Christmas Squares

I love the combo of teal and red at Christmas time.  I also love the idea of taking a basic shape and turning it into a themed cookie.  So... here are some square Christmas cookies using the bright colors of red, green, teal, white, and black.  I made these with no particular purpose in mind but I ended up using these as teacher gifts.  Each one in a little clear bag looked so adorable.  There was a tiny bit of left over dough so I made a few bit size cookies as well.  If you are interested in ordering some cookies, click here for details.

Frozen Themed Birthday

I was so excited to be asked to make cookies for a Frozen themed birthday party.  The cookies were to be given as party favors to all the little guests.  I made four designs... a tiara, blue snowflake, white snowflake, and a #5.  Each of the cookies were individually wrapped in a clear bag and tied with a silver twist tie.  If you would like to order some cookies for a special event, please click here.

Thanksgiving is here!... well, almost.

My sweet husband volunteered our family to host Thanksgiving this year.  Yes, I say sweet because I am working the entire day so he will have all the prep and cooking to do himself.  Of course I had to make some Thanksgiving cookies to go with our meal.  There are SO many cute design ideas floating around out there so I pulled a few of my favorites and gave them a try.  This tray is a dozen regular size cookies plus a dozen bite size.  I love to put the little ones in with big ones.  It helps to really make the tray look full and they are just such fun little sample cookies.  If you would like to order some of these yummies, click here for details.

White and Gold Christmas Cookies

These Christmas cookies were made to match a white and gold Christmas theme.  Gold sprinkles and gold powder dust were used as accents on the white cookies.  For pricing and details, click here.

Pink and Black Birthday Cookies

These birthday cookies were made using bright pink, black, and white icing for an 8 year old's birthday.   For pricing and details click here.

Stitch Fix Review August 2015

Can you believe the summer is almost over??  The kids are heading back to school in just a couple weeks and I am so sad.  I love it when they are home!  Besides, who is going to help me with my Stitch Fix reviews when they are back at school :-)

This month's box just arrived and I decided to do another video.  I generally am not one to want to see myself on camera or share myself with the world so last month I felt totally strange doing an un-boxing video.  However, I got a lot of positive comments so I figured I could do it again.  Plus, I have become obsessed with watching other people's videos too so I want to contribute myself.  Here goes!

This time I added in some quick shots of me trying on the clothes.  Please have mercy on me.  I have zero knowledge on how to edit a video so I mashed these up together as best I could.

Here's my style card from this months' fix.  I love how personalized this service is. 

Okay so the clothes.  I accidentally sent back the items I didn't want prior to taking photos so I only have the pictures from the two items I kept.  I will go ahead and show you the style cards for the other items though.

Andrew Marc Cora Shift Dress, Size L, $78

 I just didn't like this dress.  It was a bit more tight that I am comfortable with and I felt like it was a bit plain.  If I am going to spend big bucks on clothes, I have to LOVE them.  I didn't love this.  Verdict: RETURNED

Renee C Lahna Printed Dress, Size L, $78

 This is a pretty cool dress and definitely had that "different" factor I was looking for.  However, it was too tight in the chest and was a little more snug all over than I would like.  The main problem though was the side seams.  They did not match AT ALL.  Not cool.  Not cool at all.  This shows poor quality and I certainly let Stitch Fix know when I reviewed the clothes.  Verdict: RETURNED

Papermoon Wynn Blouse, Size L, $48 (I think)

 This blouse was so-so but had a few issues that I can't live with.  One, it's super sheer so in my opinion it should have come with a cami to wear under it.  Second, the pockets on the breast look like some kind of strange exterior bra.  Un, no thank you.  Finally, it was snug in the arms and made me feel like I was wearing a straight jacket.  Verdict: RETURNED

Brixon Ivy Pinson Drape Cardigan, Size L, $48 (I think)

Don't you love this??!!  I think it's fantastic.  I have already worn it out during the day with just some jeans and a cami and then I have worn it to work with some dressier pants.  It's perfect.  It adds a layer of whimsy and romance to my wardrobe.  The style card has it paired with a dress and a colored shirt and I don't know if I'm that adventurous yet.  For now I will keep this styled over a white shirt.  Verdict: KEPT

Margaret M Emer Houndstooth Straight Leg Pant, Size L, $98

One word for these pants: Perfection.  These are the most comfortable and versitile pants I have ever seen.  They will be great in summer or winter, with casual shirts or a dressy blouse.  I love them.  I love them so much I have asked for them in every color and style they come in.  Victoria if you are reading this, SEND MORE EMER PANTS!  Verdict: KEPT

If you have ever thought about joining Stitch Fix, I highly recommend it.  I would also love it if you would use my referral link.  I am not affiliated with Stitch Fix in any way but if you sign up with my link, I get $25 off my next order.  Thanks!  Here is the link.

Stitch Fix Unboxing and Review #3, July 2015

Okay I did something a little different this time. I have become obsessed with reading other people's review's of their Stitch Fix boxes and from there I discovered Stitch Fix un-boxings on YouTube. Sounds silly I know. A girl needs a get-away sometimes and this has become mine. There is just something so fun about watching people open a surprise. You also get to see the clothes on video so you see more about what you may like or dislike. A couple friends asked me if they could see me actually open the box so I thought, what the heck, I should video an un-boxing myself. Since I have never even turned on the webcam on my computer I thought it would be too hard but it ended up being a breeze. The quality is not very good so please forgive me but here goes.....

