STITCH FIX | MY 5 FAVORITE ITEMS

I have used my Stitch Fix referral link within this Stitch Fix outfits post.  If you click through and schedule a fix, I will receive a $25 Stitch Fix credit.  Please don't feel obligated to click, but thank you if you do!  Additionally, if you create a Stitch Fix account you will have your own referral link with which to earn credits! 

I've been getting Stitch Fix for years now. In fact, I recently join their program that allows you to pay $49 for unlimited fixes throughout the year.  I thought it was such a great deal, since I get them monthly anyways.  In fact, I have one coming my way in the next week or so and I can't wait to share it with you!

This post is all about my five favorite items I've received from Stitch Fix.

French Grey Gerarda Ruffle Hem Brushed Knit Dress, teal green, size XL, $54

This dress was in the running to be my Easter dress this year, but I ended up going with an oldie-but-goodie (seen here ... minus the belt and with different shoes).  You can see my initial thoughts in my original fix unboxing here.

London Times Odell Textured V-Neck Dress, 14P, $118

I love this dress so much, it is my #1 piece from Stitch Fix. It's also the most expensive item I've purchased, and it was 100% worth it. I feel so pretty in this, and I look forward to wearing it every spring and summer.

Market & Spruce Channy Open Cardigan, $54

Funny thing, I can't find where I unboxed the fix that this cardigan came in.  I have a feeling this was either the last fix I got in our old house or the first box I got in our rental, because I have zero pictures of this aside from a random outfit pic.  I wear this cardigan so often.  The stitches are loose, so it's perfect when it's a little warmer outside (and I still need something on my arms in the office). But, I can easily wear it with long sleeves if I need to be warmer.  It's so cute!

London Times Anaisey Jersey Dress, $68

This is a go-to dress for me, when I want to be a little dressed up but still comfortable. I love the colors and print.  It just looks so put together even thought it's a simple dress.  I love it!

Pistola Jeans

These jeans are yet another item that I never unboxed on the blog and yet I've worn them in countless outfits. These jeans are insanely soft and comfortable.  To be honest, I wish they didn't have a zipper ankle but that hasn't stopped me from loving them.  I love the color and material.  They have been my most-worn jeans that I've purchased from Stitch Fix, although my most recent jeans are giving them a run for their money (tgla, seen here in an unboxing).

This was such a fun post to put together.  I am thinking about doing it yearly, to see how my favorite items change throughout the years.  What do you think?

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FIVE BRANDS I LOVE

As I'm looking forward in 2018,  there are quite a few brands that I hope to add to my wardrobe and beauty routine.  I thought it would be fun to highlight a few of my favorites brands today.  I hope you find something that inspires you!

EVERLANE

I spoke earlier this week about my love for Everlane.  I have multiples of their tees and recently tried their cashmere crew sweater.  I love supporting a brand that has such amazing ethics.  They've come such a long way since selling only tees, and it's exciting every time they release a new product!

RMS BEAUTY

Of all the brands I've discovered through my cruelty-free journey, RMS Beauty stands out the most to me.  Their makeup remover wipes are a staple in my skincare routine.  I literally can not be without them.  I also love their Un-Cover foundation/concealer.  It's something that I use every single day.  I look forward to trying more of their products this year.

THE FLOURISH MARKET

So, The Flourish Market isn't actually a brand, but I am obsessed with my friend Em's shop in Raleigh.  Em has done my blog photos (and she is AMAZING!).  Unfortunately, the timing hasn't worked out for me to have her do my photos.  Izzie's has two hours of dance classes on Saturdays, which is basically the only day to get photos done.  Alas, I love supporting Em's shop and sending her love from afar with my online orders!  She has an amazing vision for her company, and I am literally obsessed with her try on sessions on Instastories.  She always shows the new arrivals there and can convince me to buy anything.  :)

NISOLO

Let's see how many times I can use the word 'obsessed' in this post... haha!  This brand is amazing.  They started out with shoes and now have a line of bags, accessories, and jewelry.  I started out with my Simone shopper crossbody bag and then added my Clutch Wallet.  During their huge sales around the holidays, I added these Serena sandals to replace my very old strappy sandals.  The newest addition are my black Ava flats, which are perfect.  I'm the type of person to buy multiples in different colors, so rest assured I'll be adding even more to my wardrobe this year!

WIND BLOWN JEWELRY

This is a small jewelry business based on Raleigh that I discovered in 2017.  I love the simplistic style of all her pieces, and hopefully I'll be adding another necklace to my collection soon.  I've reached for this horizon necklace time and time again.  It's an essential piece, and I've received so many compliments on it.

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MY FAVORITE OUTFITS FROM 2017

2017 was a huge year of change for me and my family.

