Rocksbox Review

I will be the first to admit, I am a follower.  I am heavily influenced by others.  And I have been seeing other bloggers raving about Rocksbox - which is similar to Stitch Fix, but is more of a "rental" service and is all jewelry.  When one of the bloggers I follow had a code to get a month of Rocksbox for free, I decided to give it a try.  I'm not being paid for this review, but I thought I'd share my thoughts and show what I got, because it's fun to talk about jewelry right?

There was literally no wait time which was nice.  I signed up for my trial and similarly to Stitch Fix, you fill out a profile about you and your style.  You can also shop their online catalog and create a wish list of pieces you'd like your stylist to send you.  It's pretty simple and within a day of filling out my profile I received an email that my box was on the way.

It comes in this cute little box all tied up with a ribbon.  I think packaging can really make a difference with these kind of things!  Anyway, you are sent three items - in my case it was a necklace, a pair of earrings and a bracelet.  The stylist includes a note saying hello and why they chose the particular items for you.  Then they list each item, the retail price and the price for Rockbox members to purchase if they wish.

Inside the box each piece is tucked inside nice little bags to keep them safe.  They also include instructions on how to care for each piece as well.  So now onto the goods, here is what they sent me!

Trina Turk Hexagon Bib Necklace:

I love, love, LOVE the necklace they sent.  I'm a big fan of statement necklaces, I love the bib style necklaces and of course, it had to be in my favorite colors of coral and pink.  Sadly, this one is a little too expensive for me to buy, so I will be sending it back, but I had fun wearing it for a little while!

Perry Street Katy Earrings:
These are a little heavier than what I would normally choose for myself, but I actually really ended up liking them.  I'm on the fence about keeping them, they're a great color and they're a lot of fun and the price seems reasonable, so I might hold on to them.  Plus, Ollie's getting much less grabby at my earrings than when he was younger, so that's a perk too!

House of Harlow 1960 Aura Tennis Bracelet in Turquoise:
I wanted to love this, it's a fun color and has a really neat clasp on it, it's magnetic.  But first world problems, I have too tiny of a wrist for this one.  It just didn't work well at all.  So I didn't even wear it once and have no problem sending it back.

Overall this was a lot of fun.  The price per month is kind of similar to Stitch Fix again, $20.00 and then that gives you perks like discounts on any pieces you want to keep.  Otherwise if you send it back, it's just like renting it for a little while and that is kind of cool too.  I am not certain if I'll really keep going with this, I did try it because I could do it for free, but I'm not sure that I really want to pay to keep it going.  I could see it being really useful if you were someone who went out to a lot of events or maybe worked in a higher level job.  My jewelry needs are pretty simple though, so I think in the end I'll be sticking with things like Stella and Dot or even Charming Charlie.

Have you ever tried Rocksbox?

Pantone Color Challenge - Cypress

One of my favorite link ups each Fall and Spring is the Pantone Color Challenge week that Heidi of Literate and Stylish and Marissa from The Modern Austen host.  While I don't do outfit of the day posts every day anymore I knew I'd want to play along for their Fall 2014 Pantone Color Challenge week at least once or twice!  The color of the day today is cypress so it was a given that I'd be wearing my favorite cypress colored pants (well ok, they're more olive than cypress but I think they work!)

Sorry for the poor picture quality, I went with simple office selfies on my cell phone this morning! Anyway, I just love these pants that my very sweet friend that I met on Instagram sent me.  I've talked on the blog before about my awesome friend Janice (her IG handle is @janhalfsweet - check her out, her girls are so cute, her Emma is super close in age to my Ollie) and how she has very kindly sent me some items that no longer worked for her.  My favorite item from her is still these pants.  They fit me so well right now and I just can't get enough of this color.  The zipper detail - which you'll see more of in a separate picture - is so fun on them too!  I would say these pants are in pretty heavy rotation for me right now, as soon at they're clean I wear them again!

Sweater - St. John's Bay (JCPenney), Gingham blouse - Old Navy (thrifted)

Pants - Old Navy (from the sweet @janhalfsweet), Boots - Target

Jewelry - Mode Boutique (Premium Outlets) 

I took a quick close up of this fun necklace too.  At the mom blog event they were giving out coupons for free earrings at a newly opened up boutique called Mode, so of course we had to stop and get the earrings.  I dug through and found some cute ones and they had this matching necklace for only $4.00.  So of course I had to get that too!

So there's my cypress look with a bit of mustard thrown in too for fun.  I really like all of the Pantone fall color choices this year, they're really nice shades.  I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to link up any other day this week, although Friday's cognac is another one of my favorite fall colors, so I might have to try for that one!  What do you think of this year's Pantone colors?  

