Outlet Mall Classics

Today I decided to wear two shirts that have been neglected for a long time.  The shirt is from J.Crew and the cardigan is from Banana Republic.  In the interest of full disclosure, they are both from an outlet mall.  Yes, I admit it...I love outlet mall shopping.  I am fully aware that much of the clothing is made just for the outlet and can be of cheaper quality.  I don't care though.  Place me at an entrance to a Premium Outlets location (preferably Albertville, MN or Las Vegas but Oklahoma City or some remote Chicago suburb would be OK) and I would be happy all day.  Walking into a Gap outlet is like heaven, regardless of the disheveled racks and tables.  With my sister and mom by my side we can tear that place apart. 

Anyway, that low budget imagery aside, I purchased the cardigan from the Banana Republic outlet in Albertville and the tank in Vegas from J.Crew.  I have no problem with the cardigan.  It just only goes with very specific items and it just got buried in my piles of cardigans.  The tank was a favorite item of mine the summer I bought it, which was in 2011.  I thought the little striped button placket was a perfect summer accent.  Much to my chagrin, on one of the first days I wore it, I put a hole in it!  At my job we had to wear these name badges around our necks and the swivel hook made a hole in my new shirt.  I was so ticked off that day.  I was just home from vacation and returning to a job situation I wasn't very happy about.  And then my cute new shirt got a hole in it because of my stupid name badge!  You are probably saying that you can't see a hole in this picture.  That is because I cut a little piece of cotton from an old t-shirt and patched it with an iron on patch from the back.  The patch still holds to this day.  I stopped wearing the shirt because when I was nursing for 8 months after my son was born it felt like my bras were always showing and they were not cute colorful numbers to have showing around your tank top straps.  Then it was winter and then I was pregnant again and it just hung in the closet, waiting to come out again!

I ended up not even wearing this outfit out of my house because we had to stay home this morning because Ben picked up a case of what looked like pink eye yesterday and that evening at the walk in clinic we discovered that his ear tubes have fallen out sometime since his 2 year appointment and he has an ear infection!  Greeeaaat...that kid has fooled me so many times by being sick without actually acting sick. I have no idea how long this has even been going on. So we had to stay around the house today since he could have pink eye (but it could also be related to the ear infection).  I may still leave the house but this afternoon I decided to tackle a project a few weeks late: processing the carrots from our garden. 

 

Yeah, those and more have been sitting in grocery bags in our fridge taking up the whole bottom shelf and a drawer for almost three weeks.  I finally decided to clean and peel and slice them.  I should have worn an apron or an old shirt because it was a messier job than I remember and my outlet outfit is now splattered with garden mud residue and carrot juice.  Also, my hands are dyed orange.  I was working fast and watching "Breaking Bad" on the ipad at the same time so I didn't even notice until I was done. 

 

At least we have our fridge back to full capacity now.  And also we have a freezer full of carrots for all of our winter soup and crock pot needs!