Three Outfits for One Day--All Are Red, White, and Blue!!!

I am feeling a wee bit tired today (Rex has been very trying already and it is barely 5 pm), so I won't being going on and on like I normally do. However, it is my FAVORITE holiday, so I knew I needed to post, if only to say "Happy Independence Day!!!" Yay, America. ;)

Also, I want for you all, right now, to go and check out the awesome blog known as Deco Aurora...it is the ultimate blog for people who love summer and summertime things...I am in love with the posts...Mslay (the blog author) always transports me with her beautiful pictures and lovely ideas. If you enjoy what you see, become a follower. Trust me, she won't let you down...

I will post three outfits because I have a spare moment and want to show that I still want to take an active role in my own blog (heck, I even commented back on the last two posts...imagine!).

Plus, the three outfits SLIGHTLY tie into Independence Day in that they all either have red, white, or blue. (And don't fret, I am definitely wearing something patriotic today and yes, we have taken photos...)

Navy Blue and Pink--Lovely Combo! by dinagideon on Polyvore.com

Here is the Polyvore for outfit #1, the outfit I wore to take Mr. Dina out for Father's Day.


Here I am with Mr. Dina, just about to leave for Father's Day. I am wearing the incredible Ruffled-hemmed jersey dress. I have a confession...as awesome as this dress is, I really hate ties on dresses...I feel they are superfluous (heehee), so I took it and tied it twice, so the bow would tie in front...ahh, much better. And aren't these shoes too die for? I wouldn't have even noticed them had it not been for 3-Penny Princess waxing poetically about them at this post.


Here is the dress a bit more buttoned up with the soiree sateen blazer. I think if I was still working, I would definitely teach in this get-up...so comfy and yet so polished!

Ruffles for a Graduation Party!!! by dinagideon on Polyvore.com

Here is the Polyvore for outfit #2, an outfit I wore to a former student's graduation party (I taught him my first year teaching, and he is easily my favorite student ever).


Here is the dress that I waxed poetically about in this post, but in navy. Ahh, navy...you are such a fine neutral. I am also wearing the very pretty Seychelles necklace that I won on ebay for half its original price. The shoes are the Carina metallic leather sandals and they got me through Costco, so I can definitely say they are possibly the comfiest shoes that J. Crew has made that I have owned. (And, yes, you read that right, I shopped at Costco in this outfit. Yes, people were looking at me...I just smiled and moved on...)


Here is the outfit from the side. I love that bow at the front...very feminine.

There is no polyvore for outfit #3, but I have included a pic so I can clip to polyvore right from this post!!!


I wore this to go out to a dinner with a friend on June 29, 2009. We walked from my house to a restaurant about a mile away, so we needed to look dressy but be sensible. This was my take on "dressy but comfy." The dress is from Anthropologie by the company Maeve. I have noticed that this company makes their dresses kind of large. This is a six and is one of the few by them that fits closely. The other dress I have in a six is HUGE. Weird...

The shoes are by Born and are the sandals I wore all over NYC. The necklace is Erickson Beamon for Target and the clutch is the makeup giveaway bag from Clinique but styled by Trina Turk.


Here is the dress for Polyvore. It is A BRIGHT dress. You could definitely see me coming that night...

Happy Independence Day, you all...I promise, Coccodrillo Pencil Skirt is coming soon...but I also know a lot of you take the weekend off from computing, and I figure you all would rather miss this post than the review of that skirt.

One Saturday...Two "Hot" Outfits...(5/23/09)!!!

Yes, folks, it is two-fer time again...I wore BOTH of these outfits on that sweltering hot Saturday we had here in the Mid-Atlantic on May 23, 2009. The first outfit I wore during the day when we went to my dad's house to go visit my Aunt and Uncle in from California. The second outfit is from when we went to my cousin-in-law's (Mr. Dina's first cousin on his dad's side) house to visit his Aunt and Uncle in from Florida. Two sunny states' residents visiting two separate neices/nephews in Northern Virginia on the same day. :) Good times. No, seriously...it really was good times. Love hanging with the fam. My family and his family are the best!!!

