Getting Ready for School with KidsShoes.com

*Check out these Back-To-School must have shoes At KidsShoes.com! Boys and girls shoes that are fashionable, cute and just the right price! I received shoes to review, opinions are my own.

August is a big month for our family. Charley will start Kindergarten in just a few short weeks. And if that wasn't scary and sad enough, Laney will also begin Pre-K. I know they will both love it so I try not to be sad about it, but I feel like with Charley we are crossing the bridge from little kid to big kid in one fell swoop. Sigh.

BUT! There's some excitement that comes along with that too. I LOVE school supplies and getting new backpacks and just getting ready for school in general, so we were anxious to shop!

Laney is easy - she doesn't need a backpack or lunch box or school supplies or uniforms. She can wear her regular clothing so I'm not even too concerned with buying new clothes for her until the seasons begin to change. I'll buy her a cute outfit for her first day of school and will get her a new pair of shoes. That's where KidsShoes.com made our lives a little easier! From the options given, Laney chose a denim slide with embroidered tigers. I mean - what doesn't go with embroidered tigers, right?! So I allowed it.

She's pretty happy with her choice and I'm happy that they are versatile enough for running around the playground, digging in the sandbox and still comfortable enough for sitting criss cross applesauce at circle time. I hope to get a lot of use out of them this school year. 

Charley, however, is not quite as easy. Going into Kindergarten requires a lot more. She needs a new backpack and lunchbox, tons of school supplies, school uniforms and of course new shoes.

If you know Charley at all, you know that she has always had a very strong opinion on what she wears. She went one whole winter without ever wearing a coat once, and went a couple years wearing only skirts and dresses. I'm happy to report she's not quite as difficult with her clothing selections each morning any more, which is great because her elementary school is a uniform school. Polos and khakis from here on out. She's not thrilled about it. BUT! While reading the uniform policy we did catch a couple of opportunities for Charley to add a little flair to her every day uniform. First, "Belts, if worn, must be a solid color."  And also, "Athletic shoes, leather shoes, and boots are all acceptable". Which, again, is where KidsShoes.com comes in and helps us out!

Charley loves sparkle, so she chose a floral applique sneaker. Not my first choice, but I allowed her to choose whatever she wanted since she will have so little say-so over her outfits anymore. While the regular price of these shoes is more than I typically spend on kid's shoes, I am going to hope they last longer and prove their price tag.

Combine those fancy, sparkly shoes with this solid colored but fun belt, and her boring ol' school uniforms looks a whole lot more Charley.

Thanks KidsShoes.com for scratching one item off of our back to school checklist!

Kidpik: Box One

Facebook ads, man. Sometimes they get ya. This was the latest one to suck me in.

One random Sunday morning while laying in bed because my angellic children were both still sleeping at 8:18 a.m., I saw an ad for Kidpik in my Facebook feed. It intrigued me for some reason and I clicked on it to see what it was all about. Found out that it was essentially a Stitch Fix subscription box, but for children. I have broken up with Stitch Fix as of April or May I think, but sometimes dressing my children is just as exciting or even more exciting as dressing myself, so without having a second thought about it I just signed right up. 

That is not like me to sign up for something so willy nilly like that, especially when I did the entire sign up process on my phone which I normally loathe, so I must have been high on getting to sleep in or something. Anyway, our first box showed up today. I was so darn excited to see what we got, I opened it up in the bathroom while Charley and Laney played in the bathtub.

Now, if I were a good blogger, I would have taken a picture of this next part, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

So, I open up the box and all of the clothing is wrapped in a piece of tissue paper a la Stitch Fix style. I break open the tissue paper and the very first thing right there on top was.....

...a tshirt with a WORD on it. BLEH. I contemplated shutting the box right then and there and giving it the ol' "it's not you it's me" speech. But, I decided to power through. I DID answer some survey questions about what style I liked/Charley liked, but I don't recall ever seeing a space for me to have written to them that I don't like wordy clothing. You better believe I'll be adding that to my checkout notes, however.

Charley (while in the bath) and I looked through it all right then, and we were very pleasantly surprised! Several things that I never would have picked up, but Charley was loving it all. She has very particular taste so that was a good sign at least. I promised her that after her bath and after I got Laney in bed we'd do a mini fashion show so she could try it all on.

At the bottom of the box was the receipt. You don't pay a styling fee or shipping fee, but just pay for whatever you keep. If you keep it all you get 30% off of everything. I braced myself before I opened the receipt because I assumed that it would be way more than I'd normally pay for 7 items for a child. But, again, I was pleasantly surprised! If I decided to keep it all I'd only be out $80! I think I was expecting more than that so I was happy with that total.

