Memorial Day Weekend Review

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day. I wish I could be eloquent, but instead I will direct you to Lula Mae's post and Joyce's post about the holiday. So well said. Thank you, ladies.

We started with work-day on Saturday to get things picked up, organized, and set up for M's birthday party here at the house on Sunday. Once all the sweaty work was done, we hit the pool because hello, opening day and it's actually not thunderstorming or 65 degrees.

Post-pool, I actually got dressed in normal clothes. It was hot, hot, hot, so a definite day for the white gauze skirt and a Target boyfriend tissue tee - flamingo that day. Hair up, Dina hoops, fireball necklace...good to go.

And can I tell you how much I am loving my Havaianas Fit flip flops? Because the strap holds the back on so it's much less strain on your feet. Yay, happy feet! My mom got a pair a couple of weeks ago per my suggestion and I ordered a pair for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. Just trying to spread the joy here, folks.

Polyvore for Friday:

Wearing Today-5/23/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

In other exciting (to me) news...Lucy turned 5 months old on Friday. She is just over 30 pounds, so I guess we are halfway to her projected adult weight of 60-65 pounds. And I think she's teething because she has developed a new love for everyone's shoes in the last couple of weeks. She will try to pick up my sandals right in front of me to go chew on. The only casualty so far is a pair of E's sparkly pink flip flops from last summer that needed to be tossed anyway. (thank you, Lucy!) And we have birthday pics...trying to get her in front of the peonies that managed to survive her daily presence. (the secret was the 3 little coated wire panels of fencing that allowed them to grow just high enough and kept her from jumping directly on them)

And this one is "is she done yet? can I go now, please?"

Sunday was M's party and well... we were just too busy and I didn't get pics. Outfit wasn't too exciting - but did include the new Gap outlet khaki shorts which were way comfy. I'll get a pic of them soon, I think. But the party was a blast - we had an backyard splash party with 2 slip-n-slides and a huge inflatable pool. Great for a group of 8 & 9 year old boys. M loved it. And then friends invited us over for dinner so, yay! we didn't have to cook.

For dinner, I wore a cute little black knit shift dress from AT Loft last summer. So comfy & easy. Flat black sandals, silver hoops & cuff, I'm good to go! It's practically mindless dressing. No Polyvore since the dress isn't on PV and I actually couldn't find a great stand in. But I paired it with a lavender Jackie later when it got cold.

And since I couldn't Polyvore the outfit, here is my dress pic for future Polyvores: (just scroll on down, sorry)

And pic of the sliver cuff. It's Silpada, but a discontinued piece. I love it. (polyvoring this one, too, sorry, scroll along) (And guess what? Now I can Polyvore Sunday night's outfit! It is a sickness, really it is.)

And, blissfully, no plans today. We did some yard work to clean up from the party and take care of a plum tree that hubby had to chop down last weekend while I was away (long story) that was sitting out back behind the fence just waiting for us to break it all down. So we have 2 bags of yard waste for the recycle truck on Thursday and a pile of wood to use in the outdoor fireplace.

Never mind the corner of the yard where he chopped down the tree that I need to re-landscape or re-configure or re-something. I know it needed to be done, but still...

So today's outfit incorporates my version of Summer Sweats - the C9 running skort from Target. It's cute, it's comfy, it's cool. Works with just about any tee or tank. My sister and her friends actually get these for tennis. I love it for walking or the occasional jog, since I have actually started doing just a little jogging with Lucy - I despise it, but she loves it.

Skort with BF tissue tee, cami, and the french terry double zip hoodie (which was perfect after the rain when it cooled down), and the Havaianas. A relaxing outfit for a relaxing day. I feel very lifeguard-y in this outfit.

We grilled pizzas for dinner. On the grill. We each made our own. (Did I mention what a fantastic cook hubby is? Makes his own dough, since clearly I'm not going to.) I made my knockoff of a pizza that Fat Tony's here has - the Pizza Gina - crust, sauce, mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, goat cheese, and pesto. Of course, I can only think of the fab John Candy/Dan Akroyd flick, The Great Outdoors, whenever I think about goat cheese pizza - but that is one of my fave flicks.

Polyvore for Monday:

Wearing Today-5/25/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Today's Outfit and the First Set of JCA Outing Purchase Reviews

What a pretty day we had here. Sunny and 60 degrees. Ok, I spent part of the morning in sweats after taking Lucy for a seriously long walk after the bus stop and then had to get some work done. But when I finally did get officially dressed for the day, she passed out on the bathroom floor (for any new readers - this is my 3-month-old Labradoodle puppy, so it's ok), so I had a little time to do some quick try-ons of my DC JCA Shopping event purchases.

