thredUP – My Review

I recently came across this website a few weeks ago when I was searching for consignment stores in my area. I have been very happy with what I have experienced (so far) so I wanted to share it with you guys!

I use to be a loving StitchFix girl until I just couldn’t fathom consistently spending that much money on clothes. Do I miss it? Um, of course. Do I think I will order another box or two one day? Um, DUH. But for now, it just isn’t in my budget. This company reminds me so much of StitchFix’s style that I knew I would love it.

So there are two ways to use Thredup: the first way is to just shop on their website and the second is you can actually use it as a consignment store and send them your clothes. I will be talking today about the buying part and my experience with that. I just now sent in a bag of my clothes, so once I see how that process turns out I will give you guys an update on that. The cool thing about Thredup is they have so many brands that are amazing. One of their descriptions is as follows:

It’s an awesome site – you can buy or conveniently sell excellent-quality women’s and kids clothing. They’ve got everything from Gucci to Gap, J Crew to Justice – at up to 90% off retail prices!

My personal favorite stores at the moment are Bannana Republic, JCrew, Target, Old Navy, and The Gap. This site has all of these brands (PLUS KATE SPADE! Yes, that needed an all caps) so I knew this was going to be an addiction inducing introduction. I set up my own “Personal Shop” on the website where I selected my favorite brands and sizes, so everything I needed was right there for me.

Not knowing how the quality of the items would actually be (some of the options of items were: used, new with tags, used with a slight imperfection: pilling, etc) I only bought two items. Most of their items are returnable, which is wonderful, but I was still curious as to what I would receive.

Needless to say, I am very happy with my purchases. I bought a never-been-used JCrew swimsuit and a new JCrew silk top.

Here is what my package and goodies looked like:

I personally loved the polka dot and mint-green packaging details. It felt pretty lovely for a used-clothing website!

Here is my first item:

JCrew Swimsuit. Retailed at $110.

Purchased on ThredUp for $27.

Overall Quality: Perfect condition. Had the liner on the bottom of the swimsuit and the tags still on it. Couldn’t find any imperfections.

Next Item:

JCrew blue silk top. Retailed at $78. Purchased for $21.

Overall Quality: Although a bit wrinkled (which I really don’t mind cause an iron will fix that) this top is perfection. It looked wrinkled in it’s picture as well so it doesn’t bother me at all. It fits perfectly and is great quality! Wasn’t brand new, but it still had the JCrew label and has no imperfections. Score!

Overall I am very happy with these two purchases. I hope you guys will go check it out and maybe find something you like, too! I already have my shopping cart filled up for my next purchase 🙂 The best part about this site is I am even finding some pieces that I remember seeing in stores and loving but never purchasing them because they were too expensive. Those are the best finds!

All of these thoughts are 100% my own and I will be sharing my “selling” experience with you guys next. I sent a bag full of clothes to them yesterday, so once those are received and I see how it goes I will let you know. I am a little concerned because of other reviews I have read about their consignments not being realistic and them not giving people any money for good items, but we’ll see. I will let you all know!

I have a code below for you to use to get $10 off your first purchase!! So go take a look at the site, fill up that cart and save some money!

Click here for your special thredUP offer!

Book Review: The Reliable Wife

I’ve been in a reading funk lately. Nothing could feed my reading appetite for some reason and I was picking up any book that looked merely interesting. Unfortunately, that kept failing. As I was out one day I stopped by a used book store and this particular book jumped out at me. I remember a lot of coworkers reading this book in their book club last year and I had completely forgotten about it!

Enter the book that filled my appetite and was a huge success: The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.

I felt like I was reading a classic Gothic novel that had entered the 20th century (it takes place in the early 1900s). This story has a bit of everything in it, which was exactly what I needed. Like I said, I felt like I was reading a classic, yet it had a lot of “junk-food” moments throughout it as well: sexual tension, mystery, love stories, and more.

