Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Friday, June 30, 2017
Tell Me a Story in the Dark review
I admire my older brother.
Not only is he a patient and kind father to his three boys, he also has a fantastic bedtime tradition of storytelling. On various vacations, I have seen his boys beg for a bedtime story, and then Ryan will cuddle in their room and continue their saga adventure from previous nights. No wonder my nephews have exciting imaginations!
Recently I had the opportunity review a book made specifically to help parents excel at bedtime stories. Written by John Olive, the award-winning playwright and author, Tell Me a Story in the Dark teaches parents about the importance of telling stories and offers helpful hints for a successful experience.
As a counselor, I appreciate the author's emphasis on the powerful bond you can create with your children through storytelling. He describes how a bedtime story allows you to cuddle, to teach, and to inspire your children. Olive explains that he does not tell a story every single night, but he uses the opportunity to tell a story as a bonding moment to reward (or encourage) helpful behavior at home. Storytelling is a special treat!
When I have told stories in the past, I have struggled to expand my plot beyond "a princess was walking in the forest. . . and she walked . . and walked . . and she saw a tree. . . " No wonder the kids thought my stories were lame. I am grateful that Olive shared his playwright expertise in this book. He suggests plot outlines to help a parent tell a fantastic story based on age, interests, and time. He also teaches how to "set the stage" through bedtime story rules: a dark room, pajamas on, head stays on pillow, and more. Those rules help your child focus on the story and be lulled to sleep. He advises that lulling your child to sleep should be a main priority of bedtime stories anyways.
Tell Me a Story in the Dark offers examples from all sorts of myths, fables, actual history, religion, and made up stories. These examples got my creative juices flowing, and I was excited to start forming a bedtime story. Ironically, when I cuddled up with my daughter the story still began with a princess, but I was ready to use Olive's advice about elaborating on the stone walls of the princess' room, the rain pinging against the window, and the chill in the wet castle. I felt more confidence about our imaginative time together.
Another fantastic part of the book was his discussion about how stories can help children navigate problems. I reminisced about my counseling lessons in narrative therapy as I read his words. He eloquently described how stories portray a powerful message that sometimes simply telling your child does not wholly convey. For example, if your child is struggling as the "new kid in school," then you could tell a story about a turtle who moved to a new ocean and made new friends. Olive teaches parents how to make a story personal without being super obvious. Previously I wrote about how children learn through play here; children also feel more comfortable using metaphors. Children will have an easier time talking about which actions and thoughts will help the turtle find happiness than trying to analyze their own selves. I appreciate that Tell Me a Story in the Dark helps parents use this technique to their advantage. What a helpful way to bond with and teach your child!
From developing a larger vocabulary to enhancing problem solving skills to strengthening family bonds, the benefits of storytelling are numerous. Tell Me a Story in the Dark is a simple and powerful guide for parents. I am excited to follow in the footsteps of my older brother (and John Olive) and create lasting memories of love and support with my kiddos. I am also excited to allow my imagination to soar again as I prepare for bedtime stories.
I hope your family finds this book helpful as well.
Find a copy at http://familius.com/tell-me-a-story-in-the-dark.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Shabby Apple Review and Giveaway
Before I get into the actual giveaway I want to discuss my evolving sense of style for a second---and hello, I am nowhere NEAR being a 'style blogger' or anything that cool. No. I fully admit to being pretty low maintenance with my wardrobe: it's a bonus if I wear something other than yoga pants and a hoodie on my days at home. The older I get the more I find myself dressing in modest (ie temporary-big-boob-covering) outfits, but always trying to avoid the frumpy 'haggard mom' look at the same time. It's not easy to look fashionable and put together on 4 hours of sleep, milk and poo and Lord knows what else smeared across most of my tops, while disciplining a toddler and soothing a baby. But within the past few months, as I started feeling more comfortable in my own skin again, I find myself 'dressing up' more often because if I look like I have my stuff together, maybe I will actually FEEL like I have my stuff together. I find that if I put forth that extra effort to blow dry my hair and straighten it, add a little bit of makeup, and wear something that makes me feel fancy then I get a little pep in my step. And I will take whatever I can get.
Now, have you guys heard about Shabby Apple? I feel like I've seen a lot of bloggers with the Shabby Apple button on the side of their blogs so I have looked around their site before. I definitely looked at dresses on their site when I was pregnant with Cecelia, needing a dress to wear as a bridesmaid to a friend's wedding but not finding a ton of maternity cocktail dresses out there. I didn't end up ordering a dress from them that time but I was pretty impressed with all of their vintage and modern dresses on there. And the swimming suits intrigue me because I'm really into the cool retro look of one pieces these days. I'm not totally ruling out bikinis for my future years as a mom but I forsee a few key one pieces in there, too, and cute one-pieces are not easy to find. So I was pumped when they contacted me to host a giveaway to my readers! Gotta love an online site that offers free returns as a part of their customer service---takes away the scary 'what if I don't like it in person?' feeling to purchasing online. Plus they have a fit guide and a live chat option to help make sure you get exactly what you want.
