OOTDs: Knee Socks and Jacket Weather.

Day: Monday, October 20, 2014.

Where:  Little Gym and School Run.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I knew I needed something that I could move in for the Little Gym, but I really didn't want to wear a full on fall outfit, so I dared to wear the (gasp!) knee socks (here at Boden) with a shorter denim skirt.  Of course it was going to be cool enough in the morning to justify a jacket, so I pulled out this lighter weight cashmere one from J. Crew that I bought on ebay (it was a sample piece, only one made, and sold for cheap!).

By the end of the day, I definitely didn't need the jacket any longer, but was still glad I had the Pure Collection cashmere turtleneck to keep me warm.  This year's version of this is here. 

As comfortable as I felt, though, I would pick that day to wear the skirt...the day the instructor asked us to do some pilates move on our back with one of the balls.  I did it as gracefully as I could, but yoga pants would have made that move a whole lot easier.  Sigh.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I like it, but I have always liked knee socks with shorter skirts.  I think this is a particular style choice, and if you really aren't into it, this isn't gonna be your thing.  But I love quirky preppy, so it works for me. 

These socks come in a pack of three and include a pair with squirrels on them (like on my Hartland dress!).  I hope to wear those out, but I definitely have to be careful on how I style those.  LOL.

Anecdote from the day:  Well, I did a pilates type move in a skirt...that was pretty much the highlight of my day.  I don't really live that exciting of a life.  ;-)

Day: Tuesday, October 21, 2014.

Where:  Bowling, Harris Teeter, and School Run.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Bowling requires me to have even better a range of motion than the Little Gym (Angus *normally* does all the work there), so I knew a skirt was out.  But dang it, I am not completely ready to give up sandals.  I knew it would warm up during the day, just like it did yesterday, so I made the decision to wear the sandals and the short-sleeve top, so I could at least pretend like fall isn't here by the end of the day.

That said, the jacket is pretty lightweight (I found it in the Zara girls section, it's a size 13-14), so I ended up wearing it all day, anyhow. 

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Definitely not the quirky preppy I did yesterday.  :-)  Still like this look, especially the shoes, top, and necklace.  I really want to pattern out this top so I can sew up other versions in some of my fabric in my stash.  I have some beautiful lighter weight fabrics that would look so pretty in this silhouette.  It should be fairly simple to do, just have to sit down and do it.

Anecdote from the day:  Apparently all the bowling ladies know about my sewing success.  The secret got out!  So while I may not be the *best* bowler in the league, I was feeling very loved over my sewing feat.  These are ladies that did learn how to sew when they were younger, so I know they know how much work goes into crafting your own clothes, so I doubly appreciated their kind words.

Okay, that's it for today.

Who's ready for a Boden Weekly Review Roundup?  I think I may be publishing one tomorrow.  If you have a review for me, you can email me at dinagideon AT aim DOT com or you can leave the review at the Boden Reviews tab.

Talk with you all soon!

OOTDs: Transitional.

Before I get this ootd post started, two quick reminders...

1. If you grab a chance, and you are interested, check out my latest "made by me" file which is a copy of one of my favorite Garnet Hill sundresses from a few years back.  I am in a sewing competition and you can vote for my dress if you think it's good enough to get your vote.  The link to the place where the voting link is located is at that "made by me" file.

2. I think most of you have entered, but just in case you haven't, Boden has asked that I host a giveaway of $125 to spend at Boden!  To enter, please visit this post.

Day: Wednesday, September 24, 2014.

Where:  School Run. That is it. NO sewing, either, but I started prepping for future projects.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Darn this stupid fall weather.  WHY!  WHY?  I am not one of those bloggers who is all, "ooh fall, leaves, pumpkin spice latte, boots, yay, squee!"  I am all "why cold wind rain bleak grey why???"  Anyhow, mini vent aside, the Pattern Sweater (here) is very warm and kept me feeling good yesterday.  I didn't want to wear pants, so I faced the cool weather with my favorite pair of denim bermuda shorts (I've had these for years). 

For those of you who would like more info on the Pattern Sweater, I wrote up a review on it here at this blog post.  FWIW, the sweater barely pilled yesterday, which I take as a good sign.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  It's a cute look.  My husband really liked the British guards.  He wasn't sure what they were at first, but smiled when he realized what they were. 

