A Sprinkle of Life

Stitch Fix Review – July 2016

August 7, 2016 No Comments

It may be a few days late, but I’m excited to bring to you my July Stitch Fix haul! I asked for short sleeve tops and dresses, things I could wear to work or hang out in. This month my stylist purused my Pinterest board again, and noticed a theme of green – one I hadn’t been aware of, but apparently I pinned a fair amount of green items, so she made sure to include something in that hue.

My July fix contained 2 short sleeved tops, 2 mid/long sleeve tops, and one faux wrap dress. Now to the fashion!

#1 – Ava Floral Print Silk Henley Blouse by 41Hawthorn
This top is super lightweight and flowy. It’s pretty comfortable and cute. The pattern is a beautiful floral print in a nice green and navy color combo. The only con I have is that the arm holes are cut a little too small, riding up a bit in my armpits so I’ll probably hold off wearing it in the summer months when it’s too hot. This will be a cute top to wear under a navy blazer in the fall.

41Hawthorn Ava Floral Print Silk Henley Blouse

#2 – Cyrano Button Front Blouse by Papermoon
It’s mid summer, and it’s hot hot hot! I’m so thankful my stylist provided me with this colorful blouse by Papermoon. Something about the print says “picnic” to me, maybe because it’s somewhat similar to a traditional picnic table cover. I love how airy this top is. There’s no cling, it drapes across your chest comfortably, and is just the perfect top for pairing with white shorts in the summertime.

#3 – Tameron Button Down Blouse by 41Hawthorn
With fall around the corner, it’s prime time to start requesting some longer sleeved tops. If you’re looking for something cute, casual, yet able to be dressed up, this button down blouse is for you! Not only is this color to die for, but it apparently comes in a ton of other colors, which my stylist let me know are available in case I fell in love. I might just have to take her up on that. I also love the rolled sleeve detail, it’s effortless yet classic. Pair this top with a great pair of jeans, or white pants, and you’re good to go! Side note, I kind of feel ready for a safari in this top haha.

#4 – Bilson Pleat Detail Blouse by Daniel Rainn
This blouse is actually “two” tops in one. Inside of the blouse is a sewn in cami to provide extra coverage under the sheerness of the blouse. The cami is attached just at the top of the straps so it can probably be removed. I’m thinking of detaching them so I can put them on one at a time. Right now with the cami attached, I find it to be quite the challenge to find the arm holes and get this over my head. With all that to the side, I want to point out how cute this little white dotted pattern is. To me, the top almost looks like the night sky full of little white stars. You could dress this up or down and be comfortable all at the same time. A perfect top for the fall weather coming up.

#5 – Rocco Jersey Faux Wrap Dress by 41Hawthorn
Ladies, we’ve all been told we need a little black dress in our closet, and I think I found the perfect one for all shapes and sizes! This faux wrap dress by 41Hawthorn is to die for. Not only is it super comfortable, but it’s really fashionable. Once you put it on, you’ll feel elegant and sophisticated. Heck, I was ready for a night on the town with my boyfriend when I put this on, it’s such a mood booster. It’s the type of dress and cut that would be flattering for everyone. When I pulled it out of my Stitch Fix box I thought it looked familiar. I quickly dashed to my closet, and low and behold I have the same exact dress from Stitch Fix but with sleeves. I guess I now have all the seasons covered 🙂

Some final thoughts: This month’s fix was great! While I would have preferred more options that I could wear during the current season, I loved the finds my stylist sent my way, I’ll just have to wait until it’s not 90 degrees out 🙂 It also seems like 41Hawthorn is taking over my boxes. Three out of the 5 items this month were all from that brand, and I don’t mind! Overall, this is a 5 out of 5. My next box comes next week, so keep an eye in this spot!

Suggestions for a better fix:

Be very specific. If there are certain pieces or types of clothing you really want, provide that in your styling note to your stylist.
Create a Pinterest Board. Stylists will check them out if you keep mentioning them in your style notes.
Call out designers or names of actual articles of clothing . Your stylist may not provide those exact items but they’ll start to get a better sense of what style you’re into.

