Boden: Clearance Prices Drop Further!

Hi, everyone!

I hope all of you are well.  I have been in the mad dash to get this coat sewn up (the one you are seeing is my muslin, which is made for fitting purposes only), and I am nearing the end point.  I am glad to take on such a big project, but most of my spare time has been spent doing that and nothing else.

Angus jumped off the couch yesterday, and all of you moms and dads out there know what I am going to say next, he broke his leg while landing from his jump.  And in almost perfect timing, it has been one year since Rex broke his leg while ice skating.  Ugh.  Poor baby Angus.  Wish us luck (and patience) for another round of caring for a broken-legged child.

Okay, so good news for Boden fans.  If you still thought clearance prices were too high (raising my hands emphatically here), the folks at Boden have reduced quite a few of the items that were not selling well at their higher sale prices.  I was stoked to see the Relaxed Toasty Roll Neck (in pink only), as well as the Heritage Check Coatigan (here, both colors), were reduced nicely.  I couldn't pull the trigger at the higher prices, so I held on, and when I saw the better prices this am, I decided to go for it (especially since it is freezing here today and both of these look so warm!).

Do any of you see any REALLY great deals?  I know a few items that I reviewed over the past few months (either in the BWRRs or at my Instagram account) have been greatly reduced in price, so you may want to check out both of those.

Alright!  Enjoy (sale) shopping!  Back soon with a sewing a coat post!

OOTDs: Two Dresses.

Day: Friday, June 26, 2015.

Where: Bobby Van's, a steakhouse here in the DC area.

Ease of Wear: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Ha, though this Zara dress is made from a scuba knit fabric and is in its largest size available, I still needed to wear the proper shapewear and suck the gut in so that it would look decent on me.  My hubby liked it, and I think it does look nice for the most part, but it is definitely a "date" dress that you wear for a few hours at a time.  God bless you, Zara, and your teeny-sized clothing.  ;-)

To be fair, it was very hot that evening, and I suspect both the shoes and dress would feel better under cooler and drier conditions. I'll try again in late October.

Outfit Details:  Floral Printed Tube Dress, Zara here (a medium is back as of 11:56 am); Shoes, J. Crew; Bag, J. Crew; Sunglasses, Anthropologie; Earrings, Premier Designs.

Anecdote of the Day:  Parking in downtown DC is always an exercise in patience, and after driving around the White House area a few times, my hubby was convinced we were really far away from the restaurant.  I looked on the phone and saw it was like two blocks away.  I was like, "dude, two blocks...super close."  It turned out to be three.  He complained.  Eye roll.

Food was worth it, though.  Great steak is still great steak!

INSTAGRAM of outfit here.
INSTAGRAM of the dirty martini here.
INSTAGRAM of the dress and skirt in this pattern.

Day: Sunday, July 19, 2015.

Where: Church, Whole Foods, and a BBQ.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The linen zip-front dress in gold foil leaf from J. Crew is very lovely, but the waistband, right above the elastic shirring, is a fixed measurement/seam.  Many others have pointed this out in reviews, but what's the point of having an elastic waist and then having part of it not stretch?  Sigh.  STUPID.  But, because I chose the exact right size for my body (6 regular), it fit just fine.  You do need to know your waist measurement, where your waist falls on your body versus the dress, and from there you can figure out where it work on you.  Honestly, I lucked out.  Usually a style like this I would order in a 4 regular (or petite if this bodice looks really long--I have a short torso), but because of the reviews, I tried the size up and it was perfect. 

The linen is very nice for summer, very stiff, especially the hem (it is faced with the same fabric to keep that effect--it does allow the skirt to fall more like a full skirt), but it breathed well in the near 100 heat (plus full humidity) yesterday. 

I only wore the jacket in church for modesty reasons.  I was hot in church, but whatever, it's only an hour.

Outfit Details:  Dress, J. Crew here; Jacket, Loft; Sandals, Target here; Sunglasses, Anthropologie; Necklace, History Store.

