Lifestyle — Page 2

I have a challenging workout for you guys today (my legs were quivering by the end!) and a giveaway to reward you for your efforts. 🙂

I’ve teamed up with daniel glass on today’s post and one lucky winner will get one of their super cute glass water bottles. They come in a bunch of different fun colors and are BPA-free, which is so important. The colorful silicon sleeve that’s wrapped around the glass makes the bottle easy to grip during sweaty workouts.

So yes, there are lots of other BPA-free glass water bottles out there, but what got me excited to work with daniel glass is that the company donates 10% of its proceeds to ocean pollution clean-up charities. I love it when companies give back!

Enter to win. If you win you’ll get to pick out the water bottle color of your choice. You’ll notice they all have fun names–I had to go with Fuchsia AF because “AF” is my favorite unit of measurement. 😉 The below link will bring you to the entry page. You’ll just need to enter in an email address so that daniel glass can contact you (so to be clear, I’m not collecting your email address, DG is).

ENTER TO WIN

The winner will be chosen October 31st.

Alright now that we’ve covered hydration, it’s time to get your game face on for today’s workout …

12-Minute Full-Body Slider Workout

Equipment I Used

Sliders (dish towel works for hardwood floors and paper plates work on carpet)

This workout flows one move right into the next–it’s short, but it is continuous work with the exception of a 30-second breather in the middle. Think of the sequence as being broken up into three progressions. With the progressions, we add in moves every 30 seconds, building up a combo, and then take away moves in a similar fashion. Writing out the description makes it sound confusing so I’d highly recommend just following along with the video or at least watching it before doing the workout on your own–everything will make much more sense! That being said, here’s the general flow:

Lunge Slides –> Lunge Slides + Crunch –> Crunch
Lunge –> Lunge + Swan Dive –> Lunge + Swan Dive + Single Leg Bear –> Swan Dive + Single Leg Bear –> Single Leg Bear
Twisted Push Ups –> Twisted Push Ups + Thread the Needle Pike –> Thread the Needle Pike

This workout is no joke–I was trembling getting through the second side. That being said, if you need to take more breaks, just pause the video occasionally. Listen to your body–remember there’s a difference between hurts so good and hurts. As with any workout, make sure to warm up beforehand.

WEARING | Movement Intuition Leggings by Free People c/o Shopbop // Nike Sports bra (old but this bra top is similar) // Adidas neo sneakers (also love these similar all-white sneakers from Nike)

Let me know how it goes if you try this workout! Were your legs burning as much as mine were?? And good luck to everyone entering the giveaway!

This post was sponsored by daniel glass. All opinions–as always!–are my own. I appreciate your support of the brands that make this blog possible. 🙂

If you read a lot of blogs, you’re probably no stranger to Stitch Fix. I had seen a ton of my favorite bloggers review the personal styling service and always thought it sounded cool, but ultimately never tried it out because I figured I was plenty good at doing my own shopping (much to my wallet’s dismay haha). Well I was recently invited on an exciting blogger trip hosted by Stitch Fix (it’s coming up this month—don’t worry, you’ll be reading allll about it on P&I), and they gave me a credit so that I could try out the service.

As a heads up, all the links to Stitch Fix in this post are my personal referral link—if you sign up, I get a $25 credit to my account. You get your own link with the same referral benefits if you try out Stitch Fix! Ok, boring disclosure BS out of the way, on to the review…

My first Fix totally exceeded my expectations and opened my eyes to the benefits an outside stylist can bring to your wardrobe. The jacket I kept, for example, was something I never would have pulled off the rack while shopping myself, but is so perfect—and something I know I’ll wear all the time. I’m actually wearing it now as I type this post in Starbucks. Apparently there’s a whole world of clothing out there that I never even knew I needed…this could get financially dangerous. 😉

What Is Stitch Fix?

Let me back up before we get to the goods (the clothes I was sent). If you haven’t heard of Stitch Fix, it’s a personal styling service where you are sent five items handpicked by a stylist. You try them on, return the ones that don’t work in a prepaid package provided by Stitch Fix, and then go online to pay for the ones you’re going to keep. If you keep all the items in your Fix, you get 25% off the order.

When you set up your account, you can specify tons of details about your Fix. Price range, any particular pieces you need (a dress to wear to an upcoming event, for example), the type of clothing you want (office-appropriate clothes, big night out clothes, casual clothes, etc.), your style preferences (preppy, edgy, etc.)—you name it, you can customize it. You also can leave a link to a Pinterest board to help your stylist get a better idea of your personal style, which I thought was great. My Fashion board on Pinterest has a bajillion pins on it, but is a perfect collection of all the styles I love.

Last, you schedule your Fix. You can pick a regular frequency or opt for one-off packages when you need them.

My First Fix

Let’s check out the goods I got in my first Stitch Fix box! WARNING: Gratuitous amount of selfies coming your way…

Mavi Ruxin Distressed Boyfriend Jean = KEEPER

My stylist, Layla, noticed that I’ve pinned a ton of distressed/ripped denim looks to Pinterest (you get a little note from your stylist in your box), and I actually have been wanting a pair for months now. I think it’s tricky for just about everyone to find a pair of pants that fit them perfectly, so I was actually shocked when I put these on and they fit so well. I’d never heard of Mavi before, but now I can’t wait to check out more of their denim!

Amour Vert Alessandro Floral Print Silk Henley Blouse = NO GO (reluctantly)

This top was really cute, and I actually need to invest in more quality blouses that can be dressed up or down. The only reason I decided to return it was that I wanted to keep the total price of my Fix close to the credit I was given—as I’m sure you all can sympathize with, money is always a little tight around wedding season!

Pomelo Analisse Anorak Jacket = KEEPER

As I mentioned before, I never would have picked this out for myself when shopping. But I’m in love! It’s so adorable, but also so practical—I already know I’m going to get a ton of use out of it. This piece is a prime example of why stylists can be useful!

Shiraleah Dita Woven Hobo Bag = NO GO

I love woven bags, and really liked the color of this, but the shape/size didn’t quite do it for me. In general, I’m also just not a huge bag person. I’d always rather spend my money on clothes and then buy cheapo handbags only when the need arises.

Tart Mallika Dotted Stripe Belted Maxi Dress = NO GO

This dress was pretty and fit well, but just a tad too plain for me. If I’m going to spend over $100 on a dress, I want it to have some super unique feature—an open back, cool shape, or an outrageous print—something to make me go “wow, I need that.” When I tried this on, I thought “cute, but I can find the same thing at H&M for $25.”

When you check out online, you review your Fix, so I was able to give all the above feedback to my stylist. It’ll make the next Fix all the more spot-on! I probably won’t do another one until September (again, wedding season is draining my cash flow), but this first experience has definitely made a loyal customer out of me. If you’re interested in trying it out, visit Stitch Fix.

Have you tried Stitch Fix? If so, how was your experience with it? If not, what was your favorite piece from my first Fix?

Happy Hump Day, people!

xo Nicole

And special thanks to my roomie for letting me use her mirror to take all these obnoxious selfies. You know you’ve picked an odd career when you send text messages to your friends saying “Hey! Is it cool if I use your mirror to take some selfies today? Gotta blog about some new clothes I just got.” 🙂