OOTDs: Sequins, Morning, Noon, and Night.

Day: Wednesday, January 9, 2013.

Where: Whole Foods Wines-day, Anthropologie, and La Madeleine in Old Town Alexandria.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) 4. Outside of a bit of scratchiness in the skirt from the sequins, this outfit was very comfortable.  The tights were a touch too big, so that wasn't awesome, but they stayed up, so whatever.

Glitter flats?  Pretty and easy to wear.  Love!

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) 4. I think wearing the combo of bright blue with a gold base works.  And since I am not in France, the beret looks okay cool.  LOL.  ;)  (At least I think it does.)

Anecdote from the day:  I was able to see a good blog friend of mine, Monica.  She used to live in Maryland, but moved all the way across the country last year.  Amazingly, we have seen each other multiple times since her move, so I guess 3000 miles is really not that big of a deal.

Also, we went to the Anthropologie in Old Town that night and I found the Goldspun Paisley Dress for $39.  Yahoo!  Monica found it, hung all alone, in my size. It was meant to be. (I like it best belted and with a black cardigan.) :)

Day: Monday, January 14, 2013.

Where:  Rex's first piano lesson.  More on that frivolity in a moment.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) 3. It felt easy at first, and actually would have continued to feel easy, but because of the nature of the piano lesson, I ended up having to carry Angus for half of the time, which isn't super easy in a sequined top.  It's my bad for choosing this outfit, but it is rare for me to have to hold Angus all the time, he usually prefers to toddle around and explore. 

I wore this cardigan way way back when, and I really like it.  I far prefer it styled like this though.

I also was able to bring out my most favorite pair of jeans, they finally fit again.  I still have some baby weight to lose, but these jeans prove I am almost there (woo!).

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  3.  This cardigan was probably cool when it came out in the Fall of 2009, but since then, I am sure it has fallen out of favor, regardless of the Marc Jacobs label.  The jeans, though, will always be cool.  (Again, at least in my mind.)

Anecdote from the day:  The piano teacher, bless her heart, was a bit *confused.*  It made for a very interesting "hour" with Rex, CW, and Angus.  Basically, you walk into the lesson, put your name on a list (Rex's), and wait for your turn.  With five to seven kids in the class, each kid should get 10-15 minutes with the teacher at the piano.  The first child (who also goes to Rex's school) got 25 minutes, and the next kid got 20 (and the book that was supposed to be used by all the beginners).  The next child had the book, so that kid got 15.  Are you doing the math?  That's three kids in 60 minutes.  There are still 3 kids to go, along with the *next* lesson's kids coming in, plus some random family whose kid wasn't signed up for the lessons, but wanted to sign up for lessons.  That random kid got five minutes.  We still haven't gotten to the last three kids, and it is now 5:10 pm.  (That is 70 minutes after we showed up.) 

Rex was a champ and sat there and waited patiently, CW did okay, but poor Angus, because we were in a music room with lots of breakable instruments was struggling.  Sigh.


Eventually she saw to seeing Rex, but because the book had been given to another kid, Rex didn't even get to sit at the piano.  The whole time he kept looking at me and saying, "I get to play the piano, right?"  And I, thinking it's gonna happen said, "of course, honey, thank you for being patient."


So when she saw us she told us what book to get and that she looked forward to seeing him at the next lesson.  If this happens again, though, regardless of her sweet personality, I will probably drop the class.  Would you do the same?  Just curious...

Day: Tuesday, January 15, 2013.

Where:  Little Gym with Angus in the AM, and El Paso Cafe in Arlington for my brother's birthday.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) 4. This outfit felt good.  I am really glad I chose to size up by two whole sizes in the Neiman Marcus/Target Tracy Reese blouse.  I had originally thought I would buy it in the size small, but when I tried that on in the store, it was too tight in my hips.  And really expensive for what it was.  But by waiting until the VERY END of the life of the collaboration (I bought it on Saturday night, 1/13/13), I was able to try on all the sizes and get it for $20.  (I also grabbed the Marc Jacobs pewter clutch for $20.)

This was the large, and it is large overall, but nicely skims over my hips, so I can wear it as a tunic.

The jeans are a wonderful stretch denim material, and the Naturalizer flats are made for making lives as easy as possible.

(BTW, the first photo up there is from me trying the outfit out the night before.  I guess I was so traumatized by the piano lesson I had to do something to calm down.  That means making outfits and seeing how they look in real life.  Ha.)

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.) 2.5.  No lies, I don't know that any part of this outfit was that cool...even if the name on the shirt is Tracy Reese and the name on the pants is Michael Kors.  The colors of the outfit are currently "in," but I am not sure that I am wearing this outfit the way the cool blogger girls are, so there's that.  But those girls probably don't have a Little Gym class to attend, so let's call it even.  ;)

The sombrero definitely helped up the chic factor. 

Anecdote from the day:  The sweet, earth mother teacher at the Little Gym class LOVED my sequin blouse.  Other people kept feeling it up, all day long.

The dinner was fabulous, and halfway through dinner, my brother decided to give me his phone, and because I am me, I went to his facebook page and wrote "Peter is hot," as him.  So he basically looked like he wrote that himself.  Hahahahaha. 