Anecdote of the Day:  I had to go to Whole Foods before the bbq at my friend's house.  She lives two blocks from the one in Arlington, so my brother, Angus, and I walked to the store.  I knew Angus would be a wriggly mess at the store (that one is SO CROWDED), so I just strapped him in my ergo instead.  Hoo boy, was that a brilliant way to make 98 degrees feel like 120.  Still was a great idea since the store was, as predicted, full of people who I have noticed are not the "kid-friendly" types.  (They are a bit more kid-friendly at the Old Town Alexandria one, fwiw.)

INSTAGRAM of outfit and Angus in Ergo here.

Okay, thanks for stopping by!  :-)

I am thinking I can do a special "clearance" Boden Weekly Review Roundup (now that I am starting it up again) this week.  If you are interested in adding a review, and you are not one of my "regulars," you can email me at dinagideon AT aim DOT com or put the review in the comments section of the Boden Reviews tab.  (You can always email me if you are a regular and just think I won't get your review, too.)

OOTD: Nancy and CW Come to Winesday.

Day: Wednesday, June 10, 2015.

Where:  Winesday with my darling daughter.  Pete (my bro) usually goes with me, but he works out in Manassas now, so this means I have to find alternate people/transportation to get to this event.  He still comes, every once in a while, but not this week.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Even though I mentioned that there was a pencil skirt lining on this dress in my review last year, I forgot about that and when I put it on tonight, I was all, "wuh?"  Sigh.  Should've remembered.  It worked itself out and stretched out, but still.

The Cole Haan sandals (have had them for years) held up well, especially considering we took the bus back from Winesday.  The bus stop is about one mile from my house, so not super close.  :-)  I have to take public transportation if I don't have a ride, I am a super lightweight when it comes to alcohol.


Outfit Details:  Dress, Boden; Sandals, similar style Cole Haan here (I can't find an exact match like mine from this year); Necklace, Uncommon Goods; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: I wore my Nancy Dress because Lou has been talking about #bodentwins over at her Instagram account a lot lately.  When I saw her in her Nancy Dress yesterday, I knew my chance was here, so I took it.  I also plan on wearing this dress that @kdot1990 wore a few days back (probably tomorrow).  I never thought I would get into Instagram as much as I have, but it is more fun than I expected it to be.  :-)

Speaking of Instagram, my Instagram of this outfit is here.

Okay, you all have a great night!  We'll talk soon!

OOTD: A Squirrely Birthday.

Before I start this very quick blog post, I want to remind everyone that if you want to enter the NOVICA $50 giveaway, you have just over a day to enter.  There have been some great comments already over at that post, and thank you for opening my eyes to some beautiful items over at NOVICA.  :-)

Day: Wednesday, March 25, 2015.

Where:  Celebrating Angus's 3rd birthday at our favorite Mexican restaurant (and where we have had many birthdays before...here, here, here, and here, just for some quick examples).

Ease of Wear: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Not really the fault of the Hartland Dress, but I was feeling a bit bloated that day.  And I think the babycord fabric shrunk a bit in the wash (not really shrunk, but went back to its original shape after being stretched out from being worn).  By the end of the meal I felt fine, but it was annoying at the start of the meal.

The margarita I had helped too, lol.

Outfit Details:  Hartland Dress is the only one available, here on sale at Boden.

Anecdote of the Day:  Angus usually LOVES the birthday song and anything with candles on it to blow out.  Well, at least until this night.  He hid his face away while the nice folks were serenading him.  He got over it the moment he saw that it was fried ice cream, though.  Fatty sugary foods...mmm.

Okay, you all have a great night!  We'll talk more later!  

Boden: Catch of the Day (Six Hours Left, Anyhow)! Outerwear!

Two days ago, I very belatedly announced that tops and tees were on sale in Boden's catch of the day.  I also made a promise to be back the next day with more on the sale that followed it, which was yesterday, and was for knitwear.  Of course as you all know now, I didn't announce that one, since I chose to publish this post instead.  But I do want to give a big thank you to both Lou and Lisa who did give us the schedule of items that would be in the Catch of the Day sale.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your wants and needs), the American version is different than the British version.