First of all - the outfit for the day. I was dying to try out my new Canvas Atelier Jacket (#13105, orig $148, curr $89.99). Remember I had my 25% crewpon (thank you, Gigi for the terminology), plus I got a J Crew card, so I got an additional 10% off - which together worked out to be about 33% off. End price $$60.76. Yippeeee! I really needed a nice spring/summer jacket. I anticipate wearing this one a lot. I added some turquoise beads for color (they were my grandmother's) along with my basic white tee and jeans. But the beauty of the outfit is how quickly I was able to swap jacket & shoes for hoodie and crocs for E's soccer practice - bringing Lucy and tramping about in the woods next to the park.

Here is my Polyvore: (Fun stuff! Love Polyvore.)

3/31/09-Out and At Soccer by HeidiGblog featuring Crocs flat shoes


And on to the other items...

Don't have a heart attack. This might be a little too exciting for you... Ok, I know, so boring, but so basic, and necessary. (basically awesome, I say) I went ahead and got a Boyfriend Tissue V-neck Tee in white (#11657, $29.50 online, but $19.50 in store). I know it's sheer, but I'll be wearing a cami or tank underneath anyway. Have I mentioned in the last 5 posts how soft these are? Well, I'll say it again. Love.... Anyway, I will probably wear this as much as anything else. And promise I'll accessorize it to within an inch of its life. Is that ok? And see, left on the turquoise beads that I wore today. So there's a little color.... Yeah, I know, lame. But me likey.


Next up - the ruffle favorite tank (not online anymore) in navy. I think this will be a really great layering piece. I like the ruffle - it adds detail, but not too much so that it misbehaves under other tops (bunching, etc.). End price $13.16. What do you think? Worth it? I think I will regret taking this one back. 3-Penny Princess had one on in putty at Sunday's event and it was way cute. It will definitely add a little something instead of the usual tank or cami. So I am thinking I will probably keep it. Will try on with some other tops to make a final decision.


The last item in this batch... we have the silk-linen v-neck sweater (#12961, orig $59.50, curr $49.50 online FS). End price was $40.16 on this sweater. I was and am still very iffy on this one. I love the fit. It's nice to have a not-long sweater for a change. I really loved the fit - in M. What don't I like? 2 things - (1) dry clean only (machine washable is the main reason I tried the gateau skirt - to be reviewed later this week) even though I know I could hand wash, and (2) the color. I'll be honest, I love orange. But this sweet cantaloupe just isn't it. The color is too faded/muted. My IRL picture actually makes it look more vibrant than it is. Here is a better pic of what it really looks like. And um, I hate to say it, but I have thrown up and had it be this color, and unfortunately, that's what it makes me think of, which is a pity. Plus, hello - more on sale now than 2 days ago. I wonder if it is also marked down in store. I am thinking I will take it back and see if I can get another color, especially on sale. (Sorry, Dina, but I promise I'll get a bright.)

More pics to come over the week. I'm cooking up a fun outfit for Girls' Night tomorrow.

What do you think so far? I am totally open to feedback, except negative feedback on the Atelier jacket since I already cut the tags and wore it. If you hate it, be honest, but realize I can't do anything.

J Crew French Terry Double Zip Hoodie

It seems odd, with the approaching snow tonight, to be writing about the J Crew French Terry Double Zip Hoodie (item #12661, $49.50). Because that, my friends, is probably going to become my throw-on-top-of-everything summer staple. I tried it on over a few outings before I finally purchased. But I am so glad I did. (Mardi Gras purchase #3, and that concludes the J Crew portion of the Mardi Gras shopping.)

I got the dark charcoal but I included the model pic so that you can see the pockets and other features better. And I honestly debated about the color, as I liked both the light pewter and the white. In the end, I decided that a dark color would last a whole lot longer between washings, and I wouldn't be as concerned about setting it down somewhere.

I love the double zip, especially since it hits a little lower than the traditional hoodie. Plus that additional few inches in the length elongate the figure a bit. Us non-models can always use a bit of help in that department.

The fabric is very soft. A perfect weight for a spring/summer topper - not too heavy, but not too light or thin. It has pockets - always a bonus. And they're quite cute with the top flap and all.

One of the my favorite features about the hoodie is the collar - you can see it best in this picture - it has a full collar all the way around, with the hoodie coming out over it. Just a nice extra feature that your standard hoodie is usually not equipped with.

Size-wise, I took a large. Honestly, the large and medium looked the same, so I figured I would go with the large to allow a little extra wiggle room with potential dryer shrinkage.

And the sleeves. They are actually long enough. Amazing! (Remember, I did take a large.) But they looked really, really cute folded up in a cuff, so if you have shorter arms, that would work, too. The sleeve is finished in a

I wore the hoodie this past Friday with a shell tissue boyfriend vneck tee, jeans, and my new Clarks Clearlake flats (see earlier post). And I layered my Anthro typeset initial necklace with the JCrew twisted crystal necklace doubled for a little sparkle.

Aren't these shoes cute? I love them!