Anecdote from the day:  My kids fought in the back seat of the van (we usually have them separated but their grandparents were in town and they can't sit in the way back) on the way home from school.  I put them both in their rooms for an hour each.  They didn't seem too upset that I punished them, so I think there may be more of this in the future.  (Cue laughing at my prospects of getting some quiet time in the future.) 

CW and I watched last week's Project Runway where the designers had to create little girls outfits inspired by the American Girls, and being the absolute worst critic possible, CW declared that every look was a 10 out of 10 and said she would wear them all, including Sandhya's pink onesie.  It didn't surprise me she liked the Floral Liberty Jumpsuit, since she has some clothing like that in her closet, but that onesie, hmmm...

She also recognized Tim Gunn's voice from Princess Sophia.  She was all, "it's Baileywick, Momma!" 

Day: Thursday, September 25, 2014.

Where: Target to get all the kids shoes (ugh--feet always grow so fast) and then to get them from school.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  It's just awful outside.  I am only wearing sunglasses 'cause I didn't have any eye makeup on and I kind of look like an alien with no mascara on (my eyelashes are blonde and disappear on film). 

The chance of me wearing anything other than a sweater and pair of pants today was essentially nil, and even though I run "hot," I felt like I needed the scarf, too.  But I can't give up the sandals yet.  Darn it, I am not ready for summer to be done.  Especially here, where summer should still be going on...

Cool Factor: (4.25 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Looks good to me.  Love the bright neon of the Tilly Sweater/Jumper (here but looking sold out), even if some of the reviewers didn't love it.  But since I knew what was coming because of them, I knew what to expect.  (I purchased a 15-16, exactly the right size on my frame.)  The sweater on its own is a lot of look, but I will say that paired with a scarf or a necklace and it is less in your face.

Anecdote from the day:  Angus is 2.5 today!  How exciting.  Not gonna do anything, but pretty exciting, nonetheless.  I really wish he would stop growing, though, widdle tiny babies are so cute!  In other news, the Target near us on the way to school FINALLY got the better buggies/carts and I couldn't be happier!  No more jangly wheels skidding along in the aisles.  No, now these buggies have shock absorbers, it seems...they almost glide on air like they are unicorns upon rainbows!  Yes!

Okay, that's it for now.  Hope your day is going great!

OOTDs: Short. Summer. Hair.

Before I start the ootd post, I received the PURE collection catalog in the mail yesterday.  Although I don't buy a ton from them, I do buy from them when I need a good, high quality basic in a luscious, high quality fabric.  I wear these tie-waisted tapered trousers all the time (that is why I have three pairs--they are in heavy rotation) and their super-soft cashmere keeps me nice and warm in winter (for example, the turtleneck here and the snood here--second outfit).  Anyhow, the catalog featured some beautiful items, and since I forgot to do a spring/summer 2014 look, I figured better late than never by at least getting the fall 2014 rollout off to a good start.  The catalog only featured a 15% off code, but upon checking the affiliate program, I realized I had access to a 25% off code for the blog, so I immediately put that in the sidebar (third or fourth item down on the right hand side).  For those of you who want to see my few picks and stick it out to the end of this post, I have also placed the coupon at the bottom of the post.

Okay, onto the outfits!

Day: Thursday, August 21, 2014.

Where: Hair Cuttery for a haircut and La Madeline for dinner.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) The Boden Santorini dress (here on sale, my original review here), once again, was exceedingly comfortable to wear.  I wanted something that would make me feel good and also look good, and this dress did both.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Love this look, maybe I will try it with a different belt next time. 

Love that CW is so self-assured, look at all those colors/prints/textures.  :-)

Anecdote from the day:  After finding out that I had lost the baby, I knew that I needed some time to do something to make me feel better.  Since CW was heading back to school, and my hair was getting long and heavy, I knew that a visit to the hairdresser and a dinner out to La Madeline was exactly what the doctor ordered.  My dad came along, too, and because he is awesome, even threw in a visit to the local Sweet Frog for a yummy frozen yogurt dessert. 

Day: Monday, August 25, 2014.

Where: Harris Teeter to do some shopping.  Of course.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I ordered the Delancey Slouch Trousers (from Madewell, here) in a size 10 thinking they would fit, but I maybe could have gotten away with the size 8 since the pants are a bit loose.  I am fine with the 10, though, they are really comfortable in the bigger size.

The Linen Piscine Muscle tee (from Madewell) is also quite large and loose in the size I ordered (one up from my J. Crew xs size), but again, doesn't look too bad a bit bigger, and again, very comfy.

