Good Buys: Stitch Fix

Last year, a friend turned me on to Stitch Fix. As someone who hates shopping of any form - from clothing to gifts to household necessities to food - this sounded like a god send to me. I can pay a stylist to pick out trendy clothes and send them to me and all I have to do is try them on and decide whether or not to keep them? Sign me up! Unfortunately, I had to wait until it was financially feasible for us, but once it was, I was on their website in a hot minute.

I know people who love Stitch Fix and I know people who tried it with poor results. I fall in the former category. I think two things are key to having a good experience: 1. Being very clear on your profile, and in the feedback that you give the stylist after you get your boxes, what you do/don't like and why and 2. Being open to trying new things. Also, I never expect to like/keep everything I get in each box.

One negative thing I will say is that I think it's a little expensive. But I recognize that I've never been the type to spend a lot on clothes. I get the majority of my clothing at places like Target, from their clearance rack. Part of doing Stitch Fix, for me, was learning to spend more money on clothing that's a little better quality. However, since I don't want to spend a lot, I opted to get a box every other month, rather than every month.

My first box came in October. I chose to keep a shirt (which I get compliments on all the time) and a dress (which I haven't worn yet due to the weather):

My second box came this week. I'm keeping the shirt below, which looks much cuter on that it does in the picture. I took a back view of it as well so you can get the full effect:

And I'm probably keeping this shirt, which my husband loved the second I put it on:

If you've got the disposable income, I definitely recommend you try Stitch Fix out at least once. I'm enjoying it immensely!

Good Buys: Stone Candle Bar

Almost as soon as we moved to Santa Monica, I noticed Stone Candle Bar. I'm one of those women who loves candles beyond all reason, so I found my way there pretty quickly. I wasn't disappointed. Not only is it independent and locally-owned, they actually make the candles right there on-site. When I visited last year, I bought three 3" x 3" pillars, plus a drip catcher. Those candles lasted me a year. I used up the last one about a month ago and finally got around to visiting the store again last week.

I happened to stumble upon their red tag sale. Anything with a red tag was 50-70% off. While I didn't find much in the red tag section that I wanted, the pillars that I typically buy were also on sale, $4 off each. Here are the candles I got:

Their scents are (l-r, back row): Kieffer Lime & Lychee; Green Tea & Fig; and Honeysuckle. The honeysuckle one in particular smells divine. The small one in the front is a coconut wax candle. Unsurprisingly, it smells like coconut. Its wick is made of wood, and I've found that it doesn't easily stay lit. However, since that candle was my one red tag purchase, I got it for only $2.50, so I'm not too upset if it doesn't work out.

Although I didn't need another one, I bought myself a new drip catcher. It too was $4 off:

For comparison, here's the one I bought last year:

My one quibble about this place is that I'm not clear on the parking situation. A sign out front says "parking in rear," but I don't get where it is behind the building (not that I've really tried all that hard to explore it).  There's a huge parking lot next to it that apparently belongs to the dental office next door, although it's pretty much empty every time I go past. When I went to Stone Candle Bar last year, I walked there and back. This time, I had my husband drop me off at the post office around the corner on his way to work, walked to the candle store from there, and then walked home. It's approximately 2 miles one way.

I made this purchase of 4 candles and one drip catcher for around $37, which I felt was entirely reasonable. Needless to say, I'll be going back again!

Good Buys: New Purse

This is a new series that I'm contemplating taking up. Honestly, I don't tend to buy a whole lot of goods. Most of my money goes to food, music (via iTunes), and cheap, mass-produced clothes/shoes. However, I bought this purse at Santa Monica Festival a couple of weeks ago. I love it so much that I wanted to brag about it, and thus the idea for this post was born. It could end up being the only one in the series.

Here is the purse in question:

Technically, I believe it's a "wristlet," a style I don't normally go for, but the larger bags were a little expensive for my taste. Despite my initial reluctance about the style, I was won over by the design. With friends egging me on, I couldn't resist the purchase. I've used it on numerous occasions since then and find that the style suits me after all. The strap is comfortable to carry on my wrist, or I can tuck it under my armpit. It's lightweight. It's also the perfect size. I don't like big purses. This one is just right for carrying my phone, keys, i.d., and perhaps a small bottle of hand lotion and/or some lipstick.

I purchased it from a local company called Little Green Me, which only sells items made from natural or recycled materials. You should check them out for the watches alone. They're really cool. If I wore a watch, I'd totally buy one.

The purse itself was made by Urban Junket. It's made from canvas, recycled plastic, and natural dyes. How awesome is that? If you like big purses, they have those too! And they're based out of Minneapolis, one of my favorite cities ever. You should check them out!