Check out Heidi and Marissa's blogs for other Pantone inspired looks!

Inspiration Monday - Summer returns

Hello everyone!  I am back again!  We had a fantastic weekend away, we couldn't have asked for better weather.  But it is very nice to be home too.  I have never appreciated my own bed more now that I'm pregnant than I ever have before, I know that much!!

I could do without coming back to work, but hey, as always, taking the sting off of that is Inspiration Monday with two birds.  Today's inspiration comes from another famous person I've never heard of - Poppy Delevigne.  Nice laid back look from her though!

I meant to do an outfit for this while I was up north, but totally forgot to pack the right things.  I was going to skip this week, but then decided, I can make this work for work.  So here we have it!

It's going to be hot and muggy later today, so I'll likely lose the sweater, at least when I'm outside.  We have been so spoiled by nice weather, this humid and hot stuff is going to be hard to take.  Summer is definitely not over yet even if the stores and coffee shops serving pumpkin lattes starting today are trying to convince us otherwise!

Tank top - Michael Kors, consignment

Sweater - Style and Co, consignment

Capris - Simply Vera, Kohls

Bag - Lulus

Sunglasses - Fun Sisters Nisswa

Sandals - Mootsie Tootsie, from cousin

Necklace - Camy Couture

Bracelets - S&D

Speaking of summer starting to dwindle down, I can't believe how much morning light we've lost in just about a week's time.  I got up early enough to go for a walk this morning and it was so dark I said, nope, going to do a workout DVD instead!  It was also a little cloudy, so outdoor pictures weren't going to work out.  Indoor ones sure are a challenge, but I do my best!

I also wanted to share a close up of my fun new sunglasses I bought up north to replace my favorite pair that I lost quite awhile ago.  And I haven't shown off a Stella and Dot arm party for awhile, so you get one of those today too.

And now I'll be making the rounds and trying to catch up with all of you!  I feel like it's been forever!  What's new in your worlds???

Be sure to head over to two birds over here for more Inspiration Monday looks!

Dot, dot, dot

I tell you - they got it right back in the day.  High waist on a dress?  Perfect for a growing bump.  I am in love with this vintage dress I picked up at the last Tandem Vintage sale.  What's not to love?  Polka dots and aqua?  The fact that this perfectly matches my white leopard print shoes from last fall?  Check, check and check!

The top of this dress is actually really fun and would be great on a warm day - but one, it's not that warm today and two, I need to give it a little love, it's missing one button and while my, ahem, "girls" are getting a bit bigger, they still don't quite fill out the top of this guy.  So I'll give it some alterations and it'll be perfect.  I know I'll get use out of it next summer too!

Dress - Tandem Vintage

Sweater - LEI, thrifted

Necklace, bracelet, earrings - swap with/CC

Shoes - Xhilaration, Target 

And go figure, it was cloudy and looking like rain when I was leaving the house today, so I said, fine, I'll just take my pictures at work today.  As soon as I got in - total sunshine outside.  Yep.  Oh well!

Just call me Pollyanna

Hey everyone!  I am not going to talk about the awful MN weather today.  Nothing I can do about it, so I am instead making the most of my day with another Pinspired outfit.  I found this pin off of Heather from Style Journey's Pin boards - I swear sometimes her and I are style twins - anyway, I had some items to kind of duplicate this one, so I gave it a go.

 I opted for a blue sweater instead of a green one, I could probably wear this outfit again this spring with an actual green sweater instead.  Today I needed the extra warmth, so that is why I chose the blue one.

And hey, why not add a fun summer straw bag even if it's anything but summer like outside.  I love this one I bought at the Tandem Vintage sale, it has tons of room in it and will be awesome this summer for shopping or a beach day.  Today it is just brightening up a wintery day.

Sweater - Lands End

T-shirt - Mossimo, Target

Pants - Athleta (from sis-in-law)

Necklace/earrings - Camy Couture (from giveaway)

Bag - Tandem Vintage

Also giving me some sunshine today?  My fun new jewelry from Jasmine's giveway!  My package from her showed up over the weekend and I'm super excited about the goodies she sent.  Not only did I get this pretty minty colored necklace, but also a fun orange crossbody purse that will be good for a night out and a cute purple bracelet that actually fits my tiny wrist.  Here is a photo of all of the items - I can't wait to play with them more!  Thank you again Jasmine!

So I found a way to add some sunshine to my day.  To make lemonade from lemons.  To look on the bright side.  Just call me Pollyanna!

