Calypso Labor Day Weekend Free Shipping Promo (My Picks)

Good morning! The Labor Day Weekend sales are in full swing and one of my favorite retailers, Calypso St. Barth, is offering free shipping through Monday. Their free shipping minimum is usually very high ($250) and they rarely have a free shipping no minimum promo, so this one is a great one, especially if you are tempted by something in the sale section.

They currently have two sale sections. One is called "Sale" and everything in this section has an additional 40% off (but is also "final" as no exchanges or refunds are permitted on sale items); the other one is called "Final Sale" and everything in this section has an additional 60% off, automatically applied at checkout.
The "Final ale" section is very picked over (the prices of some of the items are very attractive) but things randomly popback, so I am going to post some of my picks even if they might not be available when you read this.

One of my all-time favorite dresses, the Kimberly dress is currently in the final sale section for $149 (less 60% off). This summer Calypso re-edited some of their "classics", including this dress that I have in emerald green and I wear all the time on vacation. It is currenltly available only in white and I would have picked up another one if it were available for this price in another color (like the "magic" blue). This is a pic of the dress on me during a romantic dinner in St. Marteen this past July (the neckline is so flattering):

And this is an old picture (another vacation) where you can see that this dress is not too short (it can be worn in the city too):

Another dress in the Final sale section that I like a lot is the PomPom eyelet dress that I recently tried on for a friend and fit perfectly. It is a great dress with a little retro vibe, that you can wear to dinner or even to a wedding (in the navy colorway). It is slightly high-waisted (which I normally don't like) but not so much as to be empire. Highly recommended with 60% off and free shipping!

And the Twill Dye cardi that I have and is one of my favorite summer cardigans ever is now $79 less 60% off. I really recommend this one if available in your size (it fits big so I wouldn't size up).

From the regular Sale section, I picked up the Sunday tunic that I was eyeing in the Ixia color (a beautiful aqua). This tunic is quite sheer and oversized (quite low-cut) and to me is meant to be a cover-up, so I wouldn't recommend it to wear as a tunic with pants (there are probably better options). Here is the XS on me:

Another regular sale pick that I own and wore a lot at the beach this summer is the Linen lace-up tee in the magnolia (which is a real white) color. I had already decided to pick another one on sale to wear in the city and got it in a color that is currently sold-out online (a neutral similar to JCrew beachwood). This tee is quite slouchy, I wouldn't recommend to size up. This is the XS on me:

This style also comes in a < ahref="http://www.calypsostbarth.com/Linen-Lace-Up-Dress-p-18554.html">striped maxi-dress but maxi-dresses at Calypso are usually too long on me and this one borders a little bit on nightgown so it's a pass for me (but could look good on tall gals).

My last pick is currently soldout on the website but in case it pops back, it is called "peasant crochet top" and the last price was $69 before 40% off. This top is adorable and unlike other peasant tops at Calypso, it isn't overwhelmingly big on me. I fell in love with this warm orange, but it also came in navy and it was equally adorable (and will transition better into fall):

If you like orange, I also tried the Faux-wrap, which is a great dress but very generously sized on the top (I was swimming in the XS) so it might work if you are a D cup.

Do you like any of these picks? Are you going to take advantage of this promo at Calypso?
Have a great Labor Day weekend!

St. Maarten Vacation Pics and Outfits, Part 1: The Beach and Pool

Since I ended my last post with a couple of pics from my short vacation in St. Maarten, I am going to post more pics of the resort and a few outfits that I wore.

The resort was the Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach, in the Dutch, South-Estern part of the island (clic here to book). We didn't get to choose the hotel since that's where the wedding party was but it turned out to be the perfect vacation spot, right on a gorgeous beach and with a little "Rio" feeling to it due to the its location semi-hidden at the foot of a hill (the island is very hilly and the roads are absolutely aweful with VERY STEEP slopes). Here is the pool at the sunset:

It is also the perfect location if you want to take a day trip to St. Barths (which was just in front of us) because the rapid ferry leaves from Capitain Oliver Marina which is just next to the hotel. We didn't make the trip because of the wedding activities but it is definitively something to keep in mind if you go.
You probably can't see St. Barths in my pic of the beach but it was right there at the horizon:

