OOTDs/Review: Boden Everyday Sweater, Low Heeled Loafer, and Charlotte Top. Plus a Flash Sale Today Only!

Before I start, there is a flash sale going on at Boden today, for one day only.  I put the link in the sidebar and at the bottom of this post for those of you interested.  The Everyday Sweater is in the sale, fwiw.  The Charlotte Top is not part of the sale, but it is listed at 30% off, so it has been reduced to further than my current sidebar coupon is (currently at 15% off).

Okay, onto the outfit of the day/reviews.  OOTD portion first, followed by a review.

Day: Sunday, October 19, 2014.

Where:  Harris Teeter.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  It is a touch cool here today, with highs only in the low 60s.  I knew I would need a sweater (here at Boden, use link below for the flash sale savings), but was hoping this would be warm enough for the temperatures.  It was more than fine, I wasn't cold at all.  The weight of the sweater was more than adequate.

The shoes are a bit wide on me, sigh.  They didn't fall off or anything, but I am so darn picky.  If only these loafers (here at Boden) had come in half sizes, I would have been set. 

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  A bit trendy with the necklace, jeans, and shape of the sweater, but a bit retro with the design on the sweater, so all in all, a great look for me.  Just wish I had someplace more exciting than the grocery store to go to...

Anecdote from the day:  Rex fell down from the illness that took his daddy down yesterday.  He is sick, too, with a temperature.  So now half the house is sick, and the other half is trying to take care of the half that is sick.  ;-)

REVIEW:

Everyday Sweater.  Size 6.  I chose correctly, size-wise.  The width is bit wide, but I know that was the intention, so I would not size down from your normal Boden knitwear size.  I personally think this is such a flattering silhouette, with the gentle curved hem, scoop neck, and long, thin sleeves.  Those are really long sleeves, though, and they have no petite option, so keep that in mind if you are a smaller lady.  The length is also a bit short, so if you have a longer torso this may end up bothering you.

The blue retro rose color is a cotton/wool blend and so soft.  I love it!  The other colors are not that combo, so I can't speak to their relative softness.

If they come out with other colors that tempt me in the future, I will definitely be buying this sweater.  It is truly a lovely item.

I did another review of this item here at this blog post.


Low Heeled Loafer.  Size 41.  I wear a size 9.5 at J. Crew, and their shoes, without fail, always fit me in that size.  Boden's shoe sizing is one place I can never be fully sure what size I wear.  It may be a 40 one time, another a 40.5 (if available), or a 41.  Sigh.  These, as I mentioned above, would be best for me in a 40.5 since the width on the 41 is too loose.  I can fix it by wearing thicker socks, but sometimes I just don't want to wear socks.  Oh, well. 

As it is, these are popular shoes, and nearly sold out in many of the colors (or on backorder), so I will keep the 41.  It isn't like they are falling off, they are just a touch wide, and I am picky.

The color is fab, a muted pewter color that goes with so much.  The heel height is also wonderful, just enough for a lift, but not so high that it becomes hard to manage.

I did a review of this item here at this blog post, way back when.  I wasn't so picky back at that blog post, maybe they felt tighter then?  Who knows.  Maybe I am just cranky.  LOL.

Day: Friday, October 17, 2014.

Where:  Target and School Pickup.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Well initially, at my house anyway, it was cool enough to justify a scarf with the outfit.  But by the time I got to the school for pickup, it was actually hot, so I had to take it off.  The Charlotte top (here at Boden) was a perfect weight for the mid-70s, so on its own, it was very comfortable.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I dig shorts with a longer-sleeved top, a scarf, and sandals, but based on the look that some old guy gave me at Target, I would guess he wasn't into it.  LOL.  Okay.  That's fair.

Anecdote from the day:  The world's cutest chocolate lab puppy showed up at pickup (he was a rescue) and my son was in HEAVEN.  He spent half of the pickup time playing with the puppy.  The other half of the time he sat enjoying being the center of attention since all the adults there were oohing and aahing over the insane adorableness of cute puppy and cute baby together. By the way, Angus's shirt is from baby Boden and available here.   Hee. 

