C is for Cashmere....(and cashmere is for me....)

Yes, I have kids but I remember Cookie Monster's song from when I was little.  Well...as a grown-up...today it was "c is for cashmere".  Fall has officially arrived - with cold and rain.  Down to the 40's tonight.  Yeeps.  We actually turned the heat on tonight and I gave our bed its usual fall makeover, swapping out the percale sheets and thermal blanket for flannel sheets, fuzzy blanket and a down quilt on top.  Yum...can't wait to go to bed tonight.

It was definitely a day where I was thankful that I do work from home, as I was hanging out in a big cozy sweatshirt.  And then tonight, I had a PTA chair dinner to attend, so cashmere was the only way to go.   Out came last winter's dark slate cashmere turtleneck (yes, I was that chilly, size M btw) plus black Minnies (8T) and black Born Lovely flats, and a stack full of bracelets - crystal shapes, gold link, crystal supernova.  It gave a little sparkle to the outfit.  (Any sparkle will do. It's a great base outfit for pretty much any kind of accessorizing.) 

Then some gold hoops and a ponytail and I was good to go.  Anyone else read the Percy Jackson series?  Yes, I am a 38-year-old woman and I like to read some juvenile fiction.  I say it's just because of the kids...  Anyway, in the 3rd or 4th book, where the author starts talking about the "Party Ponies"?  Always makes me think of this hairdo.  It's my party pony (in other words, my hair's been down all day and I need to do something different with it).

To recap the evening - lots of fun catching up with friends.  And I stayed cozy the whole time.  Success!  I may have to pick up another one this season.  I'm digging that heather cobblestone and heather saddle color.  Sigh, I know, more neutrals.  Maybe I need to swing over to the warm honey.  We'll see.  But it's late and I'm itching to crawl into my cozy bed.  Good night!

Polyvore from this evening:

10/4/10 by HeidiGblog featuring crystal bracelets

J Crew Cashmere Tie-Front Cardigan and well, a Crappy Cut

Quick outfit and review...J Crew Cashmere Tie-Front Cardigan (#18248, orig $198, curr $129.99, purchased with % off for just under $100, I believe).  Still available in black, heather nickel, heather natural, and heather gray.

I got this a month ago on one of the %-off sales, in an M, and in navy (duh).  I admit that I hadn't thought much about it, until dinagideon talked it up so much.  (Check her out rocking it most recently here. I believe she has it in the heather natural and black, and goodness knows what other colors.) And I don't really have any v-style cashmere cardis, so I got it on a whim just to see and figured I may end up returning it.  (Dina and I have very different figures even though we are close to the same height so things just fit us very differently - I'm a brick and she's a pear.)

But, lo and behold, I absolutely loved it, as she swore I would.  To me the biggest downside is that with the tie, you can't really go with a tie belt type coat.  So when I wore it today with my trench coat, I just left the coat open.  Hey, I was wearing cashmere...it kept me warm.

No pilling so far, and I've worn it about 3 times in the past month since I got it.  For cashmere in the spring with some of these super hot days we've had, I think that's pretty good (esp considering that it sat on a shelf for 2 weeks while I decided whether or not to keep it).  It's a great cashmere piece to have for fall or spring because the nature of the tie front is more open, so it's not as potentially hot as a full cashmere pullover would be. 

And because it's so open in the front, it is quite nice for showcasing a fab necklace, as I did today with my Anthropologie yellow beaded necklace from 2 summers ago.  I forget the name, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it on Polyvore when I started the PV habit last spring, 9 months after it came out.  It's also great for showing off some pretty detail on a cute tank or tee underneath. And I bet it will be great with my classic stripe tissue tee.

There have been differing opinions online about the sweater.  The always-fab Post-Fab Princess got in the light ginger, maybe?, and got a major bathrobe vibe.  Well, shoot, once you get that, there's no going back and you're gonna feel shlumpy every time you wear it.  I totally understand her viewpoint...but I actually felt the opposite of shlumpy.  You all know I love my big oversized sweaters, and I like that this did define my waist with the tie.  Plus, I think doing the tie in a bow makes it less bathrobesque...plus when it's just knotted, I feel like the ties are too long. 

To finish off the outfit, yellow Born Lovely flats (love me some yellow, navy, and white).  Matchy matchy with the shoes?  Meh, whatever, worked for me today.  And then a plain white perfect fit crewneck tee and some white jeans.  Springy for me.

