Blog Experiment

So I decided I would try to write at least a little something each day here on my blog. I'm starting out now not knowing at all what I will write about, so who knows where it will take me. I'm very tired today so that may not help matters. I feel like I just don't have time to do things lately. I know that's a problem a lot of women face -- especially when you're working a full-time job. I've gotten more used to it, but sometimes I miss being able to schedule a day off in the middle of a week for no reason at all. My company only offers 10 vacation days a year....and that number doesn't go up until you're here 3 years. I know I should be grateful I get any vacation at all, but it's not easy to manage. I do have some sick time, but I try to save that in case of emergencies or snow in the winter (since my company never ever closes in the snow and doesn't allow me to work from home). We took a nice long summer vacation in June, and we are going to visit family out west in November, so after that I'm down to 0 days.

The main thing I feel like I'm missing is my daily exercise. When I wasn't working I did 3 workouts every weekday -- 30 minutes each. When I started working full time, I dropped down to 1 30 minute workout every weekday. Since our wedding, I have gotten in maybe 2-3 per week, and now that we have the puppy, I haven't done any at all. I know I would feel better if I did it again; however I can't seem to find the time. In the morning, I'm taking the dog out, feeding her, and getting myself ready for work. Then I go home at lunch to walk and play with her. Then, when I get home, I let her out again, get the mail, and cook dinner. By the time my husband gets home and dinner is done, I'm exhausted. We barely have time to watch a TV show since after dinner we mainly play with the puppy and have to let her out often. Of course I could get up earlier but I already get up at 6:30 -- whenever the dog wakes up at 5:30, I can't see actually waking up at that time. So, hopefully I will figure out a way to squeeze exercise back into my daily routine. I think once the puppy is a little older that will help since we won't have to keep an eye on her every minute she is out of her crate. We'll see! I hope everyone out in the world is having a great day!

I'm back!

It's been a while! Over a year! Time has been going so fast lately it's incredible how quickly a year can just go by in a flash! Since I posted last August, we went on our honeymoon to France, bought a house, and adopted a super-cute puppy! Between working full-time and all of that, we've had some hectic times!

Here is a photo of Moxie, our adorable 11-week old Puppy. She is a Cavachon (part Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and part Bichon Frise).

Since moving into our house, it's been so nice having space for everything we have accumulated in tiny apartments for the past 3+ years! And I've come to appreciate just how much work it is keeping a whole house clean and nice-looking. I try to avoid clutter as much as possible...which is now even harder with a puppy running around bringing in leaves and sticks from outside!! One thing I have enjoyed doing is making my own cleaning solutions! I've been on pinterest a lot looking up natural ways to clean just about everything in the house. Combine that with my new found obsession with essential oils has actually made keeping the house clean a fun chore! I love experimenting with the different smells and finding out how beneficial all the oils can actually be! I feel good knowing I'm not filling our new house with chemicals and unhealthy junk in the process as well! I'm hoping to blog more about the cleaning products I have made, but I'll share my favorite one that I use all the time. It is just 1 cup of distilled water, 1/2 cupof vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of Dr. Bonner's liquid castille soap (I used the unscented one) and about 5-10 drops of either lemon or orange essential oil. I learned to make sure to mix these in glass bottles since oil can eat away at plastic containers. I use this cleaner mainly in the kitchen, but it's great to clean pretty much any surface. It is a little streaky on glass, but I have another concoction for that that I'll share soon!

I've also been using oils for random other things as well, such as on bug bites and simply to relax. My favorite oil by far is the peppermint oil because it smells absolutely fantastic. As far as brands of oil, I have really been switching between 2 brands - DoTerra and Native American Nutritionals, after doing a lot of research on top quality oils. I'll explain more on why I chose them later as well.

I've still been cooking and baking, though not as much as I used to with working full time and having a puppy to take care of. I'm hoping to get back into that more soon so that I can share some of the recipes I have made. I haven't done another Stitch Fix for a while -- that is mainly for monetary reasons. After moving in to the new house, we've been putting our resources into that -- a new sofa, decorations, a repair to our basement, etc. That has really eaten up a lot of money, but it's well worth it. I hope everyone out there on the Internet has been doing well over the past year!

Stitch Fix #3

I must say, I am really enjoying Stitch Fix -- so much so that I finally decided to go for it and sign up for monthly Fixes. It's been so much fun getting boxes of random clothes every month and even more fun when I try it on and actually like the things that were selected for me! It makes it so much easier to get ready for work each morning knowing that I have things in my closet that I actually want to wear! It may get to be expensive, but if I start doing it monthly and shop just for the basics myself, I may end up saving money in the long run.

