OOTD: Striped Silly. In Hats.

Day: Friday, May 17, 2013.

Where:  Sushi Lunch.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)   The stripe jersey maxi skirt from J. Crew is so so so comfortable, super soft and exactly the right weight and "flowiness" for summer weather.  I thought this skirt was a new arrival at my local store since I didn't remember seeing it on jcrew.com.  Well, it was there, but it sold out super fast.  There were a handful at the Pentagon City store, at full price, but since I know I wear maxi skirts/dresses constantly, and don't quite know how to sew stretch jersey fabric yet (it is supposedly kind of difficult for a newbie), I figured I could bite on this one and not feel too bad about it.

Cool Factor: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I am wearing a fedora, a striped maxi skirt, and a clutch.  I suspect the cool hipsters have moved on, but I will happily stay in 2010 when this look was cool. 

Anecdote from the day: I have the best brother (no girlfriend, people!).  He took me to sushi buffet for Mother's Day.  And he bought sake.  And he drove.  :) 

Angus is smiling in the third photo because I gave in and gave him that fig newton he was waving at me in the second photo.

Day: Saturday, May 18, 2013.

Where:  Church/Dinner Out/Shopping at Burlington Coat Factory.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)   Can't go wrong with the LouLou Dress (review here) for pure pretty combined with ease of wear.

The Penny Loafers (I will do a review in the next BWRR) have been comfortable from day one, with no break in period needed at all.

Cool Factor: (2 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I am wearing the loafers out of necessity, since they are patent leather and repel rain well.  I don't think this combo is especially cool.  In fact with all the grey and tan in this outfit, I look a little muted.  For me, that is definitely unusual, but it suited my mood and desire to be unfussy (for once).

But clearly I can't stay away from the color completely, look at those hats I tried on at Burlington.  LOL. 

Anecdote from the day: It has been a long time since I have gone to church without the kids, but when Peter (that's my single brother in the photos from the last outfit) wanted me to join him on his hunt for a professional interview suit, with a stint at church and dinner beforehand, I gladly said yes.

I must say that I picked the wrong mass for Mr. Dina to miss since the priest started off his sermon talking about how God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were like characters from "The Lord of the Rings."  I have only ever seen the movies, but Mr. Dina is a HUGE LOTR freak and would have no doubt sat there riveted by how well the priest connected Pentecost with one of his favorite book series.

The hat trying on session was fun, I told Pete to find me the most ridiculously over-the-top hats and make me try them on...I ended up really liking that light blue straw cloche with silly feathers, though.  :)

Okay that's it for today, hope everyone is doing well!

BTW, I have been positively bad about giving you all information on Lands' End and Pure Collection these past few months.  Nothing really important is going on with Pure right now, but Lands' End is having a sale that is exclusive to us who carry their coupons on our blogs.  I have updated the sidebar, but it is also below if you would like to save an additional 20% off anything in Lands' End Sale/Clearance Sections.

OOTD: 900 Posts, a Pop of Color, and a Giveaway!

Hello!  Happy Labor Day!

Well, look at that.  I am now at 900 posts written here at this blog.  Phew.  I guess I have had a lot to say.  Ha.

(Or outfits worn.  Or a mix of both.  Or Boden was having a sale and I couldn't shut up about it.)

Anyhow, as luck would have it, I published this outfit you see here in this post a week ago on my facebook page (I show off my outfits there first), and then five days later, my facebook friend, Rachel, posted on her Stella and Dot facebook page some photos of celebrities wearing the necklace that I used as a "pop of color" in the outfit.

Because it had been a long time since I had "talked" with her, I left her a note that let her know that I had worn this necklace as part of the outfit and that she could see it over at my facebook page.

She then said, "why don't we do a giveaway at your blog with one of my pieces?"  And I, of course, was game.  I let her know that my 900th post was coming up, and I could, as a way of celebrating, show off this outfit, talk about how the necklace added a bit of color to a very neutral outfit, and then do the giveaway!

