Surprise Stitch Fixing, Pizza Rolls, and Sporty Bears

Yesterday was a nice snapshot of a fun day in the life. I woke up at 6:30 (after reading until 1 a.m., but that's a problem that's entirely my fault), took a shower, chatted with 2/3 of my children through the glass door during those luxurious 6 minutes, got ready (hair on top of head, obvi), came out to the kitchen twice to give kisses and hugs (James pointed out last week that Landon kind of flips out if I don't come out to say goodbye before they leave, which is new, but certainly something that is avoidable), packed up yoga clothes and barre clothes and a plastic bag to hold the sweaty rounds between and a lunch to eat at my desk since I was doing yoga at lunchtime. And my water bottle, yeti with pumpkin spice tea, and Lulu bag of random papers I brought home Monday night. I pack for work like I'm leaving town for days.

I left at 7:30 and sat at my desk at 7:45. I worked, emailed, and phone called until 11:45. Went to lunchtime yoga and did 8-angle pose for the first time. Wiped my sweaty self off, re-donned my work clothes, and headed back in to the office for a few more emails and phone calls and those billable hours I don't bill anymore. Left at 4:45 and got to TCU by 5:00, giving me a bonus 15 minutes to try out some new barre moves on their non-anchored barres that are very different from the anchored ones I teach with on Sundays at Urban Yoga. Then I did some chin stands, completely freaking out the first person who came in the room, who had never been to barre before and thought head stands were part of it. Class was full and awesome and fun and sweaty and then I RAN to the locker room to towel off and put BACK on my work clothes for the third time to race to my PTA Board meeting that had started 30 minutes earlier. I gave my membership report (VP-Membership right here!), listened and nodded along to all the wonderful women who make our PTA work, and then followed two of them home a few streets over so they could drop off their cars and carpool with me to our friend's (and fellow board member's) birthday wine night. (I got her this mug, it was perfect.) I called the kids on the way (our T/Th nanny had picked them up from school, supervised homework, and dropped them off at swimming, from which Coach Dad brought them home) (and then that nanny came to my barre class and gave me the whole afternoon report, which I love) and got the highlights of the day. We got to Kent & Co (SO good!) at about 7:45 and the eight of us celebrated our sweet friend with 4 bottles of wine and all the appetizers. It was so fun and we laughed so hard that my abs, which had withstood MANY MINUTES of planking earlier in the day, cried out for mercy, along with my cheek muscles. It was a great night.

I dropped everyone off and was home a little before 11. James had watched something with terrible ratings and too much violence (his favorite combo), I took a bath, and we reconvened on the couch to sum up the day and get in bed about 11:45.

And that was Tuesday. Not enough kid time, but filling my soul with adult girl time, and knowing I had the rest of the week to balance it out.

A balance that happened quicker than expected because Landon woke up puking at 5 a.m. (and he hadn't even shared 4 bottles of wine!) and I took off the last few hours of the afternoon to tag-team with James and hang out with our quarantined kiddo. He clearly felt like death and called me "Mommy" all day which he hasn't done since he was at least 5. I got to take the girls to gymnastics at 4 and then get Claire ready for her first-ever volleyball practice at 6:30. I made pesto pizza rolls from scratch in between (which were supposed to be Friday's meal, but Landon thought maybe he could eat one, so we bumped the up) and generally enjoyed luxuriating in some house time.

Always working on a project

Pizza rolls: I doubled the recipe and made half as directed and the other half with pizza sauce, pepperoni, and black olive. Omg they were both so very very good.

Claire got home at 7:45 and marched into the house yelling, "MOMMY I *LOVE* VOLLEYBALL!" and then told us everything excruciating detail of her practice, all the new things she learned (which is everything, having known exactly nothing about volleyball before today), and how many serves she made it over (many; her coach kept asking her if she'd played before and it was delightful to see her so flush with a little piece of sporty success).

Everyone was in bed by 8:30 and we're all crossing our fingers that Landon keeps dinner down and wakes up feeling back to his energetic self because the listless pale human who sat on the couch all day is someone no one recognizes and it was terribly sad to see.

But, in exciting non-pukey news, I got a Stitch Fix box today! I haven't done Stitch Fix in FOREVER (my blog archives inform me that my last box was in March 2017), but I recently got an email that I had a credit that was about to expire, so I figured why not. I'm settling in to a slightly adjusted size, it's a new season, and I got a spot bonus a few weeks ago for getting my case recommendation done- let's do this! I'm all about spending $100 to save $30 because that's how economics work (#PhilosophyBiologyMajor; also, I do our taxes, which makes tons of sense since James has a Finance degree and MBA). I barely bothered to update my profile, told my stylist I was looking for some fall options and am terrible at layering and decided to let the cards fall where they may.

