OOTD 1.14.10 Gray & Berry Floral {now $6.25!}

Can you believe these sweaters had their price slashed in half again? Yes, this floral cardi ($25, then $12.50) and the other cardi that I posted just the other day were marked to $6.25 when I was in Target yesterday.

Unfortunately, Target will not price adjust to these clearance prices (I asked). But - many others were also at this price point - including basic cable v-necks and crewnecks. I purchased a brown cable v-neck (they also had black ), pictured at the end of the post. Most of these super-sale sweaters were folded on a display but some were also hung on 75% -off rounders by size.

Merona Printed Cardigan in Berry, ON tee, Joe's Jeans, Uggs in Gray, Target necklace

Necklace Hematite/N10505HEM #215000337 - $14.99

ps - I got a shopittome alert this morning that Nordstrom has some great markdowns on Tory Burch shoes - so I ordered three pairs which should be here by the end of the month! Looks like more TB reviews coming soon!

I hope everyone has a great Friday!

xoxo

Boden 2010: Tunics

My newest Boden catalog arrived just the other day, reminding me that my pre-orders should be here any day now (this in Sealion Leopard and these in Navy) -- provided the stormy UK weather doesn't delay them too much.

The catalog also has an offer for 10% off plus FS/FR. If you like the Boden style, definitely get on their mailing list as they run frequent promotions like this (or even better) and you can use the "quick service number" printed on your catalog to get the deal.

I am loving their selection of tunics right now... they even have a separate little section set up for tunics/kaftans. The Polyvore below shows my top picks, which I really need to narrow down to one or two...

I'm picturing slim white capris or denim in white or a dark rinse under them (with the exception of the brown Glam Tunic and the pink/green Printed Tunic- those look like they should hold their own as dresses for me) with strappy silver or gold metallic sandals or ballet flats - something by Tory Burch would be perfect!

xoxo

Boden Tunics for Spring '10 by sweetteainseattle on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Glam Tunic-WL546-Tunics & Kaftans at Boden, $118
Printed Tunic-WA254-Tunics & Kaftans at Boden, $88
Flower Burst Tunic-WL545-Tunics & Kaftans at Boden, $78
Corsica Kaftan-WA259-Tunics & Kaftans at Boden, 59 GBP

Carrottes Etuvees Au Beurre

Doesn't that sound fancy?! Much better than "carrots braised in butter". Which actually even sounds better than my usual "boil some already-peeled baby carrots in hot water and maybe add a little butter".

Right before Christmas I watched Julie and Julia and thought it was such a fun movie. If you follow my blog, you know we were in Paris this past summer and I love French food (for the most part), dining out, and even post the occasional recipe. I'm not a very good cook but I'm trying. So anyway, my parents thought it would be fun to get me the two volume set of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking along with a beautiful Le Creuset French oven - in Flame to match my tea kettle.

The first recipe I've made from the books is the fancy-pants carrots named above. They were so easy but so special because I just felt like I gave it a little more thought & effort than I usually would give a vegetable side dish - and served them up in the lovely LeC. I made them for the second time last night because my 4 yr old son requested them again. (That makes a mom feel good!)

If you want to try them out, here's what you do (adapted from p.477 of Julia's Vol. 1 book):

1. peel and cut up about 1 1/2 lbs of carrots

2. boil them in 1 1/2 cups of water, along with 1 1/2 Tbsp of butter, 1 Tbsp granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and a pinch of pepper for about 30 min or until the carrots are tender - top with a little chopped parsley if you want, and serve

not part of the recipe, just taking a little break

You want to cook the carrots until the liquid has just evaporated and the carrots are beginning to saute in the butter. In these pics there is a little bit too much liquid still. This was the first time I made them. Last night, I got it all cooked out and they were perfection! I served them alongside a turkey & roasted red pepper meatloaf which I've made several times - another recipe post coming soon!

xoxo

Tyler Candle Company Candles

So there was some tweeting about these wonderful Tyler (Tyler, Texas) Candles a couple months back and I mentioned them as a Christmas gift idea for my brother who was flying to Seattle from Austin, Texas to stay with us for the holidays.

He gave me the Diva set which includes Goldleaves (jasmine, hyacinth, lilly, moss, musk), French Market (gardenia, tuberose), and English Ivy (blooming florals, ivy). I've already burned through Goldleaves (amazing!) and am currently enjoying French Market. Gorgeous, gorgeous scents! And just look at the packaging! (Presentation is so important, don't you think?)

They are very fragrant and I've found that to conserve, you can burn for just an hour or two but enjoy the scents for much longer. I couldn't find the type of wax used on the packaging so looked it up online where I read that they are a mix of soy wax and paraffin. I would prefer that they were all soy wax as I've heard it's much cleaner burning & better for your indoor air quality; I don't know what the percentage of each wax is. Other than that, these "hand-created" candles from Texas are absolutely fabulous.

If you don't live in Texas, these appear to be available at lots of boutiques and a few online shops, including amazon.com.

xoxo

OOTD 1.8.10: Pewter + Plum

ATL Jewel Neck Tee in Gray, ATL cotton cardi in Plum, Vigoss jeans, J Crew Brewster Boots in Black

xoxo

Lilly Birthday Party Giveaway!

CWD Kids (a great online store for fun clothes for little ones - I bought my girls' very first Lilly shifts there) is having a "Lilly Pulitzer Birthday Party for 12" giveaway which includes a girl's dress! Click here for all the details on how to enter.

(There is also free shipping this month on orders over $175 - use code CGTJAN)

xoxo

The Cinnamon Spice Annelise That Was Almost Mine

On Friday after Anthropologie, I ran over to J Crew to check out new arrivals and peruse the sale. All the sale items were an additional 30% off and there were a lot of items marked down so I was pretty sure I would find something. I was thrilled to pieces when I saw one of my website-stalking items: the Annelise Ruffle Cami in Cinnamon Spice - just one - in exactly my size hanging on the sale rack! Now, I have this in melon and love it but I've been really wanting it in this sold-out spicy color too.

Since I already own this style, I wasn't going to try it on but I had several other items and when I was in the fitting room I thought I'd try it on just in case. As I was unbuttoning it, I was horrified (Maybe that's too strong a word. Maybe not.) to see this:

About 50 little pin pokes. This lovely little top was obviously previously on a display mannequin and pinned to within an inch of its life.

Now I understand fitting it on the display - but this seems a little excessive. And why did it have to be wadded up so small and secured in this way? And then to just be hung on the rack in this condition?

I've purchased items off of mannequins from stores like ATL when that was my size and the last one left and I haven't ever seen this. It seems the sales associate just slipped the items off - no unpinning required.

I showed it to the (very nice) sales associate and she said that the holes usually steamed out and she'd be happy to steam it for me but I'd have to wait ten minutes for the steamer to warm up. A couple of little holes I wouldn't have worried about too much - but this many - I'd just be afraid at least one or two of them could run. Besides, I'd already been in the store for awhile and need to go so didn't want to wait.

So I left my Annelise...

And the worst part about this is that the sale was Final Sale... so if I had just purchased I probably wouldn't have noticed all the holes until I was home and I don't own a professional steamer.

So please check out your purchases carefully! I also saw another silk blouse on the sale rack that I really liked - can't think of the style now - again, just one in my size, but it had very obviously been worn (tell-tale "tucked in" wrinkles all around the waist) and after the ABC video on clean clothes I just didn't want to buy it, steamed or not.

xoxo