OOTDs: California!

I am going to dispense with the "anecdote" portion of these outfit of the days since I will be publishing a separate California photos post, which will include more "fun family times" type photos and will include the stories from the trip.  :-)

Day: Thursday,  August 29, 2013.

Where:  Flight from DC to CA.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Can't go wrong with knit fabrics and an elastic waistband for a long flight with a toddler.  Also helps to have the back of the plane empty so the toddler can have a whole row to get antsy on...if only the flight back could have been that easy.
 :-P

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  It is hard to be cool while attempting flight with a toddler.  I do think the Madewell scarf, Anthropologie sweater tee, and bright blue Sperry deck shoes helped a little bit.  (Plus Angus's shoes were bright blue, so we got to be "in style" together.)

Day:  Friday, August 30, 2013

Where:  Hanging with my family for a trip to see my brother *jump out of a plane--OMG* and then a rehearsal dinner/bbq.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)   I brought two Garnet Hill jersey dresses with me on the trip (the other is in a few photos) because they are ridiculously, kind of like wearing PJs in public, comfortable.  They also pack well and do not wrinkle. 

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  It's a pretty look, but not cool.

That's my pretty aunt there in purple, and if you look closely, you can see my bro taking the photo.

Day:  Saturday, August 31, 2013.

Where:  My cousin's wedding.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I have reviewed the Daisy Jacquard Dress before and declared it a winner for comfort, but it was a touch warm and humid the day of the wedding (I BROUGHT VA weather with me, sigh), so the dress wasn't super comfy, but it was fine and it wasn't like I was wearing wool.  

Cool Factor: (3.5 for 2013 (5 if it was 1965) of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  The mid-century look of the outfit was enhanced by the mid-century architecture of the hotel where the wedding took place.  I fit right in, lol.

The Flowerburst Necklace is a statement piece, and one that you have to be in the right mood to wear, but the gold accents of the piece worked nicely with the gold Anthro belt and gold hardware on my bag and shoes.

Day:  Sunday, September 1, 2013.

Where:  Disneyland.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  It was hot and humid that day and this dress (Long Tiered Garden Dress) kept me covered from the sun AND it kept me cool since the air circulated well in the full skirt.  Word of warning about this jersey dress--it runs HUGE since this is an extra small and it fits me very well in both length and width.  It is almost a touch too long in the bodice since my bra kept peeking out, so if you are very short and very thin, you should stay far far away, since there is no xxs size.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) The hat helps the look, and I felt cool.  I don't know if this look is cool, though, since I don't see a ton of this kind of look out in the blog world.  Maybe for my age and station in life, this look is cool?  :-D

If a seagull appears out of nowhere in your photo, is that good luck?

Day:  Monday, September 2, 2013.

Where:  In-N-Out Burger and El Capitan Beach.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I made the purple top/shorts outfit for me on my sewing machine, so it better be comfortable.

And a swimsuit and flip-flops?  Yeah, stretchy equals comfy.

Cool Factor: (3 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) The top look is all mine so I don't know how cool it is but I do think the shape of the top and shorts is pretty cool in a "retro modern" kind of way.

I think the swimsuit look is cool because I felt confident in the suit, and really, that is all you can ask for when baring that much of your body in front of people.  (That last shot of me walking on the shore is one of my favorite photos ever taken of me since I look so carefree, wish that were truly the case.)

Okay, that's it! 

Really quick, if you are a Boden fan, the current sale ends tonight (wrote a blog post on it here).  If you see an item in that sale you would like, you may want to grab it since it appears that Boden will be doing a diminishing discount sale starting tomorrow morning.  The diminishing discount sales do not allow stacking of codes the way the sales of the week do (you can use the sidebar coupon to get an additional 15% off of the sale prices).  That said, if something you want is not in the sale, wait till tomorrow, since the beginning discount of the diminishing discount sale will be 20% off.

Gotta Squeeze in One Last Little Post Before the End of June...

To make up for a really sad showing of posts this month, I am making up for it by publishing TWO WHOLE POSTS in one day. Admittedly this is a fairly easy post to create, basically, pick photos, upload them, write a paragraph to introduce and close the post, and write a sentence for each photo. I think a well-behaved monkey could do this post fairly successfully. :)

These photos below are only part of the trip to CA. I have more but really want to focus on each part of the trip. All are taken in Santa Barbara, CA. I so very much HEART Santa Barbara, what a lovely place. I was glad that as a family we could enjoy such a beautiful day and environment together. Okay, yes, Rex freaked out at the beach (that poor kid has as many anxieties as a neurotic old woman) but eventually even the waves couldn't stop him from seeing that we were indeed having a great day. CW, from start to finish, had a blast. That's my girl. LOL. Mr. Dina says that if Rex didn't look exactly like me he would be concerned that he wasn't my kid, what with his fear of the beach and Disneyland (yes, he is afraid of most of Disneyland--more on that in another post).


From the very end of the day, slightly sunkissed, and very sated, the dinagideon family poses for what could possibly be our Christmas card photo (it is in the running). We are next to the restaurant we ate at (which also had an INCREDIBLE view from their open-air deck of the Pacific Ocean).


I know kids shouldn't be allowed to plant their face in the sand as it is very icky, but well, we couldn't stop her in time. Doesn't CW look so happy, though? It's okay...this time. ;)


CW...even happier. Momma...still kind of grossed out.


CW walked happily, hand in hand, with me to the waves. The water was chilly, but she was more than happy to stride into the water for at least a minute or two.


Rex managed to stop freaking out, and at that point he sat happily looking at the ocean with us.


And there Rex stands, looking quite proud and satisfied. Good. He deserves a nice day every once in a while.


Here are CW and Momma at the restaurant with one of the best views anywhere. I really liked CW's face, which is why I uploaded this photo.

I hope you all have a great night. I know that these photos are mainly for my dear relatives and friends who love seeing pics of my kids, but if you are one of my beloved fashion friends, more info on my outfit can be found in this post and this polyvore.

P.S. For all of you who are born on Canada Day, I say a early "Happy Birthday." SWAK.