Animal Print. Roar. (Or in this case more of a neigh.)

Hee.  My animal prints on display today are definitely not the fierce jungle cats that are all the rage this season (and every freaking fall, it seems, definitely not a trend if it keeps. coming. back. people.).  Instead I took a milder approach to animal prints and wore a zebra and a giraffe.  Ah, how sweet.

One more thing before I get onto the outfits.  I was definitely shaken and stirred by the earthquake yesterday.  Very scary, and definitely unexpected.  This article from the Washington Post explains why it happened and why this area's response of being *freaked out* was okay.  LOL.  Looks like we have a hundred years or so to go before another big one...

Zebra Time.  I wore this while teaching summer school a few weeks back.  I had been going for themed outfits (here, fishy, fishy AND floral explosion) but that day I was just not feeling it, so I brought out my inner Africa.

This is the Blakely dress in zebra print that was a big seller back when it came out.  I like it and I am glad I got it, but I only wear this once a year or so.  I think a zebra print dress is one of those items you can't really parade around all the time, very noticeable.  :)

The Cleo platform sandals, however, I wear constantly in the summer.  Very comfortable and great at lengthening the legs without having to resort to stilettos.  I also paired the dress with a hot pink leather skinny belt that also sees quite a bit of action from me (and does especially in this post).

Another view.  This outfit was supremely comfy.  The cotton is a nice weight for summer, not too heavy.  The dress can also be worn with a jacket or cardigan in spring or fall if you wanted it to transition.

You all are going to have to open this pic up.  Not only are we at the Air Force Memorial in Arlington (very near to where I grew up, in fact), but my hubby captured a plane coming in for a landing at National airport, AND my daughter is making the best face.  Plus, if you open the photo up you can see my outfit a bit better and the now closed (thanks, earthquake) Washington Monument.  (Don't worry it won't be closed forever...just a bit, or so says the National Park Service.)

The dress is a Merona Collection piece from 2009.  The cardigan is J. Crew from 2008.  The shoes are the awesome neon pink strapped Dani heels from 2010 and the belt, see outfit above. ;)  The sunglasses are the wonderful Cutler and Gross #0930.

Rex loves the Air Force Memorial.  He has been talking about seeing the "swords" since he was pretty darn tiny.  And even though we only live just down the road a bit, we had not found the time (ridiculous, I get it).  This place is great!  When I was a kid it was just a big ole hill that people went to see the fireworks every July 4th (in fact, they still do, alebit with less space available).

That night no one was there.  It was AWESOME.  CW and Rex could fully enjoy it.  If you open the pic, you can see her running along quite merrily...

Before you think I am all too tame with my zebra and giraffe prints, I did bite onto a few of the jungle cat pieces from this fall...I have recently purchased the Tippi sweater in leopard (love, so soft!) and from Boden I pre-ordered the Leopard Tote (still not here, sigh) and the Animal Bow Flatsbow flats in the army green leopard print.  I am even contemplating another small piece, but I am on the fence.  (A great coupon would help!  Of course it would!)

Speaking of Boden, if you have a review for me, I will be doing the Boden Weekly Review Roundup this evening, so if you could get me the reviews before 6 pm Eastern time, that would be fab! (dinagideon@aim.com) Thank you!

Also on the Boden front, I will be doing a HUGE back-to-school post tomorrow that not only showcases my back-to-school picks from Boden's fab Autumn 2011 line, but I will be sponsoring a really nice giveaway, so please do be on the lookout for that.  :)

Okay, all, talk soon.  BTW, besides the Boden posts I mentioned earlier, I have all those themed outfits to go.  Here are some upcoming theme days...floral explosion; here, fishy, fishy;  and print passion.  There may even be another theme day, still working on my backlog of ootds.  (Which is just supremely irritating that I have let it get this bad. LOL.)