REVIEW:

Charlotte Top.  Size 6 PETITE.  After taking the measurements into consideration and reading that the top is supposed to hit at the low hip, I *knew* I had to get the petite because that would mean it would be shorter on me, which means it wouldn't hit at my low hip and instead hit at my high hip.  Whenever something straight up and down hits at my low hip, I either size up to fit the hips and have it be too large on top, or get it to fit my bodice and know it will be too tight on bottom.  Yay PETITE sizing!  :-)  It is a touch short in the arms, but I like where the cuff hits, just below my elbow.

The size 6 R and 6 P both have the same body measurements, it is just the length of the top and sleeves that are different.  They don't do what J. Crew does and make the 6 P have the same measurements as the 4 R, just shorter (so weird, don't get that at all), so definitely do not size up if you want to buy the petite version.

I am particular about how the plaid lines up and it doesn't, kind of obviously, if you notice it, but meh, it isn't something most people look for, so I can get over it.  It is a really cute top otherwise.

Okay, that's all for now.  Hope everyone is having a great Sunday.

Sale Info:
Sunday only! 20% off all Women's Knitwear, Hats and Scarves15% Off Everything Else + Free Shipping

OOTDs: 13 on the 13th and a Stunned Sewer.

Before I start the ootds post, I wanted to let you know there is a reason I am a "stunned sewer."  Turns out that I *won* the Fabric Mart Fashion Challenge.  Woah!  I honestly thought I was going to come in third, *maybe* second if I was really lucky, but nope, first!  I wrote this all over the place this morning, but I was really glad that I was sitting when I received the news since I had to compose myself, so weird, right?  :-)  I guess I was a tiny bit excited!

Nakisha came in second with her gorgeous interpretation of minimalism architecture, and Sue's amazing, yellow trench coat inspired by Pop Art came in third.  It was a true honor to be in the last challenge with them.  

I have a lot of thoughts about the competition, what I learned, what I experienced, and how the whole thing went, but I will save that for another time (I do want to dissect it, though, since the progress was pretty significant overall--more so than I expected it to be).  I do really want to say thank you to Fabric Mart for hosting the competition, the judges for all their thoughts and words about the garments I sewed up, and to my fellow sewing friends in the contest with me, it was wonderful to be part of such a cool thing with such gracious, generous, and gifted sewers.  And of course, I *know* so many of you voted for me, or left incredibly kind comments here or at my FB page, so thank you for that.  I had many moments where comments were what I needed to keep my head up high, since there were points in the challenge where I wondered if I should keep on keeping on...

Okay, onto the outfits...both featuring dresses I sewed up in the competition (there's the connection, lol).

Day: Monday, October 13, 2014.

Where:  To celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary, Mr. Dina took me to America Eats, which has moved from its downtown DC location (featured at this post and here at this post) to the Ritz Carlton Tysons (ooh, fancy!).

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I made this dress for me (read more on that here), but it is still a fancy dress worn with heels.  It won't be the most comfortable dress ever, but considering that normally dresses feel too tight in my hips, it was a nice change of pace to feel not restricted there, for once.  :-)

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I love it.  I think I looked really nice, and I always, ALWAYS want my hair to look that good *why can't it always behave--WHIIIIINE!*. 

Anecdote from the day:  Driving to Tysons it was SUPER FOGGY out.  We have a few tall buildings in our neighborhood and there are really tall buildings (well, by DC standards anyhow) in Tysons, and the tops of the buildings were completely hidden behind the wall of fog.  I love fog, so I was really into it, but Mr. Dina was freaked out.

Yeah, we've been married for 13 years and it was awesome that it was on the 13th.  Wish it had been a Friday, too, that would have been even better.

Day: Saturday, October 18, 2014.

