Land's End Review

A couple of weeks ago, I placed my first Land's End order. I had read good things about Land's End Canvas on a few blogs and they were having an extra 25% off and free shipping sale. I ordered the Heritage Cardigan in dark chocolate.

The Good

• My sweater came super fast. I ordered on Sunday and it arrived on Thursday. That is fast shipping to Canada!

• What really made my order extra special was this thank you card I received this week. It is handwritten by a real person and not computer generated in an attempt to look like real writing.
  

How awesome is that!

The Bad

• My cardigan was too big! The sizing is definitely bigger than J Crew's Jackie cardigan. However, to return my sweater, I had to mail it to an address in Canada which is easier and cheaper for me!

• The only shipping option was UPS. I'm not a fan of UPS because they lack common sense when delivering my packages. I've had some parcels dumped in some pretty unusual pl;aces. Computer parts left out in the rain and snow = not cool. I prefer Canada Post so packages are not left on the doorstep exposed to the elements and shifty people who help themselves. Canada Post can also sometimes be lax with charging duty. With UPS, the duty is always charged (but it is always upfront)

My Verdict
I will definitely order again. Great customer service, quick shipping and super sales means a happy KDot.

Ahoy Matey

Blazer: Martin and Osa - I tried the scrunching sleeves things. It turned out alright.
Tank: Martin and Osa
Jeans: Reitmans
Shoes: Naturalizer
Necklace: Forever 21 - This for the people who didn't realize I was going for a nautical theme today. A giant anchor really drives the point home.

Peachy Keen

Cardigan: J crew
Tank: J Crew
Necklace: J Crew rip-off found on EBay
Belt: J Crew
Pants: Gap
Shoes: Banana Republic

Raving About Ruffles

Sweater: J crew
Tank: J Crew (Victoria Ruffle Tissue Cami) This is my first time wearing this cami. I love it; it is so soft and comfy. I have two of the silk versions of this top and prefer the tissue version. I always worry about messing up the silk ruffles. No such worries with the tissue cami.
Skirt: The Bay
Shoes: Naturalizer

I have realized that Ruby loves getting her picture taken. I was trying to get Kitty in the frame but she was shy and ran away. However, Ruby came storming in right away.

Oh sweet memories. Scratch that, just give me a bigger closet!

Today is my dad's birthday. So happy birthday dad! It also marks the three year anniversary of the day we moved into our first house. Yup, my dad help us move on his birthday (and it was his 50th birthday too). He is great and wonderful.

RDog and I were talking tonight and we figure that our house will be up for sale within the next few weeks. We've simply outgrown it. Baby making time is approaching and there is no room for babies is this house. It's kind of sad to think about leaving this house. There are lots of memories here. We were young newlyweds in this house. We went through lots of ups and downs while in this house. It's also kind of scary because the new house will bring a much bigger mortgage and eek, I said babies. They are scary! But it's also exciting because the next house should be the one we stay in for a long time. We will finally have some space of our own (hopefully a big closet for me). Well, enough of me being nostalgic, here's what I wore today.

Dress: Martin and Osa
Sweater: Victoria's Secret
Shoes: Naturalizer

Hmmm, not very creative. I think this stems from the fact that I cannot get into my closet to see what I have. It is so full, I cannot move the hangers around. It's bad! I can't wait for that bigger closet!

J Crew, You're Alright.

This morning, motivated by the 20% off J Crew sale, I placed an order. I originally had a cart full to meet the $150 free shipping minimum but then thought to myself, "Do I really need all this stuff?" I then thought about the high duty I was also most likely going to have to pay. Out went most of the cart, leaving only what I truly wanted; a Jackie cardigan.

A very sensible order because I wear my Jackies A LOT. However, because it was a small order, I had to pay shipping, quite a bit in shipping actually; $13.50. I grumbled to myself that the 20% off had disappeared and hit submit. Then a little pop-up window appear asking me to do a survey on my purchase. I usually just close these but this time, I thought I'd give myself a vent for my grumbling. I filled out the survey and on the last page where a space for comments is left, I wrote this:

I bought one sweater. It will arrive in an envelope that will have a
shipping charge of under $4. J crew charged me 13.50 for shipping. That
is not right.

