J.Crew Factory Style Finds, Vol. 2
Hi friends! Happy Easter! So today is kind of a ‘whomp whomp’ sort of day – my husband is working 11 hours today and my dad + stepmom have her family in town, so while I’m not upset or anything, I’m a little bored ha! I also have this sort of sinus-y thing going on. Not even entertaining the “C” word lol! Which is annoying at best. So I decided to actually be a good blogger today and try get my mind off of things! Skip below for the blogging if you don’t want to read my life update. 🙂
Move update:
If you’re wondering about our move, we finally found a place to live temporarily while our new home is finished in Tampa. We did have to commit to 6 months. It’s an apartment also, which isn’t perfect, but they have a dog park and it’s connected to a nice neighborhood with tons of walking trails and paths, so that’s right up our alley. It’s also about 20 minutes from our new house, so we can check on that frequently. Negatively, we had to decide ‘what we take’ and ‘what goes in storage’ lol. It’s a 3 bedroom apartment (1400 sq feet), which I feel like is pretty decent for an apartment, but I didn’t love the idea of turning it into a storage locker either lol!
So we are going to take all of our furniture – set up our living room, dining area, master bedroom, and my office ‘the same’ as usual – and store in the 3rd bedroom, things like our kitchen nook furniture, gym equipment, guest bedroom furniture, etc. The rest we are moving into a storage unit (garage stuff, horse stuff, winter clothes, home decor, etc… anything we can live without for 2 months). While that’s a huge pain and will cost a little more $$$, I think it’s worth it for our sanity. This whole process has been nothing but stress and “deep breaths” and we are trying to keep it together. 2 months isn’t a terribly long time, but it’s long enough that after everything we’ve dealt with lately, I will be thankful for the little things (like a clean and non-cluttered apartment). Now positively, the apartment complex did say that once we have our 60 day notice from our new home builder and know when we are moving – we can give them notice and if they find new tenants, we can get out of our lease! So that’s good!
And if you’re wondering what I mean by “everything we’ve dealt with lately” on top of this crap move – my husband was rear ended on I-75 the other day commuting to Tampa for work. He’s totally fine, but his Tesla is a mess. The car that hit him, pushed his car into someone in front of him (the interstate was all stop and go), so he has to have the front and back fixed. The car works manually, but the cameras and sensors are broken in the front and back – so autopilot (including cruise control) do not work. The back hatch (he drives a model Y… crossover SUV) opens and shuts, but there is a seal broken, so air is moving through. Thank god it’s ‘dry season’ in Florida right now lol! Just one.more.thing.
I also have my 2 older (retired) show horses – I no longer show, but I’ve kept my 2 old gals to live out their golden years under my care. If you have horses, you know that there is still therapy in brushing a horse and caring for them, even without riding or showing. My girl’s nicknames are Kimmie and Nikki. I recently had a vet out to take a look at Nikki’s back legs – we retired her early due to cysts that had formed on her ‘stifles’ (which is like the human knee… but on her back legs). He completed x-rays and we found that unfortunately her condition has progressed much more than expected. We were a little shocked because she’s been doing very well. Our local vet had started her on a horsey version of ibuprofen and she has improved remarkably. Well enough that I thought maybe I could start riding her lightly again and put her through a sort of rehab of sorts, if just to trail ride. Alas, that is not the case. Or didn’t appear to be based on her x-rays. This was a new vet to us (but highly recommended from Ocala), and he felt she only has 1-2 years to live. Assuming the meds keep working and she stays comfortable. It was quite a shock to me. I expected more of a ‘well, we can inject some steroids to make her a little better…. and you can ride her, sure, but not show.’ His prognosis was SO bad, that it just kind of put me in a stupor of sorts. So, I joke about the old saying where ‘things come in 3s’ – and I’m hoping between this whole mess of a move to Tampa, my husband’s car, and now Nikki – our bad luck has run out. I hope. Still taking those deep breaths lol!
… Now onto the clothes! I wanted to share a few new items from J.Crew Factory! Ever since the pandemic hit, I’ve been a little ‘eh’ on the Factory store. Sure they’ve had cute items here and there. I was thrilled with a lot of their new releases around Christmas time, but other than that I haven’t purchased much. However, the last 2 releases have gave me all the old school J.Crew feels! And they’ve had some pretty good deals recently also which were worth placing orders for – right now everything is 50% off, plus if you spend $100, you can get an extra 20% off with code “GOODIES”. I placed 2 orders recently (one hasn’t arrived), so I thought I’d share these first few items with you before this sale ends!
Up first, is my favorite (recent) purchase to date! Maybe it’s because I live in Florida, but comfy dresses are a must in the late spring/summer months. This dress comes in 5 different color/print options. This marigold color is going to be really popular this spring/summer also. Easily paired with gold toned jewelry and cognac sandals. It would also of course match with sneakers and a jean jacket, which is how I would wear it to work.
sizing: I took my regular shirt size in this dress. I’m wearing a size 4. Since the bodice is the popular tiered ruffle fit, you don’t need to go with your jean size (I would normally size up to a 6 in dresses if it was more fitted). The dress is also lined, and a stiffer feel (in a good way). It would be easy to wear this to work and hopefully won’t wrinkle like some other fabrics.
my dress | striped version | solid colors
my sandals | more affordable options: here and here
necklace (on sale for $20! ~ highly recommend)
Next up is this short sleeve collared sweater and denim skirt! So, the sweater drew me in with the awesome printed collar. I mean… hello Kate Spade! Definitely an old school preppy vibe here, but I’m probably going to live in fashion circa 2013-2015 for awhile… I miss all of the vibrant colors and statement necklaces that were so popular back then! Anyway, this collar drew me in for that reason! This sweater comes in 2 options – navy blue and pink. The pink version has a striped collar. I’m wearing my normal size small (fit is TTS).
I have this same denim skirt from last year in a lighter hue. It’s the same fit, same stretch, etc. It is a mini skirt, so all my tall ladies – steer clear of this one! I’m only 5’2″ so it works for me, but I wouldn’t wear this if I was much taller. Fit is TTS. I’m wearing my normal size 6.
sweater | skirt | sneakers | bracelet | headband
… And lastly I wanted to share this gorgeous ruffle blouse! Tops like these make getting dressed easy. Easily paired with shorts, skirt, or pants and you’re ready! Not a lot of accessories needed since the top is loud in itself. I wore it untucked here, but that was because of my chino shorts. These shorts are also from J.Crew Factory, and while I have tons of other prints and colors from them, I can’t recommend these white pair. You can easily see the top through the shorts when tucked in. Thankfully not my underwear! But I really don’t love that. If you’re looking for white chino shorts I would recommend these from regular J.Crew. They are worth the extra money spent.
My top does fit TTS (I’m wearing a size small). The shorts also fit TTS – I wear a size 6 in both brands.
I also highly recommend these sandals! They are a new arrival from Vince Camuto and a re-boot on last years version. I love mine from last year in black, so I was ecstatic to try the white pair (which also comes in other colors). Fit is TTS. The ankle strap is velcro, so makes taking on/off super easy! And also comfy!
I’m not sure when I’ll be able to share more new arrivals with you all – hopefully once we get settled in the apartment! Our move date is planned on 4/13, and I’m actually off work until 5/8 since we are moving earlier than expected – so I’m hoping that means lots of time to blog! Also lots of time to Poshmark because I need to get rid of stuff ha! Until then, I’ll share flatlays, #ootd photos, and other randomness with you when I can! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and great weekend!