One headlight

It's been ages since I've pulled out these shorts, so I decided to do so today.  They're wool based, so they are pretty much for winter wear.  I did pull them out once this summer though and wore them with a semi-dressy t-shirt one day and kind of liked the look.  I'm excited to finally be wearing this statement piece I got at the last Stella and Dot party I went to.  It was way clearanced that day and I've been wanting something like this for awhile.  I've had it for the last month but I hadn't found the right thing to wear it with until today.

 Sweater, t-shirt and shorts - Old Navy

Tights - Target

Shoes - DSW

Necklace and earrings - Stella and Dot

Moving on, we now have storytime.  The Pants Monkey and I are kind of lazy sometimes about things.  I can admit it.  And sometimes when something needs to be fixed or replaced on say one of our cars, we kind of limp along for a bit before taking care of it.  About two weeks ago, we were driving my car home from picking up some dinner.  It was dark out and I'm not a fan of driving in the dark, so Mr. Monkey was driving.  He was really close behind a car in front of us while we were at a stoplight and I'm like "what are you doing?  Be careful!" He says, "I think you have a burned out headlight, I'm trying to see in the reflection of the car in front of us."  When we got home we checked and sure enough, the passenger side light is out.  For the most part, I drive during the day, so we figured he could replace it for me a little later.

Welcome to later.  Today was kind of dark and cloudy as I was driving into work.  Now, it has been a little dark when I've been driving home at night too, but I haven't had anyone flashing lights at me or anything so I hadn't been too worried about it.  This morning however, after I parked and started towards my building, I hear an angry lady behind me yell "You have a burned out headlight on your car!"  I was running late, but I turned around and politely said "Thank you!" and kept going.  She then screamed "Well you might want to fix it!"  Yes lady, I do want to fix it.  I don't intend on endangering others forever.  I texted the Pants Monkey and he said he'd take care of it this weekend.  It's a good thing too, because I'm really tired of having the song "One Headlight" by the Wallflowers stuck in my head!

Vlog - All the Jewelry

Here is my long awaited Stella and Dot Vlog.  I am sorry, it's long again - I get excited about this stuff and I just keep talking!  So it rings in at almost 15 minutes.  I tried to cut it down in editing as much as I could!

As always I link because I love - I didn't mention in the video, but if you don't have a Stella and Dot person, I can hook you up with mine, even if you don't live in MN she can do a catalog show or virtual show.  No pressure of course, just putting that out there.

Hope you enjoy!

Inspiration Monday - More about me

Well friends it's Monday again.  For a three day weekend I sure feel like I didn't really have one!  It was a busy one between the Fair on Friday, some stuff with our music group and then having some relatives in town of the Pants Monkey's.  Last night we crashed with a bunch of shows and I totally zoned out and it was wonderful.

But it is Monday and Inspiration Monday at that!  Today we have Jessica Alba, she is a pretty stylish lady!  I didn't opt for a jacket like she has on, because it's gotten a bit warm again!

Instead, I went for the overall color scheme.  I really liked how this turned out, kind of a shame I really didn't get to wear it anywhere fun.  It gave me a chance to play with some of my new jewelry - I promise a Vlog is still coming.  I was having some syncing issues with my laptop camera.  Mr. Monkey is going to help me fix it, so I will still be sharing my goodies soon!  I can pretty much tell you I'm in love with everything.

Speaking of love, I'm feeling the love this morning, the fantastic Megan of the Fashionable Bureaucrat has gifted me the Liebster Award - very sweet of her.  I am going to answer her questions because I am a survey junkie!  It always helps you all get to know me better too right?  And these are pretty unique!

1. Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had it?  I suppose my backyard, but that seems too obvious, so maybe in one of my favorite places in Northern MN.  But why would I tell you?  It's MY treasure.  Mine.
2. Do you currently have all your organs? Sure do!  I am an organ donor should something ever happen to me (God forbid) but I even have all my non-essential organs like my appendix.
3. For a pet, would you rather have a crow, a fringed lizard, or a taxidermized wolf? How about a fringed lizard.  That just sounds fun.  And kind of fancy.
4. Slips - yes or no? Yes. Though I don't use them much, I find they do help a lot in the winter months with static and long skirts/dresses.
5. If you could hire one of the following for one year which would you hire? House cleaner, personal chef, massage therapist? I can only pick one???  Aw man!  Well, The Pants Monkey is a really good cook, so I don't think I'll choose the chef.  I don't mind cleaning that much actually.  So I think I'll say massage therapist.  My back would be happy all the time.
6. Fruit pie, cream pie or cheesecake? Ooh they are all yummy, but I will say fruit pie.  I love apple pie and peach pie the best.
7. If you were on Jeopardy and got the Daily Double, would make it a true daily double? Depends on how far behind everyone else I was!  I probably would.
8. Did you ever wear braces? If yes, are your teeth still straight? Yes I did.  And no they aren't.  I'm pretty ashamed of it actually.  I should have gone for the permanent bottom retainer, because those are the teeth that shifted the worst.
9. Favourite decade - 1970s, 1980s, or 2000s? 1980's - I was a kid in the 80's and everything was better then!  Awesome television, cartoons, toys.  Fun stuff.
10. Do you prefer routine or variety? I am such a creature of habit.  I prefer to stick to a routine.  But I like variety when it comes to things like meals I eat, clothes I wear, places to visit.  I guess for a daily schedule I like routine but for various activities variety is fun.
11. Do you sleep with your bedroom door open or closed? Closed.  I love them kittens, but they do not know how to let us sleep at night!