Finally my children were clean, one was asleep and the other was DYING to try some things on. We went into my bedroom/bathroom so we had a full  length mirror to play fashion show in front of.

First we try on a skirt, dolman tee and pleather moto jacket.

The skirt is cute and fits well, but I'm not loving it with the dolman. The dolman is actually really big and wide, so I don't even know if it is worth saving for next year. The jacket though is adorable and is truly something I wouldn't even pick up in a store. Of course it IS the most expensive thing in the box. Naturally.

We tried to also put these shoes on with that outfit because these shoes are 100% Charley, but they were sized small. Womp womp. It looks like you can exchange for another size though, so these are still a possibility.

 

Besides making my 5 year old look way too old, we were off to a decent start for our very first box. We moved on to the next outfit...a cute A-Line black and white dress.

 

ADORABLE. This was Charley's favorite thing in the box by far. Like, she wanted to wear it to bed tonight. It was extra extra cute with the moto jacket, too.

Favorites!

Next we had to try on the dreaded WORD tee. It also had a cat on it, and Charley can't read (nor does she share my hatred for word tees) so she liked it! Also, have I mentioned that Charley's aversion to jeans has ended? This fall she's asked for a couple pairs of jeans to wear, so tonight we went to Target and got her a pair to try from the Cat and Jack line. So, these jeans aren't from the box, but we needed to try them on too so it made sense to try them with the cat tee.

The jeans are very cute, but again, make her look too old (!!) and the tee thankfully is just too tight so I convinced her it was a no. Whew. Dodged that wordy bullet.

The last thing in the box was some sort of strappy wrap bracelet, but it didn't fit well when wrapped two times around her little wrist and I just am not a fan of that style on my 5 year old. So I'm definitely using veto power on it if she asks to keep it.

So, what  do you think? Here's where the math gets me:

If I keep the following:

A Line Dress..............$24.50
Moto Jacket................$29.50
Skirt............................$15.50
                      I'm at...  $69.50

If I keep it ALL and take advantage of the 30% discount, the total is $81.55. So, I'd save $12 to only keep what we like, but Laney would eventually wear the shoes if we didn't exchange them so they wouldn't be a total loss, and the dolman tee could be a maybe next fall, so, possibly not a total loss either. What do you think? Do you disagree with what we are considering, and think it all is too mature for a 5 year old? I definitely can see that side of it too so that wouldn't be offensive to me at all if you think that. I mean really, the moto jacket while cute, is not very practical at all. And the skirt I could take it or leave it,..although I can really see it with some black and white converse, so, I'm leaning towards keeping it. See?! I change my mind halfway through a sentence, so I'm in no shape to be making these (first world) decisions tonight.

Help me out. What do we think, bloggy friends? I DO think we will continue the subscription box no matter what we decide to keep with this one.


(Also, if you are thinking of trying it for your own daughter (so far they only have clothing for girls sized 4-14), awesome! I wish there was a referral program, but there is not. So, here is a link, but it is not a referral link: Kidpik.)

Lately

Y'all. The big ol' meanies at work are blocking websites left and right. A few weeks ago Facebook was blocked - first time in NINE years that I haven't been able to get on Facebook from work. I spend many a lunch at my desk perusing the internet, so having that suddenly blocked has dampened my lunchy spirits. How dare they! But, blogger was safe, so I was happy that I could at least attempt to blog during lunch here and there. But I guess they weren't done on stripping me from all of my lunchtime happiness because a couple days ago, blogger too was blocked. And I quietly wept at my desk. I am afraid to mention that I am still able to read blogs both through my reader and on the actual blog pages (so blogger is blocked, but anything with blogspot is still ok, for example) because I'm sure they are just looking at our browsing history and axing things. It's not nice, guys. I know you have seen this site listed in the browsing history and are reading without me knowing (I know), but it really isn't nice. Have you ever tried blogging from a phone? TERRIBLE. Oh! And before blogger got the ax I still wasn't able to finish a post and publish it during lunch time because the site I use to host my pictures, Flickr, had already been blocked too. THEY ARE STEALING MY JOY, Y'ALL. So now I'm blogging from home instead of over lunch and darn it - this is my time to crawl in bed and Netflix. But I'm not giving this place up. I'll fight for you, bloggy friends! Post some (non) threatening comments to our IT guys so they'll accidentally move blogger (and Flickr!) back over to the safe list.

