my new fav: part 2

Aaaaaaand here she is! The piece that I knew I would keep the moment I turned my little tissue paper sandwich sideways and caught a glimpse of her beauty. The piece that was dead-spot-on “Me” to a T. The piece that will be dressed up and worn out probably before summer is even over with.

5. An off-white/cream crocheted tank. Perfect for year-round wearing. Perfect for my skin/hair tones. Perfect for my budget. I had a $25 credit, so I only payed $30 for this tank. Worth. It. Perfect cotton fabric that is oh-so-soft to the touch and just lightweight enough that it will be super comfy in hot weather but not see-through. I’m just a sucker for all things winter white/off-white/cream. I love the look of white jeans, white blazers, and white linen pants. (I’ll be wearing robes of white one day, so I guess I’m just really excited about that already!!!) I like this tank so much that I’ve worn it twice this weekend already! I wore it the day I got it, and then I wore it today to church. Here is what I paired with it today:

From head to toe: coral earrings from Charlotte Russe, light grey scarf from Wal-mart (pretty sure I used it as a table cloth at my wedding), coral skinny skimmers from Target, and nude snake skin flats from Old Navy which are barely visible. When I wore the tank Friday night, I was wearing the earrings and scarf with a grey shawl collared cardigan, army green straight leg pants from Target, and grey crocheted Toms. My Style Suggestion card that came with the tank showed black skinny jeans or a blue chevron maxi skirt which are both ways that I look forward to wearing it as well!

Shout out to the hubs for taking my picture for me. Excuse the slightly disheveled look. We had just unloaded the three littles from the van and were wrestling them down for lunch and nap time. 

So, there ya have it. The results of my first fix. I hope you were inspired to maybe rethink the way you shop and hopefully save yourself (or your family) some extra dollars! This is one really cool way for me to honor my husband and give God the glory. So maybe it’s time for your First Fix or to find some accessories with a greater purpose!

***EDIT: What you don’t want to keep, you send back in a big ole plastic bag at no cost to you that looks like this:

Shout out to Eisley for being a great model!

my new fav

Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Lend me your ears, er, eyes!

About a month or so ago, I came across a nifty little company called Stitch Fix. If you’ve ever heard of Birchbox, it is very similar. It’s like a Birchbox for clothes. Now, if you’ve never heard of Birchbox, no worries. This post is all about explaining my super fun suprising exciting Christmas-in-April experience. (My friend Candice also blogged about her Stitch Fix experience if you would enjoy reading another point of view.)

Here’s how it works. You go to the sweet little website and create a style profile, filling out info such as your height, weight, occupational status, general tastes in style, likes and dislikes in various fits and styles, price range, and a little bit on the wardrobe you already have. Creating this profile places you on a waiting list to be assigned a personal stylist who will then pick out 5 items based on all your criteria that will be shipped to you when you get to schedule your first ‘fix’. Ok, I could ramble on and on about how it all works, but I’ll let you go explore and discover the rest on your own. I really want to just show you my first fix!!! Let’s go.

When I received this first little email, I seriously got so giddy like a little kid at Christmas. I felt like someone was sending me an awesomely thoughtful birthday present a whole month before my birthday because they just loved me THAT much! 

Then yesterday, a day EARLY, my present came packaged in this neat cute box.

Please understand that it was extremely hard to be patient enough to stop and take pictures at every transition in opening. So, some things just kinda got skipped. 

When you open up the box, the wrapping is immaculate. All of your belongings are in a perfectly folded little tissue paper sandwich, and the above photo is a prime example of my hastiness. I tried to put it nicely back in the box, but I just jacked it up. Ha! So, I went ahead and unwrapped everything to find these items:

1. Super cute mint leather and gold medallion snap bracelet. Great colors. My sylist figured me out quick. However, I realized that I don’t want jewelry in my fixes, because I am a straight up cheap skate when it comes to jewelry. I would rather buy a lot of cute cheap things for $30 instead of one bracelet. So this little gem got sent back.

2. Ok, I’m a little frustrated with this picture because it is just not doing the color of the blouse justice, which happened to be my favorite detail. It looks faded, which was not the case at all. It was a really pretty ivy green color that I was shocked to find looked good with my hair/skin tone. I never buy anything this color but will definitely keep my eyes peeled from now on. What I did not enjoy about this tunic was the cut. It was just awkward. Too big, maybe? I felt like if they kept the width, it needed to be longer. But for the length it was, I preferred a more tailored fit. The giant tube sleeves and short wide cut made me feel like I was trying to pull off an odd kimono/tunic hybrid thing. I thought just maybe the detail of rolling and buttoning up the sleeve would help. Negatory. Still awkward. So this little ditty got sent back. I will give my stylist a thumbs up for going a bit outside the box for me on this one. Spot on with the color choice.

