Month: November 2018

Thanksgiving Prep

Thanksgiving is 12 days away as of this writing. If you’re responsible for hosting the big meal this year or are simply contributing to the feast with a dish or two, I have some helpful tips and recipes for you.

Recipes available for FREE on the blog:

Sweet Potato Casserole

No marshmallows here. Just all that sweet potato goodness amped up with fresh orange juice and a slightly sweet pecan topping

Fresh Cranberry Sauce

Who knew this often forgotten side dish could add such zest to the meal? This recipe is full of crunch from apples and pecans for an unexpected twist.

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Just like pumpkin pie, but in a serves-a-crowd size

The Best Paleo Apple Pie

It really is the best (even though this old picture is not the best – I will update this after I make this year’s pie!). People say they can’t believe this is not full of gluten and tons of sugar. When you take away some of that tasteless stuff, you can actually enjoy the flavor of the apples!

Green Beans with Bacon and Shallots

Instead of that canned soup casserole that graces so many tables, take a fresher approach. These beans have an amazing flavor! The only bad news is that you will not have any leftovers.

Honestly, Really Delicious Mashed Cauliflower Potatoes

Seriously, they are that good. For all of you following a low carb diet, here’s your chance to eat mashed potatoes again.

Paleo Pumpkin Pecan Cookie Bars

Can’t decide between pecan pie or pumpkin pie? Combine the two for the best of both worlds.

Paleo “Corn” Bread

And for the bread course: “corn” bread. This is truly a paleo recipe, meaning no grains were harmed in the preparation of this dish. But somehow, through the magic of baking, the end result is very much like cornbread, only better.

More Recipe Options

In addition to all those recipes listed above, a couple years ago I put together an e-book full of holiday recipes. It’s just $9.99ย and you can download that right now. Just click this link. The sweet potato casserole and cranberry sauce recipes are there, but in addition, you’ll find the following Thanksgiving recipes that are only found in the book:

  • Perfect Roast Turkey
  • Gluten Free Dressing/Stuffing
  • Gravy
  • Paleo Pie Crust
  • Pumpkin Pie
  • Chocolate Pecan Pie (so unbelievably good!!!)

I have Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Super Bowl Sunday and more covered in this book as well!

Tips
  • It’s always a good idea to have a fresh green salad available. But since it’s Thanksgiving, try to spruce it up a bit or do something special or unexpected. Try adding some pomegranate perils to the top or make your standard vinaigrette with a special ingredient such as champagne vinegar.
  • So much of the big holiday meal can be made ahead of time.
    • Sweet potato casserole can be prepared entirely the day before and just baked on Thanksgiving.
    • Cranberry salad actually gets better a day or two after it’s made.
    • Peel those potatoes and prep all your veggies a day ahead. For potatoes, just keep them submerged in water.
  • Turkey tips: don’t forget to retrieve the giblets from the cavity. They are usually in a bag of some sort stuck down in there. You definitely don’t want to bake that! Stick them in the fridge or freezer so you can add them to the carcass for making broth.ย 
  • If you have purchased a frozen turkey, it will take several days to thaw. Don’t assume you can pick up a frozen bird the day before Thanksgiving. You cannot. I repeat, you cannot. It will still be frozen and then your family will talk about your undercooked turkey for the rest of your life. ๐Ÿ™‚
  • Last year, I put together a little video on prepping your turkey. You can find that here.
Do you have questions? Something specific I haven’t covered here? Please reach out. I’m available to help!

The bottom line is that the holidays are meant to be an enjoyable time with family and friends. Ultimately, the food will come and go so try to enjoy the process. After all, Christmas cookie season will be here soon and any Thanksgiving stress you’re feeling will be behind you. ๐Ÿช

Four Clothing Subscription Boxes – Which is Best?

This post is for those of you who don’t like shopping, or those of you who prefer online shopping or for those who like receiving packages in the mail. Wait – I think that covers just about everybody!

People ask me all the time how I juggle all my different tasks. Honestly, I’m just like everyone else in this regard. I prioritize certain things and other things get pushed aside. Some of us pay to have someone do something for us that we don’t have time to do. I wish I could pay someone to clean my house. I have thought about and talked about it for years, but ultimately, I enjoy cleaning and decide to put my money elsewhere. I sort of wish I could pay someone to do my yard work, but again, I like to do that myself – except pulling weeds! You all know I do all the cooking. So where do I actually farm out some of my work? My kids are old enough to take on some of the household chores, so that is a big help. Even though they are still learning to clean to my standards, some vacuuming is better than no vacuuming! So I’m happy to take the help!