This is the same stretch of beach at sunset (there were a lot of seeweeds that day but the water was crystal clear and sooo warm). I am wearing the Linen lace-up tee in white by Calypso. I had a store credit and bought it FP but will pick up more colors on sale. It's the perfect beach tee):

During the vacation I wore almost exclusively Calypso and JCrew swimsuits. I went a little bit swimsuit-crazy this year and bought more than I really needed for this vacation (and in general) but let me explain. I have always been a bikini girl and a string bikini girl in particular but this year for the first time I felt like I needed more coverage in my tummy area which is less tonic than it used to be. So back in the winter (after my Caribbean vacation in January) I started to look at tank suits, since I only had an old white Calvin Klein. I bought first the Renatta paisley one (that you have seen in this post and then one day while I was browsing the swimming section in the wee hours, the Milly tank from 2009 popped back in ALL the sizes for $19.99 (I immediately ordered a 4 based on my previous purchase and miracolously, it shipped). If you don't remember this print (it also came in a silk shell and a beautiful long halter dress), let me refresh your memory:

And on me, on location (I could have gone with a 2 in this one, it is a little bit loose on the top but because it is adjustable with the halter strings it's not a big deal):

But after a little diet and tons of firming cream my tummy looked better and I couldn't resist adding two bikinis (one in this year's stripes and one in the most yummy orange) to my collection. So, this is the swimsuits line-up (from left to right: string bikini in Annick stripe, size S; Milla tank, size 4; Renatta paisley tank, size 4; a mix of the Palermo bikini and the string bikini in fresh orange, both size S):

The orange string top was a backup plan in case the top of the Palermo bikini fell off my boobs (also, the bottom was backordered and it arrived too late). I had ordered my bra size (34C) in the Palermo underwire top and when it arrived, it was WAY too big in the circumference, it wouldn't even stay on for a nanosecond. But because I had bought it for very cheap and the bottom (a S) was perfect I decided to keep it and have it altered. My mom (the best tailor whom I know) did the alteration when I was in Milan (yes, I put the bikini top and a few other things in my aready heavy suitcase just to have them altered by my mom) and it worked just fine. Not for heavy swimming and certainly not for diving but I can swim frog-style in it and it is perfect for sunbathing because of the very deep cleveage and minimal coverage:

A few more pictures of the pool and the bar:

As I said in a comment it is one of the most beautiful pools that I have ever seen (and I have seen many!), with an infinity edge that falls into another, smaller pool. It was heaven! The beach ws right behind the bar:

That's it for now. In the next post I will show you the evening outfits that I wore during the vacation. Stay tuned!

Do wear Jcrew at the beach? Have you been to St. Maarten?

Casual Weekend Outfits (And A Bahia Hobo)

My modus vivendi the last two days has been taking my daughter to the closest playground early in the morning when it isn't crowded yet and before the heat hits, then coming back home, putting the A/C on and chilling out. Today in particular it doesn't feel like a holiday, it feels more like a lazy summer day, and I am all for lazy summer days. One of my favorite summer pleasures (besides reading magazines while my daughter plays in her room) is preparing (followed by eating) summer fruit salads. In particular I love apricots and peaches, and my daughter loves them too judging from the spot-clean plate that she left on the table.

So my outfits have been very casual, especially that first morning outfit to go to the playground. Yesterday I broke out a dress that I bought last year in early Fall, one of those super-cheap popbacks that have to wait an entire year before being worn. I think it was called "Slub cotton henley dress" or something like that. This is the soft sandalwood color, that, I admit, is a little bit too close to the color of my skin (I could have used a necklace but no accessorizing to go to the playground at 8.30 in the morning)! It is perfect for the playground but I don't think I would wear it anywhere else (OK, grocery store maybe, but only late in the evening when all the other stores around are closed):

In the afternoon I dressed up a little bit (so to speak) to go to the hairdresser. I have learned not to wear a light top when I have my hair done in case that the color mix drips on my shoulders (and obviously no silk). So this was my outfit, with a simple navy ribbed tank by Gap due to the circumstances (pics taken after cut):

The skirt is old JCrew from 2007 and the best part is in the back (it has a very cute white canvas ribbon that ties around two big, boat-style holes). I already worn this outfit last year and I remember that it was quite popular.