J. Crew: Teddie Dress Review.

You all.  This is Friday night, and unless you all are stuck indoors because you have 1) toddlers, 2) a wicked storm outside, or 3) both, I really hope I don't hear from any of you until tomorrow.  :)

I received the Teddie Dress today in the mail (and a confirmation e-mail that my long-awaited pre-order that I saved. all. summer. for. was ordered--woo!), so I wanted to get this review done as soon as possible.

There will be two camps for this dress.  The first camp is gonna swoon and fall all over themselves to get it.  The second camp will hate it for many reasons (all of which are valid, btw) and want to "throw it in the trash."

LOL--an aside, whenever Rex doesn't like something he says, and I quote, "that thing I hate is going in the trash, Momma."  Things that have gone in the trash include various tv shows, some of my J. Crew boxes (the hatred!), and some of his sister's toys.  

I am in the first camp, but only because I am not looking at this dress as anything more than a fun date, brunch or party dress.  If you are looking to wear this to work it probably won't work for you unless you take the hem out if you are tall (there is about two inches allowance in my dress) or you are under 5'4".

Teddie Dress Yum. by dinagideon featuring mid heel pumps

Above is a polyvore with an awesome image of the dress at a Russian ballet practice (THANK YOU SUZY for posting the pics on your blog).  Those girls are so cute.  And her dress, while nice on her, is definitely short.  (As it is on me.)

And on me, front view.  I added a tortoise belt (J. Crew Fall 2009?) and the Coralie Printed Heels in Turquoise Paisley (J. Crew Spring 2009?).  I would change this up in "real life" with the patent heels you see in the polyvore.

Teddie Dress Pros: Love the double-faced wool crepe, has a slight texture to it and doesn't seem itchy at all.  The dress is lined through the body and skirt, but not the sleeves which doesn't bother me.  The color, decadent red is insanely luxurious looking.  I have NO makeup on, I am wearing glasses, and I am wearing a bun but I felt like I could go out just like this and feel ready for anything.  That's the power of red, I suppose.

Teddie Dress Cons: Some of you may be turned off that the sleeves aren't lined.  I also imagine that the color might be too much for some of you.  The shoulders also just fit me in the size 6.  I have very thin shoulders, so I would definitely recommend sizing up if you are more blessed up top.  The hips on this are in a tulip shape, so those of us pear shapes have lucked out.  Many of you will also be irritated by how short this is, I am 5'8" and it is at least four inches above the knee.  (But remember, it has a bit of a hem allowance if that is how you roll--like towards the tailor.)

I included this shot because it shows that movement and mobility is fine, as long as you get the right size.  The wool and lining seems to stretch a bit, I didn't think I was imagining it.  It felt good.  Sitting was no problem either, but the pouf out front from the tulip shape will be present when you sit unless you sit. just. right.

Back view with what I actually like, the exposed zipper.  I think it looks cool.  But I understand completely why so many of you are turned off.  I just plan on owning it and not really worrying about how others react to its presence.  ;)  Plus the vast majority of the time I am facing people not having my back turned on them, lol.  And in teaching maybe it is possible that the kids will be all "ooh, look at that big zipper, maybe we should give more respect to ms. dinagideon."  Ha, right.

Side view.  The tulip shape is very obvious here.  I don't mind the pouf, but my stomach area is not my problem area, so take that for what it's worth.

Anyone else get their Teddie Dress today?  I am curious to see how others like theirs, and if anyone has seen the other two colors in real life.

You all have a great night!

Boden Weekly Review Roundup: Cords and Yummy Mini-Boden.

Hi, everyone...

I am late, late, late with this post, but I am SO glad I waited to publish, because--
1)  I actually wore the outfit today, in our heat and humidity, and I did not melt (so yay for versatility)
and
2) there are the cutest little mini-Boden reviews today, one of which wasn't even published by my bloggie friend until this morning!