So. What else has been going on? Well, I'll tell you!

We are about 95% done with our bedroom updates. I hesitate to use the word 'updates' because it was never originally set up/painted/decorated to begin with. Just plopped our furniture down almost 3 years ago and it had been that way ever since. But regardless, it looks much better now! 

One day I'll learn to take pictures in the daytime so the colors aren't all wonky and the natural light helps me out. One day.

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Laney had croup again last week. Her second time with it, but Charley never had it so we are still newbies with it. But that cough is instantly recognizable so at least it is pretty darn easy to diagnose. She is just now getting over the 7-10 day cold that follows it. And she was generous and shared it with me as well. But! I woke up with it Monday morning and my nose ran like a freaking faucet all day Monday and then again on Tuesday, but maybe not quite as bad as Monday. Then yesterday and today - all clear! I don't do cold medicines if I can help it since my doctor once told me that cold medicines make you feel better in the interim, but prolong the length of the cold overall. So far it seems what he said was right though! Go immune system, go! Ha.

Snuggling with Aunt Christy on one of her sickly days. Or maybe a teething day. I can't remember.

In related news, as Laney is getting over her cold she is pulling at her ears. She is prone to the after-cold-ear-infection, so that would just be lovely too. But no fever so far and ate, drank, and slept great today so I'm leaning more towards the ear pulling being a teething symptom. Why can't teething symptoms be as clear as croup symptoms?!

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So I downloaded Snapchat because two of my very bestest friends are not on Facebook but are both Snapchatters. It is.....interesting. My main problem is that I don't think I can snapchat a picture I took earlier. Like it has to be a live, just took it kind of deal. And most of the time I snap the picture and post it to Instagram or Facebook later when I get a chance, so it is not second nature to open the app and send it right away. Maybe I'll get the hang of it and I'll be cool again. Doubtful, though.

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How does this always happen? So, y'all know I do Stitch Fix, right? (That's a referral link) Well, I have gotten some great things with it but the last couple have irritated me because I felt like they weren't listening to what I wanted AT ALL and just sending me every last black top that ever existed in the world. So I had decided to quit altogether or maybe just pause the service for a while. Then my sister joined through my link and I got $25! YAY! So, obviously I decided I'd quit after just one more fix so I could spend my referral dollars. The shipment should get here tomorrow, but guys. It looks like it might be my best one ever!

How do they DO that?  As soon as they detect my interest was waning they pulled out all the stops and gave me a fix that is right up my alley. Well, mostly up my alley. I don't think there is a question on the personal style questionnaire about skin tone. Because if there was and I told them how pale I was I doubt they would send me that all white dress. But the rest of it just screams Lacey to me. So, hope it fits! 

And after that - what do I do?! Do I ask to keep the same stylist and continue on? Or do I stick with my guns and give it a rest for a while? Decisions are so harddddddddd.

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Speaking of fitting in my clothing, clothing is fitting much better these days. I joined Weight Watchers on March 1st, and have lost 10 of the 20 pounds I'd like to lose so far. GO ME! Of course I remember from doing it before that it comes off much quicker at first and then levels out to maybe a pound or two a week from there, but still. I'm really happy with the results so far. I knew Weight Watchers worked for me since I did it pre-wedding back in 2009, so it was more of a mental thing to be ready to get back on the plan and re-learn what healthy portion sizes were. And well, healthy food in general. Which, as you know, is tough for a non-vegetable eater like myself. I may or may not have Googled "diets for picky eaters" prior to giving Weight Watchers another go. Guess what? There really aren't any. I know that shocks no one. So I'm glad that Weight Watchers works with my ridiculous eating habits that I cannot grow out of so I'm not forced to eat lettuce. DON'T MAKE ME EAT LETTUCE!

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Jekyll Island, Georgia. Have you been there? What's there to see? What's there to do? We are going there this summer and will all be newbies to the island so we want to see it all and do it all! Of course I'll rely on my trusty friend Trip Advisor, but I've gotten great advice on other trips we've taken from y'all, so hoping someone will come through for me this time too. 

And while we are on the topic of vacations, John and I are also going on a quick cruise to the Bahamas soon (that's where the whole Weight Watchers motivation originated!). Neither of us have ever cruised, or Bahamaed, so some suggestions on cruising and/or stuff to do on our one port day in Nassau is welcomed! I got a ton of great advice when I asked on Facebook already, but maybe you have something super awesome that we hadn't considered yet. 