The Slide sightseer sandals from Madewell (notice a theme, lol) are my favorite part of the outfit, though.  They are really cool and very easy to wear.  They didn't have the 9.5 available, but that was fine since the 10 I ordered fit perfectly out of the box.  I guess that means you should size up 1/2 size.  ;-)

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  This is definitely a cool outfit.  The slightly bushy take on the shorter bob (didn't blowdry it that morning) combined with the sunglasses help up the cool, too.  Definitely not polished, but sometimes I don't need to be, right?

Anecdote from the day: A neighbor stopped by who speaks Spanish fluently.  She also speaks French and upon seeing my shirt exclaimed, "oh, you want to go to the pool, huh?"  So while J. Crew apparently screws up their French tees, Madewell doesn't.  Well at least this time.  ;-)

I had gone to the pool that day, so I could reassure her that the dream came true.

Okay, as promised here are the five picks I found from the PURE collection catalog, and below the picks is the coupon for 25% off with free shipping.

Ankle Length Trousers (here).  Since I love my tie-waisted trousers so much, I figure that these have to be a good pair of pants, too.  They are made from a stretch twill and I kind of dig the zip detail on the front of the pant at the hem.

Wool Pencil Skirt (here).  A pencil skirt is a pencil skirt is a pencil skirt, but they have one in a GORGEOUS turquoise color (above on the model).  If you love wool pencil skirts and pretty colors at a pretty good price, this one is probably gonna make you squeal.

Silk Abstract Print Tunic (here).  This is one of the only printed items in their catalog, but what a stunner it is.  And made from silk, too, yum.

Cashmere Blend Coat (here).  This is a wonderful example of what PURE does best, the classic item made very well in a high quality material.  The navy color will be timeless, and unless you don't stay the same size, you could potentially have this one in your closet for years and not ever need to get rid of it.

Luxury Cashmere Textured Sweater (here). Okay, this one costs as much as the coat above, but can't you just imagine yourself on the coldest of days putting this on and being all toasty and warm?  Yeah, tell me I am not alone in dreaming of wearing something like this when it is just awful outside.  If cashmere didn't exist, I would probably have to move to Miami since I just hate hate hate cold weather.  Warm soft wool makes winter tolerable.  But just barely.

Alrighty, take a poke around if you feel like it, and report back if you see something you just love.  Hopefully my budget allows for something from them before too long (probably not the textured sweater, though, sadly).

OOTDs: RIP Ugly Sweater and Other Lost Outfits of 2013.

Good Saturday night!  So looking through my photo albums on my computer tonight, I realized there were a staggering number of ootd photos from 2013 that never saw the light of day on the blog.  Some of the outfits, well, meh, but some of these I really did want to show off.  Now that it is *embarrassingly* nearly six months after these were taken, I figured showing them off late at night on a beautiful Saturday in May may lessen my embarrassment a touch.  Not much, but maybe some of you will be viewing these after having had a drink or two and will be all, "eh, she got 'em up!"

You saw a bunch of the ootds from NYC (this was from late November 2013) mixed in with other posts (mainly J. Crew and Boden review posts).  This was actually my favorite shot from the entire trip, I thought my stepmom did a great job of taking the photo.  Anyhow, most of that outfit is Anthropologie and J. Crew, with some Target shoes thrown in for comfort.

I believe I wore this outfit subbing one of the days last year.  The Boden Sarah dress will always be one of my favorites, and the extra length on this one makes it very Catholic school appropriate.

I can't even tell you what we were doing that day, but I will tell you CW dressed herself entirely, and it appears we were both happy with our choice of hot pink clothing.

CW had some event at her school we needed to go to, and I really wanted to wear my cord deer and birdie printed shirt dress (Southward Stop, thank you Lou!) from Anthropologie I had bought off a blog friend.  Of course it was insanely cold that day, but I scoffed at real outerwear instead choosing to suffer with a thinner plaid J. Crew jacket.  The snood and ugly Target gloves helped, but not really.  I learned my lesson after winter decided to continuously laugh in my face this year by never going away.  My coats haven't ever seen this much action.

This here is another 2013 subbing ensemble.  I LOVE this Nanette Lepore top so much.  I last wore it pregnant.  I can't say I notice a huge difference in fit between the two times.  Hmm.  :-)

I did wear a big old Boden coat, gloves, hat, and a scarf, but that photo turned out really bad.  So, yeah, just imagine it.