I know there is a lot of hub-bub in J. Crew land, what with the gorgeous new arrivals and all, but I am slightly annoyed at them (not my on-line PS, she is awesome) for dropping the ball on a pre-order that I have been--
1) saving up for all summer long
and
2) ordered as a pre-order over a month and a half ago, so imagine my irritation when...

there is no confirmation e-mail for this item this morning AND I am on a waitlist that, from what I understand, does NOT mean that I will get said coveted item.  Blegh and double blegh.  If my PS comes through and fixes this and gets me the item in my size and with the 20% off coupon applied (was a condition to me pre-ordering), then I will scream and exalt her powers all over this here blog.

So, it is with some pleasure that I get to shout and exalt the awesomeness of the Boden land on the day that J. Crew is all over the blog-o-sphere.  Take that Mickey and your stupid inventory issues!  LOL.

Before the reviews begin, a reminder...if you would like to see an item on me or Rex close-up, click on the photo...if you would like to see it on a bloggie friend's mini-me, click on the link provided back to the blog...and if you would like to check on measurements, sizing, colors, and prices, click on the Boden stock photo.

For savings, all I have right now is 10% off and free shipping and returns.  The coupon is on the sidebar, or if you are mobile user of this site, I have placed an extra code at the bottom of this post.  I suggest clicking on it to ensure that you get the 10% off before you hunt around, I don't believe the stock photos are coded with percentage savings (at least they weren't last I checked).  If you have a code that you got in a catalog, you can still use that code, but you would have to manually enter it in the shopping bag/cart page of your browsing session.

Up first, one lonely dress review by yours truly:

Stitch Detail Dress. This pic was taken at the end of the day, when the kids from next door were no longer playing outside.  Even though they can't see this part of the driveway from where they play, I hear them, and all I can think is "those kids are totally going to get the wrong idea if they catch me posing in front of my camera by myself."  Usually I have the world to myself as the street is very quiet, very very retired, and very tucked away.  I guess I should just get over myself, but I just can't own this bit of my vanity outside of my blog.  LOL.

Anyhow, the pic shows the true color of the antique gold, which is more of an olive-tinged green/yellow.  I happen to love this color, but it is very different than the item image at Boden.

I also wanted to show that the cord wrinkles, especially in the lap area if you sit to do anything.  It's okay, and it is cord fabric, after all, but if wrinkling bugs you, stay the heck away (although it isn't nearly as bad as cotton sateen or linen).

Back-lit shot, hands in pockets.  At least the kids couldn't see me posing, I guess.  Love the pockets, very nice positioning (I am wearing the regular length, the long would have placed the pockets too far south for me).  

From the side.  I am wearing the size 8 regular.  It fits nicely through the hips, even a bit roomy.  The bust was pretty large, but nothing terrible, and obviously if I typically wear a size 4 top, I have come to expect that tops will always be roomy on me.  I could have gotten into a 6 regular, but I don't really have a desire to do that in a dress that I am looking more to be for my dressy pre-school runs.

From the back.  I actually like the rear view, I hadn't realized that there was seaming to add shape until I saw this image.  :)

This is a close-up of the collar and pocket detail.  You can also see the color here too. 

I love this J. Crew necklace, I think it was called the knotty pearl necklace.  I find that silver, while unexpected as a pairing for olive, looks nice, and I do believe I will try this necklace with more of my olive hued items in the future.

FWIW, it was near 90 here today.  I did not melt in the cord fabric, and the poly lining did not cling to my body.  I was surprised, and slightly excited!  This dress is truly all-season...bare in the summer, long-sleeved tee under with ballet flats in the fall and spring, and with tights and boots in the winter.

Ooh, deceptive color there in this image.  Very very muted compared to what I own.

Obviously the catalog image has the hue more spot on.  Just so you know, this is a fast seller.  Almost all sizes and colors are on waitlist right now.


Stitch Detail Dress. This also comes in raisin, purple, and navy.

Mini-Boden cuteness everywhere:

Embroidered Skirt. Seriously...I think Polly and I would just share clothing if we were the same size. It was her fault (in a good way, wink) that I got the stitch detail dress. Now it seems that our daughters should share clothing (but the sadness, CW is younger than her sweet Sassy). Look at how ADORABLE Polly's daughter Sassy looks in the purple owl version of this skirt!  (Oh, and Polly, I will be buying that size from you when your daughter outgrows hers.  PROMISE.  Hand on heart.)