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Ok. Obligatory pictures of my babies to follow, and that's it for now. If you guys get my work IT department to change the block settings of Blogger by leaving them really nice persuasive comments, (they really are nice guys!) then I'll send all of you a cookie! 

They are so big, right!? 

Buy All The Things

I have always dreamed of winning a shopping spree. Especially one of the timed ones where you can have everything you can grab in X amount of minutes. I've even given thought to the routes I would take in particular stores to get what I really wanted first. I think this stemmed from my love of the show Supermarket Sweep as a kid. ALWAYS GO FOR THE GIANT CHEESE WHEELS AND HUGE CHUNKS OF MEAT FIRST.

Once early on in our relationship, John and I went to an outlet mall and shopping spree-d with a credit card that we knew good and well we didn't have the money to pay off. We got sunglasses and clothing and I really don't even remember what else. It was so fun though carrying all of those bags and bringing home that much new stuff at once. It wasn't quite as much fun afterwards when we had the bill and I'm sure it took months and months to pay it all off. But, that's a typical learning experience of your early twenties, right?

Anyways, apparently "buy all the things" has been our mantra in our house the last couple of months and we've sort of been shopping spreeing again - however this time we can actually afford it. Also in our defense, we are both pretty frugal and like some good deals. Both of our wardrobes were growing pretty stale because it had been quite some time since we'd purchased clothing for ourselves. So, it was due and it was fun but we will need to reign it in a bit to stick closer to the budget in the next couple of months. Anyways. We bought things. Lots of things. And here they are.

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You guys know how obsessed I was with the website Twice? I only mentioned it and shared my referral link a hundred times. But I truly did love it and got over $500 in referral credits alone by the time the website closed down. Yep - it is gone and I am so sad. They sold out to eBay Valet and it remains to be seen if they will be as great as Twice was. But, as they closed down they discounted stuff to crazy low prices. For example, here is one of my receipts:

Those prices are really cheap, right? And that's not even what we paid. From those prices there was another 30% knocked off. So insanely cheap & really nice stuff. So cheap that the website was obviously really bogged down with all of us fighting to grab stuff. Both John and I were just adding whatever could possibly work into our shopping cart and knowing that if it didn't work we could easily resell.

Between the time they announced their closing and the day they finally did we had 6 orders on their way. The biggest of those orders had a total of 70 items. Unfortunately, we ultimately only got 42 of those 70 things because they realized they sold some of those things too cheap and took some of the stuff back and put it back up for sale for more money. Which, was a total jerk move of them but we still had more than enough stuff coming our way. I had just recently cleaned out my closet and had a TON of empty hangers ready for some "new" stuff again. As these orders keep showing up on my doorstep day after day - those hangers are all getting full again. It makes it so much easier to get dressed in the morning with a refreshed wardrobe!

This was the large order. It did cover the entire table but we had to stack some to make a place for Charley to eat. I didn't lay them back out after she was done because laziness. 

Also, want to know what else happened to that really big order? We started out with 70 things for about $230. It was already insanely cheap and we were excited about it. But John kept saying that he didn't think the order was going to come through because of how large it was and how cheap it was. As he predicted (and I mentioned already) they did email him one day and say that they were unable to find 21 of those items and refunded us ~$70. That was a total lie because the things they "weren't able to find" were magically back up for sale and for way more money. This happened to a lot of people apparently and they voiced their unhappiness through social media.

Then, another week later he got an email that there were an additional 7 things they also couldn't find. These seemed like they legitimately did not find them as they were winding down the business and I didn't notice them go back up for sale. Those additional 7 things resulted in another refund of $24. BUT, instead of only refunding us the $24, they accidentally refunded us the entire thing again. So the additional $24 but also the $70 they'd already refunded. Meaning, of the $230 we originally spent, we had no only spent $66 on the remaining 42 items. I mean, I feel bad, but we didn't do anything wrong and now the company is closed and done. So, lucky us! We will not need to buy clothing for a really long time!

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Charley loves to help cook and it was even easier for her to help with Blue Apron and all their pre-portioned ingredients.

I don't know if this one really counts since as of now we haven't spent a dime, but I'm sharing anyways.

A friend of mine is a regular patron of Blue Apron where they send you all the ingredients needed for a couple meals each week including easy to follow recipe cards. It's very convenient and a great way to learn some different recipes. Occasionally they give her a few free meals to give out to friends or family and I was the lucky recipient of those a couple weeks ago. It was very easy to sign up and go on to pick a couple meals out of the options given for the next week.

