

Sizing: SIZE DOWN. I may even find the 8, when I receive it, stretches out a lot. I won't get a 6 because I LOVE the comfort factor (plus it still looks good when I wear it a little loose). Or maybe I really am an 8 and keep buying 10s because of something psychological? Hmmm...

Price: At $98 (if you buy it outside of the secret sales), the price may seem high, but even at a regular price, if you wear it enough (which I anticipate a lot of us would...highly versatile piece and all), the price per wear would be very low.


Anthropologie Top close up...for polyvore, of course. :)


Linea Paloa kitten-heel mule...for polyvore, of course. ;)

Any further questions? I won't be able to post anymore today (million, trillion things left to do), but should be able to get to them tomorrow.

You all have a great afternoon. If you are in the Northern Virginia area, watch out for the storms...they appear to be a coming!