Here is the official synopsis: Rural Wisconsin, 1909. In the bitter cold, Ralph Truitt, a successful businessman, stands alone on a train platform waiting for the woman who answered his newspaper advertisement for “a reliable wife.” But when Catherine Land steps off the train from Chicago, she’s not the “simple, honest woman” that Ralph is expecting. She is both complex and devious, haunted by a terrible past and motivated by greed. Her plan is simple: she will win this man’s devotion, and then, ever so slowly, she will poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on, though, is that Truitt — a passionate man with his own dark secrets — has plans of his own for his new wife. Isolated on a remote estate and imprisoned by relentless snow, the story of Ralph and Catherine unfolds in unimaginable ways.

It almost was like reading Gone Girl meets Gone With the Wind …… who would have thought such a mix could exist! I definitely recommend this book, plus the hubs thought it was pretty funny and was a bit scared that I was reading a manual on how to be a reliable wife.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Now I need to go find my next book to keep this reading happiness going. Any suggestions??

Essie Silk Watercolors 2015

There is a new nail trend in town folks. Let me introduce to you Essie’s new Watercolor nail polishes!

 It seems as if the major nail color companies are banking on this new trend being the next big thing in nail art. Although there is not much information as to exactly how these nail polishes work, it seems that you can layer the colors of your choice together to create fancy, watercolor-type nail designs that will blend together easily and not become crazy goopy.

OPI has a similar line from the past called Sheer Tints (remember those?) that seem similar to this Essie idea, but the Essie polishes have a lot more color options and seem to have a much better color pay-off.

OPI did just announce their Watercolor equivalent line which is called “Color Paints”. They seem like they will be the same type of product, so I guess at this point it comes to which line you personally favor although it does seem like Essie’s launch has a lot more color offerings!

My take? I’m always excited about new launches and love to try out new products, so I will definitely give these a try. My only concern at the moment though is that this is going to get expensive …..

If you want to have fun and layer multiple colors then you are going to have to buy all of those colors, too. I would at least want three to play around with so that would get expensive fast. I guess the upside is that you could have a lot of looks to play with, even if you just have the three … or four….

It’s Official: Spring is Here!

Spring has sprung up here in Marin County, and it is gorgeous. While walking through the local shopping centers I can’t help but notice the fruity-pebble smells coming off of the fresh flower vines and trees. I’ve never seen so many CA bright-orange poppies before and they are stunning when they are covering the hillsides.

Window baskets full of red tulips in Downtown San Anselmo

Downtown San Anselmo Library

Bodega Bay Adventure

I have been trying to prepare out humble abode for Spring and trying to find some cute things as well. Plus, Spring time makeup? LOVE IT.

How cute is this paper garland from Target??

Really enjoying this new read. Perfect $6 buy at a used book store

A score at Marshalls. $9 American Eagle sandals, $12 pair of Lucky Brand sunglasses, and $19 for this Dr. Brandt neck moisturizing cream.

I hope everyone can now enjoy that Winter is over and that Summer is that much closer. I guess that also means that more gym time is needed…… crap.

Hiatus .. Eek!

I’m so, so sorry for my year long hiatus. Life became quite busy and the urge to blog just died. Moving from Southern CA to Northern CA was quite the move and it just took all my blogging time away.

But, I am back! Tons of new posts coming soon.

As for now, I am on day 2 of 30 Days of Yoga ! So far so good. I have never been able to stick with anything for 30 days so besides all the benefits of yoga (which I have always loved but barely ever got to do) I am trying to do this for myself.

So I am back and am looking forward to chatting with you all soon! So many new makeup items to talk about 🙂

Essie Spring 2015

Two brands that should have been together long long ago: meet Essie and Rebecca Minkoff.

With Rebecca Minkoff’s love of bold and bright colors and Essie’s amazing nail polishes comes the newest launch that all nail polish junkies (ahem, me) will be grabbing asap.

Here are some close-ups of the colors:

I am absolutely DYING to try Blossom Dandy (hello Essie Turquoise and Caicos fans) Flowerista and Garden Variety to get me into the Spring spirit.  Hopefully I’ll have some swatches to show you soon!

