Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Review of the Textured Jersey Floral Splatter Tee and Two Very Basic Outfits of the Day!!!

Wooh. We have had a rough twelve hours in this household. Last night at around 10:30 pm we heard a pop sound and thought it might have been the heater starting up. Oh, no, it wasn't anything that simple. It was the water heater EXPLODING. We leave to go upstairs to get ready for bed and we see water, water, everywhere. The entire first floor (our basement, we live in a raised rambler, so it also has living space) was flooded except the very front part (thank goodness, that would have been catastrophic). My hubby has a HUGE collection of action figures and books and comics that were in the two rooms that flooded. If you think I have a lot of clothes, you should see his museum quality action figure rooms. Yes, rooms, two to be exact. That is why he "tolerates" my obsession so well, he understands it. :)

So basically we had to rip out our floors (not real hardwood, phew) and Mr. Dina has lost some of his precious, but we managed to salvage quite a bit. We are still looking at THOUSANDS of dollars of expenses, though, and that is with the insurance. Sigh. BTW, there are "mitigation" teams that can come in an emergency and they know how to fix damage to stop the spread of further damage. Amazing...I love that these jobs exist, how cool. The folks came at 4 am...and are still here. Yes, 8 hours later...

Onto brighter and happier topics...


This is the VERY LOVELY textured jersey splatter tee. I really like it, a lot. However, when I received it, I almost broke out into hives...I saw them, hundreds of clear sequins attached to the front of the tee. I freak out with sequins because they have to be very well attached for me to want to wear the item. In most cases, the sequins are not as well attached as they should be. However, J. Crew's sequined items are usually a shining (haha, pardon my pun) example of well-made sequined items (like the stardust skirt and the microsequin cardigan).

This tee's sequins are just attached...you know, if you have a nice clean, not especially active life (read: running around after crazy and insane toddlers) then this may work for you. When I tried this top on I was torn...do I want to look pretty and get stressed every time I wear it (the kids will want to touch it and play with the sequins) or do I just return it and hope that I can get it in the future on super-sale (say $29.99 with 30% off)? I can see buying this at 20 dollars and not being sad if a sequin here or there falls off...but at nearly $50 I would be sad if the tee got "ruined." Oh, and I know some of you all will state the obvious, so I will do it for you...why not wear it out without the babies? Umm. That rarely happens, and when it does, I really splash it out, you know head to toe glamour, so this tee wouldn't make the cut.

If the sequins were very well attached I would keep it at its current price. If the price drops and I can get it for much less, I will buy it and wear it a lot, but until then, this tee is not part of this SAHM wardrobe.

So you know, I am modelling a size small.

A Bigger Closet did a great review of this tee in the lovely lilac color.


I returned the sequined tee on Monday. I went to the Tyson's J. Crew and knew that I was going to buy the tee that is pictured above (let's call it the hot pink jersey splatter floral tee--J. Crew loves their long item names), because I saw it on the very beautiful Ema from My Closet, My Baby, and I. I literally spied this twenty minutes before I left the house. As soon as I saw the graphic floral in the very pretty bright pink, without sequins, I was sold. I got to the J. Crew, got a couple in a size small (I want the MOST perfect fit) and fell in love. I will wear it for you all at some point, promise. BTW, this is about 6 dollars less than the sequined tee. Unfortunately this is a retail only (for now) item.


And onto my very basic outfits of the day. This above is from Monday. (I wore it to Tyson's.)

Info and sizes:
Cardigan
: Merino Michelle V-Neck Cardigan, Spring 2009, J. Crew, Papaya (?), Size Medium.
Top: Button Down with Pave-Looking Buttons, Holiday 2004, J. Crew, Light Pink, Size Medium. I recently found this in my tub of clothes that I thought I had outgrown. Yay! They fit again!!! :) I had never worn this top, the tags were still attached, in fact, but it is such a lovely item (wait till you see a close-up of the buttons), I was very excited it fit again!
Pants: Minnie Pants, Fall 2009, J. Crew, Charcoal, Size 8. (These have been dry-cleaned once, I have not noticed any fading...)
Shoes: Montebello Driving Mocs, Fall 2009, J. Crew, Toffee, Size 9.


Close-up of the placket of button-down with the pretty pave-looking buttons. Swoon for shiny things that I don't have to stress about (don't make too much fun of me for my weird behavior). ;)


I wore this yesterday. You have seen it before, yes, I am wearing the same thing twice, shock. :) Only things that are different are the jeans and shoes.

Info and sizing:
Jeans: Matchstick Jeans, Spring 2009, J. Crew, Dark Denim Rinse, Size 31R.
Shoes: Penny Loafers, Fall 2009, Merona, Peacock Blue, Size 9.5.