Where:  International Fair at the school.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Yeah, this dress is so comfortable.  I am really glad I spent all those hours patterning out the original and sewing up a gazillion gathers (wrote the process up here).  Worth all the effort.  Such a breezy, lovely dress. 

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Very pretty and presentable outfit, and perfection for the weather we had here today (umm, gorgeous, with a slight breeze).

Anecdote from the day:  We have been a house of sick lately.  I was sick with the flu for a week and then both CW and I came down with laryngitis.  Unfortunately Mr. Dina and Angus now have it, too, and they are struggling.  Only Rex seems immune.  I bet he scares the germs away.  :-)  We had a good time at the International Fair, though.  One of my favorite families from the school are Ethiopian and they remembered how much Rex likes the yellow pea dish, so they made that special so Rex would be able to enjoy his favorite.  Isn't that so sweet?  What a nice and generous gesture. 

Okay, that's all for now.  Still pinching myself over the win, cannot wait to give another sewing project a go, and now that I have a bit more time, I think I will be tackling a coat or jacket, which I have always wanted to sew up. 

Have a great night!

Maritime Dress for Real Life...

I wore the Maritime dress as an actual real life outfit on Monday.  I figured the combo of mainly staying at home, plus an Arbonne meeting at night gave me a great reason to pull this puppy out.  The weather was also that weird version of mild we get here in NOVA, kind of drizzly, kind of foggy, and right around 60 degrees.  In other words, not too cold, but not warm enough that we can put away the sleeves. 

The maritime dress is pretty substantial, nice thick slubby cotton that is like a light sweatshirt.  In the morning I wore it on its own, but by evening I had to pull out some leggings to keep myself a bit warm (and also be a bit more conservative for my meeting, that said, I did not photograph that look). 

I reviewed the Maritime Dress already, so for more info on it, head on over to that post.  The sleeves look great rolled up, in my opinion, and for hanging out with the kids, the length isn't too short that it's shocking. 

The shoes are a pair of Cole Haan penny loafers that I am *this* close to wearing out.  I literally bring them with me on every trip and even when home find I pull them out at least a couple times a month. 

That pile of books in the back makes me look so literary.  LOL.  Or just messy, like a hoarder.

I wore my hair to the side as an homage to the 80s.  I don't know why this dress reminds me of the 80s, but it does.  It probably is the superfluous zipper on the sides (heehee). 

These earrings are from the factory, and I LUUUUUURRRRRVVVVVE them.  I will never poo-poo a lot of the factory items because I find I wear them a lot AND they are usually pretty high quality.  That said, I may just be lucky and have had relatively few problems.

The makeup is all Arbonne, of course, and I layered two shades together on my lips, the lipstick in rose petal (a pretty mid rose/peach shade) and the lip polish in pearl (look under the cosmetics tab to find the product descriptions).

Okay, it is Wednesday, which many of you know means BODEN WEEKLY REVIEW ROUNDUP time! :)  There are four blogs that have posted reviews this week that I know of: ShopppingwithM, Bodalicious, Polly and Fiona, and Egyptomaniac the Shopping Maniac.  If I didn't list your blog and you have a review, would you mind either commenting or e-mailing me at dinagideon AT aim DOT com?  I have had limited access to my computer this week, so that means limited access to all my favorite blogs!  (Sad Face.) 

Talk with you all soon!

I am Wearing a Skirt...to School...(Plus My Review of the Cate Slingbacks)!