Pointelle T-Shirt. This image does NOT show how lovely this shirt is in real life. I get that it looks cute all layered, but Sassy shows it off in all its glory here. :)

In the Band T-Shirt. Rex has an affinity for Neil Peart. Which makes sense when you consider how much time our family listens to Rush. I do not even kid when I say that. Canadians everywhere, rejoice. My son's favorite Rush song is "Natural Science." Yes. "Natural Science." My daughter? "Free Will." I admit to loving "Red Barchetta." And we could go on, and on, and on. So when presented with an owl playing drums, Rex knew this tee was for him. And one day it will be CW's.

When we are in the car, btw...I am Geddy Lee, because I am the only one who can sing that high, CW plays the sythesizer, Daddy plays the bass (or slaps da bass if you are an "I Love You, Man" aficionado), and Rex drums. Poor Alex Lifeson has no support from our little rockers. Maybe if we have another kid, that kid can take on that job. Yes. That is our nerdy family.

Rex is wearing the 4-5 size, which is a bit big, but after one wash and dry will fit perfectly.


In the Band T-Shirt. You can also get your son a Raccoon singer or a Fox guitarist.

Mobile users, here is a code for you all so you don't have to go to my sidebar:



Okay, have a great night everyone. :)

J. Crew: Heather Lace Mini Styled SAHM Style.

I find that with J. Crew, I will fixate on one or two single items every rollout rather than falling in love with everything, or hating everything.  In fact, I will keep two tabs of my Firefox open to the two items I am in love with and will keep them open until, a) they are about to sell out (which I check every day), or b) they go on sale deeply enough (or I have a coupon).  Yes, the Hacking Jacket in Midnight Ocean is open right now.  ;)

This was definitely the case with the Heather Lace Mini, which both J. Crew and Net-a-Porter offered.  I saw no real fervor over this skirt at any of the blogs, but I decided I would chance it after getting the measurements from my online PS.

Heather Lace Mini and an Orange Crush... by dinagideon featuring crystal sunglasses

And I am so glad I did!  Above is the polyvore of the outfit I wore today.

Skirt: Size 6, worn on hips.  (Has elastic at waistband to help secure it either at waist or hip.  As a stay at home mom not really interested in showing off that much of my legs by wearing at my waist.)  The lace detail is really interesting, very tonal and textured.  The lining is nothing special, but the grey color combines nicely with the lace.  There is a bit of pleating, but this is nice as it adds an a-line to the skirt which us pear shapes need.

The top, shoes, and necklace you all have seen before...but I will point out that CW is becoming quite a fashionista and not only is now calling me "Fashion," or "Fash" for short, but she also asked if she could wear my necklace to dinner tonight.  (And I said yes provided she promised to take care of it.  Which I assume Mr. Dina will ensure happens, he is taking them out for dinner while I get some momma time.)

Closer detail of the skirt.  I like the grey with orange, felt like the exact right amount of punchy color.

Anyone else try this skirt?  Thoughts on how you like it?

Night, night, all.

P.S. Boden babes, another Boden Weekly Review Roundup is slated for tomorrow.  Let me know if you all have any reviews!  THANKS!  :)

Continued: My Long-Lasting Liberty Love.

Hi!  Before I begin a very photo-heavy post of my love affair with Liberty of London's fabrics, I wanted to let you all know that running around for two weeks after 7-9 years olds took its toll and I pretty much slept the entire weekend.  I *almost* fell asleep at church, which lol, I am sure many of you do without being really tired, but for me is almost unheard of.  :)  So I just didn't have the energy to update my blog.

