OOTD - Sewing Circle Dress

I am so glad I spotted this beautiful dress on Lisa. It's one I initially passed over on the website until I saw how adorable it was on her! I was happy to find it still available in the petite size I needed and I hoped when it arrived it would work for me, too. The detail is amazing, I asked my husband this morning if he liked the dress and his immediate response was "Wow, I like it, but it looks really expensive" Much to his relief I quoted the sale price ;)

I am so happy to be able to get out of the house this morning!

Here are the outfit details in the Polyvore. The dress is still available in a lot of sizes on line, I definitely recommend it!

Cabin Fever

We are buried under a foot of snow here in PA and this will be day 3 of not leaving the house - shoot me now. I have been getting dressed (unlike my two oldest who refuse to change out of their pajamas) but not in anything remotely worth photographing. If the weather would cooperate, I would happily bust out my new dress and wear it like this:

Or like this:

I'm just glad I can at least play with Polyvore while I wait for the snow to melt...

I won't ride the tea cups, but I'll wear them!

My husband and I have been tossing around the idea of a Disney vacation for a few months now, and decided to book a trip for February. The last three days I have been running around like a mad hatter trying to book our dining and entertainment reservations. Not to mention planning perfectly themed outfits for each park ;)

I liked Anthropologie's Sugar & Cream Dress when it was released, but I wasn't dying to own it. I remember thinking it would be perfect to wear in Disney. And now that I'm going...you can see how this story ends. On Ebay. With the Buy it Now option.

I'm still trying to figure out footwear. When we went two years ago I mostly wore a pair of Keens - clearly, that will not do. Think I could walk around for hours in these?

OOTN - Almost Anniversary

Jonathan and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage on the 20th, but since my mom doesn't work on Monday's and she is our lone babysitter, we celebrated a few days early :) I had ordered the Spinning Lace Dress a couple of months ago, sure that it would be the perfect piece to wear for our anniversary. I was horribly disappointed when the color ended up looking like dirty dishwasher on my complextion. So instead, I decided to make do with the lacey piece I already had hanging in my closet - this top from Forever21. I remembered Kim and her pretty pairing with the Alena Skirt and decided to do what I'm best at...copy!

Forever 21 Lace top

J. Crew Bling Button Cardigan
Anthropologie Alena Skirt

Anthropologie 18 Karat Belt

Anthropologie Slinking Frills Pumps

Jonathan left work early yesterday and the two of us headed into the city to Anthropologie's flagship store. I was very excited when dh told me he wanted to take me shopping. And I think he was equally excited when after an hour in the store, I left with NOTHING. Can you believe that? I'll explain more...

We had an amazingly yummy dinner at the Capital Grille before heading home. I'm glad I had some time out of the house yesterday because today is another snow day for my older boys - so stocking up on my sanity was a good thing ;)

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Now, I know this isn't much fun without pictures, but I'll give a little rundown on the pieces I tried on and why I didn't take them home

The Take Action Dress is adorable, I was ridiculously in love with the colors. Fit wise though, it just had a lot of bagging material on top, was roomy in the waist and the length was graising my knee. Not a winner. I'd try it again on sale, just because I love the print and color that much.

Another one from the top of my wishlist was the Gull Wing Dress, but once I had it on, I just felt too exposed - like I was wearing a silk nightie instead of a sundress. It is a wisp of a dress. Lovely for the right girl, but since I can't picture this one with a cardigan over top, I'm not her.

A dress I did love was the Sing Sweetly Party Dress - DARLING! The store did not have a size 0 for me to try, so I went with a 2 and it was way too roomy up top. I'd hope to snap up a size 0 when this goes on sale and that the fit would be better. I can't see paying full price for a dress that I won't be able to wear until it warms up, and in PA that is months from now!

I had some success with two adorable tops, but I wasn't willing to dole out full price for either of them, especially since I was hopeful they might hit sale today - which they did not - Boo! Maybe soon? Fingers crossed. I loved both of these

Deuxhill Cowlneck
Definitely a roomy fit, but I think with skinny jeans or tucked in a skirt it could be perfect!