Yellow, Khaki, and Shell Pink! - by dinagideon on Polyvore.com
I know, I know...call the doctor 'cause I have a fever. I am actually baring my legs and for work, too. By the looks on the kids' and other teachers' faces, you would think I had grown horns. Everyone has been super complimentary, but I was still very nervous about wearing a skirt. Like Gigiofca has mentioned in her blog, I hate wearing my skirts too high on my navel. And because of my "baby" fat, it is taking me a while to get back into my lower-rise skirts (and I have some darling ones). But I went into J. Crew (the actual store) around a month ago and I purchased a soft shell pink pencil skirt, in kind of a stretchy, sateen-y cotton. It was something like 25 dollars. It is beautiful. And it is comfortable. It is also not the one in the polyvore set, but since polyvore only has what is on-line, we polyvore ladies have to improvise. (Although I do own the skirt from the set in navy.) I think the reason the skirt is so comfy is because I was basically forced to buy it in a size larger than I wear (size 12--the pencil skirt's hips are tight...and I hate tight, so hence my choice). This means that my waist is deliciously loose, almost 3 inches loose. That's fine. For now I just won't tuck anything in...still looks polished and pretty.

The rest of the set is self-explanatory. The only thing that I don't own in the set is the black necklace. The necklace I do own (and am wearing) is from Macy's a few years back (you got it--I bought it on "super-sale"). I also am wearing the lovely Erickson Beamon for Target clear-bead necklace you have seen before!


Full-length. For those of you who follow Emily's blog, Champagne and Cupcakes, you have seen these shoes before...the Cate slingbacks in shell. I bought my slingbacks in shell in size 10, my normal size. I have a very narrow foot, though, and I find these shoes work really well for me. And I normally hate slingbacks. Emily mentioned that these were narrow in the footbed and I want to warn you of that, too. For me it isn't an issue, but I can imagine for some of you it might be. I think the general consensus is that if you have normal feet, size up 1/2 size. For those of you with narrow feet, stay with your normal size. To read more, go here: http://champagne-and-cupcakes.blogspot.com/2009/03/cates.html

I should point out two things. The makeup I used this morning must not have been blended in correctly because I look very pale. I will blend much better tomorrow morning. Also, I highly recommend a cami under the lighter-colored tissue turtlenecks. I am wearing a pink cami and I think it helps save this turtleneck.

I thought about belting the turtleneck, but because of my waist and the waistline of the skirt not being 100% compatible, I decided it looked weird, so I went with necklaces instead. Fortunately, my waist is still defined enough that I could do this...


Here is a close-up of the slingbacks. The shell color really is the perfect neutral for me. It nearly matches my legs and I feel like this plus the fact that they are heels really lengthens my legs. I also love the patent...such a nice sheen and very classy in a retro sort of way.

I hope you all have a great day...by the way, I gave CW a lot of kisses last night, one for each one of you who sent her 1/2 birthday greetings!!! :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Real quick post about what I wore. I am walking home (I also walked here), so I have to get going, but I wanted to show my pride in St. Patrick's Day, and more importantly my love of the color green.

Because I walked today, I didn't do anything super-fancy, but it works as a whole. The top is a cotton sweater from Talbot's. I love this print. So pretty and chic. The pants are tan cords from Lee Riders that I have finally been able to wear again. In fact, I think I may have waited too long to wear them...they are a bit loose and may be headed for retirement if I can actually reach my weight-loss goal (still have about 3 pounds until I reach my pre-pregnancy weight before Rex and about 14 to go before I reach my ultimate goal--my weight in Summer 2005). The tennis shoes are some keds that I bought a few years ago at DSW. The headband is the only thing from J. Crew. Shocking, I know. Even the jacket I wore was from Kohl's.

I have J. Crew clothing in green...but none of them spoke to me last night when I planned this outfit.

I hope all of you enjoy your night. I am going to yoga. Maybe I will wear a green yoga top. Hmm...do I even own a green yoga top? :)

My Walk Home...or Two Miles of Sheer Pleasure...

I think this post may be a bit boring for all of the ladies (and men) who usually visit for J. Crew or fashion related stuff, but I love my walk home. It is like a beautiful study in contrasts. On one hand you have the real gritty feel of a walk in a city, and then halfway through, you enter into a world of suburbia and trees. This is why I walk home (besides the fact that it is about a MILLION times better than driving--I grew up in NOVA and driving here STRESSES me out). I love being able to see an area that coexists side by side that is so different, like night and day (I know I just used a very tired simile). This is my two-mile walk home (which I sometimes reverse to walk to school). I do this walk upwards of three times a week.