**COOL THING : With each piece comes an attached styling suggestion card. Genius!!! Sometimes you just get stuck, or really like a piece but have no clue how it would fit in your wardrobe. Bam. Problem solved. I would’ve never thought to tuck that big ole boxy thing in. Aaaaand another side note, that picture still isn’t the true color of that blouse. What up wit dat?!

3. Hey-o super cute maxi skirt! True colors. Little big on the fit. Great pick. So great in fact that I already own a skirt almost identical to this one. And it was a lot cheaper than $98. (Seriously? $98? Come onnnnnn. I’d buy a leather jacket for that. But an ole maxi? No way.) Got. Sent. Back.

4. Cute flouncy black and white sleeveless blouse with a great little pin tuck detail at the neckline. Loved the little geometric print. Great light weight material for summer, but definitely sturdy enough to be layered and pair with jackets and sweaters to wear year round. One of the most impressive things about this blouse was that it came with an attached camisole. And this camisole was unlike your typical attached cami that’s made of that funky material that is almost see-through itself and smells like horrible B.O. after you’ve worn it only once and didn’t even sweat. Ladies and gents, this camisole was a legit cotton blend cami. I loved the little mother of pearl buttons. And I even enjoyed the fact that the hem of the blouse was a reverse hi-lo. It was like a tunic in the front and a normal length blouse in the back. (This would be GREAT transitioning into your second trimester of pregnancy! haha) My hubs even said it looked like me. But despite the fact that there were so many things I really enjoyed about this piece, yes, you guessed it, it got sent back. And the main reason was the price. I just flat out couldn’t afford it. Because of…

5. My favorite piece that I’m waiting to blog about tomorrow that I KEPT!!!

Lessons learned: Price range is definitely a determining factor for me. Although great things don’t come cheap, I believe this way of shopping for me is worth every penny. I waste money and sanity driving around from store to store trying to find that ‘perfect’ item only to buy a few different items that I really don’t love. After being a little bit lot more specific in my style profile by adjusting my price range to the cheapest side of things (of which I am unashamed. The name of this game is saving money and sanity for me!!!) and asking to refrain from jewelry, I fully anticipate keeping all five items in my ‘fix’ one day. I trust my stylist’s ability and her knowledge of me THAT much. There are so many women in my life who I believe would enjoy and greatly benefit from shopping with Stitch Fix. So follow this link and see for yourself: Get my first Fix

And don’t forget to check back on the blog tomorrow for the big reveal of my favorite piece that I kept!

guest writer: katy

Who knew that stress was so stressful???

I mean, really. It had me at the doctor's office twice last week with stomach issues, and we all know Ain’t NOBODY got time fuh DAT! And you know how it got me there? It had me forgetting that 'I don't do it.' You say,”Whaaaat?! Camie, you are crazy.” Well, I already know that. But on the heels of some of the most trying days of my life, stress had me forgetting some integral truth that I'd been rehearsing for almost the past two years of my life. And when I read the blog post that I’m sharing with you today, it was absolutely a balm to my weary soul (after being a glass of cold water in the face), a resounding victory cry, and a call to remain faithful in pressing in.

Let me fill you in on my sistafriend, Katy. God brought our lives together through some fun circumstances with our husbands; and after finding out we were both from the south, had a handful of mutual friends and a mutual love for some good tex-mex, we knew were destined to be together. (chuckle chuckle) Katy has been my friend that, even though physical distance has always separated us, God has seen fit to continuously knit our hearts together through sharing the truth of His word with one another during our (sometimes insanely) similar life circumstances. The latest and craziest has been both of us finding out that we were pregnant (both unanticipated) putting us in the situation of having three kids under the age of three. We’ve laughed, and cried, and been angry, and been honest with each other in every season of life we’ve been through together, and I truly can’t thank the Lord enough for her. She has such a fun gift for writing and I LOVE that I get to share that with you. And while you’re at her blog, take a look around. I have no doubt she will bless your socks off.

Katy Tullos: I Don’t Know How You Do It