RIP Ugly Sweater.  RIP.  Thanks, Mr. Dina for putting my beloved ugly farmyard fair isle sweater from J. Crew in the dryer on hot heat.  The sweater now is at home in CW's closet, seeing as she is the only one small enough to wear it.  Sadness. Sob!

Let's end here, with one of my favorite ootds from last year.  Very festive (worn to see the kids get their photo taken with Santa), yet chic enough to work in the non-Christmas season.  Love that Bella coat, and for all my super moaning over the awful cold and snow this last winter, it did mean my pretties that hide away for nine months of the year did get to help elevate my outfits for a few months more than usual.

Okay, that's it.  If you are drinking, have a sip for me, pretty please.  ;-)

OOTDs: Three Pairs of Pants and One Purse.

Day: Tuesady, March 11, 2014.

Where: CW's Bible Play.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I love the ease of this outfit.  I normally try to dress up more if I am going to the kids' school, especially if it is for a play/performance, but I wasn't feeling up to getting kitted up that day, so I figured a dash of color would make up for the fact that I am wearing jeans.  :-)

The Must Have Tee is super soft and just warm enough, even though it is fairly lightweight (see my original review of it here).  I didn't have to wear a coat that day, by some minor miracle in this Canadian winter of ours, we had a day of semi-warmth.

Cool Factor: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  Very pretty, but also very casual.  Just somewhere right in the middle of cool...

Anecdote from the Day: You can never hear kids when they are performing, huh?  There is a chance CW did say her line properly, but we aren't sure.  They all sang the songs really well, though.

Day: Wednesday, March 12, 2014.

Where:  Home sewing and school pickup.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Again, a super high score for comfort.  Those Pure Collection pants are sublime, and I am so glad I have these in both the navy and the black color (I am wearing the black now as I type).  Even though I haven't been able to do a lot of in-depth reviews of Pure Collection lately (budget constraints, boo!), I do look over there from time to time (and keep their coupons in my sidebar) since I LOVE everything I have from them.  Looks like they have a near dupe of these pants in their current collection called the Pure Silk Tie Waist Trousers, and I kind of think I need to save up for the ones in jade.  My pants are made from a heavy poly mix, so I suspect the silk ones would be even more luxurious and special.  Pure is having a big mid-season sale and the pieces in there look to be very pretty, especially all the cashmere in sherbert shades.  The Pure Silk Tie Waist Trousers are not in the sale (the sister, the silk tie waist skirt is, though), but you can use the sidebar coupon to get an additional 25% off those, if you like the look.  (The 25% off does not come off the mid-season pieces, though.)

Cool Factor: (2.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  The Downtown Field Jacket seems to be the coolest bit of this look, as it is so popular that J. Crew keeps bringing it back season after season.  The rest of the outfit is fine, of course, but not especially cool.

Anecdote from the Day: My stinking Pants Sloper I worked SO HARD on is TOO BIG!  I spent hours redrafting the sloper into a new pants pattern with a yoke and pockets only to make the whole thing up and find the whole thing was too big by one whole inch on each side.  Sigh.  I put the redrafted pattern against what I had made in class and it was the same, so the only thing I can think is that because I wore tights and not bare skin to the lessons that the friction from the fabric allowed the pants to stay up since they definitely were falling off of me when I finished all the hard work on the pants I made at home.  I can save them, I took an inch off each side seam and they fit better, but still a bit loose.  I think I need to redraft the pattern again and hope for the best.  I can save the pants I worked on, but they will likely become "at home" "fat day" pants.

At least the crotch length and depth is accurate, so small favors, right?

Day: Saturday, March 15, 2014.

Where: Finishing the kindergarten class quilt, the Veronica Mars movie, and Girls Night Out with B. and T.

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The Peter Pilotto for Target tee is very soft and comfortable (and worth the $20 I spent, only thing from the collection not overpriced in my estimation).  The points off are for the jeans, which while look fine on me are just not *super, over the top,* pj comfy the way I have decided I want all my pants to feel.  LOL.  I am getting soft in my old age. 

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.)  This outfit is pretty cool.  I think the whole look makes me look a touch younger, maybe not super youthful, but maybe, possibly, *not a mom with three kids* young?  :-)  Here's to hoping, anyhow.

