Boden: Big Sale Time, Up to 40% Off!

Hi, all!  Happy Monday!

I knew that a sale was coming down the pike since I was physically mailed a sale flyer by Boden and emailed by the affiliate people this last Friday.  It is a good one and will last a week (although the flier stated a five day run, hmm), so you have some time to think about your purchases.  If there is something that is fairly popular, though, and it is at a good price, you may want to grab it earlier than later, especially if it is hovering in the pink "low stock" area right now.

As per usual with these sales that Boden has, some of the colors in some items will be far more greatly reduced than other colors of the same item.  The Fancy Embroidered A-Line, for instance, has three of the skirts at 10% off, but one of the shades, the black/white floral, is at 30% off.  Some items are at 40% off, and these are either the *very good sellers* from last season (yes, F/W 2013) or *not so good sellers* from the Spring 2014 season.  The F/W items are awesome and should be considered as they are well-rated and much loved by Boden fans, and even if not as useful now for most of us (although VA has NOT gotten the memo about spring, grrr).  One of my favorites from last year is at 40% off, the Smithfield Wool Skirt, and one of my favorite outfits of all time included that skirt (second outfit).

The Mid-Heel Wedge from this season is also a great buy, but you have to make sure to be spot on when ordering your size.  I had purchased the 40 and while it fit, it felt tight the first wearing.  Eventually I was able to break them in and the 40 fits great, but I can see why this pair of shoes has made it to 40% off, since I don't know if everyone is willing to give these a go if they feel too tight from the get-go.  The 41 would have been too loose everywhere, and the length would have been a touch too long.  I wrote a review of them (with photos--last outfit) here.

The Spring Eyelet Top is one that I hadn't even noticed, in preview or in the regular season, since they have it modeled in the navy and it disappears on the photo, but viewing "all colors" rather than "model," this pretty blouse immediately caught my eye.  It is at 30% off, and very well rated (4.4 of 5 stars).

Okay, that's all I have for now.  Sorry for my L-O-N-G absence.  All of us got very sick with the stomach "flu" last week and it took us a while to come back from it.  :-P  I did post on Facebook yesterday, so there is a recent photo of me (and my new hair and the Emily skirt) floating out there.  I also have a "made by me" post publishing today, so be on the lookout for that, too.

Have a great Monday morning and enjoy (sale) shopping!

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! 

Ireland: The Photos.

Well it has been *almost a year* since we went to Ireland, and because *life* got in my way, I never actually got around to publishing either of my intended Ireland posts, "The Photos," and "The Outfits."  So today I will publish the (ridiculous number of) photos and tomorrow I will publish the outfits (far fewer photos).  What better day to make amends for not publishing photos from Ireland than St. Patty's Day?  ;-)

What a better way to start this Irish journey than with Rex and a leprechaun?

Angus crawled into this window seat in a pub in Dublin.  Mr. Dina insisted I grab a photo even though I was all, "agh, he's going to open that window and fall out!"  He was just a year old here, so my fears were probably unfounded.

 

Some street in Dublin!

When Target announced they would carry Boots products in their stores all those years ago, I rejoiced.  Then I saw what they actually were carrying and realized I would still need to travel to the UK/Ireland to get my Badedas/Nivea fix every few years.  I have no idea why CW is sticking out her tongue.

St. Stephen's Green

Pigeons freaking CW out in St. Stephen's Green.

Wolfe Tone Statue at Entrance to St. Stephen's Green

Family being all crazy...

Of course Dublin would have a showing of something Mr. Dina would just love while we're there.

Even better for him it was literally right next door to our hotel.  This "One Man Star Wars Trilogy" may have been his favorite part of the trip.  Not mine, though, 'cause I don't care about Star Wars.

This drink in Belfast was not my most favorite part of the trip, but it was very very close...

You all might recognize the lovely Avril (she of School Gate Style), and isn't it nice to see her all dressed up enjoying fish and chips?  I did enjoy the fish and chips, too, but I looked far less glamorous, sadly, so I refuse to put up those photos.  LOL.  You will see more of Avril tomorrow, but here is a sneak peek from her blog (she writes her posts in a far more timely manner).

Rex loves this photo!

Enjoying the hills of the Giant's Causeway.

CW always finds a reason to pose...

My best friend from high school, M., declared that we basically were the Royal Tenenbaums after seeing this photo on facebook.

The Giant's Causeway is so insanely beautiful...this was my most favorite part of the trip.

I told Mr. Dina he looked like he was leading the charge like in his other favorite movie series, The Lord of the Ring.  Is anyone surprised that he liked that reference?  I of course loved being compared to Angelica Huston in the Royal Tenenbaums, so I have to be understanding.  ;-)

Yes, it appears that my children enjoy recreating the Houses of the Holy album cover, just a bit too cold to go butt-naked, however.

We liked this photo so much that it became our Christmas Card this year.

So cute!

He was just learning to walk here...

Last one, I promise, from the Giant's Causeway.

Street art in Kilkenny, Ireland.

CW liked the kitty in the sign.  Dude in the back looks confused.

Outside Kilkenny Castle

Almost inside Kilkenny Castle

On the Kilkenny Castle grounds...

Also on the grounds of the castle was a very cool playground.  Why don't they have swings like this in the United States?

And...outside Kilkenny Castle...again.

Bunratty Castle for their nightly festivities...

I can, with 100% certainty, assure you that CW is looking at her dress and plotting ways to get *me* to make her one.

Another family photo, hey! (And what may be my first--of many--glasses of mead.)

I have a stupid amount of photos where this exact set of faces is occurring.

Rex enjoyed being "jailed" far more than he should have...

The Bunratty singers are insanely good at their job, and they helped get us our food, too.  And a staggering amount of mead, which I have to admit I *may* have drunk a bit too much of.  I do recommend it, so take a look here if you are interested in attending yourself.

Evidence that I drank far too much mead.  I barely even noticed these people were staring at the creek, cameras ready.  I figured they were all were out for a night's walk.  Nope...not so much.  Apparently some dolphins made their way into the stream and these people were hoping for a look-see at one of them.  The dolphins should not have been there, so it was a really big deal.

If you squint and look to the right you will see poor Mr. Dina all sick and exhausted.  The day after our stay in Bunratty, he got some sort of stomach flu (not food poisoning as we first thought) and basically slept the next twenty-four hours.  So he missed his last day in Dublin.  In the world of "God is kind," I didn't get the stomach bug until after we had landed home.  So I spent twenty-four hours asleep and miserable after landing.  Better than both of us being out of commission with three small children in a foreign country, I suppose.  :-P

Okay, that's all!  I am sure that was enough for you all, lol.  Have a wonderful St. Patty's Day!