But I really like the outfit that I am wearing today too. It is very easy-breezy. The skirt is the JCrew cotton bell in faded black and the top is Calypso (I am wearing this little top quite a lot I must say). I wore this outfit because with my daughter we had decided to go to the zoo this morning (and the top with the skirt is a little bit safari), but then she changed her mind and only wanted to play at the playground with the sprinklers:

I still like this little BR cross-body bag from last year, it is perfect when I only want to carry my wallet and keys and have my hands free. If I had to carry more, I would wear my new black Bahia hobo. I immediately loved this bag when it came out (and I usually don't get carried away by bags) but I was bummed when I saw that it was unlined, as for the original price I was expecting something more sturdy. However at $19.99 (current price in store) it was a no-brainer and I got both colors (the brown one by the way is perfect with the Cecilia because of the color of the gros-grain ribbon).
In case you have never seen it IRL, this is how it looks when you carry it (it is empty in these pics so it lays flat against my body). Another thing that I found pretty annoying when I first saw it/tried it is the length of the handle, which is a little bit too short IMO:

I have a few fitting room pics to post, probably tomorrow. I hope that you all are having a great Memorial Day!

Mother's Day Weekend Outfits

Good morning! I hope that you had a great Mother's Day and that you got to celebrate with your mom if you are not one and with your children if you have been blessed with motherhood.

It was a very busy weekend for me. On Saturday I took my daughter to a birthday party and then we had friends over for dinner with their two girls (aged 3 and 6). I don't usually dress up when we invite friends over but this girlfriend is always dressed up to the nine, so I made an effort and wore my Calypso dress that you have already seen here. Since refraining from shopping is a lost cause, this year my pledge is to wear everything that I buy with a target of 0 clothes with tags on at the end of the season (I am proud to say that I am almost on track).
This Calypso dress is the perfect dress for hosting a dinner party, it is very comfortable to wear and it won't distract you from entertaining your guests. I simply accessorized it with a sparkly bracelet. This bracelet looks like the real thing but it is a $10 Forever21 (I have to thank Gigi who had blogged about it back in the day):

We had really a good time (including my daughter, who collapsed around 10 after playing dress up all the evening with my friend's girls. They were so, so cute, the three of them).

The day after was Mother's Day and even if I didn't get to eat breakfast in bed as many of you did (I just can't delegate coffee-making), I had a very relaxing day. Now, I had already showed you what I was planning to wear (my lady lace popover and my new factory pencil skirt) but UPS screwed up my Mother's Day outfit. Long story made short, my lady lace had a flawn (a problem with the stitching around the neckline) and because the thing wasn't cheap, even with the 30% off, I decided that I wouldn't suck it up and on Thursday morning I took it back to my store where they took good care of it and reordered one for the same price and with free overnight shipping to boot so that I would get it in time to wear it on Sunday. The package was out for delivery on Friday so I was sure that my outfit was saved but for some reasons UPS missed me (ie they didn't deliver it and rescheduled for today. Thank you very much UPS, today is two days too late!) By the way, this is the second time that they miss an overnight shipping delivery, which makes me think that they can't make it in one day as a general rule.

In any case the result of the ordeal was that I had to come up with another outfit for Mother's Day brunch. Luckily it was very hot yesterday so I would have probably been sweating in my merino popover. I had my mind set on wearing a pencil skirt and my summer pencil skirt choices are very limited (I have three including the new one). In the end I picked the flower pastiche one and paired it with the very cheerful retro shell in popsicole pink (that I hadn't the occasion to wear yet since I bought it on the JCA when it was still fp online and in stores):

The shoes here are the Cate slingbacks, because this pencil skirt is loooong so definitively looks better worn with heels. But then I came to my senses and realized that heels weren't a viable choice for the day (that involved walking ten blocks to the restaurant and back, at least), so I changed them for a pair of flats and topped the outfit with a Jackie in champagne:

My daughter and husband had a little surprise for me. My daughter had drawn a beautiful Mother's Day card for me:

and they had framed a picture of the two of us to add to our wall of frames in the dining room.
Here we are outside the restaurant, after lunch (as you can see it was hot enough to wear the retro shell alone). BTW, if you watch the Real Housewifes of NYC, this is the French spot where Sonia and LuAnn had dinner with Brian (the painter) and LuAnn's boyfriend (whose name escapes me right now) a few episodes ago (it is my husband's favorite restaurant in the neighborhood and they have a great terrace):

As I told you I have a very busy week ahead so unless I have something very timely to let you know I will probably disappear for a few days and be back at the beginning of next week with plenty of pictures.
Have a nice week!

