Short Sleeve Cardis This Week

Catching up... let's start with 2 outfits this week - both with short sleeve cardis. Here's today's outfit - the new linen short sleeve cardi that I got at the Tysons JCA event and my new (totally on sale) cafe capris in golden hickory. I am very glad I kept these capris, they are such a fun, offbeat color for a neutral. This cardi is going to be such a fantastic transition piece; right now it's perfect for going over all the tissue bf tees that I have...and today it was a white one. Plus the confetti necklace for more white/cream tonal...whatever. Eh, I felt like wearing it. And I have on my JC fleur de lis flip flops from 2007, I think, which happen to match the pants perfectly.

Yes, me, wearing flip flops and my feet miss being strapped in, especially when I walk Lucy. I am recovering from some major blistering on the back of my left heel that I got Tuesday and then exacerbated yesterday...so flip flops for a few days. Of course, most of my JC flip flops are a couple of years old, so not to be found in PV. No worries, I'll just have barefoot PV sets for a few days.

Polyvore for today:

Wearing Today-9/3/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Here's the other short sleeve cardigan, from Tuesday. I wore my nave blue one with a white shirt underneath. I liked how it worked. A little something different. I paired this cardi with a long sleeve white tee last spring, but hadn't done it with a shirt.

Add in simple matchstick jeans and Danielle flats, plus fireball necklace.

I *started* the day with my Clarks pink peep toes - they started the blister, which yesterday's pre-flip-flop shoes exacerbated. The things we do to ourselves, ugh. Maybe I just need to start buying expensive shoes.

New nail polish on toes - Give Me Moor. Need to post this one - fun color! perfect for fall.

Polyvore from Tuesday:

Wearing Today-9/1/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

I only have 2 short sleeve cardis, so that's it for this post. And I promise to get nail color pics up soon.

As Seen On TV...Outfit Inspired by the Disney Channel

So when you are a 37-year-old mom, it's always fun to be watching TV with your 2 cute kiddies...Disney Channel...Jonas, and go "I have that shirt!" Yep, sure enough, on the "Love Sick" episode on Jonas, Stella Malone (played by Chelsea Staub) has on the J Crew Bon Voyage tee.


(photo credit to jonasbrothersdaily.com - thank you, I felt the need to prove it)

Gotta say - not loving the cardi with it so much. But love love love Stella on the show. Not that I watch it *that* often. Oh wait, who am I kidding? I have a 7 y.o. daughter and 9 y.o. son - Disney and Nick are on all the time. I mean, not all the time, but when it is on, it is often on those 2 channels. I still can't stand Fairly Oddparents and try to prevent that one whenever possible - gotta pick your battles.

So here I am wearing Stella's shirt. Not sure if this gives me any street cred with the early elementary crowd, but a mom's got to do what she can. Now if I went out and bought the tee *after* seeing the show - that would be lame.

Honestly, though, seeing it last night (JoBro marathon, how lucky am I?) reminded me that I hadn't worn it in a while - well you know, it's been hot, sundresses have been the rule of the day. So I decided to pull it out of the tshirt pile and give it a go today.

With a pair of rolled up khakis, Danielle sandals, and the Dina hoops. This is the last weekend before the weekend before school starts. So the kids got to stay up late, we're chilling out...and DC JCA Tysons shopping event tomorrow - so looking forward to it - I haven't been in a B&M since July and I can't wait to see all the fab JCAs.

Still have to figure out what to wear, but it's pretty much going to involve cafe capris, bf tissue tee or rose tee, and cardi (Jackie or otherwise). Not too much jewelry, nothing too fancy because tomorrow is about serious shopping - and some major trying on, so it has to be easy in & out - but also have the basics to see how everything works with the capris, with the bf tissue tee, etc. Wish me luck!

Polyvore from today:




Wearing Today-8/22/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Harbour Oxford Capris, Some Sewing To Do, and the Ponytail Trick

Let's get right to my outfit for today so I can get on to the other parts. Harbour Oxford Capris (love these - so summery!!), white bf tissue tee, and Danielle sandals. Fireball necklace and rope rose-gold bracelet. I felt very pastel today.