And then they came today! And weirdly, this might be the first time I keep all 5 things! (Maybe.)

In the past Stitch Fix didn't work for me because I didn't mind shopping, I usually shopped at very cheap stores (Ross forever), and my body was often right between sizes and with proportions that didn't work with a lot of their clothes. But now, I almost never go shopping. I could, I'd just rather go to yoga or go get wine with girlfriends. The idea of paying a little more for the clothes to just show up sounds more appealing. Also, I'm fitting a slightly different shape of myself, so having someone else make me try things on I wouldn't pick out has new value.

So with that in mind, here we go:

(My face is cut off because I'd just taken a bath and put on my pjs when I realized the box was here, but I was so excited about this box of mysterious things that I put back on a bra and got to modeling (... in my poorly lit closet hallway next to the hamper I should have moved).

(1) Kaileigh - Tahlie Faux Wrap Knit Maxi Dress, Green (Small; $58)

VERDICT: On the fence.

This is my only undecided.

I love green. The dress actually fits very well and it's even long enough which is VERY rare. I don't know that it's the most flattering cut? But I can wear a regular bra with it, which is a plus, and it feels pretty on. The style card showed it with a jean jacket, which I do own from a million years ago, and I think would look really cute. Mostly though, if you keep all 5 items you get a 25% discount and that 25% discount is worth $20 more than this dress costs, so on that alone, it may hang out in my closet.

(2) Just Black - Cordelia Skinny Jean, Black (Size 2, $78)
(3) Colette - Chavez Pop Color Cuff Knit Top, White/Mustard (Small, $44)

VERDICT: LOVE/KEEPING

I hate trying on jeans with a fiery passion. I don't know why, they're just my personal shopping waterloo. I don't even mind trying on swim suits, but put me in front of a rack of jeans and I'm out. Which is a long way of explaining why I don't own any black jeans even though I think they'd be super useful to have around, particularly since I don't currently have any black work pants that fit and these could masquerade as such. And they fit PERFECTLY. And they're soft and so comfy I didn't even mind taking of pj pants to wear them. And I didn't have to go to a store to try on many others just to find them! So I feel like they're meant to be.

And I love the top. I love stripes. I love yellow, black, and white. I love that this all comes together in this one super soft, but thick enough to not be see-through, white stripey shirt. It's perfect for our faux Texas fall.

(4) FrenchMauve - Melanie Knit Tunic Blazer, Burgundy (Small, $88)

VERDICT: KEEPING, I think.

This is nothing I would EVER have picked out- I usually skip over the non-structured knitwear, but I think I really like it? The price point is a little high for me, but I must admit it hangs beautifully and fits my shoulders so well. I love the pockets. I love the burgundy color; I don't have a cardigan or jacket that color and I could wear it with black pants, jeans, and my black skirt.

(5) Girly-Joyce Infinity Check Scarf, Navy ($34)

VERDICT: KEEPING, if I keep the whole box.

This was the first item I saw and I immediately thought "going back." I love scarves, but I HAVE scarves, and I don't wear enough of the ones I already have and this one is simpler than what I usually go for. But then I put it on, purely for the picture/blog post and I was like, wait, I really like this. Maybe the reason I don't wear my scarves as much as I wish is because I'm like a magpie for colorful, crazy designs and they don't match as many things as you'd think. This is simple and classic and I can totally see throwing it on in the fall.

All five items total to $302, but with the $20 styling fee deducted, my $30 in referral fees (that expire Oct. 9!), and the 25% discount worth $75.50 it would be $176 for everything. Thoughts? I did force myself to try on a pair of jeans at Old Navy this past weekend that were comfortable and came in black and which I could procure for about $30. I don't have to have the tunic/blazer/cardigan thing. I'll admit I'm deeply in love with the striped shirt and am keeping it no matter what, but I could do that, use my credits, and not be out anything else. Am I just excited to get a box in the mail with things that feel like presents? (Gifts are my love language.) Or are these actually cute and should be kept? I welcome your input.

(Oh! And I need to add, my link to Stitch Fix has a referral code. If you sign up, you get a $25 credit if you try it and so do I. So if you don't like shopping, or your need to pushed from your clothing comfort zone, and you're willing to be surprised by a box of five potential clothing items you don't pick out, I think it can be a great option. But you can also see my past posts for a totally honest opinion from back when those exact features that make it special just didn't work for me at the time, though I never regretted trying it out.)