I cannot believe how much the people in the UK were willing to pay for these Target pieces.  They were sold at Net-a-Porter UK and from what I could tell they simply took the American price and put a pound sign in front of the amount instead of a dollar sign.  So this tee would have been 20 pounds, or nearly $35.  Yikes.  And then of course some of the items sold out and the ebay people over there then double or tripled the UK price.  Seriously.  Wow.  I made a joke with some of my UK blog friends that I could go to the local Target, buy most of the pieces on sale, and then make a *stupid* amount of profit if I did that.  I guess we didn't want these pieces as much as the ladies over there did.

Anecdote from the Day: My hubby and I love Veronica Mars.  I loved it enough to obsessively watch it, but my husband was obsessive enough to actually give money to the kickstarter to get the movie funded.  It turned out that he couldn't give money in the end since the whole project was funded in one day (fast!!!).  That's some serious love.  It was a good movie, but it was weird, like it should have been on TV, but there I was, along with other adults reliving their *decade old* youth in a theater.  Did anyone else out there see it?

Okay, that's all for now. 

If you have a Boden review, I will be writing the BWRR up tomorrow if you would like to include yours in it.  You can either comment your review here at the Boden Reviews tab, or you can email me at dinagideon AT aim DOT com.

Ireland: The Outfits!

Today's post will be *so much* shorter than yesterday's monster post of visual imagery of the beautiful countryside, my kids, my friends, and lots of crazy frivolity.  Today is all about the outfits.

I have recently joined pinterest, and I noticed that before I pinned my own outfits, my blog's photos were being pinned here and there, and quite a few of them are outfit of the day photos, which is awesome.  :-)  So I delved a little further and discovered that my polyvore sets were really popular on pinterest, and of all my polyvore sets, the packing sets are the most popular.  Well, okay then, if that's what the people want, I'll provide.  So at the end of the post I will include a polyvore set I've entitled "Ireland Packing Polyvore" for anyone who wants to pin it for any future packing ideas they need.

I will keep the comments brief, letting the outfits speak for themselves, but if I have something to say, I'll definitely mention it...

On my right is the lovely Avril, who wrote up our night out in Belfast here at this blog post.

Even though Belfast was on our second full day in Ireland, I wanted to publish this outfit first since it is a look that I don't normally wear, and I was glad I had challenged myself to try it out.  And because great minds think alike, I love that Avril wore almost the same outfit.  ;-)

This look is from my first full day in Ireland, when we enjoyed all the sights of Dublin.

Wore this ensemble to Giant's Causeway.  I knew there would be a lot of trekking, but also a lot of driving, so I wanted something that would do well in both circumstances.  I *may* have switched to my uber comfy Pure Collection tie-waisted trousers for the ride down to Kilkenney (that is a whole lot of Ireland between the two), but I honestly can't remember.  I have to drive, btw, since I have experience driving on the left hand side of the road and Mr. Dina doesn't.  You would think that by now, and with all the traveling we do together, he would have learned, but nope, he makes me take the wheel in any country who drives opposite us here in the States.  (Since I hate driving, I figure that means I will just have less of it to do in general if that's his plan, lol.)

Worn to trek all over Kilkenny on our third full day in Ireland.

The last photo shows the effect of too much mead on a good woman's soul.  :-)  This was our fourth full day in Ireland, and was from when we were at Bunratty.

There was a fifth full day of traveling, but that was the day that Mr. Dina was very ill, so we didn't do much beyond checking out of Bunratty and driving to Dublin.  Then the kids and I went to dinner, without Mr. Dina.  If I recall, I wore the comfy Boden leggings with the Boden sweater.

Ireland Packing Polyvore by dinagideon featuring wrap boots

I feel like I chose well for this trip.  The boots may seem a big extravagance when airlines limit just how much luggage a family can take, but with all of my undergarments, tights, and socks packed into them, there was plenty of room left over.  I don't regret bringing any of these items, and as you can see from the right hand side, many of the items were worn multiple times.  The items on the left packed well and didn't wrinkle, so I can highly recommend any sort of item like that for any packing you may have like this in the future.  Because it was Ireland in the early spring, I made sure to pack woolen items for warmth and layering, but also packed a lightweight down coat to ensure that it wouldn't weigh me (or my luggage) down, but still keep me warm, AND not wrinkle.  Surprisingly I needed the sunglasses nearly daily, not a drop of rain fell while we were there.  It was pretty stunning how bright Ireland was!

Okay, that's it for now.  Thank you all for your sweet comments over the last few posts.  My darling Angus is really sick with the stomach flu, and just on the mend, so most of my time over the past day has been to tending him, but I definitely have plans to go back and comment to all of your nice thoughts!