E had a follow up doctors appointment for some warts on her hand, poor thing. But that gave us an excuse to stay home from the pool today, so I got my laundry room cleaned out and organized. Oh, I've been dying to tackle this project and it looks so nice now. All the nicely, neatly organized shelves... Lots of stuff cleaned out. Hubby needs to go through the baseball hats and golf towels, and then we are 100% done. Yay!

That left me a bit of time for some sewing work this afternoon. Specifically the harbour oxford capris from today and my linen-cotton seaside pants. Both of them fit when I first put them on, but after about an hour (or less), they start slipping and give me saggy butt. Solution - sew a couple of darts in the back waistband so they stay up. (Seriously, you didn't think I was actually going to wear a belt, did you??) And since I plan to wear them with tees, shirts, sweaters untucked, it's a good interim solution. But what I really need to do is to stop trying on the size 10 pants...unless something is really TTS or not vanity-sized, I think I actually need to size down at this point. (Yes, I hear you cheering, Dina.) Although, in my defense, I did purchase the seaside pants back in April, pre-most of the weight loss. The harbour oxfords...well, they fit when I first put them on.

And here's the ponytail trick... I read this in one of the August or September magazines over the past 2 weeks. (August mags at the beach, September mags at the river the following week. We need to have a magazing talk, but I'm not there yet.) Anyway, I can't remember which magazine had it, but it was the Chris McMillan column - to get the messy/full ponytail look - put in a low ponytail, divide in half, and pull on 1 half with each hand. This will tighten up the middle & side pieces but leave the top pieces fuller. I've been trying this out (and did today as well, not sure if you can even tell), and it does work pretty well. I've used it to move the ponytail a little higher up to get a bit more fullness at the top. Have at it and have fun!

Polyvore for today:

Wearing Today-8/18/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Confetti + BF + Danielle = Fun!

So you all know what a huge fan I am of the J Crew tissue boyfriend tee. (Did you see plum raisin for fall? Squee, love!) And I love my new Confetti necklace. So imagine my glee when I was looking though some old JC pics and, duh, realized that the previous online pic of the v-neck tissue boyfriend tee shows it paired with the champagne quartz confetti necklace. Fun fun fun! And interestingly enough, I seem to toss on the confetti necklace every time I put on a bf tee lately. They are such a perfect pair - the necklace gives you big bang in terms of statement, but it's still lighthearted & casual from the beads kinda going their own way. And the bf tee is really perfect backdrop for any necklace. And I realized that I wore the Danielle sandals with both outfits, but I think they work nicely with the necklace.

Last Monday, I went with the navy tee. I love this color. Well, I love navy in general, but I really love it in this tee. And I loved it with loose linen trousers (Chicos, Summer 08). And um, yes, these pants are too big for me since I lost the weight, as I bought them in September last year. Maybe I need to take in a few darts at the waist like the linen seaside pants? Or just pony up and actually get a pair of pants that fit? That's honestly the issue - the 2 pairs of pants that fit me best right now (outside of jeans) are both J Crew purchases this season - the Harbour Oxford Capris and the black cafe capris. I think I need to invest in some new pants for next spring/summer.

Polyvore from last Monday:


Wearing Today-7/20/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

And speaking of the black cafe capris...this past Monday...um yeah, that was yesterday. Anyway, I popped into the office to meet with a co-worker for a few hours. (Some things are so much easier to do in person!) Easy outfit - bf tissue tee, this time in shell, the black cafe capris, confetti necklace to dress up the tee, Danielles because they are so cute, and Dina hoops. This was my 2nd outing of the cafe capris (still haven't posted 1st one, sorry) and I love love love them. I feel so skinny in them. I feel like Audrey Hepburn. I love them with a simple little tee and I can't wait to wear them with sweaters in the fall.

Polyvore from this Monday (yesterday):

Wearing Today-7/27/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Summer Fun

Lots of summer fun for you today. I had 2 mini-deadlines for work, both of which were for today, and was done by 1:30 pm - yay! So I am posting again, and will get to comments on the last post, I swear.