Blunt, but it was what I was feeling and I was already late for work. When I got home today, I had a reply in my inbox from J Crew!

Hello,

Thanks for reaching out.  Shipping is charged by the merchandise total
and not the overall weight of the package but it is a one time fee.  If
you need an exchange, we'll send it out to you with free shipping.
Also, the cost to ship to Canada is more because of it being
international.  All of that said, I am happy to refund your shipping on
this order as soon as it's available for updating.  You will see the
credit on your statement in the next 1-2 billing cycles.  For further
clarification, I've included the link to our shipping charges below:

http://www.jcrew.com/help/shipping_handling.jsp

If there is anything else I can further assist you with, don't hesitate
to let me know.  Please feel free to contact me directly. I have
provided my contact information below for your convenience.

Now, I know it costs more to ship to Canada but I KNOW it doesn't cost 13 bucks to ship a sweater but whatever, I'm happy for now because I got free shipping! This may motivate me to place another order. I'm glad someone actually read my comments but I would like to see an actual change in the shipping prices. So many people complain about J Crew's shipping charges. Why do they stay the same?

Sometimes You Just Gotta Dance

Today's outfit is similar to one I wore a few weeks ago but with a lighter, more spring-like skirt.

Cardigan: J Crew
Cami: Martin and Osa
Skirt: J Crew
Belt: Forever 21
Shoes: Spring
When I was finished with my serious poses, I had to do a little dance to try to get rid of the crappy mod that came home with me from work.

Sometimes you just gotta dance.

KDot Cleans out her Closet

Every once in awhile, I clean out my closet. Anything I purchased months and months ago but have not yet worn, gets sold on EBay. Today I did a closet clean but I thought I'd try to list a few items on my blog instead. This is my blog sale experiment.

Here how it goes:

• Shipping to Canada and the continental United States is included in the price.
• Sometime customs can delay packages so packages traveling across the border can sometime get delayed
  
• I have cats. Even though everything is new with tags, sometimes a stray cat hair will find its way on an item.
• I ship in the most cost efficient way possible; in an envelope through air mail with no insurance. If you want an item sent in a different way, let me know.
• If you're interested in something, leave a comment with your email address and I'll contact you.
• I accept only Paypal.
  

First off, a Forever 21 sweater. This sweater was worn by Emma on last week's episode of Glee. It's a medium but too snug on me to button up (I'm a 34B). It's a sweater that really needs to be worn closed.

Price: $25 - SOLD

Next, I have a J Crew dress. This is 100% cotton and a size medium. It would make a great beach dress but is a bit too short for me. The length is 34.5 inches.

Price: $20

Lastly, I have this button up shirt from Forever 21. It is a medium and like the sweater is too tight for me to button up. It is 100% cotton.

Price: $10

I"ll try this out for a few days and if there are no takers, to EBay I will go.

Sunday Funday

RDog and I had a great Sunday. We started off with a late breakfast at Cora's downtown. Many restaurants were installing their patio sections today. This makes me excited for summer. One of my favorite parts of summer vacation is meeting RDog for lunch at a patio restaurant downtown. Summer is the only time I can go out for lunch, because sadly this teacher rarely gets a lunch break.

We then loaded up on caffeine and headed out in the Jeep for a Sunday drive. It's not warm enough for top down weather yet but it's coming soon. We scoped out some houses we're interested in and went to an open house. It was a close fit to what we're looking for but I'm still hoping the perfect house will appear soon.

Then we went to the grocery store and got the fixings for a yummy BBQ supper (steak for RDog and a chicken kabob for me).

Here's what I wore:

T-shirt: J Crew (thank you 20% off and free shipping sale)
Cardigan: Martin and Osa
Pants: J Crew
Shoes: Old Navy
Cat: Ruby

Now off to BBQ. Happy Sunday!

