Things I Love Thursday – New stuff from Lands’ End

I love Lands’ End!

I know, you’re shocked. It’s not like I’ve never mentioned that fact before. But I’ve tried a few things from their new summer line, and I had to share my latest favorites.

First of all… dresses. I have a *thing* about dresses. I don’t know why, really – I don’t even wear them that often (hello, they require shaved legs) but loooove them. I particularly love my two newest ones from Lands’ End!

This is the Women’s Regular Sleeveless Cotton Shift Dress (originally $89.50 but on sale right now for $69.99!). It’s cotton (and machine washable), with textured material that has a very nice feel. I like that the dress is cut so that it has a nice curvy shape – that, combined with the darts and the belt make it very flattering. It’s fully lined, and I love the right-above-the-knee length.

When I picked this dress out, I originally asked to try it in red (because red dresses take my dress obsession to a whole new level), but they didn’t have it in my size so they sent me white. And I love it. The white makes it so versatile – I can change it up with jewelry, shoes, scarves, cardigans – whatever! It could go from a daytime/office look to a date night look very easily.

I also got this, the Women’s Regular Sleeveless Chambray Shirtdress.

This dress is perfect for a hot summer day. The soft cotton material looks great and will keep you cool. Like the shift dress, this one is cut and darted in a way that is quite flattering, and it’s also machine washable. A fun surprise to this dress is that it has pockets, which gives it a modern feel (and comes in handy, too). I just love the whole shirtdress look. I have it in khaki (my favorite color, because I am exciting like that), but it also comes in dusty jade and vintage chambray (blue). It will easily carry you into fall as well, with the addition of a jean jacket or cardigan. Very cute!

Land’s End is my go-to place for clothes, but until recently I had never tried anything from their home line. I had been eying their bedding for months, so when they asked if I’d like to review some of it, I was thrilled. However, I loved it all so much that I couldn’t decide which set I wanted to try. So, I told our old buddy @LandsEndPRMolly to surprise me! There was seriously not a set I didn’t like, and I knew I’d be happy with whatever she picked (and also, I know she has great taste!). Of course, I was not disappointed when this bedding set arrived on my doorstep:

The Shelby Linen Border Duvet Cover and shams really brighten up our bedroom and are so soft and cool – perfect for summer. The yarn-dyed border provides a fun pop of color without being overwhelming.

This accent pillow completes the set.

But let’s not forget the most important part of a bed set – the sheets. Really, I don’t think there’s anything that feels better than slipping into a bed with a clean set of sheets – and these are by far the nicest sheets I’ve ever had.

The Organic Print Sheet Sets are 100% organic cotton and 300-thread count. They are soft, cool, and feel so good. I love them.

My husband and I both love the new look of our room, which is important because the last time we shopped for bedding, it took forever (and a ton of different stores) for us to find something we could agree on. From now on, I’ll just head straight to Lands’ End, because the entire bedding line is lovely, without being too feminine for Andy to be on board!

BTW, I was serious when I said I couldn’t pick from all their options – here are a couple others I love.

To see the complete line, click here. And for more Things I Love Thursday posts, visit Jill at The Diaper Diaries.

Post to Twitter

The Holy Grail of minivans.

(I stole this picture from Cortney for reasons that will soon be apparent).

For the past almost-12 weeks, I have been shoving three kids, and consequently three car seats, in the back of my car.  Now I have made no secret about the fact that I love my ol’ Lexus with over 300,000 miles on it, but even when it was brand new in 1994, it wasn’t made to haul three kids!

I. NEEEEEEEEEEED. a minivan.

{so badly!}

And this spring, Bobby and I WILL be purchasing one.  That’s right, we have saved our pennies and we are jonesin’ for a van!  The search is ON!

Since I am quite the Toyota fan, I was really excited to get the opportunity to test drive the 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE a couple of weeks ago.

And now, I have a Sienna-shaped HOLE in my heart.  Oh my word.  It. was. AMAZING!

Unfortunately, the day it was delivered to my house, Joshua came down with is first-ever ear infection.  So, I did not get to do a lot of  “joy riding”.  Therefore this post is not filled with cute photos of my kids boppin’ around in it.  🙁 BUT, I did get to take it to the pediatrician, the pharmacy, and the preschool drop-off and pickup.  And since I had all THREE kids because of Joshua being home sick, this van was a life-saver. You see, normally having to shove all three kids in the back of my car and get Sophie to preschool  and get them all back OUT of the car would have been a majorly stressful ordeal.  But with the Sienna’s keyless entry and power doors, it was a SNAP.  I mean, easy as pie.  It was ree-donkulously wonderful!