Don’t forget to follow my Pinterest Boards for more Stitch Fix fun!

What are you waiting for? Give Stitch Fix a try!

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It’s time to love our cores

August 1, 2016 No Comments

For the past year I’ve been following Blogilates and her calendars off and on. Work travel has always caused me to stop my Blogilates practice, but I’m gearing up for a pilates workout challenge this month and want you to join me!

First things first:
What is Blogilates?
A movement, a blog, a fun spirited pilates community created by Cassey Ho. Cassey created a new type of workout called POP Pilates which is a fun, high energy pilates workout set to pop songs and beats.

How can I get started?
If you’re a beginner, which is how I started out, check out her beginner calendar which references videos on her Youtube channel. If you’re not a beginner in the world of Pilates, try out her August calendar for planned workouts for each day of the week!

What’s the challenge?
Cassey has created a challenge for the month of August called Adore the Core (search for #adorethecore and blogilates on Instagram). Each day you’ll have one stretch or pilates move to complete. Check out Cassey’s Instagram post below.

Blogilates #adorethecore challenge by Cassey Ho.

I’ll be posting on my non-personal Instagram account as not to spam my friends. Feel free to follow my journey there and tag my account!

Travel

Sunset Key – A relaxing Florida Keys getaway

July 27, 2016 No Comments

Who doesn’t love a vacation? This past weekend my boyfriend surprised me with a trip down to Sunset Key, a private island off of Key West owned by Starwood Hotels and private residents.

Welcome to Key West, the Conch Republic!

The resort, the only one on the island, is called Sunset Key Cottages. The only other people on the island are private home owners. The island is only accessible by shuttle boat to those staying on the island or visiting the restaurant. How cool is that? The boat runs very frequently, every 30 minutes (on the :15 and :45 mark from the docks in Key West, and at the top of every hour and half hour on Sunset Key). One thing I really appreciated about the boat was how timely it was. They arrived and left exactly on time. For someone used to commuting in NYC and NJ this was quite the treat 🙂

While the resort is associated with Westin, who has a traditional hotel on Key West, you check in on Sunset Key itself. From there, the concierge personally walks you to your cottage and gives you the resort rundown (boat schedule, breakfast information, pool and beach info, etc). Each cottage is given a super cute name. Our cottage was called “Easy Dreams,” which is a little ironic considering some of our morning experiences, but I’ll get into that later. The cottage has 2 bedrooms (1 with a king bed, the other with two double beds), 3 bathrooms, a lovely living room/dining area, functional kitchen minus an oven, and a beautiful wrap around porch with rocking chairs. Outside there were also two shower heads on the cottage for rinsing off after a day at the beach or in the pool.

Easy Dreams Cottage – Sunset Key Cottages

The resort is beautiful, peaceful, and comes with some awesome amenities. One of my favorite touches was that every morning each cottage would receive a breakfast basket on their porch. Included in your basket were muffins, croissants, butter/jam, and a couple pieces of fruit. It was so magical opening the door every morning to find a cute basket full of goodies (all included in your stay).

Each morning the quantity varied. One morning we received 2 muffins, 3 croissants, and two pieces of fruit…a lot of food for two people. Other mornings we received smaller amounts of baked goods. Most mornings we couldn’t tell what type of muffins we received and there was no note saying what you received. On our second to last morning one of the muffins was blueberry, which is what I was craving the whole time. It was absolutely delicious. I only wish we could have requested what we wanted.

Onto the water! The pool was quite nice with an accessible gradual slope, and optional ladders in the deeper ends. There’s also a hot tub or two around the pool area that you can check out as well. You’ll also find a bar that serves food at the pool. We didn’t eat anything there, but probably would have if we could have eaten off the kids menu 🙂 (disclaimer: we didn’t ask if it was allowed or not).