This is the beginning of my walk. I exit the school building and there are the school buses (by the way, why is it spelled buses and not busses?). This view I love because it means I am going home and I get to see my kids!


This is the medical building across from where I teach. You can see this building from 395. It is an interesting mid-century building and has a very austere sort of presence. I like that this building exists and hasn't been torn down. It seems a lot of folks don't like this particular architectural style, but it is important (especially if the building is sound) to leave a few examples of this type of building up in the world. If you tear down every building from this period, there will be no more physical proof of them in the world, and frankly, that would be sad.

On a personal note, this is where Rex and CW have their doctor, the awesome Dr. Brendan Sullivan. Their office is moving to a location even closer to our house, but for now they are still here. I will mention, for full disclosure, that even though I think this building is really cool-looking, it has horrible parking and the elevators are atrocious. So it really is no wonder that our doctors are leaving.


There is a personal reason I took this photo. There used to be a restaurant called Steak and Ale here, and my dad, brother, grandpa, and I used to go here all the time. It closed in 1990 or something like that, but here it still stands, unoccupied in 2009. Wow. I wonder what the inside looks like. The only use this building has is its parking lot, used by the doctors of the building in the picture before this one.


Okay, this I put this picture up because I sometimes think I am the only one who follows this rule. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people (children from my school, too) ignore this sign and cross over the road that leads to the highway. IDIOTS. IDIOTS! People in their cars drive like maniacs and here are our precious darlings crossing in front of them to save what, two minutes at most? Give me a break. It's not like the pedestrian overpass is much safer(you'll see in the photo after the next one), but more safe than what most people do. Seriously, people, if the sign is there, it is there for a reason. Ugh.

Okay, here is one of my favorite views during my walk. Seen from the pedestrian walkway, the Southern Towers of western Alexandria rise from the flat earth like some sort of brick amazons. I also like the way these buildings line up just so...it is fairly obvious that the architect had that in mind when placing the buildings in this arrangement. These are more buildings done in the mid-century style (most of this area was built up in the 50s, 60s, and 70s). Now I don't know when it was built exactly, but from the brief research I just did, sometime between '60 and '65 seems right.

I wouldn't necessarily say to people, "oh, go live there," but I do love the way it looks and how you can see it from many places in Alexandria. I bet the views from the top floors are spectacular, too!

Okay, here is the most unsafe part of my walk (thank God it is brief). Crossing over 395, pedestrians are forced to walk on this thin bit of concrete next to traffic that is OBLIVIOUS to the walkers. I swear I have seen cars whizzing by at upwards of 50 mph. I am not even kidding. I always give mean, dirty looks, but they probably don't give a cr**. This bus was even going pretty fast (at around 40 mph). Good thing I have good balance. I would hate to accidentally fall and have a car run me over at a fast clip. Really what the city of Alexandria needs to do is install a guardrail on the other side of the sidewalk (not just the part that protects you from falling onto 395). That could help this walk a bit.

In the distance you can see the Mark Center Hilton. Yet another high-rise on my walk home.

Here is the view of late-afternoon (Wednesday in early February 2009) traffic on 395 Southbound. You will notice that the middle HOV lanes are empty. I guess very few people have the requisite 3 people or Clean-fuel car to use the lanes. We always get to use the lanes...love the 2 kids plus 2 adults equals four, one more than is needed. That said, the traffic in the regular lanes wasn't too bad the day of this walk. I have seen it WAY WORSE. I always like to think that every once in a while, someone will look up from their car and feel a slight jab of jealousy that I get to walk home. I know I used to feel that way when I worked in the District and had a heinous commute!