We built our dream house and moved into it this summer.  I am still in awe that it's done, and it's ours, and we live here.

I went cruelty free with  my beauty routine.  As a result, I purged a ton of beauty products.  And on the subject of purging, we purged a lot of unneeded/unwanted items from our house.  Toys, household goods, appliances, clothes, books, etc.  You name it, and we probably got rid of it!

In fact, we're still decluttering.  It's insane the amount of stuff we have amassed over the 11+ years we've been married.

Along with simplifying my beauty routine, I've also pared down my closet.  I'm still in the midst of building up a wardrobe that I love, which made me feel like this was a year of 'in-between.'  We've be in between houses, I've been in between beauty routines while I use up old products, and my wardrobe felt lacking this year.  After I purged, I wasn't really sure what to add back in.  I guess that will come with time, and I'll talk more about that tomorrow in my goals post.

For today, I wanted to share a few of my favorite outfits from the year.  I disliked more than I liked my outfits this year, which made blogging awkward for me.  I put this weird pressure on myself to 100% love everything 100% of the time, and then share it online.

I hope the awkwardness didn't show through, but it's okay if it did.  This blog is all about the things I like and love, I just wish I'd had more content this year.  Hopefully that makes sense.  I felt so in between everything, it was hard to hunker down and focus on the blog as much as I'm used to doing. Anyways, these outfits are my absolute favorite outfits from the year.  They are in chronological order and as I look at them, I realize that as the year went on I slowly gained back my style mojo.  I am increasingly happier with the direction my wardrobe and style are going, and my feeling is 2018 is going to be an amazing year not only for my style but also for my beauty content, and all the other things I share along the way (home, kids, food, etc.).

And with that, my main point is this: 2017 was weird and great, and these are just a few outfits that I loved this year.  Stick around tomorrow for a little chit chat on my 2017 goals, what I succeeded in, what I didn't succeed in, and what I'm striving for in 2018.

STITCH FIX | DECEMBER 2017

I have used my Stitch Fix referral link within this post.  If you click through and schedule a fix, I will receive a $25 Stitch Fix credit.  Please don't feel obligated to click, but thank you if you do!  Additionally, if you create a Stitch Fix account you will have your own referral link with which to earn credits! 

If you're no stranger to my Stitch Fix hauls, you know that I absolutely love Princess Kate's style.  I truly enjoy following her style journey, and while I rarely have an occasion to wear the same outfits that she does I do love the classic lines and colors of her wardrobe.  I always request that my box be inspired by her style, and this is the second box that I've requested brands that are made in the USA. 

In case you didn't catch my last haul, you can check that out here.  It was a little bit of a bust.  I didn't keep anything, although my stylist was going in the right direction according to my style.  Nothing really called out to me.  I was super excited to get this box and, as you'll see below, it was hard to decide what to keep.

ALSO, this is the first Stitch Fix box that I've let my husband choose the item that I keep.  I love having his opinion on clothes, so it was a lot of fun while he was taking these pictures for me.

Pixley Beringer Ruffle Neck Blouse, size L, $48

I loved this immediately when I pulled it out of the box.  The classy ruffle, v-neck, and the length are perfect.  The back is slightly longer than the front, which I can very much appreciate as a pear shaped person.  At first I thought this ruffle would be difficult to style with a cardigan, but it works very well!

I decided to keep this and, spoiler alert, this was the only item I kept.

Leo & Nicole Syd Open Cardigan, size L, $64

This was the second item that caught my eye in the box.  This is so incredibly cute!  I love the buffalo check style, and it is insanely comfortable.  It says it's a cardigan, but it's slightly thicker.  It verges on the side of jacket, in my opinion.  If it was lined, I would definitely call this a jacket.

All that being said, I decided not to keep this.  Although I love buffalo check, $64 is a lot for something that I would use only for a few months out of the year.  I sent this back.

Sophie Rue Broadway Sleeve Detail Blouse, size L, $42

This top stood out to me, because it's not very autumnal or wintery.  I was surprised that a short sleeved top was included in my fix, but I see why she though I would love it.  It's just not practical for this time of year, since I can't layer it under a cardigan.  Even if I could layer it, the gorgeous details on the sleeves would be covered up.  If there is a springy version of this available next year, I might reconsider a top like this.  I sent this back.

Pink Clover Aisha Knit Top, size L, $48

This top was such a tough call.  It is insanely comfortable.  This could definitely take me from work to home to errands, to whatever!  I love the colors.  The grey and the blue/white stripes are so pretty together.  The only draw back was the sleeve ties.  You can see them in the detail shot above (along with the ruffle detail from the pants in the picture below!).  I imagined they would get in the way of typing and cooking, so in the end I decided to send this back. 