Regarding Boden, I have taken a look at the winter preview site and I think I will pre-order maybe two pieces.  It's not that I am not inspired, no, much of it is very pretty, but honestly, only a couple of things will fill a need in my life, especially considering that I have a major closet overhaul to do before I can truly justify much more in the dress department, at least.  I do have "picks," though, and definitely will publish those fairly soon.  Also, the maternity coupon expired, which bums me out, but maybe that means a really good offer is coming soon?  (We can hope?  I will let you know if a good one comes along.)  For now, there is a 10% off with free ship/returns running in my sidebar, if you need a coupon.

Onto Liberty!

Ah, the Liberty Bouquet Shirtdress.  I have now worn this multiple times this spring and summer, including twice on my trip to GA/NC/VA.  This time was when we were heading to the Chattanooga Childrens Museum, and I knew I couldn't get super dressed up, but wanted to look decent.  :)

I did a review of it back at this post if you ever see it popback on J. Crew or you find one on ebay that you want. 

The shoes are the Antiqued Stone Flip Flops, and are currently on clearance at jcrew.com.  I took a size 9 (I usually wear a size 9.5).  I quite like them, again, kind of dressy casual, you know?

CW's outfit is all girly a la the way the deep south likes 'em, big ole bow in her hair, gingham, and lots of ric-rac and ruffling.  ;)  Her shoes are the Surf and Sand Salt-water sandals that J. Crew sells.  Since we get to our neighborhood pool by crossing a stream, we actually have a need for good water shoes for all members of our family.  Rex even has toddler sized Tevas.  ;)

Outside the museum, after the visit.  HIGHLY recommended.  I love childrens museums, I wish DC had a better one that was closer to us.  I often will just go to the Richmond one instead because it is big, clean, easy to park at, and fairly inexpensive.

The bag is the Frankie bag (Borge Gavari).  I was lucky to be the only bidder on this on ebay a year ago.  I think I ended up paying just around $100.  It was in perfect condition, btw.  Great bag, nice size, the pink isn't too pink, and if you use it every day, it ages nicely, and looks loved, not used.

The sunglasses are my only real splurge (the Long Floral Swing Skirt would have been one, but the eventual super-discount I was able to get from my amazing Personal shopper brought that down out of the stratosphere) in the past six months.  They are Thierry Lasry and upon spying them at the stand alone Anthropologie accessories store in Friendship Heights, I knew that if the Anthro powers that be sent me a 15% birthday coupon, I would use it for these.  They have the incredibly ridiculous name "Sexxxy," but I do love them so.  :)

Close up of glasses in car ride.  I love how you can see CW smiling away back there in her car seat.  That is one plush car seat...no wonder she falls asleep so easily.

I wore the dress again when we were heading home...here we are at Natural Bridge, VA, and if you can, I highly suggest a stop here.  It is an arched stone natural formation that is really really tall, (can't see it in our photo) surrounded by the beauty of the Eastern woodland, and has a perfect little gurgling stream right next to it.  We try to stop here whenever we head to GA, or on the way home from GA....

And guess what is on the other side of the mountain from Natural Bridge (due east)?  Yee-ha!  Lynchburg, you all. :)  This time I stopped at the Millrace location which is were the actual shipping center is located.  I prefer the Wyndhurst location, which is pretty close to this one, but I still found a couple of goodies for some great prices.  (Quinn hobo from 2008--great price; Lula Snakeskin Ballet Flats--great price; Sevigne Capri Sandals--great price; and for Mr. Dina?  Converse Distressed Jack Purcell Sneakers for the especially great price of $10!) 

BTW, those of you wanting Mona heels or a Edie purse?  There were a lot of those, and it was barely into the fall season when I went.  I think you can either go and get them for yourself, OR know that some ebay reseller will have them up for sale, I promise. 

So you all know, the clearance centers sell really nice things.  Only the purse had a slight stain on it, but one that I knew I could get out with leather cleaner.  The other items were in wonderful shape.

This is a Liberty print in Tana Lawn fabric by Theory that I got from Saks on deep clearance a few years back.  Still love this dress, and try and find a reason to wear this at least once a summer.  The reason this time is that I was using the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in my teaching last week, and wanted dresses and outfits with a floral theme.  (You will see the rest of those, plus the "fish" themed ones from the "Swimmy" week later on this week.)