And I had nothing but love for the Soldierly Sparkle Tee, I just thought it was too pricey for a t-shirt. I will definitley be buying this once it goes on sale, maybe even in two colors.

The final tempting piece I found was the Beaded Eglantine Cardigan. This piece was lovely. And wow did it look perfect with the Alena Skirt and Slinking Frills Pumps I was already wearing. In the end, I decided for the $70 sale price, I'd rather have a dress, but if I was lucky enough to find one on a second markdown, here's how I'd wear this pretty sweater.

So there you have it. I didn't buy a thing! And honestly, it was just so much fun to try on pieces from my wishlist and get Jonathan's opinion on them, I wasn't even disappointed. I know there will be plenty of other things I'll love rolling out soon. The Philadelphia/Walnut Street Store was a lot of fun to explore!

OOTD - Alterior Motive

When I got dressed for church this morning, I had only one thing in mind...finding an outfit that I could once again wear my Slinking Frills Pumps with! I have these pretties stuffed with multiple insoles to keep them on my feet - they are worth the extra effort :)

Target Merona Essential Cardigan
Loft Shell
Anthropologie Scalloped Dots Skirt
Anthropologie Slinking Frills Pumps
Anthropologie Grapefruit Sugar Bowl (so cute!)

OOTD - If all your friends jumped off a bridge

Or in this case, bought the Peppered and Striped Skirt....

In the eleventh hour, I decided I had to see for myself what all the hype was about this skirt. I still wouldn't say it's a piece that makes me want to squeal and turn a cartwheel, but it is cute. And polka dotted. And surprisingly warm. It stays!

Anthropologie Peppered and Striped Skirt
Loft Blouse
Lands End Canvas Heritage Cardigan
Target Merona Marylynn Suede Mary Jane Pumps

Today we are heading to Sawyer's first tennis lesson and then to a birthday party for his best preschool buddy. After spending much of the week in jeans, I decided a skirt was in order to kick off the weekend - Happy Friday!

Worn in January

Just a quick catch up on some recent OOTD...starting with what I wore today. I've noticed a few adorable bloggers breaking out their Ice-Capped Blouses, and it reminded me that I hadn't worn mine in forever. And I've never worn it casually, so I was thrilled to copy Lisa and pair it with some jeans.

OOTD 1-13-11 by JanRussell featuring ballet flats shoes

Next is an outfit with one of my new J. Crew Cardi's - who could resist their awesome additional 30% off sale promos plus free shipping. Prices have never been so good!

I originally bought this cardigan in the gold color, but loved it so much I grabbed the pink as well. No regrets.

January OOTD by JanRussell featuring a crocheted cardigan

Finally, here is an outfit I've worn numerous times because it is just so easy to throw on. From the looks of this picture, I should have thrown on some lip gloss too...but overlook the exhaustion on my face ;) This is another J. Crew item that I had to go back for seconds on - I also bought this tee in white.

Comfy Cozy by JanRussell featuring knitted vests

For tomorrow, I'm busting out a skirt! See you then!

Stylin'

When my friend Tifani emailed me this morning asking for suggestions on how to style the Painted Morning Skirt (she has an almost identical version from Forever 21!) I was totally excited to play around on Polyvore and see what I could come up with. I seriously have so much fun on that site, and if you ever want me to do the same for you, just shoot me an email and I'll squeal at the chance :)

For this first outfit I picked a blouse that I know Tifani already owns. She lives in a warm weather state, so hopefully, it's not too long until she can try pairing these pieces.

I was just about to search around for a polka dot top to try some subtle pattern mixing, when Jenni posted her adorable outfit of the day featuring this top. She saved me a bunch of time having to hunt one down. I really love navy and yellow together and I would totally wear this outfit in a heartbeat.