First up...flip flops! My friend, Laura, came over yesterday afternoon to trim M's hair (she's a lady of many talents) - he's growing it out - very Zac Efron-ish - but it needed some evening up in the back. And as soon as she walked in the door, I practically pounced on her shoes - check out these adorable flip flops she got from the Crewlet (Leesburg). Love the gray. Love the flower. Love it all. I may actually start wearing flip flops again if I can snag a pair of these. And check out her cute toenails, sporting OPI Hearts & Tarts (from the Spring 2007 SoftShades Garden Party collection - I think I have this one also, but my fave from that collection is Just Tea-sing, which I was wearing up until yesterday on my fingers). Anyway...admire her cute feet.

Ok, did you admire? She wears a size 10, folks, and if those flip flops can make her feet look cute, dainty, and petite, imagine what they can do for yours. (I think it's a 10, it could be an 11. I'm a size 9 so I am totally a member of the big-feet club, too.) Anyway, rush to the Crewlet, you all need a pair of these in your closet.

Next bit of summer fun - as a work-break yesterday, I made some gazpacho. I love gazpacho! This is my recipe - it's actually from one of my mom's Richmond cookbooks, and it always turns out great, no matter what I switch out.

Super Fantastic Gazpacho

2 tsp chopped chives
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
½ cup tarragon vinegar (can substitute white wine vinegar)
3 cups tomato juice or V-8 (I use low-sodium V-8)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups chopped fresh tomato
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1 ½ cups chopped cucumber

Mix all ingredients. Pulse in blender/food processor for finer chop (which I always do). Refrigerate.

Serves 10.

My chef notes - I don't really measure anymore, I just use these as guidelines. Yesterday when I made it - I used 2 cans of petite diced tomatoes, drained, since the ones in the produce section aren't great yet (plus the cans were cheaper), I used a mix of grilled red onion/yellow & orange peppers/cherry tomatoes left over from Sunday night kebabs, and I was totally out of onion, so I added the rest of the red onion and lets some dried minced onion soak in the vinegar to reconstitute before I made it. Like I said, it's really foolproof. (and ummmmm, you can also dip chips into it, not that I would *ever* reduce the health benefits by treating it like salsa...)

So yesterday, I spent the kids' camp time working like crazy (and stayed up past midnight) and my Polyvore set is below. It really wasn't worth taking a picture for you, trust me. Summer fun includes hanging out and being casual - and dressing to take your puppy for a long walk (I wore sneakers for that, duh).

Wearing Today-7/14/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

And then today's outfit. Hot summer day - not that I can complain, it's still way more temperate than our summers usually are. But it was warm, so a perfect day for the dressy jersey strapless dress. Now, I love this dress, but do you wonder why J Crew refers to some of their dresses as "dressy"? The dressy jersey ruffle sleeve dress, the dressy jersey strapless dress, and so on. My search for "dressy dress" on JC turned up 6. Seriously. Are they going to carry "crappy dresses" too? Just wondering...

But anyway, paired with Danielles and some gold & rose gold jewelry - easy, breezy, cool. What more can I say? The dress is still $29.99 on sale in store and online, snatch one up (it will work with Laura's flip flops, I swear!)

Polyvore for today:

Wearing Today-7/15/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

And a HUGE Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl, E, who turns 7 today!!

Yesterday's Wears + Some New J Crew Items...featuring Stripes!

What a weird weather day yesterday. And today is even stranger. I can tell you right now that it is doubtful I will be posting today's outfit as I sit here in grubby sweats and haven't even showered. (go ahead, say it, ewwwwww) Don't worry, I will clean up, but right now I am trying to do this post in the midst of all the laundry.

Update: Just realized I totally neglected titling my post. Like I said, midst of laundry...

See, tomorrow the kids, puppy, and I are headed up to my grandmother's Lake house in CT along with my parents. They'll leave next Thurs and hubby will come up through the following Mon. It's actually my mom's house now, since my grandmother passed away this past fall. I'll post some pics while I'm there - it's such a fun place. But today I am doing laundry and packing, along with actual work...oh yeah, and the kids are home today.