Isn't CW precious? She is posing just like Momma. :) Funny.

Enjoy your Wednesday. I don't know how much we will...but life goes on, right?

23 comments:

MMM said...

SO SORRY to hear about the water damamge! :( I hope tonight is less eventfully for your household 'cause I bet you are all very tired and exhausted! =P

I LOVE the new tee that you purchased~ I MUST get one!! I have been debating about the splatter tee!?! Since I always wear a cami under my tess, I might be fine w/ the sequins!

Thanks for sharing! :)

Margot said...

So sorry to hear you had to go through this ordeal. I sympathize - we had a pipe burst last week in our bathroom that flooded our bedroom. So now, after a week of people coming and going, we have to prepare ourselves to redo our bamboo floors, and have people visiting :-( At least, Dina, you look so much better than me :-) You should do a "Mid-Century Mom goes through a domestic disaster" post! Love your outfits, as usual. Good luck.

Kristin said...

I'm very sorry to hear about the water. Good luck with the repairs.

(Love your outfit! Such pretty buttons! I so wish I had a michelle cardigan. Just a nice simple basic that JC doesn't seem to want to sell right now.)

Leslie said...

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that you suffered so much water damage. :( I'm glad that you were at least able to get some help fairly quickly.

Drewablank said...

I am so sorry to hear about what's happened! I know it sucks bigtime; I remember my ex's condo got flooded - carpet and all - because of the heater exploding too. It was nasty. :p

I'm happy, though, that you got to review that splatter tee. It's cute, but as you said, the sequins, the sequins. I've got a a couple of sequin-y tees from J.Crew, and I'm always scared to wear them, for fear of sequins falling off (granted, I don't rub myself on any rough surfaces all day, but...) or for fear of the washing-of-the-tee after wearing it. :p I like that hot pink tee though!

Oh, and about tonight, maybe it's just what you need after the water fiasco? Or if not, maybe another time...DEFINITELY another time! But lemme tell you now, I do and will miss you terribly. :(

Oh, and I do hope Mr. Dina feels better about his treasures. I do understand and empathize fully. :)

Anonymous said...

So sorry for the water damage, and the ordeal you and your family had to go through, at least you are all safe.

I was in a fire a couple of weeks back set by an arsonist many people in my complex could not escape and some people died. I learned from that scary experience life is precious.

Roxie said...

OMG! That's horrible! I just told S.H. (who was with me yesterday) that we were lucky to stop by and see you all before that awfulness happened. :( I hope you guys can get everything sorted out though.

Roxie said...

Oh, and let Jim know I know how he feels. That happened to us and I lost two computers and my movie display posters. :C

Unknown said...

ITA that it is amazing the people that come and fix those disasters when they happen. Truly amazing. Your house will be put back together the same as it was. Lucky for you that you are home to oversee them. I swear it makes things go waaaay more efficiently when the homeowner or landlord is present.

I ordered the splatter tee, not realizing that it had sequins on it. I was wondering why it was $45. I ordered the light pewter in error, so it's going back. I don't like the sequins so I was going back anyway.

Your shift is cute.

Kathy said...

Our water heater has gone on us, but we happened to catch it when it was just a trickle. I cannot even imagine the damage it would have done (Husband has his train collection and layout down there).

I love the pink button-down! The buttons are so pretty. CW is just adorable in her pose!

Ema said...

I'm so sorry about the water, that's no fun and with kids around is even worse.

Thank you for the link and the adjective ;-). I have to say that I hadn't realized that the tee on the website had sequins on it until you said so in your comment on my blog (now I can see them in your pic; couldn't Jcrew take pics at least as accurate as the ones that we take to put on the website?) In defense of sequins and beads I have to say that my zebra tee was much more resilient than I thought (but I sold it at the end of the season).

Debye said...

I love that tunic on you, sometimes you just have to repeat!!!

Sorry about the water damage, I hope evrything gets back to normal soon!

DaniBP said...

This exploding water heater thing has always been a big fear of mine: the DAY before our summer holiday in July, I noticed a leak, the plumbers came, and disaster was averted. They shut the water off and while we were away came and installed a TANKLESS water heater, which is genius. It was expensive but it is extremely environmentally friendly (so eventually pays for itself) and no more exploding tanks.
eeesh! What a day you've had.
I hope you sleep well tonight!

A said...

Oh goodness, I'm so sorry to hear about the exploding water heater episode Dina. How stressful for you and your family! Hang in there dear lady.

You look lovely in the outfits. Thanks for the link and BTW, the tee DOES look great on you so you should re-buy if it goes on sale. :)

HeidiG said...

Was absolutely flabbergasted when you told me - ugh! How long did the mitigation specialists stay? Poor you, poor Mr. Dina, poor everybody...