Now...about the hair.  I know...it's rather wackadoodle.  Try to be kind.  I thought of cropping my head out, but didn't want to do that for the next 2 months.  Well see what happened was... 

Ok, the last person who cut my hair, I loved.  And I had been going to her for several years.  But when I showed up with E for our appointment this past December, she had completely blanked and wasn't home. No problem, I understand, she had a lot going on.  Happens to all of us.  A friend gave both of us a trim and I figured I'd call the next time.  Then when I tried calling twice this month to make an appointment, the first time she was closed through Easter, and then last week, she was closed for the next 10 days.  And I just couldn't wait any longer....  (serves me right)

So I got a referral from a friend and went to a new guy.  (Looking back, I realize that the 2 people I know who go to him have either mega-thick hair with a wave, or really curly hair.)  Note, when someone new cutting your hair says about 5 or 6 times, "wow, your hair really is straight" after convincing you to do layers to get more volume at the top and then starts texturizing it, that's a bad sign.  Plus he didn't really listen to my direction on my bangs - which I was REALLY happy with and I've been trimming for the past 4 months - they were perfect - keep them long and graduate from the middle outward so it's not a line straight across.  Well, they are just barely long enough and much straighter across than they should be.  Ok, that's not so bad - I need to be much more insistent on the bangs next time - and within a week, they'll be totally fine. 

But the texturizing!!!  Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!  It looked really cute after he spent 30 minutes blowdrying it and making all the ends bend the exact right way.  I actually was ok with the cut for the most part the day of (which was Friday). 

Then Saturday morning when I went to style it, I spent my usual 3 minutes with the round brush to bend under the bangs so they don't stick out and give the top few pieces a bit of lift and shape.  And oh it was tragic.  I know this hair style.  Mega shag.  And shaggy.  I had this hair style when I was 8.  That was back in 1979, and it was stylish then.  Not so much now, esp on a 38-year old woman.  Up into a ponytail it went.  (I will say that it looked really good in the ponytail with the layers.)  Did I mention I was doing this before an 8:00 am soccer game?  Yep, that's how the day started. 

Today, I tried out the hot rollers.  Darned if I'm going to spend 20 minutes with a frickin round brush and blowdryer - I don't have that much time in the morning.  At least with the hot rollers, you put them in and can do other things.  I think I left them in too long.  Crazy curl today.  Although E loved it and asked me to hot-roll her hair, too (which looked gorgeous on her).  I think my hair worked fine today IRL, when it could moved. But I really don't think it photographed well at all.

I am so utterly disappointed in this hair cut.  Clearly this guy is not good with uber-straight hair like mine.  It wasn't the layers so much as the texturizing.  You don't do that on superfine hair.  It's never a good idea.  And he was doing it before I could even stop it.  Plus, he did cut the layers shorter than he said he would. 

What do you do when you hate your hair cut?  You can cry...but that just gives you red, puffy eyes and makes you look worse - and you don't need that when you are starting out with bad hair anyway.  So, you suck it up and deal...try to find a way to make it work...and wait for it to grow.  That is, after all, the great thing about hair...it does grow back.  So you may see lots of ponytails or other experiments.

Question - with such a bad cut, do I even try it out again with a stronger mandate?  Or just cut my losses and go somewhere else?  And go ahead, tell me your awful hair cut stories...I know most of you have them, so that I can at least feel in good company. 

Oh yeah, by the way...Polyvore from today:

4/18/10 by HeidiGblog featuring Born shoes

Winnie Twinnies...and how is it that Dina & I always end up at J Crew?

First up...what color are Winnie Twinnies?  In my world...yellow.  Big, bold, bright yellow.  And why is that important?  Because tomorrow I am wearing yellow...and you may want to as well.  Tomorrow is Wear Yellow for Chelsea day (see Debye's very moving post on her blog Modestly Styled, Modestly Me) to honor the memory of Cheslea King who lived in Debye's community. Obviously our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with all dealing with the tragedy...but I really love the message in wearing yelllow - keeping the symbol of the light she brought to everyone.  Hug your loved ones close tonight.

(And on a totally shallow note...does anyone have a Polyvore sub for the in store J Crew vneck painter tee in bright citron?)

Now on to Winnie Twinnies...I met dinagideon and drewablank last Thursday at Tysons for a quick Starbucks lunch and some J Crew time to check out the new arrivals.  I'm trying to think if I actually got anything...oh wait, yes, one thing.  More on that below.  But it's always so fun to see them, esp before drewablank heads off on her fabilis trip back home to the Phillipines. 