What I really don’t have the time or patience for is shopping. I never shop because I want to. I only shop when I (or someone else in the family) need something – either my jeans have worn holes through the knees (which I realize is actually a trend now) or if I need something for a particular event. Honestly, most of my in person shopping is for my kids right now because no matter how hard I try to stop it, they keep on growing!

At the present moment, I am in need of a few professional items for when I meet people for health coaching or a Beautycounter event. I haven’t worked in an office for over 14 years so even though I kept a few workwear pieces in my closet from those days, they are all woefully out of style.

So I decided I would try out four different personal shopping services and see how they stacked up. I’ve been receiving Stitch Fix for a couple years and have been moderately happy with them. However, my fixes lately have felt less and less personalized to me so I thought it was time to give some other options a try. Enter TrendSend, Wantable and Trunk Club. My goal for each service was the same: receive a piece of two of clothing that I could add to my wardrobe that would contribute to my super hip mom style (hee hee) or work for a business setting, all the while, keeping this process as hassle-free and enjoyable as possible.

In lieu of pictures of each item I received, I made a YouTube video of each unboxing. Who knew this was even a thing! But as I posted my videos, I started receiving prompts to watch other clothing subscription unboxing videos. It is a crazy world when people are opening their mail on video for other people to watch!

Here is a quick overview of each service, plus my thoughts on each:

Stitch Fix

I have already outlined Stitch Fix in detail, so I’ll simply refer you back to my original article about them. You can find that here.ย 

Earlier this year, I was offered a “style pass,” which basically means I pay a flat fee ($49) and can receive as many fixes as I’d like throughout the year without paying any additional styling fees (usually $20 per shipment). As with the regular styling fee, the $49 is basically credit on your account. As soon as you find something you’d like to keep, you can draw on that credit.

Since I started with the style pass, my fixes have gone down hill. I don’t know if there is a true correlation, but I’ve heard the same thing from many others. Just when I’m about to give up, Stitch Fix will send something amazing my way and since I’m no longer paying any fee, I continue to receive shipments.

My latest Stitch Fix included a jacket, a cardigan, a button-down plaid shirt, a pair of bootcut jeans and a sleeveless top that would work for me as a business piece.

Total price if I kept all five items was $250. I kept the plaid top only for $65. That is way higher than I would normally pay for a shirt like that, but I really loved it and thought I would get a lot of wear out of it, so decided it was worth the price.

(These pictures were all taken in my future office, aka the attic. I was up there trying to figure out lighting. Since I will be doing the bulk of my health coaching via video conference, this is a really crucial element of the design of the space.)

Wantable

Wantable works a lot like Stitch Fix. You fill out a profile and they send you seven items that match your style. Also like Stitch Fix, Wantable has some house brands, which are usually a little lower priced. I received several emails from my stylist during this process, which made it feel very personal and I liked that a lot. If you purchase at least five items, you receive a 20% discount. Shipping both ways is free and there is a $20 styling fee.

I received a pair of skinny jeans, a top that could go casual or dressier, a cardigan, a dolman sweater, a plaid button-down and a business type button-down. My invoice showed a distressed pair of jeans and another top, which I did not receive. Because of this mix-up, I was offered the 20% discount on four items. I ended up taking advantage of that offer.

I loved the dolman sweater, the cardigan, the casual/business top and the ankle length jeans. Originally, I was not planning to keep the jeans because I have a pair that is so similar, but the math worked out to my advantage if I purchased four items and I really did like the jeans – I just didn’t need them. Turns out, I’ve already worn them several times.

I love that I can wear this top untucked!
Side view. Just a basic top, but all the details were perfect for me.
This long cardigan would work with leggings in a casual outfit as well.
Those ankle jeans – this is my mom uniform!
The dolman sweater pulled down as a tunic. I would not wear it this way with those pants. ๐Ÿ™‚
And “bloused” up.

Trend Send

Trend Send is the styling service associated with Evereve stores. We don’t have an Evereve in my area of North Carolina, so really the only way for me to shop them is online. I decided that instead of just regular online shopping, I would use their personal shopping service – TrendSend. As you’ll hear me say in the video, I first heard of Trend Send through Jen Hatmaker and I think she has such great style, so this service has been on my list for a while.

Since I received my box, Trend Send is now stating that they will send two or three complete outfits, whereas they used to always send three. Either way, I’m fine with that; I like receiving complete outfits – it doesn’t really matter how many.

Trend Send differs from most other styling services in that there is no styling fee. You will be assigned a stylist who shops in the Evereve stores, picks items for you, writes you a nice little letter explaining everything and ships you the clothes.

