Weekend Recap and Outfits

So I made it through the weekend without buying anything, good girl, good girl. The ATL Family and Friends was particularly challenging but thanks to the low inventory in my size and the long lines at the register I ended up not taking advantage of the promo. I was tempted by the jewelry and I put on hold a pair of earrings TWICE (once the first day of the promo but it was at a store far from home and I didn't have the printout with me and one Saturday at my local store but never went to pick them up) but I had just bought a pair of Infinity earrings on the JCA Exchange earlier last week (for a fraction of the FP) and didn't want to "overshadow" them buy buying another pair of earrings (very similar but smaller, more for the day than for the night). At some point they will on sale and I will see then if I really want them.

Saturday instead of going shopping by myself I went shopping with my husband and daughter, for a change. Actually we went flat-screen shopping (we just finished creating a small family room and now we need another TV) and even if it wasn't as exciting as shopping for apparel, I enjoyed looking at all the options and being involved in a big-ticket purchase for the family (it doesn't happen very often, not because my husband doesn't involve me in this kind of decisions but because we buy very little for the home). We ended up not buying for the time being (Thanksgiving is just a few days away and there could be a good deal around the corner) but now I know what's the difference between the plasma, LCD and LED technologies (by the way, the quality of the pictures on the new LED screens is AMAZING).

It was a beautiful day in NYC, warm and sunny and I wore my toothpick jeans, Marjorie ballet flats and a Chanel-like jacket from Zara that I had tried when I was in Milan in September and my parents finally bought for me (even if it was nice outside I wore a coat and a scarf over this outfit):



In the evening we were invited for dinner at friend's. I wore the Jcrew Olive top and the same jeans and flats:


The Olive top ranks among my favorite Jcrew pieces of all the time (BTW, sale alert: I saw it on sale for $59.99 in store last Thursday). The necklace is the Champagne fizz necklace (sold-out online) that I bought some time ago when it went on sale expressly to wear with it because I felt like I needed something around the neck with this top but I didn't have anything in a color that could go with it. I love them, what do you think?



Last week I stumbled across the matching earrings on the JCA Exchange for a very good price (actually I got a price for the Infinity once and these) and because I had already tried to buy them in store (but I could only find one earring, the other one was missing!) I jumped on the occasion. I decided not to wear them on Saturday night because they were too dressy for the occasion, but here is what they look like with the necklace:



Sunday we were meeting a friend for brunch at the Time Warner center and we planned to walk there and stop at the zoo on our way. It was a gorgeous day but much colder than Saturday and I was in the mood for a fun outfit. I wore a very old red cashmere sweater with jeans, red lipstick (that I never wear) and a "snow leopard" Zara coat that I bought in Milan as well (and my parents shipped to me because there was no way that I could fit this in my suitcase):



I was hoping for an encounter with the resident snow leopard at the zoo and we had practiced the snow leopard GRRRR with my daughter (she was all excited by the idea of the snow leopard mistaken her mommy for a leopard), but he was sleeping when we went there. Boo!
The necklace is one of the cheap jewelry finds that I had ordered on the F21 website. This one was a disappointment because it also had a strand of very cheap-looking "lace chiffon" (just a printed fabric) entangled with the pearls and crystals, that I have managed to get rid off not without damaging permanently the necklace. Anyway you couldn't see the damage near the clasp and I thought that my red sweater needed some bling and I was surprised that my husband liked it (I wanted to take it off but he convinced me to keep it on). By the end of our day the thing was falling apart, but at least I wore it once.

Have a wonderful week.

New Arrivals Pics

First of all thank you all for the sympathy that you have demonstrated towards my "condition" in the previous post. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it even if I haven't commented back yet. Misery loves company, right?
I have come up with some resolution for my addiction that I will share in a future post but I wanted to post very quickly the pictures of the new arrivals that I took when I was in the store last Thursday before my husband comes back, just in case you know, he thinks that I need to go back to rehab for a few days.
I have only tried tops and not bottoms because I was in a hurry (and there aren't many new bottoms anyway).