This month, I received some really fun pieces that I can wear both to work and on my honeymoon next month! Here is what I got:

The Adrina Short-Sleeve Button-Up Blouse:

This came with a white camisole that I tried on with it. The camisole was short though and didn't look good because it cut my torso in an awkward place. Instead, I paired it with my own longer camisole and it worked perfectly! I'm so glad it works with my cami because the shirt is great! It's simple and pairs well with pretty much anything! Actually, I paired it with my Square Stone Collar Necklace that came with my 2nd Fix!

The Kaci Multi Abstract Print Swing Skirt:

This may be my favorite full outfit that I have put together from a Stitch Fix item. The skirt is so much fun to wear and I had fun trying it on with different tops. Here I paired it with a blouse from Nordstrom and a belt and black Nine West pumps from DSW.

The Landers Lattice Crochet Detail Tank:

I wasn't sure about this one just because I don't wear Navy that often, but when I paired it with these beige pants from Norstrom, and new brown Mary Janes, I knew I had to keep it. The lighting on this picture is bad, but I really like the crochet detail at the top, and it's so comfy too!

Downing Striped Knit Shirt:

This is the kind of shirt I will throw on when I don't know what to wear. I can wear it on Casual Fridays at work. I'm not crazy about this picture of me and I decided to opt out of wearing it with that necklace, but the shirt itself is great. It's comfortable and works well with jeans.

Ileen Abstract Floral Print Dress:

Ileen Abstract Floral Print Dress by hanger731x featuring a vintage necklace

I didn't take a picture of myself in this one yet, but this is the one I'm most excited about wearing on vacation. The back is surprisingly open, which I wasn't sure about, but luckily it covers my bra and it's something different! At $58, this was a bargain! It's totally something I would wear but I don't know if I would have picked it out to try on in a store. So excited to wear this!

And there you have it -- Stitch Fix #3! If you'd like to try it, please use my referral link here: http://stitchfix.com/sign_up?referrer_id=3590198. It's definitely a fun little surprise and I'm excited to start getting them more often!

The Latest StitchFix

A few weeks ago I received my latest Stitch Fix box in the mail! This was just my second one and I was really impressed with what I got. I actually kept all 5 items! I received a pair of cobalt blue skinny jeans, two work-appropriate blouses, a black and white dress that I can wear practically anywhere, and a bold, blue statement necklace that work s well with quite a few of the pieces. Here are some photos of the pieces I received:

Merch Blog (clipped to polyvore.com)

Francis Striped Fit & Flare Dress

Merch Blog (clipped to polyvore.com)

Filbert Abstract Chevron Print Blouse

Merch Blog (clipped to polyvore.com)

CColleen geo Print Tie-Neck Blouse

Merch Blog (clipped to polyvore.com)

Joshua Colored Ankle Jean

I can't seem to find a pic of the necklace, but I'll try to take one soon :) Overall, this was a great variety of items that I can wear at work, on weekends, and on vacation! I can't wait to see what I get in my next fix!

Married!!!

We are officially married!! Hooray! Our wedding was absolutely perfect. The weather was perfect, the food was incredible, and we're still eating wedding cake every night! It was so great having all of our out-of-town guests and hanging out at the hotel all weekend! We had a great time and it's so wonderful to be married to the love of my life! It's hard to believe it's all over already! But, now we have a honeymoon to plan for, so that's exciting!! We should be getting our wedding pictures in about 4-6 weeks, so hopefully I'll be able to upload some of them. For now, it's back to work and back to normal at least for a little while.

We've gotten a lot of awesome kitchen gadgets, which I'm excited to blog about. The first one I wanted to mention was one we used last weekend -- a pasta roller for our Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. I always loved fresh pasta, and now I can make it myself! It was so easy to do and didn't take long at all! The basic recipe was simply flour, water, eggs, and salt. I mixed it up in the kitchenaid and kneaded it for a little bit. The dough was a little dry, so I added a touch of water. I was afraid to add too much though andit remained pretty dry. After letting it sit for 20 minutes, it was time to roll it into sheets. I followed the directions on the pasta roller -- splitting the dough into 4 pieces and rolling each one. At first I thought it wasn't going to work, because the dough was breaking apart as it went through the roller. I just kept at it, and after about 4-5 times through, it started looking like pasta dough! It came out in long, thin sheets. Once that was done, the next part was really easy! I just attached the fettucini cutter to the kitchenaid and fed each sheet of dough through it. It cut a ton of perfect, fresh fettucini. We boiled it for about 3-4 minutes and added some sauce that we got from a farmer's market and piave cheese from Di Bruno Brothers. It turned out amazing and I can't wait to make more very soon!

More kitchen gadget reviews to come along with another Stitch Fix box at the end of the month!!