So now on this photographic journey we are officially in my neighborhood. This is when the skyline loses the large buildings (well, barring this set of homes which gets to see the Mark Center Hilton). Now the homes are low to the ground and modest. There are trees everywhere and if you sit in one place, cars don't whiz by constantly (even though some people use the 'hood as a cut-through). It is so funny...one second you feel like you are in a mini-city, and then the next second, you feel like you are in the most suburban neighborhood on the planet.

Our neighborhood was pretty much built at the same time as all the buildings featured in the pics above, mid-50s to mid-60s. There are some later homes, but they are at the fringes of the neighborhood. We are a mid-century neighborhood. This is a perfect example of a mid-century home. It has the split-level entrance and lots of windows, brick and siding, and a mix of different types of windows (some sliding, some small, some large).

Here is another set of perfectly placed mid-century modern homes.

For more on these types of homes and neighborhoods, visit mid-century Mike over at his blog: http://www.moderncapital.blogspot.com/

So here I am, mid-walk, no make-up, listening to my IPOD (ancient...from 2004), with my Vera Bradley Medallion backpack. I am not vain enough not to show you how much I love this walk, even if it means you people get to see me with no makeup. By the way, this was that day that was SO PRETTY...something like 70 degrees. IN FEBRUARY! Gotta love the DC Area weather...

So this is into the neighborhood a bit, and I took a pic of this intersection because it bothers me so much! The car that you see has a stop sign, while the cars that would pass his path do not. It irks me to no end that these cars with the stop sign will not even bother pausing after they stop because they just ASSUME that the other cars have a stop sign. We have nearly gotten into multiple accidents because of this. I say either install stop signs for all of us, or make it blatantly clear to the people with the stop sign that the other traffic has no stop sign. I think this intersection is a problem because this is a jurisdictional no-mans land...this is RIGHT at the border between Alexandria City and the Alexandria part of Fairfax County (aka the "forgotten part of Fairfax County). Sigh.

This car is right at the end of our street. I always know I am really close to my house when I see this incomprehensible bumper sticker. I figure the person who drives it is an uber-feminist, but the sticker is real tough to understand. My husband and I love discovering really obscure bumper stickers and lucky for us, one is on our block! Hurrah! Any thoughts on what this sticker means exactly?

Almost home...yippee! I hope you have enjoyed the walk. If you read this whole post, you are either: 1) Roxie; 2) someone related to me; 3) REALLY bored at work; 4) fascinated by mid-century stuff like me; or 5) into mundane things and how people can talk about their lives without end. :)

By the way, part of my 30-plus pound weight loss has been from my walks to and from school. I think I will keep it up!

Pink, Yellow, and Grey...Oh my!

I had intended to wear this outfit on Saturday, but, eh...I was lazy. Plus I figured more people would appreciate my efforts at school...heh...yeah, a bunch of 6th-graders are gonna appreciate a beautiful herringbone aubrey jacket. :)

I read a post comment on J. Crew Aficionada last week that said something like, "when are all you ladies going to wear you silk camis...doing the dishes?" As you know, I really dislike the tone of the comments on that site (see the post from 2/8/09 re: not everyone agrees with me)...I think some people are looking for fights...so I wrote back that I wear mine often and to do whatever. And I did...I ran around like crazy today...and the blouse withstood it all.

By the way, the outfit consists of matchstick cords in gold (size 32...yay), small Elizabeth halter in sour lemon, oatmeal haley cardigan, a grey herringbone aubrey jacket in an 8, and the caroline flats in graphite.

This outfit was uber-comfortable. I was sort of surprised that I felt so good wearing it all day. Let's all wear our silk camis more often...if I can do it with a drooly, spitting up mess that I love and adore (baby CW), then the rest of you all should be able to, as well!

Here is the link to polyvore: http://www.polyvore.com/pink_yellow_grey...oh_my/set?id=6382486


Here I am (excuse the goofy face) holding my drooly, spit-up making baby CW. Outfit is fine!!!

Here is the jacket over top. If I had thought about it, I would have rolled the sleeves down...but I was in a rush to get to school on time.