First a bunch of new tees that are not available online yet. The first one is very similar to the blazon tee of a few seasons ago, but the blazon is just printed and not textured. Looking at the pic I can see some sequins that I hadn't noticed when I tried it on. It runs small, the XS was very fitted:



Here is the syle number (this time I didn't forget to take pics of the tags in case you are interested in any of these items):


This one is a variation of the reindeer tee (I think) and I apologize but I forgot to take the style number. It was looser than the previous one:


And this one is a new "snowflake" tee. Very pretty IMO but I can't comment on the fit because they were (already) out of XS. The S was very large on me though, so I guess that it runs TTS:




They had the Fair Isle cardigan and I tried it on because I know that it an item that caused some debate over at the JCA. I don't know if it is because of the acrylic component in the fabric but it is supersoft and not itchy at all (I have tried it with a short-sleeved tee). The XS was VERY fitted, especially in the sleeves (you cannot wear it with a long sleeved tee or shirt):



However, the S in the other design (the Skye Isle cardigan) was boxy:



The following is the Gipsy rose Metallic cami. The color IRL is more more golden (like a chocolate wrap paper) than it appears on the website and I didn't recognize the rose until I saw the pics:



It has a side zip but I think that it was unflattering on me.
Especially compared to the Annalise Ruffle Cami in the gorgeous cinnamon spice color. The 0 was TTS but the neckline was lower on me than on me model:


And here I'm trying it with the (un)famous Bling-button cardigan in bright olive. I'm SO happy that I didn't order this cardigan. The fabric reminded me of the socks that some airline companies used to give the passenger on intercontinental flights. Really not up to the quality that one could expect from Jcrew IMO. In case you are still interested, the fit is TTS (I'm trying a XS):


The last item that I have tried is a new (longer) version of the constellation cardigan, in a pale pink (I haven't seen other colors but I bet that it comes in black too):



It was a nice blend (maybe dream?) but the price of this one is pretty steep ($168).
That's all for now. Do you like any of these new arrivals? If you have any questions I will replay on Monday (I hope that it can wait)!

Have a great weekend!

Back from Rehab (and a few Outfits)

It has been almost a week since my last post and in case you are wondering where I have been all this time, let's say that I was in rehab. My husband found out about my multiple Jcrew orders of the past month and he thought that I needed a little bit of a detox cure, so he HIDE my computer cable before leaving on another business trip. Yes, he hide it (don't people divorce for less than that? But I didn't fight it because I felt guilty), but instead of tear down the house to find it or go straight to the envelope where he had noted down the cable hide-out (in case of emergency) I decided to take on the challenge and see how many day I could resist without the computer. Have you ever tried? I don't have an iPhone or Blackberry, so that means no Internet at all, no emails, no iTunes, no Netflix queue, no pictures, nothing. Well, I hang on more or less two days and a half, then I found the cable by chance (hidden in my husband sockets drawer, which clearly means that he thinks that it's a fairy who puts away his sockets after the laundry) and I couldn't just IGNORE it.
It was quite hard, really but also quite instructive. It is incredible the things that one can do in a house when one is not blogging, or checking email or buying stuff on the Internet or stalking the Jcrew website, or just daydreaming in front of the computer. For example, I cleaned up my closet and found clothes that I used to love but I had completely forgot to have; I sew the buttons of my husband's shirts that needed some maintenance; I even cooked.
And even if in front of him I denied that it was as bad as he was depicting it, he was right about my Jcrew addiction and my needing some sort of electroshock.
I don't know how long it is going to last but these few days of fast from the Internet and Jcrew.com did some good. I feel more detached and less compelled to spend. If I look back, I have never spent this much (I mean on a DAILY basis) in my life and I'm not even working.
That doesn't mean that I'm going to stop shopping at all (I love shopping, I always had and I always will), only that I'm going to try to focus on what I really want/need as opposed to what looks like a deal that I can't pass on, or what I "have to have" only after seeing it on other fabulous blogger.

While I was in rehab, the boxes from last week kept coming (I must admit, it was less thrilling to receive them) and I have a couple of outfits for you.
The first is an outfit with the Donegal Shawl Cardigan, that I scored on sale. You know that I loved this at first try (if not first sight) but when a cardigan hits the $150, I normally wait for it to go on sale. Obviously this went on sale while I wasn't paying attention and my size in this color sold-out immediately (in fact it was already sold-out FP). But they always come back, don't they?




The reason why I'm showing you this outfit is because the jeans that I'm wearings are a pair of bootcuts (by the brand Paul & Joe) that used to be my favorite and I hadn't worn in ages just because they were at the bottom of my jeans pile. How could I forget those? I feel immediately sexy when I wear them (I know that the outfit itself is far from sexy), it has something to do with the placement of the pockets and the fact that they are a little bit stiff. Anyway, back on the spotlight they went, I wore them every day of the week.