So here we are.  I am now able to do all of the above!

Info on the outfit is in the photo.

I had worn the skirt earlier in the day to go and visit Rex's preschool teacher, and you all saw that last week here at this post.  I knew I still wanted to wear the skirt later that night when Mr. Dina and the rest of us were heading off to dinner, but I definitely wanted to change up the pieces, especially since I wanted the Stella and Dot Bahari necklace to be the star of the outfit.

A lot of people thought this outfit was a dress, that is how nicely the Loft top and Talbot's skirt worked together.  I think the studded leather belt by J. Crew ties the pieces together well, helping with the "dress" effect.

The Bahari necklace is a bright, vivid blue with gold accents (you can see it more closely here).  It really did "pop" against the white.  I love the summery feel of white, gold, and blue together.  It can look very nautical, and normally whenever I wear those colors together, that is the preppy feel I get.  This time, though, I felt like the outfit looked less preppy and more pretty.

The necklace was given to me by a friend, not Rachel, btw, even though she is the one hosting the giveaway.  My friend had two Stella and Dot boxes sitting out at her house when I stopped by to visit.  I said, "ooh, Stella and Dot, I love their pieces!"  My friend laughed and said, "I pulled these out for you."  So I open them up and was all, "ooh, I love these, I can't wait to see you in these!"

She laughed even more and said, "no, I want you to take one, they seem to be much more you than me."  So I picked out this necklace and she said, "good, that was the one I hoped you would like!"

I said, "you know I like a statement necklace, don't you?"  ;)

900 Posts, a Pop of Color, and a Giveaway! by dinagideon featuring silver jewelry

Above is the polyvore of the outfit.

Okay, so what about this giveaway?

Rules for entry:

1. Please "like" Rachel's Stella and Dot's facebook page.  (You don't have to follow my blog or like my facebook page, but if you feel like it, go for it!)

2. Please let me know you "liked" her page in the comments along with: a) your e-mail address, and b) how you would style the Bahari necklace in an outfit you would wear.

This contest will end one week from today, Monday, September 10, 2012 at 11:59 pm Eastern time.  I will announce the winner the next day.

I will be writing one additional post mid-week about how I would style this necklace with some of Boden's sale pieces (there is a 20% off sale going on right now), so if you forget to enter right now, I will definitely be reminding you.

Alrighty, that's it!

P.S. Boden's 20% off sale (I mentioned that I had received early word on this in my last BWRR and on facebook) has started.  I will be back later today with more info and my picks from this sale, but until then, here is a link for you all.
Get 20% off + free shipping & returns on select items at BodenUSA.com! Shop dresses, tops, pants, tees, skirts, accessories and more!

A Dream Realized and Two Weekend Outfits...

You all remember this post, right? This was when I officially admitted to my love of things Liberty (of London) and begged and pleaded that someone, anyone out there help me find a blouse that had (sadly) gotten away from me.

Since then, and with multiple posts on the weekly exchange "Looking to Find" on the Mothership, I have had TWO separate success stories with this blouse.

1. I have a saved search on ebay called "J. Crew Liberty." Whenever anything at all with this in the title is put up for auction, I get an e-mail. For a few months, nada, although there are a lot of very nice Liberty blouses and skirts, etc. that people are willing to sell. I also have a saved search called "J. Crew Laura," as this blouse is a "Laura Femme Fit." This is how I scored! The ebay seller knew it was a J. Crew blouse, and knew it was a Laura blouse, but did NOT know that it was Liberty. Only problem? It was a size 0. Eeek! Well, I know I have been losing some weight, and I do like this blouse as an option to wear over tanks, so I thought, "I'm going for it." I e-mailed her and the seller said she would do a buy it now. I ended up being super-excited to get it! YAY! It came in the mail, and I was shocked to see that the shoulders fit PERFECTLY and the waist fit. WOW! Then the kicker came, the bust and hips...nope, no way, no how. That was okay, as I knew I could just do the "over the tank" deal, and it would be all fine.