Next it was onto "uniform" dressing as I call it. But really, you can't go wrong with the basics. And I think any fun shoe would add interest to the outfit and keep it from being too ordinary. For a more casual look you could swap out the ruffled blouse wih a cotton tank or cami.

For the final look, I took a chance. I haven't seen this skirt, or the F21 version in real life, so I'm not entirely sure about the texture and weight and how it would translate across the seasons. But in the event that it is appropriate for Fall, here's an option on how to wear it ;)

So there you go, Tif! I hope this helps. Coming up with these cute outfits certainly helped me unwind from a long (thought the day would never end) snow day with my kids.

OOTD - Frill after Frill

My outfit for church this morning is one frill after another. I love all the ruffle details going on.

I was disappointed when I called Customer Service after the Slinking Frills Pumps went on sale only to be told they had sold out in my size in stores as well as online. I actually persisted in calling again the following Monday to see if the computers reflected any updates and was told the same sad news...no shoes anywhere in my size. I decided I wasn't going to believe it until I called some stores myself - and what do you know? The third store I called had my shoes, and it happened to be a store in NYC so I still received an additional 25% off the sale price. Consider me giddy. After all of that, I had to wear the shoes the first opportunity I had.

J. Crew Traversa Cardi

Old Navy Blouse

Anthropologie Tria Sweater Skirt

Kohls Simply Vera Opaque Tights

Anthropologie Slinking Frills Pumps

OOTD - Refined Cord

The snow is still falling here in PA, but much to my 8 year olds disappointment school was not cancelled or delayed. If the roads were in decent condition I was going to attempt a trip to Anthro with my mom, but we both quickly wimped out of those plans this morning. Now it's unlikely that I'll leave the house at all today, but I think I'll stay in my pretty dress anyway ;)

My husband wanted to know if my shoes were new - but I've had them almost a year. His comment reminds me that I need to show my shoes more love. I would have preferred to wear this dress with boots, but it's a touch too long and the boots and hem were practically meeting and making me look too stumpy. At least with the Bouquet of Roses heels you can see all the detail on the tights!

Anthropologie Refined Cord Shirtdress (size 0 - this was tight to button up, but doesn't feel tight once it's on if that makes sense. I had tried a red size 2 in the store, and don't notice much difference between the two. Maybe the red ran smaller?)
Gap tee (it's pale pink, even though it looks more white in these pictures)
Anthropologie Flower Chain Tights
Anthropologie Triple Buckle Belt
Anthropologie Bouquet of Roses Heels

OOTD - Such a Mom

I've spent the days after Christmas in my jeans and cardigans uniform - so you aren't missing much in the way of outfits. We are in the process of finishing our basement, so my house has been filled with contractors - one by one the plumber, the electrician, the drywaller have all come up to use my bathroom. No problem. Except, as a mom to boys I've turned into the "wash your hands!" police and let me just tell you - none of these grown men wash their hands. It's flush, door open. Followed by me waiting approximately 20 seconds before pulling out a Clorox wipe and heading for the door knob. I have become such a mom.

After seeing this cute button up on Lisa and Spiffy, I finally caved and ordered one. It's the perfect alternative to J.Crew's overpriced versions. And I'm madly in love with my Sepia Saddlebag - it's the perfect size and color. It's sold out online, but I grabbed it on a pop-back when Anthro was offering 25% off accessories and I'm sure there are still some floating around in-store too.

Forever 21 Plaid Button Up

J. Crew Infinity Cardigan

Target Mossimo Jeggings
Anthropologie Sepia Saddlebag

Anthropologie Winding Ruffle Boots

No Resolutions, Just an OOTD

Happy New Year! I'm not exactly sure how I made it through most of 2010 without a pair of burgundy tights...I can't seem to stop wearing them since buying my first pair in December. I wore this simple dress from Banana Republic to church this morning - but Graham fell asleep on the way, and I ended up staying in the car with him the entire service. Poor little guy was exhausted, and I promise we didn't let him stay up until midnight ;)

Frances Plaid Cowlneck Dress
Kohls Simply Vera Tights
Target Kady Boots