I got to choose a dress to review and I picked the Ursa sweater dress because I'm casual like that. I just don't have a lot of places to wear a fancy, DRESSY dress, if that makes sense. But a sweater dress with some leggings? Yes. All the time, please. I'm all about function. Although the green 'Animalia' dress, purple 'Arripidae' dress, and the green 'Mariposa Grove' dress were SUPER tempting for me.
I wore the dress to Christmas Eve service with black leggings, my black boots and I wanted to wear a red scarf but of course I could not find it in the attic anywhere (until weeks later when I uncovered it packed with my swimming suits. Of course). I feel like I could also wear this dress with ballet flats to make it more casual. It's really long, even for me, and it's super soft and lined. I like how the neckline is kind of different and the puckers on the front make it interesting, but it's not loud or anything too wild. Very 'me' for sure. I wanted to have a little photo shoot with me in the dress but never found the time. So my 'styling' of the dress consists of two small children as my accessories.
Okay, so here is the scoop on the giveaway: a $50 gift card is up for grabs and you can use that towards anything on their site. Here is how you can enter:
1- Comment on this post to tell us your favorite dress on the site. This part is a 'must' to be entered into the contest. Have fun, I got sucked in to looking at all of the amazing dresses for WAY too long.
Besides that, you can enter your name more than once in the giveaway by doing any of the following:
2- liking Shabby Apple on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/
3-tweet about my giveaway here on the blog, then come back and comment to say you tweeted. (I don't have a twitter account, aren't you shocked?!)
4-blog about my giveaway on your own blog, then comment here to say you blogged.
So each of you can potentially comment up four times on this post to get entered into the drawing, as long as you do each of the above. I will use a random number generator to select the winner on Thursday, February 7. Oh, and you have to have a USA shipping address---sorry to my European/Canadian/Middle Eastern/Australian friends!
Because Shabby Apple didn't want to leave anyone out, all of my readers will get 10% off a purchase for the next month (until March 4) by using this code: mylifeintransition10off
Have fun shopping!
{UPDATE: Friday, February 8. We have our winner and the giveaway is closed. See my next post for details and thanks for participating!!}
Friday, May 12, 2017
Stitch Fix 1 July Review
I really enjoy being the last to jump on bandwagons, and it takes me an annoying amount of contemplating and overanalyzing before I agree to do anything in life. Ask Nate, he will tell you all about my ability to shop online for hours and hours and come away with zero items in my cart. I think too much about many things, fashion included.
Stitch Fix has been around for years and it seems like I'm the last blogger in the entire blogging world to try it out (not really, but kind of). I only became remotely interested lately now that I'm really paying attention to fit and quality of my clothes, hoping to toss all of my junky/old/ill-fitting items and replace them with pieces that actually fit. I mean, I'm a mom of three kids and although I don't make time to shop for myself often, I am tired of wearing the same 3 shirts and 2 shorts that 'sort of' look nice. Yoga pants and work out gear will always get a thumbs up from me, but sometimes I find myself yearning to feel and look put together. Fake it until you make it, right?
Anyway, I finally decided that although I'm still a huge skeptic about Stitch Fix stylists being able to nail my requests, I'm going to give it a try anyway. (Not a sponsored post, got nothing for free, just a regular old customer who was hoping to be pleasantly surprised).
I made it very clear on my style profile that I am tall, without curves, and need everything to be machine washable. I made a Pinterest board for guidance, as they suggest to do, and found that I am drawn to a very specific style: flowy tank tops, open cardigans, skinny jeans/shorts, and long necklaces. I tried to reiterate many times that I have major issues with the length of shirts in the torso and also the arms. I said I love bold colors and could use a few new things to wear to work, but also like the casual style for an outfit that works on my days at home with the kids. Also, a few casual but nice things for date nights/parties/etc. So basically, all parts of my daily style wardrobe need an upgrade. But bottom line: I am totally psychotic about the fit and cut of clothes and I don't like to spend a boat load of money on anything. UNLESS it fits perfectly and makes my heart sing somehow, then I could agree to pay more than $50 for something assuming I'd wear it non-stop.
I totally peeked on the website once I saw my Fix had shipped, so I could get the list of items headed my way. Googling and finding the pictures of the pieces on Pinterest had me intrigued and excited, and then my box came two days after they predicted which was a bit of a bummer but somehow I lived.
Marissa was my stylist and her personal note to me was sweet. She seemed to focus on the idea of flowy tanks and a cardigan, plus the bold colors I like. I am pretty sure this is a 1/5 box though, only keeping one item *possibly* two. I didn't go into this expecting to buy more than 1-2 pieces at a time though, and really am such a skeptic that I will be happy if I just get one piece each time. Again: I'm picky!!
Want to see my five items??
