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After not shopping for two weeks I was ready to shop for pretty things without doing a conversion rate. It didn’t take me two days to walk into J Crew. I was lucky enough to still find a few items during the 30% off sale in-stores after I returned from our trip.

Pom-Pom Shell, Sz 6 – This isn’t on sale but I had tried it on that day. This is a tight in the bust for me so I would size to an 8. It’s not for me but I have a feeling if I saw it in the Yellow or Blue I would re-consider. It would depend on how saturated they really are online compared to IRL.

Ella Dress in Garden Floral, Sz 8, $198, $99.99, $69.99 in-store – I really liked this print on both the dress and skirt. This dress hit sale pretty quick, before I left, but I passed. When I saw it during my visit it had dropped in price again AND this was the only larger size left, in my size. It was meant to be for me. It’s silk and lovely and the colors are gorgeous and vibrant. I think this will be my birthday dress to run errands and shop ’cause turning 40 deserves a beautiful dress.

Linen Cable-Knit Sweater, Sz S, $79.50, $34.99, $24.99 in-store, Flax – I have almost every color of this sweater. Multiples? Yes please! I can get away without a cami under this color. These have been great lightweight sweaters to throw on with anything.

White Denim Mini, Sz 31, $69.50, $39.99 in-store – As I was getting dressed Saturday morning I thought to myself that I needed a White Denim Mini Skirt. Then I walked into JC and found it, on sale. I could have worn a 29 or 30 but those sizes were sold out. This size is great because I can wear it a little lower on my hips and it doesn’t feel so short, because this is SHORT. But I love it! 

And some of my favorites

Garment Dyed Linen Cable-Knit Sweater, Sz S, $79.50, $39.99, Neon Azalea
Cafe’ Capri in Sovereign Paisley, Sz 6, $148, $79.99 –  I love my paisley pants and can’t wait to wear them again.
Mona Suede Pumps, Sz 6 1/2 (purchased a 7 a month ago), $198, $54 (!), Wild Berry – So this color is back to full price but there was a color that was $54. The leather and patent Mona’s are also on sale.

No. 2 Pencil Skirt in Garden Floral, Sz 6, $138, $89.99 – A gorgeous printed skirt that I would have snatched up had it been in my size on sale, in-store. Wearing it with the Naomi Top in Polka Dot.

Classic Mini in Double-Serge Cotton, Sz 8, $89.50, $79.50, Bright Spearmint & Brilliant Blue – I love this mini and this color. I am seriously contemplating the Blue.

 

Ella Dress in Porcelain Paisley, Sz 8, $298 $199.99 – This is such a beautiful dress but I have the pencil skirt and have been able to dress it down so it is a pass for me. 

Director Dress in Bi-Stretch Wool, Sz 6,Bright Dahlia, $188 $148 – This was a good fit all over but it looks like only the Black is left in limited sizes.

Midsummer Maxi Dress in Raj Paisley, Sz 8, $198, $119.99 – I bought this before my vacation and didn’t get a percent off but this dress served me well on my vacation. I wore it on the plane with a denim jacket and my Birkenstock’s. I wore it in this pic with my navy striped Soludos. If my Chambray Soludos hadn’t torn I would have worn it with those too. This one is cotton so I’m not sure how the Solid Linen will fit but this size is perfect for me.

 

And that wraps up my J Crew sale picks and purchases. What did you score?

Have a GREAT day!

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Matera was our last stop before heading home. It was on Husband’s original list of places to stay and he really wanted to see the Sassi di Matera, which means “stones of Matera”. The Sassi are houses dug into the rock and it used to be that the dwellers shared their homes with their livestock. Now, Matera is a modern city with the Sassi part having been mostly converted to liveable homes and hotels. It’s been the set of movies, including The Passion of the Christ. 

The ancient Sassi

The updated Sassi
We stayed at La Locanda di San Martino. It had a lovely Thermae, though not as large as the ones from Ancient Rome with several rooms that could accommodate over a thousand people. Ours had a hot tub, sauna, steam room and a warm tub, which felt nice in the beginning but after being in the hot tub was just a tad chilly. 
Image courtesy of La Locanda di San Martino website
Our room
The patio where Husband and I enjoyed a lovely bottle of local wine during sunset.
We took a little stroll after lunch through part of the town and came across the Cinema. 
The local wine we shared. Husband saw the image of the Sassi in the wine while taking pictures and then would not let me drink out of it. It was my wine…so I drank his. 
The Cathedral at night
I wish we could have stayed in Matera longer. 
Hope you enjoyed these posts. We had an amazing vacation and I wish we had more time but I am happy to be home. 
Ciao!
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**Sorry about that…I didn’t realize the pictures didn’t properly upload. They are all there now!

Amazing!

Really truly amazing…I can’t even begin to describe our days here. The experience of living in a true Italian town, where we found only one person who spoke English, was awesome. I don’t know if I can put it into words but I will try. And the pictures should help.
We stayed in an apartment somewhere in the middle of other residences. I say somewhere because we walked down several alleys and took many turns before getting there. 
This was our view from one of the bedroom windows. There was a goat farm down towards the bottom right. We saw them leave every day, led by one of two men and several dogs. A few “escaped” from their mountain one day and a man on a scooter herded them back to the farm.

