My muse…

You need to know I have no need for any of the above but somehow I manage to always find something I like. Or a trip I love.

Set your sights high…

A beautiful morning sky somewhere over Europe heading into France

 

My last trip to Europe didn’t start off to well. Ironically, I had booked this trip approximately two weeks before all hell broke loose, or well, just my foot. My friend, Erin, and I had made a joke four years ago during the Olympics that we would go to Rio in 2016. Well, not everything has been so great with Rio, and we still wanted to do a trip. I’ve been itching to go to Russia for a VERY long time but the idea of a visa process, cost, and sheer uncertainty in the world made it less than likely to happen. We stumbled upon a trip to Prague, Vienna, & Budapest in late August and decided to “jump” on it. Hotels. Done.

Erin and I decided after searching for airfare from two different destinations (Austin & Philadelphia) that it made total sense for us to add two additional days on our trip and head to Paris. You know what Audrey Hepburn says, “Paris is always a great idea.” Always. Trust me. Paris can make your day go from gray to sun in a few hours. Literally! More about that later 🙂

Our flight from Philadelphia to Paris was an easy six-and-a-half hours, which started off to be a great flight…until the French college students in front of us brought a flight attendant to talk about their “sick” friend. Great! We spent the first 30 minutes after take-off sanitizing our seats and debating covering our faces. We ended up a-okay! It makes me wonder how true the “airplane” air really is? Or maybe the flu shots work. Who knows. Food. Meh. Food allergies and American Airlines fails in their options. Very little options. It’s time to change Economy options. Tomatoes are NOT necessary in every freaking dish you serve.

Our flight landed in six hours and 20 minutes (yay!) and we had a quick, easy customs departure into the European Union (I always feel like there’s someone singing in my ears when I cross through Europe- I feel at home). Luggage was a breeze. Finding an Uber. Breeze. Getting from Charles de Gaule to the Eiffel Tower area in rush hour? What seemed like a thousand circles and one dart…and we arrive. Oh Champs-Elysees…we meet again.

Here we go round in (another) circle…

 

 

 

This is my obsession…

Ear Crawlers…the perfect earring and accessory to jazz up the ear in a classy way by only utilizing one hole! Thankfully, this trend is well served by one of my favorite retailers, BaubleBar 

I was the lucky recipient of these beauties for the holidays and my eyes are still on a few more pieces before Europe!

 

 

Oh, you mean, you’ll ship me clothes to try?

Thanks to PopSugar, I received a $20 credit to StitchFix, which is a clothing subscription service, where you pay a $20 styling fee for a stylist to choose five items (usually four pieces of clothing an accessory- or you can eliminate them by telling them no to accessories) to you via FedEx. You then have three days to decide whether or not you like the five items in the box. The cool thing? If you like all five items, you get 25% off after they’ve subtracted the styling fee from the box. You can tell them how expensive you want the items to be or how inexpensive you want them to be.

For my first month, I pretty much went $50-100 on all items because that’s what I’d spend if I were at Nordstrom. Don’t get me wrong- I love a good bargain but I also feel like you get what you pay for. The only item I did for less than the $50-100 range was actually for accessories, where I chose “the cheaper the better.” I’ve actually changed the category on a few for next time and let them know- if it’s good quality, I’m willing to pay more.

I snooped to look at my items before they arrived (how painful is it to have a shipment leave on a Friday and not get here until Tuesday!? Yikes!) I was happy my stylist was sending a dress I had pinned in Pinterest and had been eyeing for a few weeks at Nordstrom. The other items were promising and I was happy when I opened the box!

First, I found the styling cards with a note from the stylist on why she chose what she did. The card also gives suggestions on what to pair the pieces with!

The second photo shows all the pieces and their cost. My total cost for five pieces was $340. I had a free $20 styling credit from PopSugar and if I kept all five pieces, I’d get $80 (25%) off. Granted, it was still going to cost me $240, which in theory isn’t awful for five pieces IF they work and you love them all.

