The Holiday Season

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This was a busy blogging holiday season for me and the one thing I didn’t spend much time talking about was what made it such a great break.

You can't go wrong with Nutella hot chocolate

You can’t go wrong with Nutella hot chocolate

We booked a last-minute trip to Atlanta to visit Josh’s brother and to see his parents who were also coming into town. We arrived early morning on Christmas Eve and left the day after Christmas. While it was a very short trip, we enjoyed spending time with the family, celebrating a belated Chanukah with everyone, running in Piedmont Park, and eating a lot of great food.

Piedmont Park on Christmas morning

Piedmont Park on Christmas morning

The next day after Atlanta, we had tickets to go see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with my family. We were that group of adults without young children at the 9:00AM show! It was intentional, of course, to be able to see my friend, Amanda perform (she was incredible as always). After the show, Amanda brought us backstage and we saw the sets, costumes, changing rooms, and the highlight, the camels. I decided that it is no longer possible to see shows that you don’t know people in; I’m spoiled thanks to Amanda.

With Amanda and the camels

With Amanda and the camels

Later that day, we walked around a less hectic Rockefeller Center area and ate brunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Fig & Olive. I am so glad to have the chance to introduce my family to such a great dining experience and after 31 years, I think I might finally have succeeded at choosing a restaurant my mom enjoys. Even though it was busier after brunch, we did a little shopping. No trip to NYC with mom is complete without some new clothes! This was one of favorite purchases, now I just need to wear it somewhere fun and I am also so excited about my Christmas present from my parents – a new Links of London charm bracelet.

The Tree

The Tree

The next day, we made waffles for our good friends and their daughter at our apartment. It is such blast having little ones in the apartment and seeing how they react to different things each time they are here. Months ago, she was fascinated by my foam roller and now, she’s moved on to Piglet (definitely a girl who knows the way to my heart).

The bracelet looks better next to the Fuelband, huh?!?!

The bracelet looks better next to the Fuelband, huh?!?!

The rest of next week was spent relaxing and trying new things. Josh was battling a cold, so my week off wasn’t as lonely as he was home working and sick for most of the week. I went to my first Mile High Run Club class and ran my first speed workout with the Dashing Whippets Running Team. We spent New Year’s Eve making dinner and hanging out on the couch. I’m surprised we made it to midnight, though I did take a nap during the day. Friday was my first full day back at work, it felt like it was a Monday but I’m so glad it wasn’t. I’m not ready for a full week yet.

Silly family picture

Silly family picture

And finally yesterday, we hosted my dad’s side of the family for a get together at our place. We made appetizers, went out to dinner, and had dessert back here. It a great way to bring in the new year!

Now, I am prepping myself for the first full week back to work.

How did you spend your holidays?

Golden Tote Review

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I am sucker for new clothes! I heard about Golden Tote from a number of bloggers and I knew I had to try for myself. Everyone needs to treat themselves to a holiday present, right? I liked the concept of Stitch Fix so I figured Golden Tote may be a good option as well.

IMG_2460Golden Tote works differently than that of Stitch Fix where you select if you’d like to spend $49 or $149. For the $49 option, you select one item, and Golden Tote surprises you with the remaining item(s) for a total of 2-3 pieces and the $149 option, you select two items, and you’re surprised with the remaining items for a total of 5-7 pieces. A new sale launches each month and that is when you go on and select your item(s). After you select the item(s) and sizing, you fill out a style profile (not as extensive as the Stitch Fix one). Golden Tote is an all-or-nothing deal though, so when you receive your items, you can either return all of them or keep. Golden Tote does encourage you to swap items with friends and family or connect with others on their trading page on Facebook.

IMG_2464I tried the $149 option about a couple of weeks ago. I was in the market for something cute and sparkly to wear for the holidays and was excited to see the surprises picked for me. I picked the Puella Elbow Patch Swing Dress in red (a brand I am familiar with from Anthropologie) and the Holiday Sparkle Sweater. In addition to the $149, I was also charged $7.95 for shipping (P.S. I don’t particularly like paying for shipping these days especially since so many places offer free shipping and returns). I placed the order on December 18th and my Golden Tote arrived the day we got back from Atlanta on December 26th – not terrible, but I guess I could have paid more for expedited shipping if I wanted it earlier.

IMG_2463I was so excited to open the package and see what cool items were selected for me. In most of the reviews I read about Golden Tote, the customers generally liked their items so I was really looking forward to adding new items to my closet. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The swing dress I picked out was way too big and the sweater started pulling as soon as I put it on. As for the other items, I received 4 other ones and I was really hoping that they worked, but everything was either too big, bad styling, or the quality felt poor.

IMG_2462Black high-waisted skirt – this was the one item that is most unlike my style. Not only do stretchy skirts not flatter my body type, high-waisted ones do not work well on someone who is 5’1″.

IMG_2469Marbled sweater cardigan – I really like this style, but overall the sweater was too baggy and chunky.

IMG_2470Blue dress – I really wanted to like this as soon as I took it out of the bag but since the material was polyester, it provided no stretch when I put it on. Overall, the dress was a gorgeous color and would have been perfect for work but it didn’t hug in the right places.

IMG_2468Navy striped swing dress with a hood – I really liked this dress. It was lightweight, fun and easy to wear. But given that it is winter here and if I didn’t like any of the other items, this dress wasn’t worth keeping for what is essentially $149.

Unfortunately, I will be returning all of my items to Golden Tote. The downside of the return is that I am responsible for generating a return label but I will receive a refund on the shipping cost, at least I only pay for shipping one way.

I really like the concept of Golden Tote and how you select the items from their boutique but I wish they would also show you all possible items that you can receive. After trying Stitch Fix seven times and now Golden Tote, I am wondering if I am more of a I-pick-what-I-want type shopper. Even though I like the idea of a surprise, I found that I am pretty particular about my clothes and even though I want to try new things, I prefer to pick them out and have a full return policy. As a side note, my recent favorite shopping locale is Piperlime. I like how Piperlime carries all different brands and styles, but does not have an overwhelming amount of options like a department store. Piperlime also offers free shipping and returns.

Anyway, I think Golden Tote can be a really cool idea for some and is worth a try but unfortunately for me, I will not be placing another order in the near future.

Are there other shopping services you like?

Have you tried Golden Tote? What did you think?