Speaking of sexiness, do you remember the "sexiest chinos ever"? Yes, I'm talking about the Scout chinos, that hit the $19.99 price low last week. I had ordered them once already when they were $29.99 but decided that I wouldn't pay more than $20 for these, even if I like them. The reason is that they come "distressed" and actually I almost thought that my pair was a defective one when I received them the first time, but this second pair confirmed that it wasn't someone at the warehouse who accidentally spilled a bottle of Clorox of them. The fact is that the "distress" is placed in a weird spot on the leg:



Anyway, I like the fit and for $19.99 I can live with it. The following is not really an outfit for this time of the year (they are going on hibernation until next spring), but you can see the fit in case you want to order them now that they are really cheap (I ordered a 0 but they also come in 00. I have to say that the first pair was more fitted like the one that I had tried in store, this one is a little bit looser but I'm not going to order a third pair):




The shirt in this and the previous outfit under the Donegal cardi is the Cotton Contrast-stitch perfect shirt that I believe is still FP and has been restocked in some stores. I have a strange relationship with this shirt. I'm still not sure if I like it (I thought about returning it and I even put it on sale on the JCA Weekly Exchange once), but in the reality I wear it a lot. Has it ever happened to you, that you don't know if you like something that goes with a lot of things in your closet and thus keep wearing?

This week I have also started to wear my Script coat, the one that I bought at the sample sale in a bigger size than my usual 0. I had been on the fence about this one too as you know, but I resolved that I have made my decision when I bought it as I knew that it wasn't returnable and I'm not going to leave it hanging in my closet instead of wearing it. Guess what? I LOVE it, especially with jeans with is what I wear 99% of the time. I received a lot of compliments (not only from the JCrew SAs but also from people in the street and the teller at the bank). Actually because in this color is a day coat, I like it a little bit roomier. This has been my uniform this week:



I have checked out the new arrivals this morning (without buying anything. See? Rehab works), pics coming soon.

Are You Ready for the Bal?

The package with the goodies that I bought during the extra 20% promo last week arrived yesterday, JUST BEFORE MY HUSBAND. He knew about this one because one of the items was the heirloom flora necklace that we are offering a friend for her 40th birthday in two weeks and I convinced him that we NEEDED to order for $150 to get the 20% off on that one. So I didn't really need to hide it from him, but I don't like to open packages when he's around. It's my little plaisure, let's say that on certain days it's the highlight of my day (and I know how sad this sounds, don't worry, I don't need to spend money on a therapy) so I kind of put the package away and waited until this morning before opening it.

Inside, among other things, I found this:


Yes, it's the masquerade tee. I was surprised by the extra care that they put in the packaging, that's the advantage of ordering early and full price I guess.
My first reaction when I opened it was that it's not black. It's definitively a faded charcoal, which works for me because as you know I have a lot of charcoal in my closet. The second reaction was that the feathers of the mask are made of chiffon, while I thought that they would be, well, real feathers, like on a real mask. It's clearly for the best though because have you ever tried to wash feathers? It's very pretty, plus the description on the Internet said clearly "embellished with organza feathers and rhinestones".
Well, the description also said "slub cotton tee" (I mean it's in the NAME of the tee, right?) and that's why I ordered a XS. And guess what's the fabric? Positively ringspun cotton. That's a MAJOR mistake!
Now, because it's ringspun it's definitively snug but I think that I'm going to keep this size because all my ringspun tees have stretched out wash after wash, especially around the neck. However, if you are concerned by sheerness, it's a good idea to size up.



Detail of the pretty embellishment:


This tee immediately put me in a festive mood, so I thought it deserved a little bling, even if just for the blog. I also received the F21 package with my "cheap" jewelry finds yesterday, so I want to show you the rhinestone earrings with the tee:



I'm not sure if I would actually wear them together, but they are fun for sure and totally worth the $9.80 that I paid.
I will probably wear this outfit though:



The cardigan is a sequined open cardi from HO05 (the good thing about open cardigans is that they tend to ... open and in this case you don't want the embellishment to be completely hidden by the cardigan), the skirt is the shirred wool skirt (aka, Sylvia) and if you're wondering what are the tights that I'm wearing, these are another F21 find. They totally look like Chanel, but for $5:



This tee is a total winner for me, and I think that with the current promo it will sell out very quickly. My advise: if you like it get it NOW.