I NEED a smart key and power doors. NEED NEED NEED!

Another really convenient features of the Sienna are the rear seats are super-easy to lay down and put back up.  I am pretty much terrible at all things of this nature and I could do it easily. So you could say it’s idiot-proof!

I also really, really enjoyed the touch screen on the dash.  Navigation, music, a CAMERA that shows you what’s behind you when you are in reverse – wow!  It’s all there!  And there are so many more technical gadgets on this car.  I connected my iPod touch via bluetooth – didn’t even have to plug it in (although I certainly could’ve via USB port to charge it and listen if I wanted to).  There’s a real electrical plug, a totally unbelievable widescreen DVD player with wireless headphones, and you can even hook up your Wii and play it on the road!!  How awesome would that make road trips??

Oh, and did I mention it drives like a dream? Oh my goodness. It dumped snow on us the Friday of the week I was driving the Sienna, and I had an early-morning appointment (which is of course, precisely WHY it snowed.)  The roads were really not good, but the Sienna handled them perfectly.  It was definitely the most stable I have ever felt driving in the snow.  Ouch. My heart is hurting just thinking about it again.  The Sienna is now My Precious.

So here’s the deal.  I am going to buy a van. I don’t yet know what it will be,  but I know what I want it to be – a Toyota Sienna.  It’s the dream van, man.  If you’re in the market, you’ve GOT to test-drive one!

I LOVE the Toyota Sienna, so I linked this up to Things I love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries.  Head on over to see what everyone else loves!

Post to Twitter

Things I Love: VapoRub (and a Giveaway, too)!

It’s Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries, and as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I LOVE Vicks VapoRub!  A couple of weeks ago, when everyone was watching the Super Bowl and oohing and ahhing over those crazy commercials – I was miserable with a cold.  Luckily, I hate football so my cold didn’t detract from my enjoyment of “the big game”.  But what made things extra-miserable was that my little Sophie also had a cold, and hers was the ramped-up, bigger and badder version of mine.  We both had coughs but hers was much more frequent and harder.  It was very sad!

So of course, I slathered us both in Vicks VapoRub.  Because, if nothing else, I love the smell!  But it really does help soothe my cough, and honestly, it’s just soothing to me in general.  VapoRub means relief to me – it’s kind of like how my baby relaxes at the mere sight of his swaddling blanket.  Anyhoo, I had Sophie all VapoRubbed but I was still very nervous that she would not sleep well.  I have a newborn to keep me up at night, and I didn’t want to be up multiple times with a coughing four-year-old as well.  Not to mention, I wanted her to sleep and feel good!

When bedtime came, I put Vicks VapoRub on her chest and my hubby started our Vicks vaporizer and put some Vicks VapoSteam liquid in it.  The combination helped Sophie sleep GREAT.  I was SO relieved.  I did not hear her cough until 6:30 a.m.!  She still had her cough going strong the next day so I applied VapoRub throughout the day to help soothe it.  At night, we repeated the previous night’s VapoRub & vaporizer treatment and again she slept really well.  She was able to go back to school Tuesday.  I credit the VapoRub and the vaporizer for helping her to sleep well and get the rest she needed to recover.

Interestingly enough, on the Vicks VapoRub Facebook page, they offer lots of tips, and one of their favorites (and now mine) is that cold germs can only survive for about 3 hours, so instead of cleaning like a maniac to get rid of germs, you should concentrate more on letting your body get the rest you need to recover.  So, my hunch about rest being the key to Sophie’s recovery just may be right!  You can find more great tips like these and some fun polls, too, at the VapoRub Facebook page here.

We didn’t get many colds in our house in the fall and early winter, but now that it’s alllllmost spring, we’ve really been fighting them!  And let’s face it, colds can strike any time of year.  So you can be cold-ready anytime, I’ve got a little cold-fighting giveaway from Vicks for you.  One lucky winner will receive a cold-care package from Vicks with Vicks NyQuil, DayQuil, and VapoRub!  Everything you need to get cold relief when it hits you!  Here’s how to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post telling me what your least favorite cold symptom is

2) For an additional entry,”like” Vicks VapoRub’s Facebook page and leave me a separate comment here letting me know you did so.

One winner will be chosen at random on March 1st, 2011.  Winner will be notified by email.  Good luck!

___________________

I am being compensated for my role in the Vicks Blogger Brigade.  All opinions on Vicks VapoRub and other Vicks products are mine alone.

Post to Twitter