From Lisa (American version):

Boden sent me a schedule of the sale:
Wed: knitwear
Thurs: outerwear
Fri-Sat: pants, skirts, & shoes

From Lou (British version):

It's trousers and shoes Thursday and more excitingly 20% off clearance on Friday and Saturday.

Hmm.  Well, I am not sure which one I prefer.  And I am not sure why Boden didn't make outerwear a bigger deal for the Brits, especially considering half of the United States will start seeing warmer weather in a couple of months, or are already seeing warmer weather simply by existing in the lower 15% of our country, where winter is a sneeze of cold weather for a day in January.  (Ask my mom in San Antonio about southern Texas winters, and she will get enraged at how flipping hot it is there.)

Anyhow, so today is outerwear as the "catch," and if you like something from the section and need it now, go for it.

Regarding any past reviews I have done, I have one for the Eliza coat here, one for the Ingrid Coat here, and one for the Rainy Day Mac here.  I am irritated by the Eliza coat being back as part of the regular Boden section, though, since right before Christmas that same coat could be had for around 30% off.  I know it is only 10% extra off, but that there is a winter coat (okay, it is a "light" winter coat) and should be part of the winter sale schedule and not this transitional time.  I think I am being extra crabby tonight, in case you can't tell.  ;-)

Just realized that the knitwear is on sale today, too.  I went to go peek around a bit and see what was in that section, and all of those pieces say "20% off," so I guess they extended that sale?  Well, good!  That hopefully helps some of you all out there.

Okay, that's it for today.  Tomorrow--yay for pants, skirts, and shoes!  Unless you are in the UK where you get to celebrate an additional 20% off sale items!

P.S. My son is doing better.  His broken leg is still broken, but he is able to be moved without screaming in my ear, so that's good.  He doesn't have to take as much pain medication to feel good, as well.  How fast he will be up and able to use crutches in school is another thing entirely, but I am glad that he is feeling like himself again.  He is napping a lot, so I think that probably helps, too.  Thanks for all of your kind words about him to me, they helped keep my spirits up, too!  :-)

Link to sale.  If you see this tomorrow, it probably will take you to the pants, skirts, and shoes sale. 

Boden: Catch of the Day Sale! Today is Tops and Tees!

Good Monday evening!

It has been a bit since I have published a post here and in the time in between posts, Boden started up a Catch of the Day sale on Sunday, January 25, 2015.  On Sunday and Monday, they took 20% off dresses.  Unfortunately I didn't announce that sale here, but I did at least manage to get the news out to my Facebook page friends.

The folks at Boden have been doing this Catch of the Day thing forever, and I remember enjoying the extra savings way back when.  I think this percentage amount is a decent savings, but since it is the same amount off as I enjoyed during Preview time, I am not going to participate, but since I know many of you choose to wait, this will give you the same amount off.  :-)

Today the tops and tees are 20% off.  I have only reviewed one top, in fact I only have one top from this new season, the Casual Dip Back Sweater (here at Boden).  (It isn't under knitwear as far as I can tell even though it is called a sweater.)  You can see that review here.

I don't know what the Catch of the Day will be for the rest of the week, but they usually cover the popular categories, so do expect to see knitwear, skirts and pants, and on the last day you will likely see a hodgepodge of all the categories. (I also suspect outerwear since the only ads that the affiliate program have include photos of the "outerwear" catch.)

This tops and tees sale expires tonight, with the next one starting thereafter.

I will be back tomorrow with information about which items are in the catch for tomorrow, and thereafter the catches for the rest of the week.  I included a link to the sale at the bottom of this post.

He wanted light blue and dark blue striped.  The tech was really good at his job!

Very quickly, and so you all know, Sunday I spent hiking at Great Falls National Park.  It was glorious and a few of my friends who were also close to W. (my friend who committed suicide in December) went with me to spend the day hiking in his honor.  Of course because my life is one big adventure after another, I received a call that Rex had been hurt at the ice skating birthday party he had attended while I was out doing that.  My husband had left him there since he had the other two kids to help out with, so poor Rex was hurt for a bit at the party with neither of us there.