Potter's Pot Paris Straight Ruffle Pants, size L, $58

These pants were also a super cute pick and a really hard decision.  I love the material, the pocket details (you can see them two pictures above), the length, and obviously the color.  Black pants are my  most worn pants when I'm planning work outfits.  However, my most worn pant style are definitely skinny ankle pants.  So, that is literally the only reason I sent them back.  Every time I give straight leg pants a genuine try, they end up in the back of my wardrobe and eventually I sell them to thredUP.  They simply aren't a front runner, and that's okay!  I'm always learning about my wardrobe preferences, and ankle pants just happen to be what I love the most.  These were sent back.

And that's it!  I really loved this fix, and I'm super excited to get another one at the end of the month.  Let me know if you get Stitch Fix!

CRUELTY FREE BEAUTY & LIFESTYLE | FRIDAY FAVORITES

Happy Friday!  Can you believe we only have a couple more weeks (and some change) until Christmas?  This month is flying by, per the usual, so I'm really trying to soak it all up until Christmas arrives.

I wanted to share a few Friday Favorites of mine that I recently came across.  I hope you enjoy!

Wind Blown Jewelry Horizon Necklace

I found out about this jewelry company through one of my favorite YouTube channels.  I saw this necklace in their online shop, and I knew it would be the perfect addition to my jewelry collection.  A few months ago, I culled my entire jewelry collection.  In fact, it could probably be purged again.  I want to have only my favorite pieces in my collection, and this Horizon Necklace is here to stay.

Paddywax Candles - Library Collection

Through my searches for cruelty free beauty and home products, I came across the Paddywax Candle brand.  I had never heard of them, nor had I smelled them, so I was really taking a chance with an online order  I ordered a couple small tins, one large candle, and a wick trimmer.  Side note: I didn't even know that wick trimmers were a thing!  I've been using my kitchen scissors all along.  A wick trimmer is essential to candle burning, and I am so glad I have one now.

From my purchases, my favorite scent has been from their Library Collection.  They have this amazing curated collection of scents inspired by authors.  Being the Austen fan that I am, I purchased the large size of the Jane Austen scent.  It did not go into it blindly, I did check the notes to make sure it was something I could like.

Basically, it's a blend of gardenia, tuberose, and jasmine.  Those are some of my absolutely favorite scents (I'm a floral lover through and through).   Specifically, the top notes are citrus zest, sparkling adlehydes, and coconut water.  The middle notes are white gardenia, jasmine petals, and pink peony.  The base notes are rosewood, sheer spices, and leafy greens.  The main scents that I smell are the floral notes.

 

Nest Passiflora

Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to share my favorite perfume lately.  I am a huge fan of the Nest brand.  They have a lot of beautiful scents in their collection.  I have almost all of their rollerballs.  I can only think of one off the top of my head that I don't like.  This one is Passiflora, and it's been my scent of a choice for the past month or so.  It's gotten to where if I forget to apply it, I miss smelling it throughout the day.  The notes in this scent are passion flower, water hyacinth, and lily of the valley with an overdose of lush green notes.  As you all are fully aware by  now, I love floral scents so this has been, and will continue to be, a major favorite of mine.

So friends, what do you think of these Friday Favorites? Any you're planning on getting? Let me know in the comments below!

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FALL STYLE | MISOOK HOLIDAY OUTFIT

I was supplied with a gift card to shop on Misook's website.  All pieces for this Holiday outfit were chosen by me.  All opinions are mine alone.  Use code MSK7291 for 25% off your order.

Yesterday's outfit was all about this jacket, so I thought it'd be helpful to share how you can go from work to a party in a jiffy.  I know I hammer on about this all the time, but having great, basic pieces can really simplify your life and your wardrobe.  Simply mixing things up and changing your hair style or makeup can make a huge difference.

To take yesterday's outfit from work to holiday outfit, I made a few quick switches.  I removed the necklace and replaced it with these fun earrings.  I pinned back my hair and applied a bright red lipstick.  I switched out the work pants for these cigarette pants and kept the shirt tucked.  For shoes, I slipped on these gorgeous heels that are so old but are still my go-tos for special occasions.  I kind of switched out my bag.  This is a clutch wallet, so you can throw it in your bag as a wallet but also pull it out to use as a clutch.

I love this holiday outfit so much, and I hope you do as well.  This week has been so much fun putting together holiday inspired outfits.  Let me know which holiday outfit is your favorite! 

HOLIDAY OUTFIT
Tunic: Misook c/o // Pants: Vince Camuto - thrifted // Heels: Old

Jacket: Misook c/o // Earrings: Target // Lipstick: Julep // Clutch Wallet: Nisolo

Thank you Misook, for sponsoring this holiday outfit post.  And thank you, friends, for supporting the brands that support this blog.  Don't forget to use the code MSK7291 for 25% off your Misook order.