Mommin' It Up!

November 15, 2011

Lands’ End at the Office

A few months ago, I was getting ready for work and noticed that I had on head-to-toe Lands’ End clothing (which now that I think about it, happens a lot!). It crossed my mind that Lands’ End might not be the first place women think to look for professional wear, so I’ve made it my mission to change that! For the next few weeks, I’m going to be writing about the quality, value, and – most of all – versatility of Lands’ End clothing.

The key word in the last sentence was versatility. I rarely buy clothes that won’t serve a number of purposes, and when I’m shopping, I’m always thinking about how I could pair different pieces or accessories together to make things work for work, evenings, weekends, whatever. My clothes are like me – they need to multitask!

For you WOHMs out there, let me ask you – how often do you leave work and head directly home? If you’re like me, you’re often heading straight from the office to basketball practice, swim meets, piano lessons, etc., and usually I don’t want to wear exactly what I wore to work. (Read: I want to get comfortable!) Lands’ End makes it easy to switch out a few things and be ready to go.

Here’s an outfit I tried out recently that is perfect for going straight from work to kids’ activities (or a night out with the girls… we can dream, right?).

First of all – the staple piece: the Women’s Regular Cotton Rib Waist Cardigan Sweater.

I love this sweater – it is so cozy, and the front closures give it a more tailored, fitted look. The Women’s Woven Tab Belt is flexible and comfortable, and adds a polished look to the cardigan.

The white top in the picture above looks great, but I wanted to try something a little different. Did you know flannel is back in style? I’m sure I’m late to this party but let me tell you – I could not be happier about this trend. I’d estimate that I spent 83% of my high school years swathed in some sort of flannel.

Not a good look, my friends.

Thankfully, though, the huge, baggy, grunge-era shirts are not making a comeback (yet). Instead, we can get the same comforting feeling while looking great in the Flannel Ruffle Popover Shirt.

So, I paired that sweater, shirt and belt with the new Lands’ End Boot-cut Chino Pants in steel gray, and had a great outfit for work.

Let’s chat for a moment about the new chinos, shall we?

O.M.G. people, I love these things. LOVE THEM. The boot-cut version I have is Fit 1, which is a more modern fit that sits below the waist. They’re tapered to the knee and then have a slight flare. They look great and they are so comfortable. They also come in khaki, black and French walnut, and I am considering ordering three pairs in each color. They are that wonderful.

And did I mention Lands’ End will hem them for free? They’ll arrive the perfect length and ready to wear.

So – sweater, belt, blouse, chinos – all set for a day at work. Running to your kids’ play practice as soon as you get home? Un-belt/buckle the sweater, swap out the blouse for a Lightweight Cotton Modal Crew Top (I highly recommend them, I have 10 of them myself)…

And you’re ready to go!

Of course, you could change out of the chinos into your favorite jeans or leggings, but they are so comfortable you don’t need to. They are spectacular, people.

Lands’ End is my first choice for clothing for the office or wherever I’m going!

Help me plan for future posts – what are your wardrobe challenges?

P.S. If you haven’t entered Jenny’s latest Lands’ End Starfish Collection giveaway, now’s the time!

*****
Lands’ End provided me with the above outfit so I could check it out properly!

November 14, 2011November 20, 2011

Giveaway: New Motorola RAZR 4G LTE

As you know, Jenny and I are participating in Verizon Wireless’s Midwest Moms campaign. We’ve had fun trying out the Motorola Xoom and Droid Bionic, and now it’s time to let you in on the fun, too!

We’re giving away the latest and greatest in the world of smartphones – the Motorolla Droid RAZR.

Do you see how thin that phone is? It’s 0.27″ thick – the size of four quarters. The case is made out of Kevlar, the stuff that constitutes bullet proof vests, and the screen is made from scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass, which means you’ll shudder a little less when the kids ask to play with your phone! It also has a coating that repels water.

The craziest thing about this phone is that it has “advanced artificial intelligence” that keeps track of how you use the phone and then modifies itself so it runs at peak effectiveness. You can even set it to switch to silent mode automatically when you go certain places, like church, for example.

Of course, it’s also fast – as we’ve told you before, the Verizon 4G LTE network is amazing. It runs up to 10 times faster than 3G!

Want to check it out for yourself? Here’s how to enter:

Required: Leave a comment on this post telling us about the first cell phone you had.

Extra entries (leave a comment for each one you do):
— “Like” our facebook page and leave us a comment on this post telling us you did our already do.

— Tweet about this giveaway “Win a #Droid Razr from @jennyitup & @momminitup http://goo.gl/K8zkC #midwestmoms” then leave us a comment with your tweet URL.

— Subscribe to our feed, then leave us a comment on this post letting us know you did or already do.

Contest fine print: One winner will be chosen by random.org from among entries received by November 20th 12pm CST. The winner will be contacted via email and has
24 hours to respond. If winner does not respond within said time a new winner will be selected at random. Winner will need to provide name, email and address for shipment and prize will be shipped out via FedEx. This prize must be shipped to a North American address. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. The #MidwestMoms DROID RAZR Giveaway ends November 20th. Verizon Wireless will provide the winner with the giveaway item. Mommin’ It Up is not a sponsor of the giveaway.

November 14, 2011November 14, 2011

It’s a slippery slope. And I’ve got oil on my shoes.

Today I went shopping for supplies for Sophie’s birthday party. She wants a Hello Kitty party, and thanks to all the other “fun moms” (I’m looking at YOU, Koproski, Berry, Loyd, and Perlow – and don’t even get me started on YOU, Princess Party Emmons) whose children’s parties Sophie has attended, the child now expects a pinata and goody bags at said party. So, my years of being a super-cheap mom are OVER.

But I was okay with that, to a point, because you see, I had a Living Social voucher to a local party store, which I’d bought with credits I’d built up. It was valued at $30 so I thought, certainly I could get out of the party store only spending a few bucks. So, even though every fiber of my being was screaming “NOOOOOOOOOO”, I purchased a Hello Kitty pinata for $20. That’s right, I spent twenty bucks on PAPER that is going to get ripped to SHREDS before the party is over. I also bought two packs of Hello Kitty plates, a pack of regular pink plates (for the grown-ups), a Hello Kitty banner, two packages of pink forks, and some wrapping paper.

My total before the voucher came to $57. FIFTY-SEVEN DOLLARS. So I spent $27 out-of-pocket when I went in there expect to spend less than ten! What the crap? Clearly I should have gotten into the “Party Store” business. I didn’t even get party HATS, or a game!! Sheesh.

I bought goody bags and favors at the Dollar Tree. Much more my speed. But since there are eleventy-billion kids coming to the mega party of the year, I still had to get a ton. Guess, what, if you are a boy, and you are coming to Sophie’s party, you are getting candy in your goody bag and that’s it! Sorry, dudes. The girls are getting a couple extra trinkets. Because there’s only 9 girls and there’s like, 678 boys attending.

But anyhoo. THE POINT IS:

I got my daughter a $20 pinata. Because she really, really wanted it. I would have rather spent another $20 on a gift for her but I caved. I caved hard.

I might not be a “fun mom” yet…but I’m definitely more fun than I’ve ever been..by Joshua’s birthday in February I’ll probably have rented each of his party guests their own pony for a day.

HELP!!! I’m slip-sliding away…