We all assumed he had just gotten bruised or banged up but by the time I got to him, he had been howling in pain for a couple of hours and it wasn't letting up, so I immediately suspected a break, even though the physical evidence was not there.

And you know how this ends, right?  He ended up sustaining a spiral tibia fracture (fortunately the fibula was not injured) and now has a full leg cast and strict orders to stay home until the pain subsides, and thereafter to be in a wheelchair unless he must be up and using crutches.  (His school has stairs only since it is very old.) 

It is hard to see him in pain and it also very difficult to figure out how to get him around since he is very sensitive to the pain and since he is also very heavy, lifting him to get him to the bathroom and the bed and the couch is very hard.  If you have *any* advice for me, I will take it, happily.

Thanks for all your help.  As usual, it is really great to have such wonderful blog friends.

Ignore that this says outerwear.  Maybe that means tomorrow is outerwear?  The link is good, I just tried the one in the sidebar and it worked fine to get to the sale.

OOTD/Made by Me File: Frozen Festivities...In Superfluity.

If you recall, right before I was slated to start competing in the Fabric Mart Fashion Challenge Sewing Competition, I sewed up most of my little girl's "Elsa" dress based on McCall's 7000 sewing pattern.  I was nearly done at the point I wrote up that blog post, but because of how much time and energy was spent in September and half of October on sewing for the Fashion Challenge, I never did get around to showing off the final project and all of the festivities that surrounded her costume creation.

In addition to this sewing based post, I am also throwing in outfit of the day shots (my daughter is in all of them, though, since the main focus of these days was her, after all).  I am also including some Frozen-themed birthday party things that we did for her on her big day.  And at the end, I included some photos from when we went to see Disney's Frozen on Ice.  (We surprised her with that one, too!)

I realize that there is a real hodgepodge of things going on here, but hopefully if you are here, and are looking for Frozen/Elsa things, what I have here can help you.  And since it is three days before Halloween, I know some of you probably are doing what I do every year, a little bit of procrastination.  You may be just starting your Elsa costume, so seeing a final product might make the work go a little better.

(I am not out of the woods this year, btw--I have to make a PIZZA costume for Rex--no pattern--by Friday.  Have I started it...erm, no.)


BIRTHDAY PARTY DETAILS:

Right before her party, CW and I posed with one of her birthday gifts/party decorations, the life-sized cardboard cutouts of the Frozen sisters, Elsa and Anna.  Of course CW squealed with delight after seeing the life-sized Queen and Princess, but both Mr. Dina and I squealed with delight (well, not really, lol) after we realized that for $35 we could have both a present AND a party "favor."  The guests at the party would receive a sparkly crown (like CW's--$1 at Joanns, btw) and they, too, could pose with Anna and Elsa and I would send the photo to their parents after the party.

OOTD: Dress, Anthropologie; Shoes, Target.

My daughter looks so beautiful in her Elsa gown!  Worth all the hours of sewing I did.

Since we had only invited a handful of girls and their parents to the mid-afternoon party, we knew we wouldn't need much in the way of food, but we know that kids get hungry and thirsty, so we made sure to set up the table in a way that they could have easy access to the food and drinks.  This is the shot before I had put all the food out. 

I happen to own a lot of aqua blue colored dishes/serving pieces, so we had zero costs there.  (I guess I was onto something thirteen years ago when I put all these things on my registry.)

Again, not much in the way of food and snacks, just apples/carrots/some juice (on the glass platter just outside the frame of the photo) and some gumballs. 

There were other food items, but they were part of the festivities of the birthday party.

Originally I was going to have a "Frozen" yogurt bar, but when we saw the Blue Bunny Birthday Ice Cream flavor, we *knew* that had to be the dessert for the treat.  It's good, you all.  Mmm.

Anyhow, the girls were invited, one at a time, to get some ice cream from me, and then put their favorite decorations/yummies on top of it.  We used pearl colored balls, silver balls, aqua blue sanding sugar, marshmallows, and sno-caps (get it, ha!). 

