Patagonia Bandha dress

If I haven’t impressed this upon you enough, let me try this again. I’m cheap. My southern mama says that’s tacky to say and insists rather that I am “thrifty.” To that Mom I say, “NO, I’M CHEAP!” For most all clothes, gear and goods I look to find clothes that are 55% off as my general rule of thumb. It is nearly unheard of that I would walk in a store and buy something off the rack at full price. There are a few oldie but goodies however that I do that happily, with no fuss. Enter Patagonia’s Bandha dress. Cut just perfectly to skim your body in a stretchy fabric (which is a must for me these days), this sleeveless knee length dress is my go to dress. Each year they come out with 3 shades, likely black and two colors. So far I have amassed four. Black, blue butterfly, teal green and a funky pinkish colored one they call rubellite pink. I love the length, the fabric, the cut and the abilty to wash it in a sink, drip dry it and have it look amazing each day. So I don’t balk at the $90 price tag. I bought two in Toronto this year before TBEX, a Travel Bloggers Exchange (conference) since my luggage was lost for 24+ hours. Thanks to trip insurance, Alianz reimbursed me for both. HOORAY (I always buy trip insurance for international travel AND for trips with questionable timetables) Would I love to find them on sale, yes, but this is one item I feel happy to walk away with in a shopping bag, and giddily meander the streets swinging the bag in my hand. If you have ever dealth with Patagonia Coporate HQ for any reason, you know they solidly stand behind their products. I once returned a fleece hoodie that shed, 4-5 years after I bought and started wearing it, and without question they replaced it. With a lifetime warranty, I love doing business with Patagonia. Insiders trick, subscribe via FB to their outlets and fax, email or phone orders in. You can often get 50% deals, even on first quality. Happy Shopping JANErs! (Yes, this is me in my favorite, LBD, my Patagonia Bandha dress. I was shooting a video for Jauntaroo’s Chief World Explorer.)

Here is another pics, photo source: 6pm.com

Toms shoes

If you have ever traveled off the beaten path you know a mystery puddle when you see it. We have to go there for a minute for those that didn’t get our drift….think no rain in days, no running water, but a puddle…Suspicious, though sometimes valid enough it is noxious, legitimate water table drainage, but we’d rather not have anyones spirits literally dampended by human or pet urine. We’d rather not have anyone experience a mystery puddle oozing between your toes, so protect them! Tom’s shoes are great for travel of course because they are reasonable priced, fabulously fun in prints and solids, easy to take on and off at TSA security screenings, as well as during your flight and nearly last because they protect your toes from stinky mystery puddles. We said nearly last, because we saved the best for last, Tom’s shoes are one to one! One to one because for every shoe you purchase from Tom’s an additional pair of shoes is donated to someone in need. So while you are shopping for that perfect little pair of shoes thinking do I get red or black, buy both- because technically the word is a better place when you buy Toms!

Patagonia Torrentshell Jacket

So, when you are at home and it’s raining cats and dogs, it’s ok to roll over and call it a good day to stay home. However, when you pull back the drapes back in Dublin and it’s drizzling (which is likely), you get your happy little rear end outfitted with a good water proof jacket, so like a duck, you are ready to let it roll off! We love Patagonia’s products. They are quality made and have an amazing guarantee, as a matter of fact Jane recently contacted them about a fleece she had that shedded more than her Labrador Retriever and even years after purchasing it, they exchanged it. Voila, a new and improved one appeared in the mailbox. We love this particular Torrentshell waterproof jacket : one because it is light weight and can easily be layered for the seasons, and two because it is on sale from $129 to $89 (at REI) and is available in 4 colors. We dig the green because, well, it is Ireland, but did you know their country color is blue?