Out to Dinner Outfit

A good friend of mine, M, was getting people together to have dinner last night at Maggiano's (yum!) to celebrate her b-day. I wasn't sure what everyone was wearing, so I figured it'd be better to be overdressed rather than underdressed, so I started selecting an outfit with a dress in mind. My dinner outfit came down to a choice between two black dresses - one a little reminiscent of one of those Roland Mourets and one with a turtleneck and short-ish skirt. The weather was cool, but not too cold, and I always get cold inside restaurants that seem to have their AC jacked up a notch too much, so I went with the turtleneck dress by Juicy Couture. I couldn't really get a good photograph of the dress, so you'll have to excuse the one I've uploaded to this post.  The shape of the dress is a bit odd to photograph with bell sleeves, a loose body, and fitted hem that hugs the legs. I paired the dress with my pink pumps to add some personality to the look. All gussied up, hubby and I headed to the restaurant.

The restaurant was attached to the mall so I spent the previous night and the hour before dinner choosing, finalizing my selection, and actually making returns on those items I mentioned yesterday. My method? Last night, I gathered everything together and sorted the group one item at a time. I selected one item to keep and then one item to return and repeated till I had sorted the entire batch. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself for getting rid of so much! "Old me" would have rationalized every single purchase and paid the punishment later with too many bills and not enough money. I have all my "keeps" laid out on my couch right now and when I look at everything, I realize in my head that I still bought too much, but I just can't bear to part with the rest. It was hard enough giving up half!

Hubby did reward me for my efforts, though. When we went to Gap to return stuff, the girl at the counter told me that one shirt in particular (a red/black ruffled button down - can't find the photo online) that I was returning was sold out at their store and likely unavailable at the others, which I interpreted as, "Quick! Grab this fabulous shirt and run. Run! Now! While you still can!  Before I buy it when you leave...bwa ha ha!" However, I fought my instinct to take off in my pink pumps, red plaid shirt in hand, and still returned it. Hubby actually found a men's shirt at Gap to buy, so he checked out while I went across the hall to Banana to make a quick return. When we met back up, he showed me the red plaid shirt, which he bought back for me. Awww...what a sweetie!?

Dress: Juicy Couture
Pink Mary Jane Pumps: J Crew