There you have it.  I'm just going to tag everyone who is reading because I love you all and would be interested in anyone's answers to the very same questions!  Thank you again Megan!  And thank you all for coming here and sharing in my life, it means the world to me.

Please go visit the two birds blog to see other Inspiration Monday outfits!

Outfit rundown:

T-shirt and sweater - Mossimo, Target

Jeans - Old Navy

Shoes - Mossimo, Target

Necklace and bracelets - Stella and Dot

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day

 It's going to be cloudy and rainy today, so the perfect solution is to dress in sunshine colors!  I stole this idea from the fabulous Sheila, who wore something similar back in July.  I loved the idea of pairing orange with yellow.  I'm also going to submit this to Vivienne's Style Imitating Art challenge, as I feel this reflects the painting she chose!

The blood drive went well, our numbers were down a bit this year, but we still had quite a few folks step up to the plate. I did not give blood myself, I have bad veins, so I'm glad I could do my part by simply running the whole thing.  And it wasn't a half bad gig yesterday, I got to sit outside and check people in.  Fabulous!  Glad it was nice outside yesterday!

Getting so close to my vacation I can taste it.  I don't care that we're only gone about four days, it's still getting away for a bit and I just really feel like I need that right now.  Sometimes a change of scenery is a good thing!!

Thought I'd share a close up of my arm party here.  I'm still figuring out the best way to pile on bracelets but I'm getting better.  Also, shameless plug, many of you have mentioned or admired the Stella and Dot stuff I've been wearing.  If anyone is interested, I can email the link to my online show for tomorrow's party - no pressure to anyone to buy anything, but the nice thing is, if you wanted to, it will ship direct to you (and yes, I will get the credit, I have to be honest about that).  They are a bit spendy and I know most of you are thrifty chicks like me, but there is a crazy summer sale going on and I can speak to the quality too, my S&D pieces are the best pieces I own.  Hands down.  So anyway, let me know and I'll email the link.  My home address is on it so I don't want to just post it here for the world, but yeah.  Shameless plug over.

Outfit rundown:

Shirt - thrifted

Skirt - Shabby Apple (won in giveaway)

Sandals - Italian She Company

Necklaces - S&D and Charming Charlie

Bracelets - S&D, Bead for Life, gift

Earrings - S&D

Simple is good

Hey hey it's Friday!  And the weekend ahead isn't as crazy as last week's was for me so I am very happy about that!  Today's outfit is pretty simple.  And in fact, it may even be a combination I've worn on the blog before, I'm too lazy to go look.  Sometimes the simplest outfits are the ones I love best though!

I wear this necklace a lot.  Practically all the time you've probably noticed.  The thing I love about it is how versatile it is.  It's from the La Coco collection from Stella and Dot, which is meant to be mixed and matched and played with.  It's one of the best purchases I've ever made I think, because I can make this work with just about anything.

These sandals are one of my favorite things ever too, I haven't worn them much this summer because they are on their last legs.  Today they were just begging to be worn though, so I happily obliged.

We met a couple of friends for a beer at our favorite bar last night to celebrate National IPA Day.  It was last minute, but it was nice and the sun was already going down when we got to the patio, so it wasn't even terribly hot out.  I'd say it was summer at it's best!  Hope you all have wonderful weekends!

Outfit rundown:

Shirt - Maurices

Skirt - LOFT, thrifted

Sandals - Kohls (old)

Necklace - La Coco from Stella and Dot

Bracelets - S&D, Premier, Charming Charlie

Earrings - Charming Charlie

Veggies, fruits and bridges

I found some inspiration again, hooray!  I spent a little time looking at my closet last night and found a bunch of new ideas and possibilities so I think I'm good to go for a bit longer here!  I'm excited about this outfit, how have I not put this combination together yet??