Everything New

I didn't realize how long it had been since my last blog. Things have changed a lot since then! We've moved and we've both got new jobs, and our wedding is getting so close -- just over a month away! All of the last minute details and planning are in full force now. I wanted to get back to writing reviews and other blog posts, which are always fun. I'm trying out a new service called Stitch Fix to try out some new clothes. We also got a ton of great kitchen gadgets from the bridal shower, so I can review those as well as recipes I make with them on here too! I wanted to write first about my very first Stitch Fix. Stitch Fix is a new concept where, for $20, you get a personal stylist who will pick out 5 items of clothing for you. They come in a box along with a note from the stylist and cards to show you what you can wear with each item. Each item has a price, and you can then try everything on and then decide what, if anything, you would like to buy and keep. The $20 you spent for the styling fee goes towards any purchases you make, and if you buy all 5 items, you also get 20% off. Whatever you don't want, you just mail back, in a pre-paid shipping bag that comes with the order. If you'd like to sign-up, click on this link to you my referral ID: http://stitchfix.com/sign_up?referrer_id=3590198. For my first fix, I only took a few pictures. Next time I will take more. I kept two items and sent three back. The first item I received was a beautiful blue and white button-down blouse with 3/4 sleeves. I really loved it and wanted to keep it, but it didn't fit quite right. It was tight in my arms and hips, and big up top. The next item I received was a cute summery dress. I seemed a little big for me and overpowering since I'm so short. I felt like it would look great on a taller person. The next thing I almost kept were a pair of pink skinny jeans. I never wear skinny jeans and I don't like them on me, but these were the best I've ever tried on. I was tempted to keep them, but they were $79 and I wasn't sure I'd ever feel comfortable in them since they are so tight.

Pink Skinny Jeans and Navy/White Striped Top

Above is a picture of the skinny jeans along with the fist thing I actually kept and bought - a navy blue and white striped top. It is really soft and comfy and I can wear it with jeans on casual fridays at work, which is great. My style card also shows it on tip of a dress with a bright yellow skirt. I actually have a very similar dress, so I may try that out.

Coral Chiffon Dress

The last item is also one I kept. It is pictured above. It is a coral chiffon dress. I really like that I can dress it down a little for work with a sweater or blazer and dress it up. I'm planning on wearing it to a wedding we're going to in a few weeks with sparkly gold shoes and gold jewelry.

Overall, I was really impressed with my first stitch fix. I just schedule a new one to come on June 30th, and I'm excited to see what I get next! I'm sure the more you do it the better it gets since your stylist stays with you and will get to know more about what you like and don't like each time.It's a lot of fun and I recommend it to anyone to try.

Thinking about blogging

I feel like I never have much to say on my blog, despite having random ideas of things I could post about throughout each day. It's been longer than I thought since my last blog! Since then, a lot of exciting stuff has happened -- mainly, I got engaged!!! Yay! We are so excited and are having a lot of fun planning our wedding, which will be next summer! :D We have a lot of our vendors set  and only need to figure out a few smaller things like invitations, ceremony music, and then all the smaller details like the exact menu and music, making table numbers and place cards and any other printed things, favors for the guests, hotel gift bags, the possibility of a chuppah and/or a ketubah, and making or getting some decorations and candles to place around the venue.

I keep trying to think of ways I can make money while I'm home. I have been trying a chocolate business from home, which is a lot of fun and people seem to love seeing pictures of the chocolates I make, but unfortunately, it's not exactly lucrative. I had a few orders, but factoring in the cost of supplies barely has me breaking even...if not at a loss. I've also been working on Amazon Mechanical Turks -- where you complete short tasks to earn amazon money. They're pretty good, but generally you get about $.01 to $1.00 for each task, so it's more for a slight amazon discount than anything else. It can be frustrating when the tasks don't work, but overall it's ok. I tried signing up for some random work from home things too -- most seem pretty scammy, but some may pan out. Who knows. I applied for one today where you transcribe audio into text. I had to pass a typing test and submit a resume, so I'll see where that goes. It seems slightly more legit. It will take a few days for them to get back to me, it says, so we will see. It's amazing to me and kind of sad and aggravating that in this day and age of computers, high speed internet, and video chat, that anyone needs an actual office anymore. I honestly don't get the point of having one for any company. I never really did. Unless it's a storefront for customers, it just seems like a complete waste of money.

Anyway that's my rant for the day, haha!

PS -- After a brief google search, I found that even a magazine that always takes the corporations side, a conservative, business-minded magazine agrees with me! Maybe I'm not hopeless corporation material yet! Maybe some day, some forward-thinking company will understand me and hire me for my brilliant ideas ;) Meanwhile, I'll just contemplate them to myself while all the companies continue to do things wrong and stupidly.

Seriously, check out this Forbes Article.