We got our meals that week, made them and enjoyed them (well, I didn't eat one of them because we all know how picky I am but John said it was good!) and then intended to cancel before we got the next week's meal. It wasn't that they weren't tasty or easy or that they were inconvenient because all of those things they were for sure. But, for $70/week we didn't think it was worth it for our family in particular. I went to go cancel though and realized I had just missed the 6 day cancellation notification for the next week. Sucks, but, we weren't out $70 for nothing, you know? We would still get the two meals the next week so not a waste of money or anything. I went ahead and called anyways to cancel for the week after and ended up having to leave a voice mail because they were busy. The next day I realized I never heard back from them and went back on the website to see if I could find another way to cancel because those subscription places tend to hide that information and make it hard on us. I did end up finding another way to cancel through email and mentioned in my email to them that I tried to call and cancel over the phone but wasn't able to get through. I didn't complain about that or insist I made my call in time or anything. I just mentioned it and that was that.

The next day I get an email from them that my cancellation was successful. Also, they were sorry for not returning my call and it was too late to cancel that week's shipment but they were going to refund me the entire charge anyways! What!!!?? So, our 2 free meals ended up being 4 free meals because of great customer service. And you know what? After getting those last two meals we definitely inched closer to the want-to-be-regular-subscribers camp so that gesture for sure worked. We may try it again soon when the budget allows.

So, we didn't buy any of the things here but we almost did! And we may again soon!

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I also had another Stitch Fix last week! It was my third one and after the overspending we did on clothing this month I ended up pushing them to every other month between shipments. But, this one was pretty successful too!

I'm also on a Stitch Fix Facebook group for people to buy and sell pieces that they don't want to keep. I haven't participated in the buying or selling yet but I have been very well aware of the popularity of the Margaret M. Emer pants that everyone seemed to be getting in their boxes this month. I was excited to see that I was getting a pair myself this month as well.

I don't know how but these pants hide any and all belly. They are perfect! I am pretty sure they cost more than any other pants I've ever purchased at $98 but I decided they were for sure worth it! I love them. I even love the loud pattern because it is not something I ever would have picked for myself.

That shirt was mine already (from Twice, imagine that!) but I also ended up keeping a White 41Hawthorn Popover Blouse that I'm actually wearing today! There was a necklace that I liked but not for the price and a dress that I liked but it was a smidge too short and I maybe could have sized up as well and then finally a maxi dress that was WAY too clingy and was awful. Ha. So, in the end I was happy to keep those two things and have a couple of definite no's.

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We just made a lot of updates to our guest bath, but there were three things remaining on the list to complete this room:  

• Replace faucet.
• Window treatment of some sort.
• Replace counter top with something nicer with an undermounted sink. 

Instead of moving on to another room like we tend to do (jumping around keeps things exciting!) we decided to go ahead and finish this room completely. We have picked out a piece of granite and today they came to measure it. We bought the nicer undermounted sink and new non-chrome faucet over the weekend also. And as soon as I get to a fabric store I am going to tackle that window treatment because the room needs more color! Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching!

And then, although you can't see it here I've decided in the last couple of days that I need an extra long shower curtain as well because the one we have looks as if we are expecting a flood. But then. THEN! This room will be the most complete room in the house! And we will be done buying all the things. For this room, at least. ;)

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You know what else is coming up in a couple weeks? The consignment sale that I love so much. And this is my first time selling some things too as Laney moves out of sizes and we start to pare down all of the baby stuff in our basement. So in this case I am...

SELLING ALL THE THINGS!

In order to, ahem, buy all the things in their next sizes. But still. Buying is better when you've been selling, right?

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You know what else we bought last month? An air conditioning repair! How exciting right!? On a house that is just over 2 years old! ESPECIALLY when after the repair was done John realized the only thing wrong with it was a part (which they covered under warranty - how sweet of them!) that cost a whopping SIX dollars at the home improvement store. I'm so glad they covered that part under warranty. We were so excited to give the man 235 of our hard-earned dollars for that. 

Grumble. Next time we'll know what to check first, at least. 

(I had to add in a story where our luck didn't play out as nicely as it did with the Twice and Blue Apron stories up there^ just so you all wouldn't hate me.)

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Okay before I start scanning in my grocery receipts and telling you about every banana and box of cereal I've purchased recently I'll stop this here. Is anyone still reading at this point or did you give up 500 words ago? I realize it wasn't quite as exciting as running around a grocery store and grabbing giant inflatable Snapple bottles but it's all I've got. Somebody bring back that show, stat!