Sunset Key also has a beach available to guests. Apparently vacationers staying in the Westin on Key West are able to use the beach, but I think I only saw one couple take advantage of that the 4 days we were there. The beach itself is small, and at the water’s edge there are a ton of little pebbles and rocks that make it a bit painful to get into the water, but after a few feet things smooth out and you can walk on some patches of sand or some larger non painful rocks in the water.

Two of my favorite things about the beach were that there were minimal waves and the water was the perfect temperature. The only time the beach had any waves was when speed boats or jet skis would pass nearby. I hate waves, so this beach worked out nicely for me. In regards to the temperature of the water, it wasn’t cold at all. I would say it was more refreshing than anything, something that was very welcome with the high humidity on the island.

Sunset Key Pros:

Limited amount of people around – for the most part the only people on the island were cottage guests
Breakfast baskets – too cute for words
Spacious cottages
Rocking chairs on cottage porches – perfect for reading (and there are ceiling fans on the porch to keep you cool!)
Little treats being left every night after turn down. The first night there were chocolates left by the bedside. We also received Key Lime cookies. However, the coolest treat left was two little boxes of Cupcake Sushi. What’s Cupcake Sushi you ask? Cute bite sized bits of cake (cupcake) surrounded by buttercream frosting, dunked in dark chocolate and decorated with chocolate pearls to look like a little piece of sushi. Delicious!!

Sunset Key Cons:

Sometimes the maintenance starts too early – when we’re on a vacation we sometimes want to sleep in, which wasn’t always a luxury available to us this trip due to being up against the maintenance buildings. We also had the unfortunate experience of having a landscaper decide to dig around the foundation of our cottage our first morning to plant several bushes. I don’t know if he didn’t get the memo that a) it was early and b) that someone was staying in the cottage. The Cottage “Easy Dreams” didn’t always make it so easy to dream 🙂
Not many food options – the resort offers a restaurant but none of the options were super appealing or exciting for us (we’re not into fancy food). Next time I might try ordering kids menu items from room service.

Conclusion:
Sunset Keys is an amazing place. I hope I get a chance to go again. Definitely a place I would recommend if you want to check out Key West but want to avoid being around the whole party scene 24/7.

Key West Recommendations:

Favorite Bar for Food: Island Dogs
What to order: Bar Pizza – perfect size to fill you up, super cheesy and delicious. I got pepperoni!

Tour: Ghosts and Gravestones
Summary: Fun evening tour that takes you around in a “spooky” trolley. You’ll get to see interesting historic buildings and learn about their history, and hop off at two stops (a fort and a museum). It’s not scary (unless you disrespect Robert), but is super informative, fun, and something different to try.

Fish and Chips Recommendation: Red Fish Blue Fish
Summary: For me beach towns = fish and chips, but it’s a hard dish to come by in Key West. Red Fish Blue Fish is a great spot to chow down on traditional fish and chips. Plus, they had quick service, an air conditioned dining room (there’s also an outside patio area), and tasty food.

Travel

Pokemon Go is keeping me on the go

July 21, 2016 No Comments

Pokémon Go. Everyone’s heard about it by now, from the stories of stampedes in Central Park to people coming across dead bodies while they search for a rare Pokémon.

I jumped on the bandwagon and I’m not ashamed to say it. Growing up, I was a part of the generation who was still a kid when Pokémon became a craze in America. From TV shows, toys at Burger King, and card collecting, Pokémon touched the lives of many of my peers. So, when those of us 20 somethings heard that Pokémon Go launched, we couldn’t help contain our excitement and interest.

I’ve been playing the game around my town in New Jersey, and even took it on the go with me when I travelled to Austin, Texas for work, where I found myself in a wooded path outside of the office with 15 other people sweating it out, quite literally.

This past weekend my boyfriend, his brother (visiting from out of town), and I decided to head to the city to see if we could find some good Pokémon! Of course we headed to Central Park which is basically Pokémon Central USA. I heard stories saying there were tons of people playing in the park, but nothing compares to seeing it in real life.