But you look great - I loved the pink outfit in person - such fun. And I do love that tunic on you as well. Stay bright & cheery!!

casual-crew - I'm so sorry to hear about your ordeal as well - hope you are dealing with it all ok.

Eleanor said...

If Mr.Dina would like I would happily mail him 2 cartons of Star Wars action figures that I thankfully got to pack away last year (in exchange for a pint glass collection).
As long as the hubby doesn't find out;it's all good! :)

You poor thing - at least that little CW puts a smile on your face regardless of the current catastrophe!

Summerilla said...

Oh Boo! I'm sorry to hear about the water damage. I can vouch for Mr. Dina's EXTENSIVE collection, I've seen it! I hope not too much was ruined and Mr. Dina is handling everything okay - I couldn't even imagine if that had been my closet full of my favorite things.

Loving all the outfits and the new tees. I need to get to a JCrew store sometime soon - maybe sometime this weekend I'll get a chance.

Miss you - happy hour drinks soon please! I need one!

JKW said...

Sorry to hear about the water damage in your home. You sound like a very busy family and I can only imagine what an ordeal this has been for all of you. I hope everything will be fixed soon and you can get back to normal. Hang in there.

On a lighter note...thanks for the review of the jersey floral splatter tee. ABC has an excellent review on her blog, too! I really like both versions of this tee, but I'll admit that I never noticed the clear sequins! But heck, I am a sucker for embellished tees. I cannot have enough! I could deal with those sequins, no problemo.

(original) Genny said...

My comment is about the cute pink button down blouse! I have the same one and wear it often. Love it. I have the same cardigan but have never put the two together. Maybe be too much color for me but will try it once:)

Anonymous said...

what I love the most about your outfits is the Montebello Driving Mocs in the Toffee--you picked a great color in this shoe!

According to Moi said...

SO sorry about the water damage. I've never had that but we did come home from Japan once to find our house in Hawaii had termites! Half our kitchen cabinets - all hardwood maple - were ruined and had to be replaced, even the crown moulding and the floor boards! The yard had to be relandscaped for anti-termite-ness, the whole place had to be treated, it was a mess. Thousands of dollars later, it was fixed but it was so stressful.
Hang in there and you're alrady half way there by being so positive about it!

Deco Aurora said...

Dina, The Boden Tunic looks really flattering on you. I think I might need to get one too since Im around the same size as you and have the pear shape. Btw I was wondering how do you sell stuff from your blog because I want to do that too. Do you need a paypal account ro something? I dont have one, actually I have no idea how to sell online. Can you please tell me? Thanks, Maggy

dinagideon said...

Hi! I am in furious mode today (CW has a drs. appt. and there are two posts that I want to get done--all in the midst of "asbestos specialists" arriving at our house--yep, asbestos...sigh!)

I read and appreciated every single one of your comments, but am only going to respond to questions, etc. THANK YOU, your kinds words meant a whole lot to me and my family!!!

Margot: Oh, a MCM post on disaster!!! I wish we had a bomb shelter, that would make it even better. Hmm...

Casual-Crew: OMG. That is incredibly awful...my prayers are with you and all your neighbors. I hope that arsonist gets caught and that justice serves him swiftly and accurately.

Snea: S.H. and you were the last guests to see the play pretties for a while. So sad. On a brighter note, I LOVED seeing S.H. He is such a great guy, I miss all my swimmers...

Eleanor: :) Mr. Dina would be all over that...but we would prefer your marriage stay intact. I bet your hubby thinks of them even though they are all boxed up...I am glad to hear that many of you have hubbies or SOs that are into collecting. That is very cool!

Summerilla: I am going stir-crazy because when Mr. Dina is here, it is very frenetic. I need drinks...maybe towards the end of next week we can meet up at Tyson's for dinner and drinks?

NoJCrewinJapan: Wow. Termites are terrible. I know and have seen the destruction they can cause. What makes our situation more fortunate is that most of the living we do is upstairs anyway. We live in a house where the kitchen, dining room, and living rooms (all but one) are upstairs. Thank goodness for mid-century modern homes where they "flipped" it all and made living up in the trees. Had we had termites, we would have to move out for awhile. Now we just have to confine our living, which is way more difficult for Mr. Dina than for me, CW, or Rex.

Maggy: Hey!!! Yes, doing paypal is easy, but I was a neophyte last year and Ashley of Love It had to show me how to do it. Go ahead and e-mail me at dinagideon AT aim DOT com and I will explain the steps the way she did. :) I am forever grateful to her for that!

TO ALL: If you see leaking (even a small amount) from your water heater, PLEASE turn off the water immediately. Call your plumber and have him fix the problem. TAKE IT FROM US. We are your example so that it doesn't happen to someone else...