A little church was down the way from us. They had mass there the following Saturday night.
 
Part of the castle, while we were on our way to dinner the first night.

The wine area at Il Trapetto, the restaurant we had dinner at the first night. We had just learned how to ask for a recommendation in Italian so we did just that. 
Olive oil made right in the town where we were. I’m not sure how much more fresh or natural you can get.

What the server recommended. The didn’t have pizza but these sandwich subs were cooked in the brick oven. The half-eaten one was mozzarella, tomato, and prosciutto, while the other was a different type of cheese and peppered bacon.

One of many glasses of wine from several bottles. This one was a regional wine from the area we were in, Puglia. 

My breakfast everyday for 5 days – homemade croissant, a delicious Cappucino, small shot of water and fresh juice, either an orange juice mix or a berry mix. It was so delicious.

We took a drive to the Foresta Umbra. The city of Peschici is in the background.

Peschici
Zaiana Beach, where we spent one of our days. 

I brought along my Casbah print bandeau one piece and everyone else was wearing a bikini. I’m talking everyone. It didn’t matter their age or size. I felt a little self-conscious and out-of-place in my one-piece, if that’s even possible. I shall, from now on, always bring two swimsuits…a one-piece and a bikini. I enjoyed myself anyway. It was hard not to.

We ate at the restaurant on this cliff after the beach day. Those are poles to hold the fishing nets to catch fresh fish daily for the restaurant. 
My fresh catch of the day. 
This was also a great place to watch the sunset. 
This was our lunch most days. Our first full day there was a market that
comes every two weeks. We found fresh meats, cheeses, breads, fruit and
honey. I could eat this for lunch daily. The fruit was so delicious.
The Boy could not stop talking about it, or eating it.
We had a washing machine and an “air dryer”. 

L’Orto del Conte – We had dinner here the last two nights of our stay. Loved the view.

Risotto with prawns and clams
 On our drive to another beach we came across a few goats.
 The clock tower at the City Hall that told me the time every 15 minutes. I miss it already.
I hope to get my other photos organized this week. We had a wonderful time relaxing. 
Off to our last stay tomorrow, in Matera. 
Ciao!

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Saturday I did the craziest thing ever in my love for J Crew. I drove 90 miles one way for a skirt! When I told The Boy what I was going to do he looked at me and laughed! And then asked why. Well, my dear Boy, because I needed it. I compared it to when he needed the latest Call of Duty video game or the latest map pack and he understood.

So what skirt would cause me to lose my mind for a moment and drive 90 miles to get it?

It went on sale in stores this week from $118 to $69.99. I was already contemplating a full-price purchase on this skirt but when it hit sale, my store and the other in San Antonio sold out in the size 4 in this color. My PS was going to order it for me but I asked her to look and see if there were any in Austin first. There was one at Barton Creek Square and a few at the Domain. She called BCS and had it put on hold and I drove Saturday evening to pick it up. An hour and a half drive for a 10 minute stop (I picked up some Lammes Candies Longhorns too) and then we turned around and came home. 
Now, why, you ask, would I drive to pick this up instead of having it shipped and possibly getting the additional 30% off? Because I’ve re-planned my packing list for the umpteenth time and included this skirt as a possibility. So I had to have it as quickly as possible and I knew it wouldn’t get here by Wednesday.
And I was a walking J Crew ad for my adventure on Saturday. After seeing the Gimlet Skirt in Coaster Stripe on the CNBC show about Mickey & J Crew I was itching to wear it again. I paired it with one of my favorite Linen sweaters, the Linen Dot Popover, and my Iris Sandals in Tortoise. 
How Crew “Cray Cray” have you ever been? Confess!
Have a Great Day!
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I really wanted to wear this skirt as soon as possible and didn’t want to wait for another go-into-the-office day (since I won’t have one for three weeks!!). So I decided to try my options to see which one I liked best for running errands on Friday. My goal was to keep things simple and let the skirt shine.

First, I paired the Porcelain Paisley Skirt with a J Crew Factory Favorite Fit Tank in Navy (similar here) and my trusty Stuart Weitzman Nude Wedges. For the hot day we had the tank was perfect.

Next, I added a J Crew Cotton Cardigan, from 08/09, in Navy (similar here). A nice pairing but I didn’t like the longer length covering the print of this skirt, at least for today. 
I swapped the wedges for the Cece Suede Ballet Flats in Wild Berry, making the outfit a little more casual, with a pop of color.
I swapped the Navy cardigan with a Factory Jackie in White (similar here) and the Mona Heels in Wild Berry. I love the pop of pink. 
Finally, I swapped the heels for the Chambray Soludos. I quite like this for a super casual look. It was the one I went with today and ended up not wearing the cardigan since it was so hot today. 
So tell me…what do you think of these pairings? I must confess I was going to wear a red tank but it was too big on me so I had to go for a smaller one. How will you style this skirt?