Fresco Cardigan with Summer Casual!!! by dinagideon featuring J Crew

Here is the Polyvore.


Here is the polyvore in full-length. Hair is wet. Yep. Feels good to let it AIR-DRY on a HOT day!

So why did I wear the cardi if it was SO hot? Because I am super-pale and SPF only does so much. So out came the lovely cotton cardi that I have been the proud owner of since February! It did actually get to be too warm to wear it (we had BBQ outside) but when that happened, I subtly encouraged everyone to hightail it into the house. It worked...

The top is different in the polyvore. The top you see here is a MATERNITY top from Pea in the Pod by Splendid. Yeah, whatever. Fits perfect on my non-pregnant body. I think the person they made it for is not really pregnant or pregnant in a way that I have NEVER seen. Wow.

The flip-flops are actually from J. Crew (last summer 2008) and I LOVE that color. You might need sunglasses to look at them (see two pics from now for more on that).


Here is more of that top. Please excuse my bit of cami showing through. oops...

To make the fireball necklace that short, I had to clip the clasp on the necklace itself (and I ended up with a fair bit of the necklace chain down my back...).


Oh, dear reader who wanted to see the Boden sunglasses in green and for the other reader who wanted to see the Boden sunglasses case, here you go!!! I (heart) them both. The green sunglasses are meant for sunnier days more than the light brown because of the darker tint...this is why these beauties came out to play instead of the light brown ones...I love having this option! The case is REALLY big but since I have to carry a mom-bag everywhere it doesn't matter to me! I now own two of these cases (they come with every sunglasses purchase). They also have a cloth inside to wipe the lenses. I also think the print is so much fun!


There is no polyvore for outfit #2, but 'tis okay. I get tired sometimes writing my blog and the less work--the better!!!

I wore this in the evening to visit Florida family and I LOVE this outfit SO much. I will definitely do this again. SO CUTE!

Can I tell you that Rugged Wearhouse (kind of like TJ Maxx or Ross) is awesome? The tank is old J. Crew and 10 dollars. The skirt is Ann Taylor Loft and was 9 dollars. Yes, I bought two. This skirt is a 12 and fits nicely now (I can wear it lower so it isn't too mini) and a 10 for when I get to the fighting weight (8 pounds as of today...probably 10 pounds away in this pic). The shoes are the same from outfit #1. The short-sleeve cardigan is J. Crew, cotton, in lime green (Spring 2009).


Here is the outfit with no cardi. YAY! I love this color. This was a great outfit for seeing the fam on a very warm and muggy night!

Oh, you know, this is for Polyvore. And yes, I see the cami. Whatever. I can just smush that right out when I create sets in the future. It's cool...

You all have a nice afternoon. :)

Brown and Pink Make Me Smile!!! (Outfit from May 18, 1009...)

Blush Pink and Brown Make Me Smile!!! by dinagideon featuring FOSSIL
Here is the polyvore of the outfit I wore last Monday, May 18, 2009. This also is one of my most popular polyvore sets ever. 6 people liked it, and they didn't even see it on this blog. I think what that tells me is that over at the Polyvore J. Crew groups, neutrals and tonal-matching outfits are the most popular. :) That is great and all, but I rarely make my sets this way.

However, on Monday last week, I wore this outfit and for me it is a lot less colorful than I normally do. I still LOVED it though. The pink in this tee and cardigan and shoes is just too die for...so sweet and feminine.


Here is the outfit with no cardi. I shrunk the top by turning it inside out, putting the washer to the hand-wash feature, and then placing the top into the dryer on high heat. It came out the PERFECT size. :) I loved all the ideas I received when I asked about how to shrink this top (gigiofca mentioned drying it to damp and then wearing it) but in the end I was a little lazy (kids...such a time suck). Laziness is usually a bad thing but it worked this one time...I love the fit and I love the fluffier chiffon rosettes.