A few years ago, I got hold of my dad's facebook account and wrote as him on Peter's page, "Peter, I have always loved you most.  Your sister, Dina, drives me crazy.  It is no secret to everyone that you are my favorite."  LOL.  Peter sniffed me out pretty quickly, sadly...within mere minutes he outed me as the real author.  Dang.  Practical jokes are no fun.  ;)

Okay, that's it for tonight.  Don't forget, tomorrow is the last day to enter my big four year blog-o-versary giveaway!

OOTD: SAHM, Sequins, Fedora, and a Maxi.

Hi, everyone!

After writing last night's post, I expected that I could get this post done by mid-morning today.  Then life (read: kids, doctor's appointments, errands, etc.) happened.  I didn't have a blog the last time I had a wee newborn, and even then, I didn't have two toddlers on hand whose every last need was my responsibility.  ;)  So I take it as I can, but it does sort of get frustrating that I can't keep my favorite hobby up to the extent that I would like. 

Having said all that, I won't get this time back with my kids, so in the world of priorities, clearly spending as much *quality* time as I can with them will always be number one.

Anyhow, I now have a few brief moments, and will at least get this outfit post published.

I had thought I would wear this particular outfit in California, but the night that I had planned to wear it, I decided to be lazy (it was on day 8 of the vacation) and stay at the hotel with Angus and watch four hours (!!!) of National Geographic channel while feeding him and me (yummy hotel food--and yummy hotel mojito).

The day after we got home (amazingly, if you didn't read it in the last post, we nearly, and I mean NEARLY, missed the flight) I had a Whole Foods date with a good friend of mine, so I decided that this had just enough casual dressy to work for the occasion.

Whole Foods here has a Wines-day event every Wednesday, and for $5 you receive a wine glass, five separate tastings of wine and small samples of a food pairing.  It was awesome, and my friend and I have plans to do this at least once a month or more (I may try to make it every week).  This week was Pinot Grigio week, so I was in heaven, as this is one of my most favorite types of wine.  Plus it was super hot outside, and the pinot was very light and fresh.

Skirt: Boden Swishy Maxi Skirt.  First reviewed by me here.  I wanted to make this outfit a bit more conservative and more California casual, so I decided to go with a fuller sequined tee, the fedora, and a very "now" white clutch.  The navy skirt is barely on sale (only $15 off full price), but the other colors are priced to sell.
Top: J. Crew Sample.  I wore it last here.  Definitely a different look this time, but sadly I still have an additional 10 pounds around my upper hips, so those green shorts are not happening right now.  
Hat: J. Crew Factory.  I wear this hat constantly in summer.
Clutch: Anthropologie Malmo Shoulder Bag.  I bought this on ridiculous super sale.  I had it in my shopping bag waiting for a good sale, and I nearly forgot about it...and one day I opened the shopping bag up and saw that this near $300 purse went on sale for $30.  It is full grain leather, nicely lined, and with a pretty closure (you can see a close-up in the bottom photo).

The clutch isn't really a clutch, but you can easily hide the strap in the back portion of the bag.

I wore this outfit with a pair of sandals from the Loft.  I am stoked that this skirt is *just* long enough to cover my feet except when walking...most maxis are too short for me, so if you are a taller lady, definitely consider this skirt if you want to have a true maxi.

Detail shot of the makeup, hair, hat, and a tremendous number or sequins.  ;)

Detail shot of the closure on the bag.  LOVE.

Sequins, Swishy, and Swank. by dinagideon featuring a straw hat

Above is the polyvore.

You all have a great afternoon.  Maybe, with any luck, I can get around to answering questions left for me in the comments.  Maybe.  ;)

My Review of the Jakarta Halter Dress...Hint, It's a Winner!

I will keep this short and sweet, but I know some of you have been eyeing this dress, so I really wanted to get this post up. Hopefully, even if you are on vacation this week you are still able to read this, even if it is a bit late. :) This dress is NOT on sale, as our dear friend Summerilla mentioned yesterday.

I bit the bullet with a 20% let's open a J. Crew Credit Card savings, which helped...and that was over a month ago. I have no clue when this will go on sale. I know that I may be the only person to review it, so it can't be THAT wildly popular (like the "headache" tee or the Frances cami or the Eden blazer). If it isn't that popular of a dress (and it could be, who knows, right?), then why is it not on sale?

So, onto details. Purchase it here, if you want. ;) No, I am not enabling. Okay, yes, I am.

Jakarta Dress and a Night of Grocery Shopping! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Here is the polyvore of the outfit I created to wear to (and this is not a joke)...Whole Foods. Yes, I get dressed up to go to the supermarket. Whatever--in my book, leaving the house always is an occasion for dress-up.


Here it is on me...size 6. It is made for us pears...it is fitted on top, with a vee to show off what little assets we have, and is fairly voluminous on bottom to hide our other more substantial assets. Heehee.

I also love that it is an empire waist, which means it shows off the ittiest-bittiest part of my body.

And...it has...pockets. I love pockets in dresses and skirts, so long as they are the type like on this dress...hidden until all of a sudden, oh, my hand wants to go somewhere...hey, I KNOW, my pockets! I feel very retro when I can do this. Yes, I know I am a dork.


Here is the view of the back. Normally, I would never ever subject you all to this view, but look at the bow of the halter...so precious...but not overtly twee. Swoon!

Oh, and look at the smocking (elastic, to boot) on the upper body...does this say "fat day dress" to you all, too? Here's the thing, though...it may be a fat day dress but it sure looks real pretty for a fat day dress. Perfection.


And because I love the BOW so much...here is another view. And once again, SWOON.

Have I enabled you yet? Have a great weekend. :)