On fall and Bennett

I love fall weekends. It's sometimes still warm enough to go outside for a walk with the baby, and my new neighborhood has miles of trails that wind in and out of the trees. Bennett doesn't mind being bundled up, and frankly it's adorable anyway. I mean.. baby outfits are a thousand times cuter when they have ears, right?

I can't wait until he's walking. He's 15 months - slow to walk, but still in the limit of normal. He's a big boy and was slow with crawling too. His biological sister was even later, so I'm not losing sleep over it. I know as much as I want him to walk, my life will change and get crazy when that happens so i need to embrace this while I can. :) He's walking on his knees so he's stopped caring much about regular walking, though if I let go of him in front of me he'll stumble a few steps into my arms. He's losing weight which is making me sad, because he's my chunky baby and I don't want him to lose all of his rolls and start to look like a kid instead of a baby :(

Someone at a restaurant when I was picking up carry out last night said, "You need to put that baby on a diet before it becomes a problem!" ... he's 15 months old. I'm not feeding him lard, I'm feeding him age-appropriate food. And he's thinner than he used to be! Mind your own business, crazy lady, and let's not perpetuate the idea that children need to be worried about their weight. Gross.

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StitchFix #1

What's Stitch Fix? It's an AMAZING styling service where you're assigned with a personal stylist (an actual person) who looks at your "style profile" (your measurements, interests, likes/dislikes, and requests) to create a shipment of five items for you. Average price is $55 per item (but you can set your own budget for average price). Sign up using my link and I get credit (but no one is paying me or telling me to write this review, and I'm buying this stuff with my own money.)

This was my first Fix and I wasn't sure what to expect. I had made the following requests:
-No military green or camo or animal print.
-I don't like peplum tops and am not a massive fan of dolman sleeves.
-I work from home and have a baby so I don't dress up much (unless I'm on a business trip), but I do like my body so I am open to feminine tops. I tend to like flowy shirts right now over skinny pants.
-I said no accessories this time - I wanted clothing items.

When I got notification that my Fix had shipped, I couldn't hold back - I went and peeked at the names of what I had received and did a lot of stalking on Polyvore and the Stitch Fix forums on facebook to find the items. It was a tease - I could see what general items I got, but not what color or sizes!

Without further ado, my fix! Even the box was awesome:

I was excited when I opened the box- I wanted some color in my life. I wear too much black.

I have to be honest. When I saw my style card at first I wasn't excited. I had said no dolman tops and I got two (the Bromwich Mixed Material Top and the Corinna Striped Dolman Top). I had also said I don't really like orange or high waisted bottoms. And yet I got an ORANGE DOLMAN TOP (!!) and my one bottom was a skirt that was high waisted! What!

So what did I like and hate? Bronwich Mixed Material Top (Papermoon) - $48 I really, really expected to hate this. Orange + dolman + in the photo it looked like something my great grandmother would wear. No thanks. And yet when I tried it on, it's SO soft - feels like pajamas - but the dressier material on top makes it appropriate for a date night. And best is that my husband likes the color. It looked good with jeans and boots. I'll never wear it with anything else likely except maybe shorts and sandals in the summer. I can't wear it without black pants without looking like it's halloween probably, but it's comfortable and soft. KEEP

Filbert 3/4 Sleeve Blouse (41Hawthorn) - $58 What to say about this. When I created my pinterest board for my Stitch Fix stylist, I had pinned this shirt in multiple colors/patterns without even realizing it. I liked that it seemed to be something I could dress up for work or down for casual attire, and when I saw people review the shirt it always looked good on them no matter their body type. When I got it, I was both happy and sad. Sad because it was sent to me in black and I was hoping for some more color - but happy because I wear a LOT of black so I do love black. I just don't have a lot of bright bottoms to wear with all my black as it is! But maybe Stitch Fix will help with that. :) What I loved about this shirt was that it was loose in the right places but felt structured when it was on (under the armpits, shoulders, etc). The sleeves on the side have a "tulip sleeve" which is unique, and the shoulders have mother of pearl accents. It's a gorgeous shirt and I'd have a hard time ever turning this away in any color (other than orange and green. :) - KEEP

Sadie Button Up Blouse (Pixley) - $58

I thought this looked boxy on the card. It wasn't, but it was the wrong size. I'm a size XS especially on top - always, without fail - and this shirt was a Small. It was too big in the arm pits and hips. I like my shirts loose - but only when intended. This was just definitely too big for me.

Had it been the right size, it MIGHT have been a win.. had I not already had something similar. They recommended I try it on with the skirt, so I did.

RETURN

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Iona Pencil Skirt (Eight Sixty) - $58 I wasn't sure if I'd like this but the material is fantastic. It's lightweight enough for spring/summer, but not a cheap fabric. This skirt is exactly why I signed up for Stitch Fix - it's totally different than what I would normally wear (because I'm cheap and lazy so I tend to own a couple of skirts in plain colors) but I'm actually VERY EXCITED about this skirt. Best part - it fit me fabulously. Like a glove. It was a size Small and I'm usually an XS, and too-big pencil skirts are awful. But it was PERFECT. They recommended I match it with the too-big top above, so I matched it with the similar one I already owned. :) Sorry for the collage photo with the other top but it's all I have on my computer. Whoops. KEEP

Corinna Striped Dolman Top (Market & Spruce) - $48 I sort of wanted to hate this. $50 for a t-shirt? And dolman sleeves? And bland gray? But it's more like the world's most light-weight sweater. And it's so comfortable. And loose where I want it to be while not making me look like I'm wearing a tent. This is something I wouldn't normally spend this kind of money on, but I want to buy nicer things that aren't KEEP. This is an example of when the 25% discount for buying all five becomes useful. I'll keep this top because I like how it fits on me, assuming I can sell the pink one on the Stitch Fix Trade Facebook page.

So in general, I'm actually REALLY happy. I got some pieces that are more money than I'd normally spend, but they're unique. I think the only notes I'll share with my stylist (Reem) are that I want to make sure (s)he doesn't send any plain color tops that aren't "interesting" (i.e. - the orange one is fine because it's mixed material, but had I gotten the striped one in a plain color I'd have hated it. I'll never spend more than $20 on a plain t-shirt.) I'll also specify that tops should all be an XS and if it doesn't come in an XS not to bother sending it.
It looks like I'm buying all five items for the discount. If there was no discount, I'd likely only buy the skirt, orange top, and black top - but the discount is making it worth my while to add the gray striped top.

Get your own Fix here!

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