Where's Waldo?

Tank: Gap
Sweater: Martin and Osa
Pants: Cassis
Shoes: Karen Scott

I feel a little bit like Waldo in this tank but RDog is really digging it so it must be a good thing.

We're off to get some sushi; a recently discovered food for us. I can't believe it took me so long to start eating it; it's so yummy!

Have a great weekend.

Once a year shoes

Dress: Liz Claiborne found on EBay
Jacket: Reitman's
Necklace: The Bay
Shoes: Naturalizer - I remember why I wear these shoes about once a year. The heels are narrow and HIGH. Oh my poor feet are sore. But they did look pretty on.

Does anyone else have a pair shoes that you love but hurt to wear? Any solutions for this problem?

Ribbon Necklace Surgery

Ribbon necklaces seem to be a big trend lately but I grow tired of the ribbon tying very quickly. I can never get the bow to look as good as it does in the store and the ribbon trailing down from my neck to my back bothers me.

This bow necklace from Forever 21 really bothered me.


However, I still liked the necklaces attached to to the ribbon. I decided a little ribbon surgery was in order. Here is what I did.

First step: Find some doodly-doos that can fasten a necklace. I found these at Michael's and they cost less than $4. I like them because they are in the shape of a heart. Awwwww. . .


Step Two: Tie ribbon on to little doodly-doos. Little Kitties can help with this step.


Step Three: Cut off extra ribbon. I stuck a little bit of crazy clue in there too, to make absolutely sure my knot would not come undone.


Step Four: Enjoy the bow and hassle free necklace

Lesson Learned

Ugg, I'm not pleased with this one. Last night I was thinking about what to wear today and in my mind, this looked fine so I didn't try it on. Mornings are rushed in our house so I threw this on and left for school, not giving it a thought. It wasn't until I saw this picture, that I realized something is off. I think it's the light tights that are throwing me for a loop. I'm so used to seeing my legs enclosed in black tights. Perhaps a lighter skirt would have been more suitable. Lesson learned; I need to give my work outfits a quick try the night before.

Skirt: Joe Fresh
Tank: J Crew
Sweater: J Crew
Tights: Spanx
Shoes: Naturalizer - Yes, I am wearing heels a day after I said I was going to cool it with the heels. Flats sometimes make me feel stumpy and I had one of those mornings (and days) where I hate everything. Wearing heels made me feel better.

Heels and KDot; It's a Love, Hate Relationship.

Skirt: Fairweather
Sweater: Martin and Osa
Necklace: Forever 21
Shoes: Sears - I'm switching to a lower heels for a little bit so you may see these often. I've been having some knee pains and I think my high heels and long days on my feet are the culprit. I have a love, hate relationship with heels. They hurt but make me feel so pretty. Last year, I had some numbness in my toes. I went to my doctor about it. He saw me come in with my high heels and told me the shoes were to blame. Summer time came, work ended and I switched to flip flops and spent most of my days lazing. The pain went away and hasn't returned. Hmmm, maybe I just need to stop working. Whatcha think about that RDog? :-)

That's so Joan

Dress: RW&Co
Jacket: Forever 21
Shoes: Sears

RDog and I went to RW & Co. yesterday because it was their friends and family event and there was 30% off. I tried on this dress and showed RDog. Our consensus was that it was so Joan from Mad Men. That sealed the deal and it came home with me. Later on that night, I was flipping through some magazines and spotted this page.

There's my dress! How smart are we!?

By the way, the magazine was LouLou's March edition.

Look Ma, No Socks!

Cardigan: Costco
Scarf: Old Navy
Tank: J Crew
Jeans: Reitmans
Shoes: Keds

Notice the lack of socks. I think my sock days may be coming to a close for this season. It's been rainy lately but even still, my feet didn't freeze while I was out in these shoes. Soon the end of tights time will appear (I hope!).

Committed

I'm committed to bringing you my weekday outfits, even if they are boring as heck.