But this is what I was wearing yesterday. Shorts are J Crew from Spring 2006 that I didn't even put on last summer - and they fit, yay! I was curious how long the white shirt would last, but it lasted through work, errands (including J Crew below), and even survived a popsicle on the way home from the bus stop.

Wearing Today-6/16/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

But by the time I took M to an afternoon birthday party, I realized I would need to change since it had gotten windier and chillier. So this is the Polyvore for the rest of the day, which was E's last soccer game and pizza & s'mores at friends' to celebrate the last day of school. But I did at least keep all the accessories, including Danielles (again - so glad I kept these!), and just went with white tee, jeans, and cream sweater jacket. Yes, it was that chilly last night - so glad I had a sweater!!

Wearing Later in the Day-06/16/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

And then on to the J Crew purchases yesterday. Note that these are the *exact* same shorts and shoes in the above pics. I was not styling here, just throwing new tops on over what I already was wearing.

First of all, not that you need a picture, you've seen it ad nauseum a million times before, but all the vneck boyfriend tissue tees are on sale for $15 in store. All of them. Time to stock up, fellow bf tissue cult members. Surprisingly, I only picked up the white one. I may get a gray one, too. But yep, just one.

Then we have the Baby Rib Stripe Boatneck (not online) that 3-Penny Princess posted and J'Adore These Stores posted already. The top is $29.50, and is also available in white/light gray stripe. I love this top. I feel very chic, very Paris, in it. The biggest issue for me is that I like the ability to wear a cami or tank underneath to smooth a bit, but the neck is really wide. (I know, boatneck, duh.) With a cami, it just looks like bra straps to me. So I opted for a tank. I am actually still trying to decide if I am going to keep this or not. I would love it with a cute skirt, shorts, jeans, white jeans, khakis, the red ON pants that I never got that Gigi has. Lots of options. Under my navy Atelier jacket. But I don't know that I love it as much in the pics as I did seeing it in person, so I'm on the fence. Please feel free to weigh in here.

Next, the Striped Heavy Ringspun Cardigan (#16283 per the catalog, also not online, except in solid, striped is $49.50). I got the navy/white stripe. And I am totally blanking on the other stripes - there was gray and white, which is in the new July catalog, page 33, but I don't remember if there were any other in-store . But I literally saw it when I was about to check out and ran over to grab one and try it on. I got the M, and like the fit. In fact, I like the fit of this one on me better than the boatneck tee - although yes, I realize they are 2 totally different styles of top. But I am definitely keeping this one and packing it for CT whereas the boatneck may stay here. (Or it may go, since Danbury Fair Mall does have a J Crew.) Back to *this*top - the sleeves are 3/4 and the length is long. I could very easily layer a real tee or just a cami/tank. I think it will work with skirts, jeans, shorts, khakis...yeah pretty much everything the boatneck works with, but on a more casual level.

And finally, I have joined the club, I now have a Rumpled French Terry Cardigan. I didn't like the fit of this one as much as the Library Shawl Cardigan. But, at $19.99, it works for me! And I can shrink the L in the dryer a bit. The M was too short in the sleeves. And I even gave you the more from the front, less flattering pic, but I still like it. Not sure if it will make it into the mega-loads of laundry today, so shrinkage may have to wait. But this will be perfect for CT this week!

So that was my fun last-day-of-school-for-the-kids outing at J Crew. (AT Loft outing to be covered in another post)

And the summer begins...with loads of laundry. (short term pain, long term gain)

Lots of Shoes - plus More Havaianas Info, by Request

Ok, I'll start out with the Havaianas since at least 2 of you commented about them a couple of posts ago. First of all, these are not the regular Havaianas flip flops. Granted, their flip flops are pretty fab. And quite famous among the model/actress set. They are made of a softer rubber than most flip flops and don't streteh or lose their shape, and the toe piece is more comfortable. Or so I've heard because I don't actually have a pair of the regular flip flops.