Holiday Finds

So during my blogging hiatus during the holidays, I had so many fun finds that I don’t even know where to start in order to catch-up with it all. So since I am lazy, I am just going to post a bunch of my photos from the holidays so you can see all those little things that make me giddy 🙂

 

My first obsession: HOLIDAY CHAPSTICKS! I can’t even begin to tell you the hunt that I went on in order to find these limited edition Chapsticks.

Obsessed. I also found last year’s limited editions (Red Velvet Cake and Cake Batter) at a Walmart grocery store during my search for these, so now I have enough chapsticks to last the whole year. Oops 🙂

Second Obsession: Rihanna for Mac in Riri-Woo

So, I have to admit, I think I was so fixated on getting this because of a) the hype surrounding it and b) the fact that it was SO hard to get. I just happened to check the MAC website one evening when they got a brand new shipment in, and I somehow scored a tube before it sold out again. And honestly, I haven’t even had a chance to wear it yet. But I have to admit I feel pretty special that I can say I own a tube now 😉 (makeup addict problems 101 class now beginning….)

Third Find:

Literary Band-Aids! An English teacher’s DREAM.

Fourth:

My Alive + Olivia for Starbucks mug. I had seen these online and was positive I wouldn’t see one in a store: I knew these would sell out in a hot second! So one night I went to the movies with the hubby and went to go grab my Americano from the local ‘bux, and I saw one of these beauties hiding behind a bunch of other holiday mugs. Score!

Did you guys find any special items during the Holidays that just made you all giddy and excited? I love seeing what other people find!

Twenty-Fourteen

2014. Two-Thousand and Fourteen. Any which way you say it, it just sounds bizarre. Yet, I am truly, TRULY excited about this year. I have a lot of personal goals that I have set for myself and I am looking forward to all of the possibilities this year might bring. I wouldn’t call these goals resolutions because that word just comes with too much hype and pressure, these are just more personal changes that I want to make in my life; ways to push myself.

I love this above quote. I like to think of the word training as referring to training the body, mind, and soul. I want to train myself to recognize when I do the wrong things, when I fall back into bad habits; I want to train myself physically and finally be able to get into a swimsuit and not be 100% embarrassed. (Side note: I am never going to be a skinny, twiggy thing … and I never want to be. I love my curves and am proud of them. But there is a huge difference between being unhappy with your body and being unhealthy. I’m currently in the unhealthy stage and I need to reverse that REAL QUICK. Where did all this fat come from?!?!)

On another note,  I just turned thirty this year. Freaking 30 years old. Seriously, how did that happen? Wasn’t I JUST 24 last week and studying for college classes? I am excited for my thirties, since they are the “new 20s” and all, but it still is just too strange. So … with the brand new year, and this brand new stage in my life, I am hoping for a wonderful year full of changes and happiness.

I hope everyone else is having a great start to the new year as well!

 

My mom, myself and brother during Christmas 🙂

 

October Birchbox

Happy late October everyone!

So I actually received my October Birchbox about a week ago, but I wanted to use these products as much as possible and give you a good and true review of them. There was an item that I received this month that I was ecstatic about! So hopefully you guys enjoy my review 🙂

Pssst….. still don’t know what Birchbox is? Click here to read my first post about it.

Also, here is my code to use to sign up for some Birchbox happiness for yourself.

First Item:  Miss Jessie’s Creme De La Creme Conditioner

Verdict: So I had to find the time to actually use this stuff because you are supposed to let it sit in your hair for 30 minutes after you shampoo your hair. So I shampooed, combed the conditioner through my hair, put a shower cap on so it wouldn’t drip everywhere, and watched 30 minutes of Law & Order. Oh how I love Law & Order, but that is another story.