IMG_20160716_155030 — Photo Courtesy of Kevin M – Hundreds of people playing Pokemon Go in Central Park

There were hundreds, or more likely thousands of people, playing the game in Central Park. I mean everywhere you turned there were kids, teens, and adults from all walks of life and backgrounds with their heads down chasing Pokémon, stopping at PokéStops and challenging gyms. New York City is known as a melting pot, and this past Saturday that was more than true in Central Park. It was so cool to see all sorts of people coming together in one place to find cute little critters and monsters.

Screenshot from Pokemon Go – PokeStop central in NYC

Back in my New Jersey town, there’s a park where I lived so we had to check it out too. While on our quest we even came across a young couple, who were expecting a baby, and even they were playing Pokémon.

One thing I really appreciate about the Pokémon movement is that everyone seems so friendly, welcoming, and accepting. You don’t need to feel embarrassed walking around playing the game. While on the topic of walking around, this game is amazing for getting people up and moving. I keep wanting to go out to a local park or walk around my apartment complex to see what’s out there.

Apparently sometime during the summer there will be a cool little accessory you can buy for the game, Pokémon GO Plus, a wrist accessory shaped as a map pin in the Poké Ball style that will vibrate if there’s a Pokémon or PokéStop near by. Rumors state that it’ll only be around $35, which is a great price. I’ve signed up for Amazon email notifications for when it goes on sale.

If you find yourself bored this summer, and want to get some exercise, give it a try. You never know, you might even make some new friends along the way!

Screenshot my coworker took at dinner in Austin.

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My first FabFitFun box

July 5, 2016 No Comments

For months I’ve seen the infamous FabFitFun box show up on my instagram feed, adored by celebrities and “Real Housewives” alike. When I decided to cancel my Redhead Subscription box I decided to cave into FabFitFun since it was a seasonal offering, sending one box per season.

FullSizeRender (2)

First off, let’s talk about the box. It’s beautiful and fun! The company chooses an artist to design each box, a neat touch to make this box stand out amongst all the packages. Inside you’ll find a little magazine discussing each item and how to enjoy the season upon us.

Now to the goodies!

First up we have the Trina Turk tote. The one I received is a bright summery orange with the statement “Vitamin Sun” printed across the front. It’s super cute and roomy. Now I just need to book a beach vacation and take this tote along. Plus, it’s great for carrying all of your new FabFitFun goodies.

The next item was a Summer & Rose Yoga Towel. It’s moisture wicking and comes with a fun mantra sewn into the bottom of the towel, mine says “dream big,” something I always try to do.

It wouldn’t be summertime without a sweet and cool treat. Thanks to this box, I’ll be able to create my own with Betchsicles Ice Pop Molds.

FabFitFun also offers some of their own creations in their boxes, and this time I received the FabFitFun Everyday Beach Waves Spray. I’ve always been fond of the beachy wave look, but I’m no hair expert and always give up on trying to make my hair look fancy or cool. However, I found this spray to be easy to use and it actually provides results!

Below you’ll find me on a silly dinosaur with my first attempt at using the beach waves spray. My hair is typically straight and doesn’t like to curl, so I’ll take it for my first try!

We can all use some skin therapy. This season’s box has two products for keeping your skin healthy. First up we have the Osea Atmosphere Protection Cream. It’s a lightweight moisturizer in a pretty glass bottle that is supposed to be good for keeping your skin hydrated and protected from everyday damage.

The other skin product is Stemulation Daily Micro Derm Scrub. This product is designed to renew and exfoliate your skin, leaving healthy smooth skin behind. Who can’t use a good scrub, especially in the summer.

After using your new skin products, you’ll want to make sure your lips are looking as vibrant as your hydrated face so FabFitFun added in the Passport to Beauty Gypset Luminous Lips gloss that comes infused with Vitamin E.

Finally, there were a few bonus items added in. Burt’s Bees BB Cream (not in my shade), Compeed Blister Cushions (ugh I need these), and I received a $35 coupon to HelloFresh.com.

All in all, my box added up to a grand total of $228 worth of product; not bad at all! I can’t wait to try everything out and for Fall to get here so I can see what comes next!