Sweater: Victoria's Secret
Pants: Martin and Osa
Necklace: Martin and Osa
Shoes: Cole Haan

How many ways can she wear a Jackie cardigan?

Dress: Sears
Cardigan: J Crew
Shoes: Naturalizer
Belt: Old Navy
Pearls: RDog

D'oh!

It's hard to pick out clothes when I know I HAVE to wear a certain color. Yesterday, teachers were asked (told) to wear pink today in support of our school's anti-bullying day. Do you think I could come up with something pink that I wanted to wear? No way! I whined to RDog, "Why wasn't last Friday anti-bullying day?" In the end, I went with a slight variation of an outfit I wore a few weeks ago. I was also one of the few teachers to wear pink. D'oh!

To compensate for my boring outfit, I had to do a silly pose.

Dress: Reitman's
Cardigan: J Crew
Shoes: Naturalizer
Earrings: Joe Fresh

Really? I have to work FIVE days this week?

Sweater: J Crew (I can't get enough of my Jackies lately)
Cami: J Crew purchased from the wonderful Heidi
Skirt: Cassis
Shoes: Naturalizer
Earrings: RDog

I'm super tired today and it's only Tuesday. I realized that this is my first five day work week since February. Eeek! It's going to be a long one.

It's old lady style but I like it

I picked out my outfits the night before I wear them. Last night, nothing was working for me. I wanted to wear a certain top but couldn't find a bottom that looked right. Everything was too big, too short, too tight, too long. I attacked my summer closet (yes, I have two closets) in the hopes of finding a long lost skirt to wear and found this dress instead. It's a linen dress but it is also lined, which is makes it perfect for cool spring days. It's from Sears and not even the young, "hip" line from Sears; it's from "Tradition" (aka the stuff my grandmother wears). But I don't care because I like it!

Dress: Sears
Cardigan: J Crew - Please J crew, put your sweaters on sale (20% and free shipping?). KDot needs more Jackies.
Belt: RW & Co
Shoes: Naturalizer

Pink Lady

Cardigan: J Crew
Sweater Shell: J Crew
Skirt: Banana Republic (found at a thrift store with the original tags still on!)
Necklace: Forever 21
Shoes: Naturalizer

"You look like a waitress"

"You look like a waitress," a co-worker told me today. Not quite the look I was going for . . .

Blouse: Tommy Hilfiger
Necklace: Forever 21
Skirt: Walmart
Belt: Joe Fresh
Shoes: Naturalizer

New tees - yippee!

Dress: Banana Republic (thrifted)
Sweater: J Crew
Sweater clip: vintage
Shoes: Naturalizer
Earrings: Joe Fresh

Some new tees are on my way. I placed my first J Crew order in a loooong time. I love when J Crew has free shipping sales with NO minimum. If I can get an order under $50, it means Mr. Postman will not charge me any of that nasty duty. So 3 new tees are on their way to me. Yippee! Is anyone else taking advantage of J Crew's 20% off and free shipping on tees sale?

Cats in the castle

Because I have nothing better to do with my time than color a cardboard castle for my cats. Ha! I spied this at Walmart last night while on a quest for polka dot rubber boots (that quest was unsuccessful). The kid in me wanted to color. So for under 10 dollars, I was able to obtain a few hours of coloring entertainment and my cats will have endless hours of fun sitting in a box.

Kitty is queen of the castle.

Ruby checking out her new sitting spot.

This can only lead to trouble.

A few paws were swatted and burrs were uttered. Ruby emerged the owner of the castle, for now . . .

Yes, those are RDog's feet. Yes, he wears ugly socks.

I love pockets in a skirt!

Shirt: Reitman's
Skirt: Old Navy - I love this skirt. Pockets are great. It was only three dollars so my cost per wear is already in the pennies. Fantastic!
Shoes: Naturalizer
Tights: Spanx - Best tights evah! A few of my fellow teachers have given up the tights but I'm not ready yet. I still feel like a snow storm might hit at any moment even though it has been 20 degrees here lately.