Yes, I am wearing the frog clasp double strand necklace with this dress.  It has held up well all these years I have owned it.  Only thing, and this is important to note, this is the ONLY jewelry item from J. Crew that I own that does not have the "J. Crew" circle indicating it was made for J. Crew.  So if you get one from ebay, know that it will not have that circle, and that's okay.  Mine was bought from J. Crew, so it is an actual piece from them.

The sandals are the Reese Studded Snakeskin sandals.  Yet another ebay find.  I know these were from the clearance center because they have the tell-tale black mark, but other than that, nothing wrong from my vantage point.  And for $40 versus (I think) $400 (YIKES!), I will take a black mark, fine. with. me.

Finally, Liberty a la Target.  Still love and wear this top, even though it is poly.  We were just going to IKEA that night for dinner (yum, Swedish MEATBALLS!  with LINGONBERRY SAUCE!  and ROSE HIP DRINK!), but any chance to match CW?  Um, yeah!

The shorts are from the J. Crew outlet and the sandals are old school J. Crew circa Spring 2005. 

Alrighty, thanks for indulging my "have seen already" outfit choices.  I guess, if nothing else, it does prove that I do wear items again and again.  LOL. 

Have a great night.  Stay healthy!  And long live Liberty!

Boden: Our Best Loved Outfit, Day Five.

Ooh, that cord dress!  Thank you, Johnnie!

You all!  I am so thrilled.  Today is my last day of summer school, and as a way of saying, "yay," I think Johnnie must have been reading my mind and put some really great items on sale today.  :)  I had two of the items in today's outfit of the day in my shopping bag, so guess how I celebrated the last day of my summer school?  Yep, I totally ordered them.

Reminder: You can use the coupon in my sidebar (the maternity one is best as it gives 15% off all orders over $175, even with no maternity in the order or 10% off anything under that amount) to give you an additional savings on top of the 10% taken off the items in the "Best Loved Outfit" promo.  For mobile users, I have attached the coupon to the bottom of this post.

Alrighty, here are the items for women in today's outfit of the day (but remember, there are mini-Boden, baby Boden, and Boden for men on sale, too):


Stitch Detail Dress.  After seeing this on Polly, I knew I needed to put this in my cart.  I am already a huge fan of dresses (duh), but most of my dresses are not a) gold, and b) warm enough for winter.  This dress satisfies those two needs (well, more like wants, but you all know what I mean).  (This is one of the items I celebrated with this morning...)


Hamptons Tee.  Striped tees are a mainstay in Boden land, and I do like the color choices this season, especially the more unusual dark pink version that the model in the stitch detail dress stock photo is wearing.


Fun Knit Scarf.  The sister hat of this scarf was on sale earlier this week, so if you picked that up and want the matchy-match scarf, today is your day!


Favourite Boots.  This was definitely on sale once this week, so I guess Johnnie is saying that these. are. the. boots. to. buy. THIS. SEASON.  LOL.

I also had a Johnnie B. item in my cart, just waiting for a good promo, and yay, it is on sale, too:


Full Skirt.  This skirt will be short, but with a thick pair of tights and a nice, fitted, long tee, and long cardigan, this skirt will be darling.  (I bought the blue floral skirt.)

I didn't have *quite* enough in my cart to receive an additional 15% off, so I added this to my cart to get the total above $175 (which after the 15% was taken off was far below $175):


Printed Scarf.  I had this in the gold union jack version in my cart, too, and since I love the red, white, and blue one I bought in April, I thought the gold version would go very nicely with the stitch detail dress above.  The other versions are also really nice, so if you haven't thought to check them out, I highly recommend them.

Okay, off to teach!  Have a lovely day!

P.S. Below this is the link to receive the additional 15% off $175 (or 10% off any amount below $175).
15% off when you spend $175 or more on Boden Maternity - 10% off when you spend under $175 plus free shipping.