There is no discount for buying a certain number of items. Buy what you want. Send back what you don’t. Shipping is free both ways. If an item is on sale in the store, you will receive the sale price, but you may have to do that research yourself and ask for the lower price.

I did, indeed, receive three full outfits from Trend Send.

  1. camo pants, white tank, denim jacket
  2. dark wash skinny jeans, another white tank, grey cardigan and long necklace
  3. work appropriate blouse and blazer (goes with the dark denim)
  4. additionally, I received a fun graphic print muscle tee

I really loved everything in this shipment. I felt that the clothes were of very high quality and I could see myself wearing everything – except maybe the muscle tee. It said, “We are all one,” and I really don’t agree with that sentiment. We are all unique. Anyway, this tee was $58 so…no.

The prices in my Tend Send were on par with other clothing subscriptions, but I feel like they were more worth the price. However, at the higher price point, I could not keep everything.

I ended up keeping:

the camo pants, the swingy white tank, the denim jacket

the super snuggly cardigan, dark wash jeans and the necklace

I hemmed and hawed a good bit over the blouse and blazer because I really needed them for an upcoming event, but in the end, decided the look was too casual for what I needed and I didn’t think I’d get enough wear out of either piece to justify the price.

Trunk Club

Trunk Club is a Nordstom service. There is a $25 styling fee, which is waived if you are a Nordstrom card holder (which I am not). Like all the other services, you fill out an extensive style profile and note what you are looking for and what you would like the stylist to avoid sending.

Unlike the other services, you have a lot of opportunity to communicate with your stylist. You even receive an email with a link to what is in your trunk prior to shipment. You have the opportunity to accept or reject any item. I rejected two items in my trunk. I was hoping my stylist would replace those with two surprises, but she did not.

I was able to tell her that I needed new brown booties so she sent me two options, neither of which ended up working. This service is the most like having a personal shopper, at least in my opinion. The prices are typical Nordstrom prices, meaning higher than other department stores, but the quality is generally very high.

Here’s what I received from Trunk Club:

blazer, skinny jeans, two pairs of booties, v-neck top, cropped dress pants, wool turtleneck, body-con dress (meaning inappropriate for 99% of my life ๐Ÿ˜Šย ), pointy toe flats, black skinny jeans

I ended up keeping only the black jeans. I even have another pair of black jeans, making these not 100% necessary, but that pair stretches out a ridiculous amount if I wear them all day. I was happy to receive a good alternate pair. They sent the Wit and Wisdom Ab-Solution Skinny Jeans which I’ve heard a lot about. Supposedly, they do not stretch out at all, so I’m looking forward to that!

Overall Impressions and Conclusions:

People keep asking me which service was my favorite and I’m having a really hard time answering that question. All four services have merit. For now, as long as my style pass is in effect, I will continue to use Stitch Fix. When that expires, I plan to switch to one of the other services.

When I am feeling a little more hip, Trend Send will be my go-to. I was really thrilled with what they sent and the quality was great.

Trunk Club has potential to work well for me, but I need my stylist to send me some of their more budget-conscious brands next time. I loved being able to ask for specific items. I’ve seen reviews of people who asked for new jeans and received a trunk full of nothing but jeans. This is a true personal shopping service for a great price.

Wantable and Stitch Fix are really tied in my opinion. I did like what Wantable sent me in this first shipment, but I didn’t feel like the quality was the best on all of the items. I think I will have to be choosy and if I don’t purchase five items, then I’m paying more than what I think the clothes are actually worth. I hope that makes sense. I’m willing to pay more than I would if I am doing the shopping, but I still want quality. Because of this, Trunk Club and Trend Send may end up being my go-to services over either Stitch Fix or Wantable.

However, if you are in a position of needing quite a few items to refresh your wardrobe or maybe because your size has changed, then Stitch Fix or Wantable may be a good choice due to the discount for multiple items.

Bottom line: I will continue to use these personal shopping services rather than schlepping my own body to the mall. I simply don’t have time for that, I don’t enjoy it at all and I always come away frustrated. Even if I receive a shipment of nothing worthy of purchase, using a styling service is still an enjoyable process for me.

If you’re interested in giving one (or all!) of these services a try, I’d appreciate it if you would use my referral links below. This comes at no additional cost to you, but provides me with a little income that I can use to keep bringing you fun and helpful content.

My Wantable Link

My Stitch Fix Referral Link

My Trunk Club Referral Link

My Trend Send Referral Link

Please let me know how you liked this post. Personally, I love reading this sort of thing from other bloggers, but I’m here to serve you! Happy shopping!