The fun part was that dina & I were actually wearing our matching Winnie coats (since, you know, I kinda live in mine...) and of course, we had to get a picture...

Outfitwise, I once again wore my new men's half-zip cotton sweater (size M).  I am loving this sweater!!  And then the classic-stripe tissue tee (size M), Chicos Ultra Slim Leg jeans (size, 0.5, which always make me feel great), and the new J Crew crystal fireworks earrings (one of my 20% off purchases a few weeks ago).  The earrings are adorable - but they aren't small.  The only issue I have with them is that I can't do my usual "hold the phone between my ear & shoulder while I talk and do other things" trick.  Not that I really should be doing that anyway...it's bad for my chiro issues.  The fab AnneG was smart enough to suggest BlueTooth to me on PV...not quite realizing that I have seriously tiny ear canals - it's very weird - M has them too - but the vast majority of ear things don't actually fit in my ear.  

And it was such a yucky day from all the snow melt and dirt and mud, that I just threw on the pink rain boots.  I do love them with the yellow & navy.  And with cozy socks, they keep my feet quite warm.

Polyvore from last Thursday:

2/25/10 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Since hitting J Crew once a week with Dina isn't quite enough, we met up at the Montgomery Mall J Crew on Sunday morning for the crewcuts fashion show...with our mini-JCAs in tow.  The SA? Manager? at the B&M who was running the show pronounce my E as a dead ringer for Jenna Lyons...so her new name is now mini-Jenna.  (We did pick up a way cute dress for E - the tiptoe dress in heather aluminum- and headband.  Marvel at my restraint, please...)

What did I wear?  Remember I mentioned that I only got one thing when I met up with drewablank & Dina?  It was the CFDA Fashion for Haiti tee.  I had tried it on and hemmed & hawed earlier in the week.  Then I decided that I really did like it, and at least I could say it was going to a good cause...100% of profits to Haiti relief.  You can get the tee here on J Crew's website, or in store.  And as you probably know, lots of retailers are offering the tee.

Size-wise, I got the W1, which would equate to "Small" on the website - these are unisex sizes, folks. If that's too large for you, you can get the crewcuts version here (like dina did, in size 14, I believe; it's currently backordered, but only until 3/16 - not too shabby).  I love the graphic on the tee, not that you can really even see it here...And all I can say is that they must have pinned the daylights out of the model's tee in the online pic.

So for the fashion show, I wore the new Haiti tee with black Minnies (8), black cashmere cardigan (L), and a lime scarf from I don't even know how long ago.  Plus the black Born Lovely flats and some sparkly jewelry.  Very comfy and then very warm when E & I headed to the ice rink to meet Hubby & M for the kids' ice skating lessons.

Polyvore from Sunday:

New Haiti Tee by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

But I think Dina and I need a new hobby.  When she stopped by her regular B&M yesterday with Rex, he asked "Where's Miss Heidi?"  And I share that with you in hopes that you'll enjoy it a bit and it will add a little lightness to your day since Hubby just wouldn't appreciate it so much if I shared it with him.  Knitting anyone????

The DC JCAs Go Legal

Saturday night, a group of DC JCAs decided to gather for dinner, even though it was technically a few days before the next JC release. Plus it was Slastena's birthday (see her post here - I feel honored to be a part of the best birthday ever). And we do love to celebrate...

Let me say, first of all, major kudos to Legal Seafood at Tysons Galleria. I love them anyway because they have the best rolls and they are the *only* place around here where I can reliably find steamer clams on a regular basis - and they are probably my fave seafood ever from years of eating them at the Lake in CT when we would visit my grandparents. It was the Friday night standard...steamers out on the big picnic table, overlooking the lake.

But back to Legal...we had originally planned to meet at Coastal Flats at regular Tysons until I called and the hostess told me that they can't accommodate a party of 9 at 1 table. So we pretty much switched to Legal at the 11th hour. When Rosa and I got there at 4:30, they were able to give us a table for 9 at 5:00, our meeting time. Then, when Slastena arrived with 2 more friends in tow, they expanded our table - graciously and smoothly and without complaint.

Summerilla needed to be gluten-free. Not only did they have a gluten-free menu, they had gluten-free rolls, the manager served her food personally just to assure there was no cross-contamination, and she even had gluten-free croutons on her Caesar salad. (See her post for pics.)

