Five for Friday (21)

1. Stitch Fix

I ordered my first Stitch Fix box because I wanted to see what the buzz was all about. I haven’t done any other monthly subscription boxes because none of them seem interesting enough for me to shell out money for. But I love the concept of Stitch Fix and after hearing many bloggers rave about it, I plunked down my credit card and ordered a box. First, even just getting the box was a debacle because FedEx delivered it to the wrong address and then there were many phone calls to FedEx and many emails to Stitch Fix to figure out what happened. Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, it was delivered!

It was really fun to go through my box of clothes and see what my stylist picked out for me (based on an extensive style profile I completed before ordering). I was given one skirt, one blazer, two blouses, and a necklace. The only thing I really loved was one of the blouses but I didn’t love it enough to pay $58 (!) for it. The box’s prices range from $28 to $78, with the lowest-priced item being a necklace. And no, I will never pay $28 for a necklace. (I’m cheap, maybe?) Stitch Fix is a great concept and I think it’s a wonderful company, but it’s just a leeeeetle out of my price range for right now. It’s possible I may order from them in the future, but not anytime soon.

(To be fair, you pay $20 for your box, and then that $20 will be taken off your total price when ordering. So, if I had bought the blouse I wanted, it would have been $38 when I ordered. Still above the price I could afford right now. So, basically, I’m out $20 for nothing. Live and learn, kids, live and learn.)

2. Pinterest

So it took me about a million years, but I am officially addicted to Pinterest. I’ve been a member for over a year now, but mainly only logged on to look for workout ideas or hair inspiration. (And rarely pinned anything.) Over the past few weeks, though, I have grown increasingly addicted to the site. For example, last Saturday night when I couldn’t sleep, I spent around an hour on Pinterest looking at funny dog pictures and laughing my head off by myself like a crazy person. It was quite special. I’m still trying to figure out my way around the site and my boards still look pretty sad. Mainly, I only go there to pin cute dog photos but it’s a great procrastination technique for me when I’m at work and having trouble getting started on an article. And somehow I need to find room in my budget for three more dachshunds:

3. iOS 7

A week ago, I went ahead and updated my phone to iOS 7. My new iPhone may take up to 3 weeks to be shipped (whimper) and after playing around with the new operating system on my mom’s phone, I fell in love immediately and wanted it. Honestly, I do not know why people hate the new system. I mean, I know we all fear change which is evident in the way everyone goes on the warpath every time Facebook changes its look, but seriously, I am puzzled. It is such an upgrade from the old system, in my opinion. It feels cleaner and neater and just wonderful. None of it is hard to figure out and anything I do need to figure out, a quick Google search solves it for me. I think my favorite new feature, though, is being able to take square pictures right from my camera app. No more trying to squeeze a rectangular-sized picture into Instagram. It’s all done for me. Seriously. Good job, Apple. Hugs and kisses.

4. A raccoon named Jake

So Tuesday was a rather eventful morning. I woke up as usual. It was around 6:15am when I had Dutch leashed and harnessed and opened the door to take him out… only to come face-to-face with a raccoon. Dutch was barking and trying to fight him, the raccoon was making, um, raccoon sounds and fighting back, and I finally had the presence of mind to slam the door shut before the raccoon got inside. I believe I might have screamed because my mom came running out of her room, convinced I was being murdered. Dutch was fine. I was fine. The raccoon was fine (for all you animal lovers). It was such a scary moment, though! Seeing raccoons isn’t such a big deal. We live right next to the woods and I’ve seen them from time to time. They’ve always gone through our trash if we leave it outside on a day our valet trash doesn’t come. But this was the first time I’d been so close to one! And them being so close to being IN MY HOUSE! Freaky.

The raccoon was still there five minutes later, lying on one of our stairs. And then he was still there when I left for work about an hour later. And he was still there when my mom came home for lunch. It was very rainy that day and I think the poor little dude was just trying to find some shelter. So the animal lover in me felt bad for him. And named him Jake. So we have a raccoon. And his name is Jake. That is my crazy story for the week.

5. Hair help

I have my first hair color appointment since JANUARY next Saturday. I have been growing my blonde highlights out for months and months and months in preparation to go brown. There were some reasons I wanted to go back to brown: it’s easier to keep up, it’s cheaper, and I want a change. After 3 years of blonde hair, I wanted to shake things up! So I’ve been obsessively perusing Pinterest for the last week for what I want to do with my hair. This is the brown I want to go, though I don’t think I’m ready to go that dark yet:

This is the color my hair is now:

Ew.

And this is the color I’m thinking about doing:

Or maybe this one:

Hi, my name is Stephany and I have a crush on Emma Stone. Or maybe just her hair. No, it’s her. And her hair.

And heeeere’s something fun. A poll! Whee!

Vote on what you color you think I should choose! (You may have to click out of your feed to view.)

 

Have a great, great weekend everyone! I have a fabulous one planned with a catch-up lunch with my former coworkers, book club tonight, and my nephew’s birthday party on Saturday afternoon. Make it a good one!

Have you ever used Stitch Fix? What’s your favorite monthly subscription box? What are your thoughts on iOS 7? DID YOU VOTE ON MY POLL?!?!?!