I have to laugh, the Pants Monkey and I are funny.  Similar to my feeling summer fatigue yesterday with my clothes, we get summer fatigue over meals we cook too.  We eat a lot of salads and lighter dishes or things on the grill in the summer but after awhile it gets boring.   Last night we talked about it and decided, screw it, let's make one of our winter meals.  So, it might be 96 degrees outside today, but we've got a fabulous crockpot full of chili waiting for us when we get home.  Mr. Monkey makes outstanding chili.  So yeah.  That's our dinner.  We're weird!  We'll just crank up the A/C and hide in the basement and pretend it's winter.  Or something.

Speaking of food, I am excited that summer produce is starting to hit it's peak, I love fresh veggies and you just can't get them year round here, so you have to take advantage when you can!  I don't have a garden, but there are plenty of other options, little farmers markets and roadside stands work just fine.  We had the most fantastic corn from a roadside stand the other day in fact.  We grilled it and it was delicious.  I'm enjoying peach season too, there's a little grocery store near my work that gets Colorado Peaches by the case and they are to die for.  I think I'll be grabbing some this weekend and making a peach pie!

I should stop talking about food, because now I'm hungry!  Actually on a serious note, I do want to mention that today I'm remembering and reflecting on the 5th anniversary of the 35W bridge collapse.  I'll never forget that day, I was getting a pedicure with a dear friend and my cell phone rang and Mr. Monkey said "have you heard what happened?  Part of 35W fell into the Mississippi River" and then a hush went over the entire salon as it seemed we all heard the news at the same time.  13 people ended up losing their lives when the bridge collapsed and many others were injured.  It was a very scary day.  The freeway system was a mess for months afterward, since 35W is a major road to get to and from Minneapolis.  I am still impressed at how fast the bridge was rebuilt.  Anyway, I know I'll never forget, since it happened practically in my backyard, it ranks up there with 9/11 and Columbine on major events that have had an impact on me.

Outfit rundown:

Tank top - vintage, Salvaged Strawberry

Skirt - American Eagle Outfitters (old)

Necklace - Stella and Dot with MMD buttonflowers

Sandals - Old Navy

Bracelet and earrings - via swap with CC

Baubles

Shock - I'm not participating in Inspiration Monday this week.  I know, I rarely miss it.  The closest thing I could come up with for today's choice of Ashlee Simpson wearing orange hot pants and a white blouse was an outfit I already wore for Inspiration Monday a few weeks ago!  She looks great, but it was just not something I was able to put together, especially having had a very busy weekend.  I will admit to having owned the first Ashlee Simpson CD though.  I have no shame, lol.  Anyway, do go visit the two birds and see what others came up with.  I am sure I'll be back at Inspiration Monday next week, it's one of my favorite parts of blogging!  

I do have another fun treat today though!  Through Jess of J's Style, I found out about a fun Bauble Swap going on at Because Shana Said So.  I checked out her blog and decided it sounded cool - basically you signed up and were paired with another blogger to swap jewelry with.  Since I love me some pretty jewelry I was all over that.  I was paired with the awesome CC from CC's Cheap Chic and I could not be more excited with the goodies I received - all handmade by her! 

She sent the cutest little box, three pairs of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet.  I'm wearing the bracelet, necklace and one of the pairs of earrings today!  They are just so fun and are wonderful additions to have in my closet!  BIG HUGE thank you to CC and thanks to Shana for hosting this swap!! You should definitely check out both Shana and CC's blogs, especially so you can see what I sent to CC!

Speaking of jewelry, I went to a Stella and Dot party at my sister in law's yesterday and got a couple of new pretties there too.  If you've been following my blog awhile, you know I'm pretty addicted to the stuff.  And now my SIL's BFF is selling it, so you guessed it, I'll be having a party too.  One can never have too much jewelry right?  I have to laugh though, we were talking yesterday at the party about how just a couple of years ago, none of us were jewelry people.  Now I feel naked without a necklace and bracelet!  It's pretty funny.

Finally, I have a HUGE favor to ask anyone who is so inclined.  I'm looking for a couple of guest posts for the week of August 13-17.  I have a little vacation planned and while I won't be gone the whole week, have decided to take the entire week off from blogging.  If you are interested in guest posting while I'm away, I would LOVE to have you.  I'm using the blanket theme of "the dog days of summer" and you can pretty much write what you'd like around that theme.  Please let me know in the comments if you'd like to be a guest and I'll email you more specifics.

Outfit rundown:
Tank top - Cinema Etoile (from cousin)

Sweater  - F21

Skirt - Salvaged Strawberry (via Band of Thrifters)

Shoes - DSW

Jewelry - Handmade by CC

Bag - Jenna Lou Designs