The ice cream bar was a huge hit, and the expenditure was very little.  Some of those girls, though, man, they poured on those candies and treats.  Sorry, parents!!!

Because it was a birthday party, of course we had a cake.  More sugar, hey!  Anyhow, Harris Teeter had this cake as one of their options, so even though there was no specific Frozen birthday cake licensed by Disney, this sheet cake with blue icing and snowflake decorations was available.  We added the 6 candle and the Elsa mini doll (she's in her coronation outfit in this one).

Over the summer I made quite a few "Elsa" skirts for little girls, and for one version (given to CW's cousin), I used some sparkly poly organza.  I had some left over, so I knew that I could use it for something.  And that something was as a wrapping for the party favors the girls went home with (in addition to the crowns they received at the beginning of the party). 

Each was cut using pinking shears, but that still didn't keep the fabric from fraying, however, since these were only meant to last for a little while, I wasn't that worried about it.  I enclosed some blue and white gumballs, some snowflake stickers, and a Frozen ring in each girl's favor.  (I also made sure to have a few boy versions available--they received the Kristoff rings.)  I then tied the favors using some Frozen ribbon I found at Joanns. 

MCCALL'S 7000 DETAILS:

I wrote up a review of this pattern at Pattern Review, so definitely take a look if you want more info on it.

The dress turned out quite well, but I personally did not want to make the whole thing from woven fabric.  Instead I decided to make the bodice bit from knit fabric (extra stretchy for growth spurts, plus easier on her to wear), and use some gorgeous sparkly metallic linen (from Fabric Mart, hey!) for the skirt portion.  Fabric.com had some great sparkly tulle, and although the stuff drives me crazy (not the sewing of it, but the way it is always getting caught on things bugs me!), I knew this dress wouldn't be complete without it.

I wish the pattern had included directions for using knit fabrics, but in the end I figured out how to make it all work. 

One way I had to "make it work" was to figure out how to get the super sheer white power mesh fabric to lay flat and down into the seam where it joined the knit sparkly aqua fabric.  Nothing was working (pressing that mesh--not an option), so in the end, I just carefully topstitched the mesh fabric down with the aqua sparkly knit fabric.  You can see the topstitching detail at the sweetheart neckline.

(You can also see the zip in the back, though the front bodice was completely knit, the back fabric was partial metallic linen, so I just followed the pattern directions exactly for that bit.  I did not, however, add a keyhole opening in the power mesh above the zip, there is PLENTY of stretch there and in the neckline to get over my daughter's head.)

Since a traditional facing or binding at the neckline wouldn't have worked, I needed to figure that out, too.  I added a stretchy ribbon lace that I found at G Street fabrics there instead.  Let me tell you, though, adding that ribbon to the neckline was a pain in the patookus.  I had to pin like a madwoman and then carefully stretch the ribbon (which was smaller than the power mesh opening by about two inches) to fit the neckline.  I thought I had attached it fully only to discover that it had only been stitched on fully about halfway.  Somehow in the process of attaching and stretching the ribbon, I had lost contact with the neckline.  Grrr.  But I took a deep breath and started over, and fortunately the second time's attempt was more successful.  I am actually insanely pleased with how well it turned out.  This is ice skating dance costume worthy, people.  :-)  Plus on my daughter it fits perfectly, and looks really lovely!

On the hem I used a "snowflake" stitch that I found on my machine.  Since I have a 9 mm opening on the plate, but used a 5.5 mm foot to stitch the flakes, it does look a bit smooshed, but the effect is still there.  I didn't do this the whole way round, though, instead switching to a traditional stitch on the back.  Heck, you can't even see it unless you are up close, but I figured that is what makes home sewing so special, these little details.

Back of the garment features an invisible zip that is accessed by a slit in the tulle.  If you are using an organza or something very frayable, you will need to hem the opening of the fabric, but the tulle does not fray so I saved myself some work there.  Plus, you can barely tell there is even an opening there. 

Here is the back of the garment on her.  If I could have lengthened the tulle a bit, I would have for a better effect, but ultimately, I worked with what I had.  I think the shorter length works better for her age, though, much less possible to ruin the hem that way.