Then Cleo had some issues with her fish being overdone, and they were actually, *gasp*, interested and concerned. Speaking of Cleo, she (finally) just started her own blog, which we are all very excited about. Check out Trousseau Adventures here.

And at the end of dinner....the checks...yes, I just said "checks." With an "s" at the end. The waitress, without us asking, gave us all separate checks (except for me & dinagideon, since we split the Dover sole). How easy for us!!!

So again, not to fawn too much over the restaurant, but steamers & rolls aside, that was one of the best customer experiences I've had in a while. Bravo! I'll definitely be back.

Outfit-wise...charcoal cashmere turtleneck, black TALL Minnies (how I adore thee), gray fireball beaded necklace (aka the Ugly Betty necklace), gray beaded bracelet, clementine pearl garden bracelet, and Born Lovely flats. Comfy outfit for the evening. And blah, blah, blah...back to the outing.

And what JCA meal is complete without a little shopping? After dinner, we headed right across the hall to J Crew, natch. Once in, dinagideon spied the Crystal Rock Necklace discussed, I mean dissed, on the mothership last week. (#26074, $128) Well, of course she had to try it on. Not only were the proportions *perfect* on her frame, but the colors were absolutely gorgeous with her outfit. Simply stunning in person, the picture doesn't even do it justice. Granted, if we put this on darling, petite Rosa, she might have tipped over. But don't let me talk you into it...dinagideon is hoping you stay far, far away so that this necklace will go on sale and she can scoop it up for a deal. Now shoo...all of you.

The canvas shopping totes were hot items for purchase this time. Me? I picked up an Anthropologie top on sale that I tried on when Rosa and I popped in there before dinner.

And of course, there's always time for a group picture after shopping...

From left, Cleo, Kelly, Rosa in DC, 3-Penny Princess, dinagideon, me, Summerilla, Drewablank.

Thanks for a great evening, ladies!!

Polyvore from Saturday:

02/20/10 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

And Why Am I Looking at Spring Shoes Again???

Did you enjoy the game last night? And if you don't really care about football, did you at least have some yummy snacks and good company? I was happy the Saints won, but admittedly that paled in comparison to the fact that hubby and I won $60 from the squares game since he successfully picke squares for the ending scores at the 1st, 3rd & 4th quarter. Go random!! And he successfully recouped his $20 investment, while I managed to snag the net of $40. Yay me...you can guess where that's going...

But speaking of football, I wanted to refer you Saints fans and Francophiles over to a blog that my friend snaphappy referred me to - Simply Southern - where she has a history 101 lesson on the fleur de lis. And it's just a fun blog to read - lots of fun events posts and great quotes - esp this one from Phyllis Diller that she posted yesterday:

The reason women don't play football is because eleven of them would never wear the same outfit in public. (hehehe, don't you love it?)

So...I'm sitting here at the computer, just cracking up...and the source of my midday mirth is not the usual afternoon viewing of peopleofwalmart.com, but the continually updating Winter Storm Warnings. After getting 27" of snow in my front yard this past weekend as part of the DC Snowpacolypse, we are now expecting...wait for it...10-20" of snow Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon. First it was going to be a few inches, then yesterday afternoon, it bumped up to 5"+, then this morning, 5-10", and now this. Oy....

Since when did the prospect of 10" of snow make DC blase? Seriously? Hubby is so done with the snow. I don't blame him - he commutes (worked from home today, though). And he does the lion's share of the manual labor. I do shovel, though. However, if it's the weekend, like with this snow, he does most of it because he's here.

But if you want to smile, here's my fave pic from this weekend of Lucy racing down the hill behind the pool where we were sledding yesterday:

But enough about the snow...at least until I get the pictures formatted...and to keep you entertained until then, I have two new shoe purchases to share...

Long-time readers probably remember me whining about my favorite Isaac Mizrahi sandals from Target - the Liz gladiator sandal in bronze snake. I have gone through 2 pairs of these. They go with literally everything and are so comfortable to boot. (pun...hehehe) Anyway, if I had realized that Isaac was jumping ship to Liz Claiborne, I would have stockpiled that sandal. No such luck, and I baby my last pair, only wearing them when I really really really want to and nothing else matches an outfit, because like I said, they do go with everything.