Quick Takes

Hi! Whatcha been up to? Here's a few things that have been up with me.

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This is my second full week back at work and really it is going well. Laney has adjusted to being with my sister very well and is sleeping and eating like a champ for her! Makes it much easier on me when I know she's happy there. Pumping is going good too ever since that little awkward mishap on my first day back. Last weekend I froze 44 ounces from just that week's surplus plus all of Friday's milk. (I use frozen milk on Mondays so all of Friday's milk gets frozen.) That's INSANE to me. I never even had 44 ounces total with Charley. But number one rule of pumping: NEVER think you are getting ahead because as soon as you do, they will hit some crazy growth spurt and you'll struggle to keep up.

You know what else I love about going to work? Getting dressed and doing my hair and make-up. Man. I feel so much better about myself when I'm forced to do those things.

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Charley started swim lessons this week. Crazy story how that came to be. So, we knew she needed lessons but it is really tough to find any openings that work with our schedule. Most of the evening classes start at 5:45 - 6:00 and those not only fill up really quickly but making it to those would still be tough to do. And the Saturday classes are ALWAYS full too. I never could figure out what day I needed to log on to see the class schedule for the next month before they filled up.

Anyways, finally I decided this was something she needed and we would just try and make a 5:45 class work. I usually get to Charley and Laney at 5:25-5:30 and the pool closest to my sister's house is another 15 minutes from her house. So, I'd have to for sure leave work a little early to give me enough time to account for traffic, and then account for shuffling Charley, Laney and myself into the Y, then getting Charley changed and in the pool. It was going to be rough for sure. But I put her on the wait list for the class anyways.

On July 1st, I got an email that a spot has opened up and Charley could take the 5:45 class if we wanted. I gave myself the weekend to think it over.

Then, randomly at a July 4th party at a neighbor's house, the hostess told us about their new neighbors across the street. The lady that moved in had been a Y swim instructor for 10+ years and was offering lessons at her house in their pool. She didn't have a huge clientele yet so for very little money since she was still building her business, we could get private lessons at a house on our street. Insane, right? So, obviously we opted to try that first and let her spot at the Y go. She's had two lessons so far and it is just her and the instructor in the pool. How awesome is that?

And although it has only been two lessons Charley has done really well! She was apprehensive at first, but she responds really well to this instructor. And at times it is hard to know who is instructing who. "Okay, I will do this two more times and that's it, ok?" Ohh Charley.

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We also signed Charley up for dance this fall. We really don't want to do competition dance and all that, but it really isn't up to us is it? We will see how she likes it and go from there!

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We are on a major decorating kick lately spurred by a great paint sale at Lowe's. I keep meaning to take pictures of each room to update the Houseiversary post but I need the whole house to be clean to do that and we just can't quite get there. Last weekend we had 7 out of 9 rooms clean but just never got to those last two. I'll try again this weekend.

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I got my second Stitch Fix (that's a referral link) a few weeks ago and ended up keeping 2 of the 5 items. A third item was so close to staying also, but ultimately the budget I set for myself won and I sent it back. I kept these two things - jeans and the top. Those jeans are so so awesome. I wasn't sure about them at first but some friends talked me into them and I'm so glad they did. The brand is Liverpool and they were $78 and worth every penny.

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I am overdue on 5 different appointments - eye doctor, dentist, yearly physical, gynecologist, and haircut. Sure, I could have scheduled them all during those 10 weeks I was off of work but that would have been too easy. I will have you know that I did manage to schedule 2 of them this week. The first of which is Friday and is definitely the most important - a haircut.

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My Mama told me as I took this picture not to share it anywhere. I'm going to be a disobedient daughter instead and share it with the world because I think she's beautiful and I love how much she loves my babies! The feeling is definitely mutual with Charley who asks to see her every single day andddddd we're still working on Laney.

Poor Chooser

During one of the middle of the night nursing sessions last week I had an epiphany about myself. I realized right then and there in the dark that I am a poor chooser. My choosing ability is just really not up to par. Here's how.

First, my car. I think this is what I was thinking about which led to all my other examples of being a poor chooser. I know when most people go out looking for a new vehicle, they car shop. Compare brands. Test drive different cars and do a lot of research. Me? Nope. My brother-in-law used to work for a Honda dealership so I let that be my way of choosing a vehicle because it would have been silly to go to another dealership and not use his connections. I once wanted a sedan type of car - boom. Bought a Civic. Then wanted a large SUV just a few weeks after Charley was born - boom. Bought the Pilot. Never even gave a thought to choosing something else. Limited choices make me happy. 