1. Kut From The Kloth Haiden Distressed Straight Leg Jean: $88
(Attempted a photo shoot last night as the sun was setting, on our airing porch with the horrible floors. Ended up doing a new shoot today inside with sunlight;) )
So, I didn't ask for jeans, I asked for jean shorts, but apparently my stylist wanted me to try these instead. I was kind of excited to try on a new pair of jeans especially in the more 'trendy' distressed look. BUT I really hate how these are sewn to be permanently cuffed. This might have been a sneaky way to get out of finding jeans long enough for my 5'10" frame and I just really hate the cuff. I will roll my own (very old, very flared) jeans if I want that look but I also like plain old straight leg jeans without a cuff. They fit great otherwise but just nope. Especially not for $88! (Shirt reviewed next, don't worry)
Good color, okay distressed look, but nope. Sorry, verdict: going back!
2. 41Hawthorn Navarro Henley Top: $48
Seeing this on the card I immediately did not like the print, but in person it's actually quite pretty. A little more 'grown up' and maybe slightly nautical or something, and I really like the collar and buttons. Upon trying it on, I was definitely torn---I wanted to dislike it but it started growing on me. But look at the arm holes on the picture up there on the left. Sigh. Then look at how short the bottom of the top is on the side, in the right picture.
Nate even likes this one which is saying a lot. I like the length in the back but the front and the sides are definitely iffy for being too short. Such pretty print though!
I was set on keeping it and wearing it for work with a cardigan on top but then I realized what seems 'off' about this one. The arm holes are giantic on me. Would probably help if I had big boobs but that is not one of my qualities in life. If I sized the entire shirt down I know it'd be entirely too short on the sides. So for now, it's going back unless I have a last minute change of heart. Flowy is one thing but ill-fitting is another.
Verdict: Going back unless there is an uprising in blog comments begging me to keep it;)
3. Collective Concepts Esten Button-Up Sleeveless Blouse: $54
Obsessed with this color and the idea of a sleeveless, flowy blouse. I tried it on with my own gray jeans like the style card suggested and also my favorite cut offs (which are Citizen for Humanity jeans that I have had for at least ten years, but they were super flared and so I just cut them off a week ago on a whim. LOVE how they turned out!). But my problem with this top? Short and boxy:
Plus it's fairly see through, which I guess is in style but I am not a fan. Love this color and the neckline so much but it's just too short--I wish it was about three inches longer everywhere. PLUS it's 'dry clean only' which is comical for this household, need to reiterate to my stylist that machine wash is the way to go! Verdict: going back, sadly.
4. Pixley Bramley Back Lace Detail Knit Tank: $54
Okay, a gray knit tank top is SO very me! And it's flowy and nice thin but not see-through fabric. The back is...interesting and kind of fun, and I do love lace.
But Nate really hates this and thinks the black lace is 'trashy'. (I made him specify that it's the black color and the design of this lace, NOT all lace in general because my entire wedding gown was lace). It's a nice length and a good amount of 'flow' but nah, not for me. If it was a racer back with the lace in the middle or something, I probably would have kept it. But again, for $54 a tank top better be amaze-balls for me to keep it.
Verdict: going back. But close to my style!
5. 41Hawthorn Abrianna Longsleeve Knit Cardigan: $48
Bright color, open front cardigan, that is LONG? YES. Finally, a keeper. I don't own anything in this bold blue color and I love it. Will be great to wear to work over tank tops or even on my days at home/date nights if I pair it with the correct items.
The only thing that makes me nervous is that it's 'hand wash cold' and knit, so if I *do* happen to accidentally throw it in with the wash, I can just picture how much this baby will shrink.
But I am not going to lose my $20 styling fee and at $48 the price is right for a versatile piece like this. I actually tried it on with the coral Collective Concepts blouse and loved that color combo, so I am sure I can make this work in a variety of settings. The style card showed it with a striped tank and also a striped dress---I can handle that. Verdict: The Keeper!
Opinions please!!! I am going to fill out my response card online tonight and then return all of the rejects tomorrow. I'm still looking forward to next month when I do this again and will probably ask for tunic tops (which might be a 'regular' length for me) and machine washable. Would also take any more cardigans, especially a short sleeved one, and might attempt a maxi dress from Stitch Fix, too.
Final note: Nate was not at all excited about my decision to try Stitch Fix, since he just didn't really get the concept and figured I'd be way too picky and everything would be horribly expensive. When he saw me try everything on he was surprisingly into it and supportive of almost everything (except for the gray lace tank, he really hated that one). I mean, I think he expected the entire box to total $500 but it was $292, and if I kept everything in the box it would have totaled $200 with the 25% discount. I think if I kept the cardigan, the coral tank, the green tank, and the jeans he would have been totally down for that. Which shocks me because I was prepared to defend my picks to him and instead he encouraged me to get more than I wanted. Guys and their opinions on fashion are interesting to me.
If you are like me and haven't tried Stitch Fix before, use my Referral link, if you would. And give me honest opinions, please!
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