Here is the outfit with the cardigan. This is such a versatile sweater. I have this in melon and charcoal, too. I love wearing this cardi with shorts. The long with the short really looks very chic. (I have a polyvore with that style here.)


And because I cannot resist pics of me with CW, here she is...look at those freaking socks. Love them. She can be a ballerina even before she walks. And of course (not planned, btw) I love that we match!!!

Have a nice afternoon everyone!

Now in Color...My Outfit from the Tea Party! (Woo--Only One Week Late--I Feel So Timely!!!)

So from the annals of all things late...I am finally posting pics of the outfit I wore to the Tea Party LAST Saturday at 3-Penny Princess and her Mom-in-law's House. Seriously...you all have already seen this in something like twelve posts. :) Oh, well, I am sure some of you may want to see the Polyvore...

Tea Party in Olive and Pink! by dinagideon featuring J Crew Clothing

Here is the outfit full-length. I won't bother even mentioning the pieces because they are all on my polyvore (for once I could get every piece of the outfit onto the polyvore without substitutions).

I love this outfit. The colors are my favorites. There is something very "Southern Preppy" about these colors. I have been doing a lot of "SP" this week. On Thursday night I wore head-to-toe seersucker. I tend to do this in summer. It gets so dang hot and humid here (the air just sits on your head) that you have to pull out the fabrics that breathe. And because you still are expected to live your life and get dressed up, I have a closet full of clothes made from the "SP" aesthetic.

I was wilting last Saturday, but the outfit kept me relatively cool. But you can bet your bottom that I took this off upon arriving back home and threw on some shorts and a tank top.

Have a great day. I think I might get up my Mother's Day outfit today. If I do, I will actually only be six days late. (Ha.)

Part Four of my Florida Vacation...or Tuesday, April 7, and Wednesday, April 8, 2009!!!

First, I need to apologize for waiting so long to publish today's post. I had intended to post this on Sunday, along with my Easter outfit. But then I received the call...my beloved Uncle Jerry, who basically acted a lot like a grandpa, was on his way down. At 7:22 pm, he passed away in his sleep. We all knew his health was failing, but none of us knew when he would actually pass away. We are a very strong, faithful, Catholic family, so even though we have heavy hearts about losing him, we feel for Uncle Jerry to pass away on Easter is so fitting and special. He lost his own two children to polio when they were very small. I believe they were there waiting for him and welcoming him. And knowing how loved all of the children of our family were by him (it makes me incredibly sad that CW never got to meet him), I am sure when he saw his precious Donny and Margie, he had the biggest smile on his face ever.

I am heading out to California this Thursday morning. I am heading out with just CW. Sadly, Rex and Mr. Dina (thanks for the name idea, Gigiofca) cannot make it...too expensive. What is funny about all this? Mr. Dina rightly pointed out that CW and I are amongst a small handful of people who have gone to Disneyworld's Magic Kingdom one week and then to Disneyland the next. Walt would be proud. What is bittersweet? The last time we went to Disneyland was with Uncle Jerry for Rex's first visit ever (see above pic).

Okay...so back to the Florida outfits...these are the last two. Tuesday was really cold, but we had NO idea when we left. Lucky for us we brought a few jackets. We went to Universal Studios that day and saw a lot of folks wearing Universal Studios hoodies, coats, sweatshirts, etc. I think that is how these parks make money...they fool everyone into believing Florida is warm all the time and then getcha when it is cold. :) But we were prepared!

I had forgotten to put this outfit in my polyvore, but here it is...a lime green polo with crab critters all over it from summer 2008 (J. Crew), a pair of J. Crew stretch summerweight shorts (11" inseam) in dark honey (or something like that) from this season, and of course, the lovely critter flip-flops (I guess Tuesday was a critter day).