Decorating my house is one of my favorite things to do. While I don't agree with the statement, people have told me I missed my calling and could have gone into interior design. That would never work because of my poor choosing abilities. I realized this recently at a trip to a new HomeGoods store near me. I was so excited about going to a HomeGoods for the first time after seeing some of the things other bloggers have gotten from there before. But, I was so overwhelmed. It occurred to me that I wasn't able to pick and choose things from a store full of so many things I liked. I couldn't focus. I couldn't remember what spaces needed decor items in our house, and the couple things I did remember I couldn't pick anything that would work in a store that probably had a thousand different things that would work. I truly loved so much of what I saw but that was exactly the problem. There were TOO MANY THINGS I liked. Isn't that ridiculous?

Instead, garage sales do the choosing for me. With garage sales, there is a driveway full of stuff - most of it that I DON'T like and just a few things that I do. So I snag all of the things I like whether or not I currently have a place for it and I'm out a whopping $3 or something. If I snagged all of the things I liked in HomeGoods I would spend several thousand dollars. Don't make me choose! I'll go broke!

Where all of those things are stored until they find a home. 

And then clothing. It is the exact same thing there. When I go into a store if I don't have a specific item in mind that I'm looking for I just wander around. There are so many things I like that I just cannot pick a few to try. Those darn dressing room limits hinder that too. Even with Charley and Laney's clothing I struggle to just pick a few things. I need to have something specific in mind before I go into clothing stores or it just doesn't work and I walk out with nothing instead.

One way I remedy that for myself is with Twice. (that's a referral link) I know I've talked about that website a million times before, but it is truly how I've done MOST of my shopping for the last few years, minus the maternity part. Someone already has made the choices, (and then chose they didn't want it anymore, but we'll just forget about that part) and then I can just choose among the things in my size. Much easier.

And then, I added a new way to let somebody else do the choosing for me. I'm late to the game because I've been pregnant (and then not pregnant and then pregnant again) for as long as it has been around, but I didn't waste much time after having Laney to try it out. Stitch Fix. (also a referral link) If you don't know about it, it is a service where a personal stylist picks 5 things to send you at an interval of your choosing (I'm starting out by doing monthly) and then you pick what you like of those things and send the rest back. They try to give you things that you maybe would not have picked up yourself in a store. I got my first one on Saturday and it was a decent start. Here's what someone else CHOSE FOR ME. (Those words are just magic to my poor choosing ears)


#1 - Jersey dress. It is actually navy and white and I did like the fit and the pattern, but it was way too short. Especially in the back. Sent back.

#2 - Necklace. This is actually just my style. I like statement necklaces and I especially like this one since it is pretty neutral and can go with so much. KEPT.

#3 - Printed top. The jeans are maternity because I'm not quite into my regular jeans yet. Womp womp. Hope to get a nice Stitch Fix pair of jeans in the next few months. 

Anyways, this top is my favorite thing I got. The fit is perfect and I really like the design too. It has a zipper in the back too that I also liked. The only thing I don't like about it is that the sleeves go in at the back so a regular bra shows. I'll have to criss cross straps in the back to avoid that, so not a huge deal, but nursing bras typically aren't versatile like that so may not be able to wear it much right now. Regardless, I kept it. I do love it!

#4 - Dolman top. (again, same maternity jeans so don't judge those) This top is very flattering and I love the fit and the weight of it too. It WOULD be great for a postpartum body except that it is a little hot for a southern summer, so again, may not get a ton of use out of it right away. But I liked it enough that I kept it too. Next time I need to send a note to my stylist to be sure to account for how hot it is here right now. 

#5 - Maxi skirt. (that shirt is mine - they had it paired with the Dolman top but it didn't look right together). This skirt was just okay. I'm widest at my hips, so maxi skirts, while GREAT for postpartum, don't do much for my body type. It essentially starts at the widest part of me and goes straight down from there. Not exactly ideal. I sent this one back.

So! One more way to get around choosing things myself. Any other services I should know about for poor choosers? Anyone else suck at choosing too?

eShakti: Real fashion for real people

Don't worry. Due to the length of time it took me to do this post there will likely never be any more product reviews on this blog. But they didn't give me a deadline to do the review so I resorted to one of my favorite pastimes: procrastination.

So, back in February I was offered a complimentary article of clothing from eShakti in exchange for a review on this little ol' blog. After viewing the options, there was absolutely no way I could say no, no matter how many times I've rolled my eyes at other blogger's product reviews.