The first piece of clothing was a sweater jacket from Mystree called Dorinda Faux Leather Detail Sweater Jacket. In theory, the dress is really cute. If you have the right torso for it, you could rock it. It’s pretty lightweight and I really wouldn’t consider it a sweater. I felt no warmth in it and I live in the Northeast. To be honest, my office is freezing and I would freeze in this. However, if you live in South Florida or Texas- get this sweater jacket! It’s cute and definitely suited for your climate. I had issues with it because I have a long torso and a chest. The pockets ended up halfway in my chest region,which looked ridiculously silly. It also came about 2″ above my navel with all the other factors.

The next piece was the Kensie Jackie Longsleeve Striped Sweater Dress. I love sweater dresses. I pretty much LIVE in them from fall until it’s cold enough to change into something less warm. I really eyed this sweater dress from Nordstrom, pinned it to my board and was excited when I learned StitchFix was going to send it! Sadly, the dress was too big, very thin (not very sweater like & again- South Florida or Texas sweater weather) and the stripes were not flattering on top of being too big. Oh well- I tried it.

The next piece was the Rapti Pop of Color scarf. I did not like it. It was too thin. It was orange and black (Halloween?). The stylist referred to it as a winter scarf but it’s way too thin for my liking. The cost was a bit high too ($38?) and I think my next fix I’ll be requesting no accessories. I have more than enough scarves/jewelery. However, this is great for those who need those pieces!

I think the thing I most sad about was the Just Black Adora Skinny jean in a deep reddish/garnet/burgundy wine color. I’m a tall girl (5’11”) and I wear a size 30 usually in jeans, 8 in some jeans but these were great in the butt, the thighs and the rest. However, it was just a tad weird in the fit at the waist. I don’t have any excess skin/any fat in my region (a flat, athletic stomach) and it was overall weird. I can’t describe it. Usually if you can’t fit in a pant, you can’t even get them up on you! I got them up, they were fine everywhere else. They’re pretty low cut, so that’s where I think the issue is! Stitch Fix- if you’re listening, please, find me these pants in a different style, a different size- this color! AHHH! It’s Gamecock’ish colors!

Finally, the last piece is the house brand 41Hawthorn Rowson Colorblock Striped Sweater. This was actually the first piece I tried on and I loved it. It’s thin but it’s not awful. I love purple. I love navy. It was such a win. It’s very cute too! After my styling fee (Thanks PopSugar) I paid $38 for it. Not much more than you’d pay at Target!

Overall, I’m really glad I tried Stitch Fix. It’s a great addition to your regularly scheduled shopping program. I wouldn’t give up Nordstrom (trust me, they would probably notice) but I will definitely give it a try next month.  To be honest, my next fix is scheduled for December 13th! Here’s to hoping I get a nice dress to wear for Christmas or New Years 😉 A warm dress that is 😉 If interested in trying out Stitch Fix, here’s a link to sign up. It does earn me $25 in credit but if you sign up and like it- you too can get $25 when you refer friends!

https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3235326

If you’re wondering, this is me & my body type!

Ebates

Ebates

So, one of the best things I’ve ever found is Ebates. It gives you a certain percentage of cash back each time you’ve shopped through a link on the Ebates site. You can practically find almost any retailer (besides a few stores like Pottery Barn etc), who participate! It’s really a great way to save money on stuff you were going to purchase anyways. You can still use coupons on the site too! In the last quarter, I’ve saved over $80 via ebates! Quite the nice little “rebate.”

What’s your map look like?

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve spent countless hours (and countless nights of sleep in my adulthood) dreaming of the places I would go. I remember the Dr. Seuss book, “Oh the places you’ll go” but I’m not quite sure he was talking about your travel destinations. Trip Advisor introduced their “Travel Map” feature, which allows you to track all of the places “you’ll go” and places you’ve “been.” If you’re looking for something to kick your butt into gear- Trip Advisor is it!

I’ve been to 17 countries, 107 cities and two continents. It seems like a lot but in the realm of things- it’s absolutely nothing. If you break it down- there’s a heck of a lot of the world left to see! I didn’t start cruising until 22 years old and didn’t make it to Europe until I was 30. I made it a goal in 2005, on my first cruise aboard the Carnival Glory, I would be a Platinum cruiser by 30. Little did I know, I’d achieve my goal AND make it to Europe in the same trip!? So, where are the places you’ll go? Where have you been?