I don't really have a lot of time to write about Universal Studios, so I will have to post on the experience later. We did have fun...even though this happened (see next photo):

Yep...that's right, Dina got sun- and wind-burned. So did Rex and CW. Mr. Dina was fine...he wore a hat. So did you know that when it is cold but the sun is bright and closer to you that you can burn? Yeah, I know, all you ski-bunnies get that, but for a proud flat-lander like myself, it didn't even freaking occur to me.

I think I should have packed a green top for this outfit (would be a lot less jarring against my very pink skin), but how was I to know I would get burned? I had wanted to wear shorts or something other than this, but darnit, it was cold again. So out came my fly-home outfit early for our last day in Orlando (we went back to Downtown Disney...fun...review at same time as Universal, maybe...). The sweater is a cashmere short-sleeve top from Garnet Hill. Ladies, the cashmere in this sweater is probably a hundred times softer than the J. Crew cashmere. Admittedly it is a bit more expensive, but if you buy it on sale (like I did), it can be a reasonable price. Plus I love wearing cashmere on planes...it's cozy without being cumbersome. The pants are the chambray cocktail pants from the Pants, Pants, and More Pants post. They are definitely getting to be too loose. WOO! And, yep, the lovely critter flip-flops.

You all have a nice night and Wednesday morning. :) I will get back in my groove soon enough...it may just take awhile (darn grades...they take forever to do and have to be turned it at the absolute worst time for me)!

Cocoa Beach...Here We Come!!!

So we chose Monday (4/6/09) to be our "beach" day. Hmm...looking back, not very wise...but that is hindsight for ya. :)

IT WAS WINDY that day. WINDY!!! Hot, but my goodness, the sand was 'a flying at us.

We chose Cocoa Beach because it is fairly close to Orlando. That seemed wise at the time. When we got there not only did we face incredible monsoon strength winds, there was a riptide warning, and many, many people. Sigh.

I am a Polly Anna, though, and will not let the odds stack against me. Turns out for all the mess that we faced, it was an enjoyable day in the end. :) Yay for optimism!!!


Here is the outfit I wore to the beach. It includes the beautiful green flower tissue tee from J. Crew this spring (and still for sale), a pair of 9-inch inseam shorts in citron from J. Crew in 2006, and my lovely critter flip-flops you most recently saw here.

I love this tee. And washing it has seemed to take a bit of the length away, making it the perfect length on my hips. SMILE. :) I love it when washing it makes it better for me to wear and not worse.

I officially have a love affair with J. Crew shorts. They fit me like a comfortable glove. Their shorts fit model must be shaped like me (yeah, right, I think I have just lucked out). I think I own twenty pairs of J. Crew shorts. (Yes, in all colors including--SHOCK--neutrals!)


Once we got to the beach we got into our swimwear and hit the sand. What you see here is my cover-up. This is from J. Crew February 2008. Love it! Just what you need to keep your heiney from being exposed walking from the changing room to your towel.

Oh, and yes, my GORGEOUS fresco bandeau bikini is underneath...and NO...no one but my family and friends get to see it in real life. Gotta keep something a secret from you all! ;)

No one ran away screaming and yelling, so I will assume that I looked okay in it!


Because I am a fan of changing multiple times in one day, especially on vacation, I brought the cottage dress to the beach to wear afterwards. Originally I was supposed to wear it on Sunday as represented in the polyvore found in this post, but because I moved the Lisa dress to Saturday, I decided to move Miss Cottage to Monday.

As you can see, the dress held up pretty well. By the time this pic had been taken, I had worn it in the car for an hour which is why the skirt is so wrinkled. But this is not meant to be a fancy dress, just something fun and pretty for summer.

The dress made its original appearance in this post, if you will recall.

By the way, the shoes are my Earth sandals in bronze. These are great because the force you to stand properly because the heel sits lower than your toes. I love wearing them because I feel nice and tall (yep, just what I need at 5'8")!

I hope you have enjoyed viewing this almost as much as we enjoyed (eventually) our day at the beach! Have a great night, everyone!

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!!! :)