A Gap Find for the "Check Shirt Fan Club" and a Few Other Picks

As you probably know the Gap, BR and ON "Get&Give" event (30% off everything in stores and online) starts tomorrow, so I wanted to share a recent find for those of you who own or plan on purchasing the Jcrew Cotton check shirt (and I think there are many fan out there).

I really like this shirt (and my husband too, yay!) and I have already worn it a lot but I was a little bit afraid that once the temperatures would start to drop it would hang sadly in my closet. I'm a chilly person and I need a turtleneck or something to keep me warm under my coat when outside it's cold. Plus I really think that this shirt is worth to be worn alone and not under a cardigan or a V-neck.
So I came across this Cotton turtleneck sweater at the Gap and I bought the navy to wear under the check shirt (it retails for $34 ans they were having a 25% off promo last weekend so I got it for a great price already). Actually I should thank FFM in the first place who showcased the black one in one of her Polyvore sets and recommended it.
Now, the navy it's the EXACT same color than the darker checks of the shirt. It's quite fitted (so it doesn't get all bulky under the shirt, and you can still move your arms) and not too long, so you can still wear the checked shirt untucked. Plus it's a more substantial weight than the JCrew (or Gap) tissue turtlenecks and if it gets really cold you can still wear a cardigan over the whole thing. I'm sorry I didn't take a IRL pic because I thought that you had already seen the check shirt over and over, but trust my word on this one.
I think that for $23 is a must-have and I'm probably going to get the black and the heather gray too. I'm tempted to try the petite size as the XS regular is just a little bit long in the sleeves.

I have also seen these Buffalo plaid flats and I would have picked up a pair for sure if they came in red (why they didn't make them in red it's beyond my understanding). The blue ones were very cute too though, if you have something in that color (or you can always buy the Ruffle-front buffalo plaid shirt to wear with the shoes). I like to wear tartan and plaid only around the holidays (I guess I'm not the only one) so in this case I don't mind about quality at all and the cheaper the better.

While I was in the (long) line for the register, I picked up a pair of black ribbed tight very similar to the Jcrew wool ones that I don't see on the website (I own a pair of Jcrew from last year and I find them very itchy, so these ones, in nylon and spandex, are a welcome and cheaper alternative). I have seen the Pointelle ones though and they are also a nice look-alike.

Do you plan on taking advantage of the Gap offer? If you need a code or the coupon, email me and I will email you one (the online code is one-time use only but I can "invite" 25 friends).

New Arrivals Part 2: Sequined Shawl Open Cardigan and More Tees

So yesterday I stepped into Jcrew before picking up my daughter at school. I didn't feel like trying bottoms (and anyway besides a new tweed mini with golden threads - cute, but how many minis a girls can wear in the winter - they hadn't anything new or that I wanted to try on), so I picked up a few tees and a new sequined cardigan that I think you will like.

I had already seen the cardigan in black on a few blogs, but they actually had it in two other gorgeous colors that I thought were worth taking a pic. It's the cropped open cardigan with the sequined shawl (not sure how it's actually called) and it retails for $138.
First (gorgeous) color, dark mustard, in XS:



The XS was a tad short IMO, especially with jeans, but the S was boxier. This is the lavender in S (I didn't take note of the exact color code but it's probably sweet lavender):


The dark mustard was a little bit more casual IMO. I have the sequined V-neck shell from last year so I don't need another sequined sweater, but if you are looking for some sparkles for the holidays I really recommend this one (I haven't seen the black IRL, but black is black, right?)
This is the tag with the style number in case you're interested and you want to call your store:


Under the lavender I'm wearing this tee:


I liked the colors (the tee is lavender and the "firework" is golden) but I'm not buying a V-neck slub cotton tee for the winter, period (it also comes in white with silver sequins and a dusty blossom pink).