After I washed the conditioner out, I could definitely feel a difference! It says that it is for curly hair, and my natural hair is on the curly side, but I normally use a straight iron on my hair so my clean hair lasts a few days longer. This deep conditioner was wonderful and definitely kept my frizzies away. I *almost* didn’t have to use my flat iron to make my hair sleek and straight, it was that nice. Also, I only used about half of this sample size, so I get to use it more than once. Bonus!

Second Item: Chap Stick Hydration Lock in Vanilla Creme

Verdict: Chapstick is already my most favorite lip balm, so I knew I would be using this down to the last bit. It honestly doesn’t seem like too much of a difference than a regular Chapstick, but I don’t really suffer from dry lips so I guess it didn’t have much to heal and take care of. It feels amazing though and the vanilla creme scent is super yummy! I will definitely be buying this when I run out.

Third Item:  POP Beauty Aqua Lacquer in Floating Rose

Verdict: So I am not a huge fan of lipglosses. There are a few that I love, but I am pretty picky about them.  This lip gloss was supposed to be pretty cool because of it’s applicator (it’s a slanted plastic tip) that allows you to apply the gloss more precisely, but it didn’t wow me. The texture of the gloss is pretty sticky, but the color is nice. I probably will just hand this one over to a friend.

Fourth Item:  *Drum Roll please*

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

Verdict: Oh … happy happy dance. THIS STUFF IS SO GOOD. So, as I have gotten older (I’m counting down the days until my 30th, crap) I have been trying to take better care of my skin. This product is known as “the Liz Earle regimen that has taken Europe by storm” and has crossed the pond over to the US.  Also, it has won over 90 beauty awards. Obviously it is doing something right.

So what is it? Basically, it is a phenomenal face wash that also comes with a muslin cloth that are to be used together. You start with a dry face and just rub the cream around your face in circular motions (it is even safe to use on your eyes and lashes), get the muslin cloth wet with hot water, and then slowly wipe the cleanser off your face with the warm cloth.  While taking off all of your makeup (yes, even waterproof makeup isn’t a match for this) the cloth is also removing the dead skin cells from your face.

I remember when I first used my Clarisonic Mia to clean my face, and I thought that I had never felt anything better and my skin had never felt cleaner. Well, for about 1/5 of the price I found something that I like ever better.

Yes … I’m serious. There is a kit here through Birchbox that you can purchase and it is only $24.95 for the cleanser and two clothes. The clothes will last you a long time also, you don’t just use it once and then toss it.  I seriously feel like every night when I am cleaning my face with this stuff that I am at a spa. It contains Eucalyptus Oil, beeswax, hops, rosemary, and chamomile (just to name a few) in it, which I love.

Fifth Product: folle de jolie eau de parfum

Verdict: This is a fragrance that I had never heard of before, but I loved the name and packaging of it.  It is described as “A captivating scent with a modern blend of mandarin, rose, and sandalwood.” It seems HEAVENLY. I have a very few amount of scents that I adore, and this one has quickly been added to that list. It is light and not overwhelming, and for some reason when I smell it throughout the day it makes me smile. (Has that ever happened to you??) A full size of this goes for $98.00, which is definitely out of my price range, so I am saving every little bit of this sample that I can.

So all in all, this month’s box was wonderful. I think I am going to make my very first purchase from the Birchbox store and grab more of the Liz Earle cleanser once mine runs out.

My Fall Hair

So after all of the fun of looking at Pinterest and hair photos for inspiration, I went in to my wonderful hair stylist Anabelle at Salon Sessions and told her that I wanted to warm my color up somehow. I showed her my inspirational photos, and I knew I wanted some type of highlight/balayage/something done to my hair.

You know, something fancy.

So I basically let her do her thing and am SO happy with my results. She painted on several different colors to combine a coppery red/light brown/caramel result, and I love it!. Here are some of the pictures that I took right afterwards.

(the obligatory foil in the hair photo)

This photo shows more of the coppery red highlights that pop up in the sunlight

Here it is inside my home, where you can see more of the caramel colors. I’m so happy with it, and it looks good whether I curl it or straighten it.