Man the sound and video quality on that thing are terrible.  Sorry about that!  At least you get the idea.   Now, as is typical of Stitch Fix clothing, my opinions of the clothes totally changed when I put everything on.  If you read this before 7/10/15, please please comment below with your opinions of what I should keep or return.  I am totally stuck!!!

Just in case you have no idea what I am talking about here, Stitch Fix is a clothing subscription service where you pay $20 for a stylist to pick out 5 items for you based on a style profile you fill out and a Pinterest page you create.  You can set the boxes to come as frequently or infrequently as you would like.  When the box comes, you have 3 days to decide what you want to keep and to return all the rest.  You fill out very detailed reviews of the clothing so that the stylist can get a better idea of what you like or dislike for your next fix.  The $20 styling fee is taken off any of the items you keep.  I am NOT affiliated with Stitch Fix in any way.  They have no idea who I am.  I just really like the service and love talking about it. If you join Stitch Fix from my link, I do get a $25 credit from Stitch Fix.  This is the same for everyone.

Tracy Dot Print Cross Back Knit Top $58.00

 If you watched the video you know that I was not very excited about this top.  I liked the color and the polka dots but I was unsure of the length and the flowy-ness (Is that a word?).  Well all things changed when I put it on.  This material is THE softest jersey cotton ever.  It seriously feels like wearing a cloud.  The sleeves are a perfect length and they have a bit of soft elastic around them that is not too tight or too loose.  The length seems to be fine and I love the criss-cross detail in the back.  The other good thing is that my husband loves it too.  Win!  The price is way over what I normally would pay but I know I will get a lot of use out of this shirt.  I can wear it for play and for work which is huge.  Verdit: Kept!

Kut from the Kloth Melissa Tencel Short $58

I just put a picture of my ass on the internet.  Please forgive me.  I was not impressed with these shorts when I took them out of the box but they did fit and I gave them a good try.  They are shorter than I normally wear and they sit low which I don't like that much.  But, when I came out wearing them my husband loved them (you will notice a theme here).  I wore them for about an hour to see what I thought.  I am not in love with the color.  They look like "mom jeans" however, I am a mom and I'm almost 40.  Can you tell I was torn?  Then I saw these photos.  No.  I do not like the way these look.  For $58 they better be the best looking shorts in the world.  Verdict: Returned

Pixley Lucia Embroidered V-Neck Jersey Top $44

Once again, my husband loves this shirt but I am just not sure.  I love love the color and detail at the top.  It's just perfect.  The feel of this shirt is great.  The material is soft and well made.  However, the arms are just a bit too snug and for some reason it sits funny on my boobs.  I promise I am wearing a good bra in these photos but something is just not right.  I love the look from the back but again, for the price, I have to LOVE everything about this in order to buy it.  Verdict: Probably Retun (any opinions?)

Level 99 Ibis Straight Leg Jean $108

 Another butt shot.  Sorry about that.  Once again, my husband loved these.  He really wanted me to keep the entire box.  Well, he didn't see the prices.  Because these pants are EXPENSIVE!  I mean I never spend over $100 on a pair of pants.  Never.  I would possibly consider it if they were regular jeans that I could wear all summer, fall, winter, and spring but not these.  I mean I love them.  They fit (and they are a size smaller than last month, yay) but they are so expensive.  Did I mention how expensive they are?  I am torn.  I want them.  I think I would vomit every time I put them on.  And then what happens when I sit on something my kid spilled.  I can just picture my $100+ pants with a neutella spot on the butt.  Verdict: Likely returned but with a big fat frowning face.

Everly Nadia Dress $58 

I really don't want to like this dress.  But I do.  These pictures just solidified my opinion that I really like the way this dress looks.  I love the color, the cut, the fit, the everything.  It's a bit shorter than I'm used to but my husband says it has a retro look that he loves.  Here is the problem, the fabric.  Everything from Stitch Fix feels like a dream.  Except this dress.  The material is polyester and it feels so rough.  It feels cheep and poorly made.  There are bits of thread coming out all over one of the arm hole areas and the stitching near the neckline is not great.  Why oh why can't this dress be prefect?  I think the price is fine for a dress and I have two family weddings coming up with lots of wedding showers to attend.  This dress would be perfect.  I just can't get over the quality.  Verdict:  I don't know!  I want to keep it but I don't love the quality.  I want to feel like all my clothes from Stitch Fix are perfect.  Opinions?

So the verdict is that I still have not decided.  One great thing about Stitch Fix is that if you keep all 5 items, you get a 25% off discount.  So... the total cost of this box was $326.00.  With my $20 styling fee removed and the discount, it will cost $224.50 to keep the entire thing.  That breaks down to $45 per item.  That doesn't sound so horrible...

Thanks so much for reading this.  Please comment if you have anything to say.  Let me know if adding the video is stupid or if you like that part.  I need to work on my video quality skills if that's going to be a reoccurring addition.

If you are thinking about Stitch Fix, I would LOVE it if you would use my link.  It just gets me a bit off my next fix.  Thanks!