Laundry mishaps and summer sundresses.

Yesterday, I managed to wash a tube of red-tinted lip balm along with an entire load of nice clothing. Help! I have red, greasy splotches all over my clothes, not to mention that my husband is ticked because some of his stuff took a hit, too. Is there anything I can do to get it out?

Sorry, you are screwed, you are sooooo screwed. How do I know this? Well, I actually wrote this question because I managed to do this exact thing with an entire load of mine my husband's best clothing. You know the nice stuff that you wash on gentle and then pick out some items to let them hang dry? So I grabbed the stuff out of the washer and didn’t notice the red splotches when I put them in the dryer. That was my first problem. I might have had a chance to remedy the situation if I had caught it before I heated the lip tint directly into the clothing with the dryer. I go to pull out the clothing to take it upstairs and then I found a cap. Uh-oh, I thought. That’s a cap. It’s got to be a cap to something. I don’t really use plain lip balm, and then I remembered what it was— tinted organic lip balm. Blood red in color, and now completely emptied out into large red spots all over everything. I kind of stood there frozen and didn’t really even know what to do. And I am not talking one or two spots on everything, I mean each article of clothing had at least twenty or so bright spots. So I did the only thing I could think of… I went to town with the stain stick and basically stood there stain-sticking the load for twenty minutes, and then I washed everything again.

It’s a sad tally on what we lost yesterday. So, today I am in mourning and am saying goodbye to our fine clothing friends. We will miss four of my husband’s nice work dress shirts. One pair of his khaki pants is gone forever, too. Goodbye brand new Gap Capri pants! I was so happy to finally fit into you. An Ann Taylor dress shirt is no more, and three new summer T’s are not so new looking anymore. I will still wear you, cute graphic t-shirts, and just pretend that the red marks are part of the pattern.

The moral of the story is that you should always check your pockets and remove any cosmetic items like stupid tinted red organic lip balm. I know I will from now on!

I am not a huge fan of shorts, and it’s too hot sometimes even for Capri pants. I would like to find some cute sundresses that are easy to care for, and not too expensive. Where should I shop for some?

I buy my girls lots of cute matching sundresses that are cotton and wash well, but it’s not so easy to find grown-up sundresses that aren’t too crazy floral or old lady-ish.  So far this season though, I have had some luck with a couple of places. For very, very, inexpensive cotton sundress you can try H&M, if you are lucky enough to have one in your area. To find out, go to their website, www.hm.com, and use the store locator. We finally got a few in our local malls, and I practically live there. It’s a great place to go for pieces that are cute, but aren’t necessarily going to last forever. Don’t be scared when you walk in. A lot of their stuff is on the trendy, young side, but if you look around a little you will find more appropriate basics. Try their Tank Dress for $12 bucks, you can’t go wrong. They come in a few two-toned floral patterns like black and white, blue, or pink. Plus, it comes in solid shades like khaki, and brown, too.

I also like some of the sundresses at Old Navy, especially the women’s Knit Tank Dress ($24) in black or purple striped. Their website is easy to navigate and when I looked under the “Dress” category, 45 really cute sundresses came up. I love to shop online. It’s much better than dragging my two kids into a store while I try on a million things and torture them in the process.

Finally, you can’t go wrong with checking out the clothing section at your local Target, or once again check out their online site and do a little shopping from the comfort of your living room. Hot designer Patrick Robinson’s clothing line is up there right now as part of their limited edition designer series. His Drop-Waist Detailed Knit Dress in Sage Fling ($24) has a nice v-neckline and is quite forgiving in the tummy area, which is a plus. All in all, you can find comfortable summer sundress for under $25 that will be as fun as anything you put your kids in!