And then last Saturday (previous weekend, the one with just a few inches, not feet, of snow), I was wandering around Target to grab a couple of birthday presents for M&E for parties they were going to on Sunday. As I was by my little old self, I wandered around the shoes, just browsing...and what in the world did I see there but an almost exact duplicate for my beloved Liz sandals???? This is the Elyssa sandal by Merona Collection ($19.99). (and yes, that's me who wrote the current 1 review)

At left, below, is the new Elyssa sandal, at right is the old Liz sandal.

Before I get to the shoe comparison, a few points:

1 - Liz and Elyssa. I'm suuuuure it's just a coincidence that the names are sooooo similar. (Oh, was that sarcastic? Sorry. Maybe they were just trying to make it easy for me.)

2 - I know there has been a lot of discussion in the blogosphere about the Merona Collection taking the literal and metaphorical place of the Target Isaac Mizrahi line. This seals the deal for me. No question about it.

3 - My pedi polish is OPI You Don't Know Jacques from the 2008 Fall/Winter Collection. One of my all time faves and may actually be the first colored polish that necessitates me buying a new bottle because I've used so much (you know me, I'm all about the polish).

I didn't get the sandals that Saturday because it was actually snowing outside. I did, however, get them the very next day when I was there killing time while E was at one of the parties. (wasn't actually snowing then) Ironically, the oh so kind, generous, and clearly eagle-eyed jmpb of Polyvore Pictures, who also was sent me an email last week alerting me to the sandals at Target. I love you, jmpb - you are awesome!

Details on the shoe - it's also available in silver metallic and black, both with silver accents (the buckle & the little ring over the toes where the straps meet. However, it appears that the silver and black may only be available online. I took my regular size, a 9. It has padding in the sole. The straps may look thin, but don't seem to rub at all or be too tight - however, because of the 3 straps spread around the front of the foot, the sandal is nicely fitted and doesn't slide around. Lazy me, this is important - but like the IM version, the heel strap is just loose enough so that you can juuuuust stretch it over your hell without having to unbuckle. (Yes, I do look for that in ALL my sandals.)

The only real difference I can see between the 2 sandals is the footbed. Instead of the bronze footbed that matched the straps (and hid dirt), the new sandal has a Vachetta-ish footbed with stitching around the outside. I can't vouch for total comfort since I haven't actually worn them around much, but initial trials give them a total thumbs up. And even if they don't work for full-day wear, they are still more supportive than my JC Danielles.

Polyvore with stock photo comparison:

Happy Feet by HeidiGblog featuring Isaac Mizrahi shoes

And onto the next shoe...the Born Lovely Flat ($84.95, available at Nordstrom). No really, that's its name. And lovely it is.

I had been eyeing these flats ever since I got an email featuring them. They are available in black, pink, yellow, and green (see Polyvore at bottom). And a huge thank you to Erin for reminding me that they are available in silver also (separate listing on Nordstrom.com here but same price).

And I am perfectly happy to pay $84.95 for them. (yes, another case of full price love - I don't count Target shoes as full price since they're so cheap to begin with...and I say that with love.)

I love ballet flats...as you probably realize from the fact that I wear them all the time and that I have them all over my blog header. But no, they aren't terribly supportive - whether they are from Target or J Crew. Usually I get around that with a trusty gel insole.

However, these ballet flats...from Born...they're as comfy and as supportive as you would expect. They are so comfy that I even wore them around town running errands last Friday morning as the Snowpacolypse was starting because I wanted to wear them just one more time before boot-weather set in again. My feet sing when I wear them. Not only are they supportive - but they are soft - the leather is so soft...as soft as my Selby bag.

I took a size 9 and they fit very well. You may want to considering sizing down a 1/2 size (per the advice in the Nordstrom reviews). If you are used to JC shoes, definitely size down.

My only issue with these shoes was what color or colors to get. For starters, don't shoot me for getting them in black. My current pair of soft leather plus gel insole Target black flats are just done. They need to go bye-bye. So I really did need a pair of black. My issue here is color. I decided to get a 2nd pair of flats with a little bit of birthday money from my inlaws, which had been patiently camping out in my wallet.

I decided to get the yellow, thinking that it would be a really great lighter neutral-ish color to wear with pretty much any other color. The question then is does the yellow work with my skintone or fight with it? Should I get the pink or green instead, realizing that neither is quite as versatile. Still chewing this one over in my brain, folks.

Polyvore with all the pretty pretty colors.

Born 'Lovely' Flat by HeidiGblog featuring Born flats