What I do have is the "Fit" flip flop, which retails for $30. The key with this one, and where it differs from other flip flops is that it has the strap that goes around the back and that makes it so so so much better for your foot. You've heard that flip flops are the bane of podiatrists in the summer, right? (Or biggest business generator.) Now, I love flip flops as much as the next girl - esp the J Crew ones which are so insanely comfortable. But I found that by limiting my flip flop wear last summer - really just trading them in for flat sandals with a back strap, even without much support, did so much to help my feet. Considering the foot surgery my mom had last spring, I was understandably spooked as bad feet run strong along the maternal line in my family.

Here's the IRL pic on my feet. And I can vouch that they are really comfy to wear. These will be my go-to beach, pool, river, chill out, hang out shoe for summer. They come in black and the sand gray/golden (tan-ish). I love the tan-ish, and I think it works with silver or gold just fine. Again, I highly recommend. If you have specific questions on them, please let me know.

I got a few other pairs of shoes last week that I wanted to discuss. First of all, let's start with the J Crew patterned fabric and grosgrain flip-flops (#67243, $12.99 in store). I love the constellation print and the ribbon. But I may take these back. I was primarily thinking that these would be perfect for 4th of July with the navy jersey dressy strapless dress...and then thought about it and realized that I would still probably wear the Havaianas, esp if we are doing a lot of walking around, as we tend to do in Reedville for the town's Independence Day celebration. I love small town holidays, they are the best - we always go to the River for the 4th. So, in spite of the excellent price, I think these are going back as I just don't need them. And seriously, the pile of other JC flip flops I have that I don't wear very often - it's sinful. If I really want some JC flops for the 4th, I have the really cute ones from 2 years ago (I think), that were blue/white strip with rosy red sailboats.

Other pair of shoes from JC are these...the Danielle sandal, which are sold out on the website. I got these for $59.99 at Tysons in the warm blush. I am still a little iffy on these as the foot bed is just flat and not padded at all, but the straps are really comfy and I can actually pull the ankle strap over my heel without unbuckling - and as lazy as I am, that's always a big plus for any sandal. (Yes, all the sandals you see me wear do that. I have yet to find a sandal that I love enough to re-buckle and un-buckle every time I wear them.) If anyone has any info on the comfort of these, I would love to hear.

The 3rd pair of shoes I got last week are the Target Xhilaration Tayler Flat Sandals in champagne ($16.99). I think these would be a really great neutral shoe for summer, especially with the recent demise of the Samala peep toes, but I'm wondering if I really need it, since I have the Havaianas and the Danielles above, assuming I keep them. Of course, I love how I'm going through all this, and the 2 pairs of shoes I am thinking of returning are, of course, the 2 least expensive.

And then just for nostalgia...these are the beloved Liz Gladiator sandals by Isaac Mizrahi for Target from last summer. I lived in these in the bronze and the black last summer. Not a ton of cushioning and support, but super comfy since they stay on the foot so well. I had even re-ordered the black ones mid-summer since I wore mine to death. Wish I'd known about Isaac jumping ship so that I could have stocked up. Sniff, sniff, miss you at Target, Isaac! Your shoes were the best!

Thoughts on the shoe story?

And then, I haven't had a chance to post the outfit on Friday that inspired the whole shoe discussion (yeah, I've been meaning to post on this since then...) It was our last day of chilly rain. I liked Thursday's outfit so much (library shawl cardi, jeans, white tee) that I pretty much replicated it on Friday. I do find that the library shawl and the beechwood Michelle cardi are pretty much interchangeable in most outfits - Thursday and Friday included. I was at home on conference calls most of the day, so comfort (and warmth) were key. Of course, I started out the day with my garden clogs for taking kids to the bus and then walking Lucy. I swapped out for the Havaianas for the rest of the day. And since we're on shoes...I have to show you the clogs. You know I'll never show you me in the gardening overalls, so this is as close as it gets.

Polyvore for Friday (PV didn't have grubby old beat up clogs, hehehe):

Wearing Today - 6/5/09 by HeidiGblog featuring Havaianas shoes

Ok, time to start comment-responding and blog-reading...