Then I had an idea. I checked out Ema's blog, and remembered she had worn this way back in March of 2009, and I saw that the blouse fit her a bit big, as it was a 6. I thought, "let's see if Ema wants to trade." Then I saw she would be out of town for her hubby's bday, so I put off asking her about it until this week.

2. Fast forward to the second part of this story. Ema INDEPENDENTLY e-mails me and asks me if I would like to buy the blouse this week. I, of course, said yes, but told her what I had been thinking just. last. week. Yep. Perfect timing much? She was not interested in a trade (totally fine with that, btw), but I just loved how it all came together so very nicely. I love my blog friends.

3. On that note, I now have a GORGEOUS, still NWT (a line through the tag prevents store returns), size 0 (ZERO) Laura Femme Fit Blouse in the beautiful Liberty Print from January 2008. It originally cost nearly 100 dollars, but I will sell it for $72, if anyone is interested. :)


And here we are:
Sizes:
Top: Size 6. See the story above for more on that.
Pants: Size 8. Grey J. Crew Minnies.
Shoes: Size 10.

Wore the entire outfit to church. Very comfy, yet very nicely put together. BTW, baby CW is not crying because she doesn't like the blouse (no, she loves the "fworers"), but rather because i dared to put her down to take the photo. Toddlers! ;)


Okay, onto a much, much more somber outfit.
Sizes:
Top: Size Small. Silk-Linen V-Neck Sweater by J. Crew. Love these as basic staples in a wardrobe. Definitely not my typical colorful tops, etc., but still very necessary, and often I am glad that I have them around.
Pants: Size 8. Super 120s Trouser in black. These fit tight. Very very true to size. I had to wear Spanx. They look good, though, so I'll keep 'em. Weird thing--they were more comfy when I was SITTING!
Shoes: Size 10. These are some Cole Haan lovelies. Again, a very nice, basic nude mid-heel. Definitely a necessity in any closet.

The necklaces are the Crystal Colettos. I am wearing two of them together, a lilac one and a muted green (petrol) color.

This is a somber outfit because my best friend's (from high school) dad passed away last week and tonight was the wake. I took a photo of the outfit because I know that fashion has to extend to our sad moments, too. Please pray for my friend and his family. They are doing incredibly well considering, but I just know there is an incredible amount of pain right now for them.

Talk with you all tomorrow for the next installment of Mommy Style Monday.

New Poll and New Comments!!!

Yeah, we are tired of you, too.

Liberty Print Fabric and Shoes equals Color Explosion!!!

So first things first, if you have commented in the past three weeks, I have commented back. The last two posts I was actually able to comment back the way I like to...with personalization. YAY!

Secondly, I am starting a new poll today..."What is your least favorite J. Crew color?" Next week I will do "What is your most favorite J. Crew color?" I think a lot of us turn to J. Crew because we LOVE the colors they use in their pieces. The problem lately has been a definite lack of punch in their clothes. We have definitely been inundated with pale sweaters and lackluster tees and wishy-washy pants and tired shoes for the past few catalogs and new arrivals.

I sort of am okay with the more "muted" tones of the pieces because I for one have PLENTY of citron but I think many of us would like for J. Crew to bring back the spice.

This poll (this week) will definitely have some of the more questionable choices of color that J. Crew has put out (including my beloved citron) but will not include neutrals (doesn't seem right to do that to a color that is a base for so many of our outfits). I will throw a couple of the odder-colored neutrals in there (especially if it is a color they sell in a top--some of these colors look awful with most skin coloring), but I will stay away from the most common neutrals, black, white, navy, etc.

That said, please do comment your least favorite color (including neutrals) if I left the choice out of my poll. Or comment if you really dislike one of my choices...happy to hear it!

Please do keep it polite. I love a color that many people hate and I get that but no personal attacks like "dinagideon, you must blind, stupid, and a bad mother for loving citron so much!" Next week we get to spread our love for our favorites, but no spreading the hate this week. My blog, my rules. :)

Have a lovely day...