I must admit I really liked the (un)famous Beaded-antlers tissue tee. Now, why didn't they make at least this one with long sleeves? It's cozy and I totally see myself wearing it around the house during the holidays, maybe even with pajama pants. This is the light amethyst but it reads more like a neutral:



As someone pointed out it is very long (but I find that all the Jcrew tees are very long this season) and a little bit slouchy but I like it anyway. I have ordered the "masquerade" tee during the extra 20% promo because I was curious about it (the stores haven't received it yet) and it was just the right price to get the free shipping, so I will see which one I like the best (or just wait for this one to go on sale).
I have also tried the Slub cotton beaded Florence tee in dusty shale but it came across almost white on my pics so I have decided not to show it because it's misleading. I'm not the less interested in this one, not sure why (generally speaking I don't like the open crewneck in the slub cotton fabric).
They had received the holiday catalog (with a snow landscape on the cover) but I was late to pick up my daughter and there was a line at the register, so I had to leave without taking it. I LOVE the holiday catalogs and from the preview that Slastena shared, it looks like a "classic" Jcrew holiday catalog.

Have you seen any of these? Anything that you like here?

Catch-Up Post (and OOTD)

I'm writing a quick "catch-up" post to update you on status of my recent purchases/orders, as I hadn't the time to comment back in the appropriate posts and I feel like it's too late now. But I own you to know the end of the story.

First, I didn't go back to the sample sale last week. My daughter had her H1 flu vaccine on Thursday (that was a difficult call as the pediatrician got both the shot and the nasal spay; eventually I decided for the spray but I wasn't totally comfortable with the idea of the virus being alive) and was a little bit cranky afterwards. And Friday was too freaking cold to subject her to the sample sale expedition with possible wait in the line, so that was it. This means that I still have my Script coat and I'm still undecided about it. Actually they happened to have it in a 0 at my store, so I tried it on and it was much more fitted and really snug in the shoulders so I think that I prefer it in the size 2, especially in this color (for the day). The problem is that I really wanted to buy a black coat this year and I can't justify buying another one now.

On a positive note I'm really liking the Marjorie flats, I have already worn the metallic grey ones, they are sooo comfortable and they go with everything. I'm in love with the pink ones (they are more of a nude actually) just looking at them makes me feel happy. As you know I bought 3 pairs but it turns out the grey suede ones are a size 7 (I have always been a size 7 so I must have grabbed them without thinking and I haven't double-checked at the register) while the other 2 pairs are a 6H and fit me better. I have put them on sale for $47 on the JCA, but if anyone of you is interested let me know. I can still wear them with an insole, but I would prefer to find a new home for them.
Because I really like the Marjorie and I have now more flats than I need, I ended up returning the Abby ones. They weren't really working size-wise and I know that they would have hurt my feet badly so I returned them without regrets.

Re. the defective Bubble necklace, first thank you so much for all the comments, I really appreciated them. I returned it in store and they re-order one for me but I called CS anyway the day after because I really felt that I needed to let them know what a mess it was and they applied the 20% off on the new one. The good news is that it arrived yesterday and this one is just fine (and it doesn't look like it's going to break anytime soon), so I can offer it in confidence (but when I saw the GIANT box that they used to ship it I braced myself for the worst).

The libretto in dusty blossom (another great score) arrived as well. At first I was a little bit disappointed, it wasn't packaged with any particular care (just thrown in the box) and the color wasn't as I expected it to be. The ribbon is dusty blossom and so are the rhinestones of one of the two chains, but the other ones are yellowish. Is it supposed to be this way? Like bi color? I don't remember seeing it IRL but I remember that there was another necklace very similar to the libretto but called differently (garden or something like that) and I'm wondering if I haven't received that one instead (after the Bubble necklace in four pieces nothing can surprise me any longer).
Anyway, I tried it on my outfit this morning and liked it better. I know that "to like better" isn't the maximum expression of enthrallment, but because of the great price I'm holding on to it. I think that I'm simply not used to all that sparkle in the daylight or maybe I have seen too much of it on the catalog.

My outfit of the day (plus libretto):




In case you're wondering I'm wearing my new Vintage short roadster boots in sepia. How could I live without them? By the way, these are 6H too, are they applying vanity sizing to footwear too? I have always been a 7 and all of a sudden I have to size down in Jcrew shoes... Anyway I think I need the black ones too, I can't wait for them to go on sale!

Have a nice Tuesday!

PS
I have another new arrival post coming soon, stay tuned. Ina, the style number of the cropped ruffled cardigan in my previous post is 20271. The colors that I have seen are black, heather grey, dark mustard, light berry and the pink that I have tried on (color code VRO). Hope that helps!