FROZEN ON ICE DETAILS:

Her outfit here is nearly identical to the one she wore at her party, but since I knew we would be doing a lot of walking (I took her for a tour of my college beforehand since the show was at the Patriot Center), I insisted she wear her aqua blue sandals instead of her special plastic Frozen heeled mules.  She did bring her "Elsa" purse with her.

OOTD: Jacket and Jeans, J. Crew; Top, Hunter Dixon; Boots, Boden; Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

If you ever wonder what little girls are doing when they put their hand out the way CW has in this photo, it is *this* Elsa moment they are trying to emulate.

Right before we headed to our seats, we stopped to grab this photo of the "stage."  I bought one thing, that crazy snowflake wand, with the caveat she had to promise to lead us on Halloween night with it.  She said it would be her pleasure.  Yes, she is wearing this costume on Halloween.  Like every other little girl out there this year.  :-)

Definitely a low-definition photo, but I managed to get this photo of Elsa from the production.  Thankfully CW has not asked for me to make her a shorter gown to look like Elsa from the show.  ;-)

Okay, that's all.  I'll be back later this week with other things, I am sure.  But only after I get that pizza costume started!

Loss.

Obviously you can tell that the regularly scheduled programming 'round these parts has been far less regular and far more irregular. 

I was very excited to find August was here upon us, which means for us as a family super slow days and plenty of time to just. get. stuff. done. already.  For me that included making my sewing room super organized and efficient, getting clothing ready to sell or give away, and sitting down and posting here as often as possible.

But, bam, August 1st arrives, and while waiting for August to come I realized something else had not come the way it was supposed to, so on that Friday morning, I asked my husband to stop at the CVS on the way home and buy me a pregnancy test.

And because I have already had many pregnancies under my belt, I knew that there was no way it would be negative, but since most ob/gyn offices won't invite you to come on in to discuss your pregnancy without a positive test, I took one as soon as enough time had passed for it to be anything but a baby on the way.

Yep.  I was pregnant. 

We were never not okay with having a fourth child, we just had it in our head that we shouldn't, and we took the time to ensure we weren't going to have a fourth.  Well, my OB said that as women age, you can actually ovulate earlier, and so even if you are fairly sure of your NFP signs (we are devout Catholics and do NFP--more on that here), "advanced maternal age" moms will ovulate earlier.  Oh, is that right?

So upon realizing our pregnancy, and sitting a bit slack-jawed, we both really came around to the idea and were thrilled at having a new little one in our lives.

Then Sunday, August 3 came, along with a bit of blood.  Scared out of my mind and sure I was losing the baby, I told my hubby.  He looked pretty crestfallen, too.  Then the bleeding stopped completely, and Dr. Google told me the baby may be okay.

So Monday comes and I go to see the doctor, and all looks good and she seemed not too concerned about the blood, but told me to watch for it in the future.  She also took my bloodwork, and by the next day I found my HCG levels were very high, and my progesterone was a bit low (but still in the "acceptable" limits).  She made me get some progesterone to help me and the baby, and all was good. 

For a week.  The next Tuesday (the 12th) at night I once again started bleeding, and while it was not a huge amount, it never stopped.  I called the doctor and she said to get an ultrasound the next morning and see what's going on...

Of course we immediately scheduled something the next morning, and nervous as hell, I walk into the ultrasound room, and as quickly as she got the gel on my belly, we saw the heartbeat.  I started weeping in happiness that the baby had a heartbeat.

The ultrasound showed the bleed near the baby, though, and they told me the doctor at my practice would let me know more about what to do.

But because we had seen the heartbeat and evidence of where the bleed was coming from, we figured we would be okay, especially if I took it easy and didn't do too much. 

I made sure the office wanted me to keep my appointment for Tuesday, August 19, and they confirmed that they still wanted to see me. 

After seeing the baby and the sweet little heartbeat, the bleeding continued, never especially heavy, but there was evidence that maybe everything wasn't okay, including clots and cramping, but Dr. Google said a lot of women had those, too, and their babies were just fine.