Weekend Outfits (Another Kind of Kate Blue)

Good morning! Wow, what a weekend in terms of news. First the fairy-taily Royal Wedding and then Osama. It was kind of fortunate that the news of Osama Bin Laden's death arrived at the end of the weekend when the excitement for the wedding had already winded down a little bit so that it didn't upstage Will and Kate. I think that everybody felt a little bit English during the wedding and that would haven't been possible if the Osama news had come earlier because it is such an emotional moment for the American nation (but seriously, why all that suspence before President Obama's speech? I thought we were going to war with Iran at the best or that an alien spacecraft had landed on Central Park).

In any case the Royal wedding mania translated here in my wearing an outfit and choosing a nail polish that were sort or a tribute to Kate Middleton (pre-Duchess of Cambridge). We also took our daughter to a princess birthday party yesterday (my daughter was dressed up as Cinderella and the birthday girl was Aurora from Sleeping beauty), which was a nice way to wrap up a weekend that had been all about Royalties.

This is the outfit that I wore on Friday. The dress is a silk Calypso dress in a gorgeous shade of blue (similar to the shade of Kate's engagement dress). I bought it in the winter but before the crazy Calypso sales when you could get it for $25 (I paid around $55 I think). If it popbacks (it's called the "Gurka dress") I really reccomend it, I had tons of compliments on it. But, caveat: it is VERY short (almost too short on ME) and it is probably the reason why it lingered in the sale section for so long. Other than that it is really well made, especially the incorporated belt (so much better than a drawstring, once that you get the hang of it):

I wore it outside with my Lighthouse cardigan (which, by the way is $19.99 in stores!):

Yesterday at the birthday party I wore the Carly ruffled dress from last year, paired with a Jacky cardigan in dark charcoal (donated by a friend) and a BR tassel necklace:

OK, let's talk about the BR necklace. The price that they asked for this necklace ($39.50) is CRAZY. I almost ordered it with a 30% off but then I happened to see it in store and I thought that it was a joke. It is much smaller than I thought (for the price I was expecting something bigger) and flimsy. I ended up adding it to my cart as a ride-along when I placed an order for my daughter last week (love that you combine Gap and BR in the same order and get free shipping on any order totalling more than $50) and I am happy with the price that I paid ($9), but seriously I think it is worth $3 or $4 (it appears to be sold-out on the website right now but I think you can still find it in stores). And you thought that Jcrew jewelry was overpriced!

Back to Kate, when I went for a pedi on Friday (wearing the Calypso dress) I was immediately drawn to a Essie polish called "Aruba blue". I am a nail polish dummy, so don't ask me if this is new or which collection is part of. All I know is that I had to take a bottle with me for future summer pedicures (that day I went with a true red because I had planned to wear a pair of black peep-toes with a black polka-dots dress to go out for dinner on Saturday night and I needed something more classic). I also have a pair of TB Thora sandals that ae exactly this shade of blue (I apologize fo the somehow blurred pics, my camera can't focus very well):

The next time I will show you the polka dots dress (I forgot to take pictures).

How did you celebrate the Will ad Kate's wedding?
On another note, I have now enough fitting room pictures to do another "new arrivals" post. Stay tuned!

OOTD (New Jean!)

Good morning! Are you staying strong through this week's sale? I must admit that I caved this morning, after two of the items that were on my wishlist got marked dowm. Damn, JCrew, you always get me with your 30% off. In reality I was saving for an item that I hoped would popback during this promo but apparently I can't keep the money in my pocket for more than 24 hours. Sigh!

Anyway, today I am going to review a pair of jeans that I bought recently on sale, after I had to say bye-bye to my favorite pair (it ripped off in a place that would make myself a very bad girl if I kept wearing them and I think that unfortunately it is beyond repair). Actually this isn't really a OOTD because it is still too cold to wear this outfit but I really wanted to showcase the jean with this cardigan, which is also a new purchase. Let's pretend that it is a warm spring day and that I am actually going to go outside like that today (wishful thinking). BTW is it me or it was MUCH warmer last year at this time of the year in in the Northeast? I am too lazy to go through my old posts but I think that I was wearing shorts during spring break a year ago.