This was right in the middle of my wardrobe awakening where I was trying to phase out my crappy clothes in lieu of a more quality, and therefore better fitting wardrobe so it was perfect timing on their part. (If you're wondering how that's going, I am still buying things every few weeks from twice.com. I'm a little bit obsessed.)

(Another reason I won't be asked to do any more product reviews: I am easily sidetracked and even advertise other websites within the review.)

So where were we. Okay. Checked out all of the options at eShakti, and was really impressed. They also have custom sizing on everything they sell which I thought was really cool and wanted to try out.

I was given plenty of choices and on the first day I tried to make a selection, I couldn't choose. There were TOO many choices and I ended up asking a group of friends to help me. The next time I went to the site to make a selection, many of my top choices were gone and I had to start over in trying to pick one item. I was looking for a dress that I could wear to work with a cardigan and also wear on summer weekends. I wanted an a-line style to hide my butt and hips and I like something that ties at the waist to make sure that that smallest area of mine is accentuated. I waited so long to make my choice that there weren't many left to choose from and ended up choosing a bright orange dress. It was in a color that I normally wouldn't buy because it's not the best for my lack-of-coloring, but I just went with it. It was a color block dress and I liked the style, and I liked that it tied at the waist. It covered enough that I could easily wear it to work and on the weekends too.

I placed the order and gave all of my measurements so I could get this dress to fit me perfectly. Usually I don't have many problems with fit on an off-the-rack item, so had it not been a free option I would have just ordered my regular size.

I received it very quickly and was so excited to try it on right away. I put it on and stood in the mirror for a pretty long time. I couldn't tell how I felt about it. I was still living with my parents at the time so then I went to get my mom's opinion. She said she liked it, but I could tell she didn't love it either.

 

I finally wore it yesterday after it sat in my closet for four months. Yesterday was a rush-to-get-ready type of morning, and I just sort of threw it on in haste. Sometimes when I am sort of rushed to wear something I wasn't previously very sure about, I find that I end up loving the outfit and wondering why I didn't wear it more often. Yesterday was not one of those times.

As the day went on, I felt more and more self-conscious about my bright orange frock. Remember when I shared that the outfit I wore one particular day reminded me of a hot dog? Well, this one reminded me of something too, and it didn't come to me until I was stuck at work with no change of clothes.

Where's my canoe? 

Once that image popped into my head, I was ashamed to step foot out of my cube. I was sure everyone else could see it too. So when lunch time came around, I went extra late and only went to the restaurant that is in my building to minimize the number of people I'd see, or, who'd see me.

Here were my issues with it: 

A) I gave them my shoulder measurements, but I feel like the shoulder area was taken in some and it didn't need to be. The shoulder area was too narrow and I found myself constantly tucking bra straps back underneath it.

B) The length isn't right! I know I'm tall, but it didn't need to be lengthened that much. It hit right below my knee instead of right above it. Very awkward. 

C) The amount of fabric that makes up the skirt. When I would sit down and it would hang down off either side of my chair I felt like I was in a robe of some sort. 

I took this picture at the end of the day, and with all of that extra fabric hanging around it got pretty wrinkly.

D) I didn't feel skinny in it like I normally do in other a-line dresses. I like that illusion, and this one didn't give it. 

E) My favorite part was the color blocking on the back and the eyelet closure. Once I had my cardigan on to keep from freezing to death in the office, I was back to just looking like a life jacket. 

Looking at the pictures makes me like it a little bit more than I did while wearing it which says to me that most of my uncomfortable-ness was made up in my head, but I still don't think I'd wear it again. Unless I need something to go with my flotation device, of course.

So, since this is a product review, I feel like I need to say that I don't feel like I can fairly review eShakti's product because the problem wasn't as much with the article of clothing as it was with my procrastination/poor decision making skills. The dress was made very well, and it came very fast. I really think the ability to customize is a niche that isn't available many other places and could really work well for people that have trouble finding clothing that doesn't have to be altered. But if I had to say if I'd personally buy this product after having my experience, I'd say no. Sorry, eShakti. Wish it would have turned out differently for us. In fact, if you'd like me to give it another try I'd be more than willing! 

So there's my first blog review. It will likely be the last since I decided to be honest instead of endorsing whatever product I received in order to receive more free stuff - as I've seen so many other bloggers do. However, if you are in the business of sending me free stuff and said free stuff isn't Anthrax or bombs, I'd be happy to let you do that. (I'm looking at you, Joss and Main. I've got a whole house to decorate!)