Armed with that knowledge, I went into the appointment ready to go.  Well, it wasn't so great.  Turns out my doctor was really uncomfortable with the amount I kept bleeding, and the cramping made her unsure of my pregnancy's state, so she said to steel myself for a 50/50 chance of miscarrying the baby.  And she made me go in for another ultrasound, "ASAP."

The next available appointment was the next day, and through it all, I was fairly convinced that everything would be okay, and if it wasn't we would see a baby without a heartbeat (which would be awful, obviously). 

What we didn't expect was that the ultrasound tech would see NOTHING in the uterus, no sac, no baby and the heartbeat, nothing. 

Turns out that I had miscarried and hadn't even known it. 

I was STUNNED.  I literally couldn't talk. 

See I have miscarried before.  TWICE...both before Rex came along.  And both of those didn't show up as miscarriages until the ultrasound showed either a baby with no heartbeat or an empty sac (blighted ovum).  The miscarriage I had with the baby with no heartbeat was HORRIBLE, PAINFUL, AWFUL, and frankly was the reason why I was petrified at the prospect of having another one.  So to have a miscarriage and not even notice it was happening (seriously, very little pain, not that much blood, etc.) seemed unreal.

Finding out made me sad and blue, of course.  The kids were super sad.  (We told them only because of the heartbeat, in the past, for us anyhow, heartbeat equals kid is cooking properly.)  I wasn't sure how to process the events that had been swirling around me for the past half a month.  It was all too much. 

I will never regret getting pregnant for the sixth time.  The potential of an extra baby in the house was thrilling, if a bit scary financially and physically. 

I have no great ending to this story, except I really wanted to tell it.  Humanity shows its greatness in times of grief, and if this story helps someone else out there with one of their own struggles, then I am happy to have told the tale.

I also wanted a record of the baby that was and then was no longer with us.  And by telling this baby's story, I have told the story of my other babies that didn't make it. 

I know that I am now back to being semi-close to normal, and progress has restarted on plans I had to put off in early August.  I feel ready to go back to what we were meant to do, instead of planning for something we weren't thinking we would do, but returning to that was HARD since the new plans were more than okay by me. 

I guess that's all.  I wish I had more to share, but maybe this is just enough. 

I will be back tomorrow with more frivolity and silliness and clothing and stuff, but I couldn't restart that without writing the above.

OOTD/Review: Chepstow for Church.

I promised in the "catch of the day" sale post I wrote this morning that I would write up a review of the Chepstow top, which I happened to wear to church last night, so perfect timing for the sale, huh?  ;-)

First up is the ootd portion followed by the review of the top.

Day: Sunday, August 10, 2014.

Where: Church.

Ease of Wear: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The Chepstow top is fab.  If my skirt had been as comfortable as it, this would have easily been an outfit in the "4" range.  But yeah, stupid J. Crew skirt I bought when I was at my smallest.  It fits, but it is very fitted. 

(That said, I have spent my summer in luscious stretch jersey and swimwear, so maybe my body is just rebelling at being buttoned up so tightly.  LOL.)

The Penny Loafers (review here) are still available at Boden, btw.  These are from the spring and are currently in clearance.  As of this morning, clearance items qualify for free shipping, too, but like the regular season stuff, you have to make sure your basket is above $50 to receive free shipping.

Cool Factor: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  Due to the constraints of weather (warm and humid) and where I was going (church), I couldn't wear this top the way it would look best, with skinny pants or a pair of shorts.  But that said, it was a perfectly lovely outfit for church. 

Anecdote from the Day:  My kids have been "off" at church all summer long.  It's like once school was over (and the weekly school mass as a reminder of how to act for Sunday mass), they were like, "hey, let's act up, 'cause you know.  MASS."  Ugh.  Well, an incentive of...wait for it...chocolate milk did the trick.  Aw, I love it.  I really am not sure I am looking forward to the days when chocolate milk doesn't work as an incentive. 

Chepstow Top.  Size 6.  As you can see from the first and second photos, this size fits exactly right for my frame.  The yoke sits exactly where it should on the shoulders and the length of the sleeves is nice and long on my (pretty long) arms.  It also isn't too loose through the bodice, which could easily make this top read maternity.