OK, so the jean is the Matchstick jean in lived-in wash, which of course is still FP on the website but was marked down to $59.99 in stores as of last week (maybe even further this week). I took my regular size, a 26S. This jean came out during the holidays and I have been eyeing it since then so I would have probably bought it even without the excuse of my other pair biting the dust. In fact the are not quite the same kind of jean: my old pair was a casual, wear-with-flats-and-sneakers pair, while this one is THE heels pair that I never had.

As in all the matchstick, the leg is very skinny, especially from the knee down. The denim isn't extremily soft (the website says that it has a hint of stretch but I don't feel it, it seems to have no give) but I like how it contours the body (as opposed to the downtown skinny, which were a disaster on me, waaaay too skinny in the leg and hips).
As I said, it looks best with heels (at least on me), plus, I don't need to have it hemmed if I wear it with heels, which is a bonus. Here I am wearing it with the Tilly satin platforms (a 4" heel) and the Calypso Twill Dye cardi which is now on sale for $99 and is almost the same shade of blue (this is the XS and it fits a little bit big IMO):

Not sure what I am trying to do here, but I like the pic:

The only thing that put me a little bit off are the lighter strikes of color on the bottom part of the leg (I guess they are part of the "lived-in" look), but I decided that I can live with them (however this could be a dealbreaker for some of you). At least they are not "distressed" (no rips or holes):

And here is the butt view, because let's face it, when buying jeans how our butt looks is a very important factor:

Do you wear JCrew jeans? Do you like the matchstick style or you prefer another style? Please share!

Deal of the Week: Calypso Smocked Waist Dress

Good afternoon, I hope that you are having a great weekend so far. As you know I normally don't blog on weekends, especially on Sunday (family time!) but I felt like I had to write this post and let you know about this fabulous find before the end of the day (it helps that husband is napping and daughter is playing alone.

Today is the last day to take 50% off final sale items at Calypso with code FINALSALE311. I ordered the Smocked waist dress last week after seeing it on FFM (in this post. I have to say that even if I peruse the Calypso website quite often (in fact, it is my favorite shopping activity after stalking JCrew.cm) I had never noticed this dress until FFM reviewed it. They did a vey poor job on the Calypso website with this dress, it is much nicer IRL.
I ordered my regular size, XS, in the navy colorway. FFM looked fabulous in the grey but it was sold-out in my size and navy is one of my favorte colors anyway.
The dress is cut very generously on the top. If you are smaller than a C cup I would say that this dress is not for you. I almost don't fill the top but with the help of a padded bra I can get away with it (for reference I am a 34C). To make a comparison with something that you are probably more familiar with, this dress is cut a little bit like the Jcrew Shelby dress with the difference that it fits better because of the fabric, which is more flowy.
I took these pics very quickly as soon as I took the dress out of the package so it shows the wrinkles from being crammed in the envelope (it was also a little bit clingy) but you can already see that it is a very elegant dress. I just love this shade of navy:

Detail of the smocked waist:

It is a great dress to go out for dinner or even for a wedding. I don't think that I am going to wear it with flats to stroll in the neighborhood, it is more of a heels dress for me (it happens to be the same shade than my Tory Burch peep-toe Sally wedges):

I would reccomend this dress to anyone (C cups and up!) especially for the current price ($14.50 with the code!); however I have to say that the product description on the website is misleading in that this dress ISN'T 100% silk as you could be lead to believe (description says "sleeveless silk silhouette with front & back v smocking around entire waistline"). As a matter of fact the shell is 100% polyester and the lining is 100% silk. I have a Calypso blouse that is exactly in the the same fabric and I immediately noticed that whan I took it out of the package (also, the clingy-ness was a clue that it wasn't 100% silk). It is a beautiful dress neverthless and if you are not allergic to poly, I would give it a try.
Shipping is expensive unless you spend $250 (minimum for free shipping) but the dress is so cheap that the total falls below $25, so in this case it is worth it to pay.

Do you have this dress? What do you think?

Have a nice end of the weekend!