I Made a Game With Zombies

RDog has been playing this ridiculous XBox game called "I Made a Game With Zombies". The music is super catchy so I've been going around all day saying, "I made a game with zombies," hence the post title for today.

It's a beautiful day here today. I can remember Easter weekends when I was younger where it was snowing. This morning, RDog and I sat outside drinking our coffee and I was able to wear flip flops. Very odd, but I hope it lasts.

Today's outfit is . . .

T-Shirt: J Crew
Tank: J Crew
Scarf: Old Navy
Jeans: Costco
Flats: Joe Fresh - It feels veerrrry strange to be wearing flats. I am so use to heels.

I'm off to go back outside to enjoy the nice weather while singing some zombie music. Have a great Easter everyone!

There was never a tale of more woe, than that of my order from M&O!

As per PFP's request, here are the details of my latest, HUGE Martin and Osa order. It may be able to guide some of you who are taking advantage of M&O's extra 20% sale.


Cashmere Boatneck Sweater - I love Martin and Osa cashmere but this sweater fits, well, like a boat. I ordered it in my usual size medium. I never can fit into a small sweater. This thing is HUGE! NO likey.


Spring Blossom Tee - Another medium that was massively huge and see-through too. Such a shame, the flowers are so pretty.


Artisan Tee - You can never have too many navy tee's. Unfortunately this tee, a medium, was too tight for me, especially in the arms. I felt like a bodybuilder the way my arms were busting out of this one.


Asymmetrical Wave Tee - I am a big fan of M&O's tees so I thought I should stock up on them while I can. This tee was another one that was way too big in my usual size medium.


Tidal Tee - This fit me me! Yah! It is a bit sheer but it was only $8 so I think I can live with that.


Printed Dot Tank - Again, this was a bit too baggy and see-through. However, I LOVE me some polka dots so I'll make it work somehow.


Harbour Stripe Racerback Tank - I'm not usually a fan of tank tops that need a special bra but I like this one solely for the reason that it looks great paired with the below item.


Cadet Blazer - This is probably my favorite item from this order. I've been looking for a navy blazer for awhile. I scored this for $52 (sweet!) which is way less than the blazers I was eying at The Gap and probably a lot better in terms of quality too.


Geo Graphic Tank - I ordered this is a small because it looked a bit loosey goosey in the pictures. It fit fine but what turned me off was the condition it arrived in. It was obviously previously returned because it was rolled into a ball and stuffed into the plastic bag. As it is silk, it was just one giant mess of wrinkles. When I return items, I make sure that they are neatly folded (how hard is it to follow the original fold lines?). I'm disappointed in M&O for not catching this one (they must be taking a note from J Crew).


Silk-Cotton T-Back Tank - I sized down from my usual size 8 to a 6 for this tank because it looks extra flowy in the pictures. It fit ok but was in the same shape as the last tank top; a mess of wrinkles. It would have to be a very special tank top for me to take the effort to make it look new again. And it wasn't that special.


Soft Utility Dress - This was a bit of a gamble for me because I often have a hard time finding dresses that are long enough for me (long torso). This is waaaay too short. It even surpassed my limits of a date night dress. On the right girl, though, it would be cute. The silk is super soft.


Slim Boyfriend Jeans - I thought because the word "boyfriend" was in the name, these jeans would fit a girl who has got a few extra chunks in her trunk. I thought wrong. These badboys were TIGHT!


Belted Paper Poplin Bag Skirt - I got this in black and wore it here. I like it but it doesn't allow for a lot of movement - it is very narrow.


Slim Stretch Marine Pant - I've been in love with these pants since they were a new arrival but since I'm cheap, I waited until they were om major sale before purchasing. Big disappointment. I saw the fabric had some nylon in it but didn't realize that wearing these pants would feel and sound like I was wearing ski pants. Not cool!

So all in all, my huge post-ban Martin and Osa order was a disappointment. Hopefully I have some good ones in the next few months before M&O is no more.