So like I said in my written review this am, go with your knitwear size at Boden.  I rarely wear anything other than a 6 at Boden in their sweaters, and choosing this size in the Chepstow worked well.

I do wear a smaller size in Boden's jersey tops, a size 4, because those items inherently have more stretch than this top, which is made from a knit, sure, but a knit with not much stretch (it is a lyocell for those of you wondering).

Back View.  Unlike a lot of tops, I didn't have the "sway back/big butt" pooling of fabric, which is awesome.  It is because there is a flow to the drape of the top, and is not a fitted tee.



Chepstow Top. Stocks are healthy, but some sizes are on backorder.  If you think you would wear it starting now and would wear it throughout the season, you could buy it now and not feel guilty about not waiting.  As of right now, it doesn't appear to be selling out, but it may have been like this last August with this top, and it still ended up selling out.  Hmm.

Okay, that's it, have any of you tried this one? 

See you all tomorrow with another round of "catches."

OOTDs: Silky Vintage and a Colorful Maxi.

Quick Reminder: Today is the last day you can save 30% off everything at Boden.  (It ends midnight tonight.)  I wrote more on it here at this post.  Hopefully this means the big clearance sale will start soon.  :-)

Day: Saturday, June 21, 2014.

Where: Rex's end of season baseball party and birthday dinner (mine!!!) with a friend.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I got frustrated with the shorts because they fit but they get wrinkly so fast. (They are a cotton stretch sateen that is lightweight, so they wrinkle when you breathe on them.)  The lighter color shows the wrinkles, so even though they feel great on, I am acutely aware of the wrinkles and my OCD goes into overdrive.  LOL.  I really need to get over it.

The Silky Vintage top (here at Boden, review of the green floral version here) is fab, though, so comfortable and easy to wear.  After realizing that the Selina dress in the same color was not going to work for me (latest review on that one here), I decided two Silky Vintage tops would work instead.  Probably better for my lifestyle, too, honestly.

Cool Factor: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I received a lot of compliments on my outfit, especially the combo of the Silky Vintage top in the party floral and its matching sister bag, the Chelsea Clutch (here).  Of course I live in the land where Lilly Pulitzer pink and green flamingo dresses are a very good thing, so take all that with a grain of salt, especially if you are not very preppy. ;-)

Anecdote from the Day:  The house we went to for Rex's end of season baseball party had this insanely pretty pool.  It was finished with these deep grey slate tiles and the color of the water was this gorgeous teal blue.  Since I am used to the bright sky blue you see in regular neighborhood pools, it was a nice change of pace.  I immediately wished we could have a pool like that.  (In our millionaire dreams, of course.) 

Day: Sunday, June 22, 2014.

Where: CW's friend's birthday party.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Hi, pretty Boden jersey maxi dress!  It is nice to bring you out again for another year!  :-)  You are still as comfortable as I remember you being in years past, and as usual, the brightly colored graphic was an instant mood lifter.

(BTW, I wore another one today to Angus's Little Gym class--this green and purple one--and a friend confessed wanting a Boden maxi dress in her cart--I assume this one--and I told her to go for it.  Of course I enabled her...I really think she needs to be in on the secret of the "almost as comfortable as pjs" dress.)

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Simple colorful summer easy dressing.  Pretty cool for me. 

Anecdote from the Day:  Rex acted up at the lunch we all went to, so we had to take his opportunity to go to the movie with his dad away, so while CW and I played at her friend's party, Rex had to sit around with his daddy and brother doing nada instead.  What made it worse for him is that we were already on our way to the movie/party at lunch (I was going to go to the party while they were at the movie), so he couldn't even do nada at home, instead he had to do nada at the local Wal-Mart.  Sigh.  But I bet he won't do that again.  Let's hope, anyhow.

Okay, that's it for now.  I hope everyone is set to have a wonderful weekend!

Link to sale...remember the 30% off ends tonight at midnight:
30% Off EVERYTHING plus Free Shipping