my third, and final, stitch fix

Yesterday I got my third Stitch Fix box. I was again hopeful that it would include items that were better-fitting and more to my liking, though my hopes had decreased a bit and I wasn't overly optimistic.

I mentioned last time that I planned to ask for them to send me Misses XL for the tops rather than Women's 1X, as I've found the 1X to be a little big. I also asked that I get a necklace or bracelet, no earrings, and pants rather than jeans. They came through on all three requests, but with mixed results.

Here's what I got this time around:  three tops, one pair of pants, and a necklace. All three tops are a Misses XXL (their sizes run a little smaller).

This top is extremely sheer and there's absolutely no way I'd be able to wear it without a tank top or something similar underneath. Even then, the tank top would be completely visible. Probably fine for going out, but not for work, which, given the fabric and pattern, seems to be meant for work. The fit was fine other than the armholes being a little light. It's going back, though, simply because of the sheerness. The price is $44.00, which I think is a little high considering it can't realistically be worn on its own.

This top I like, and I may keep it. I'm not sure, though, because  but it fits rather large and makes me look much bigger than I am. Also, I feel like I can get similar for much less money and won't make me look three sizes bigger. It's disappointing, because it matches perfectly with the tan cardigan I bought from the first box I got.  The price is $54.00.

I was really skeptical when I pulled this one out of the box. It has a zipper on each shoulder, and the fabric crisscrosses in front. I tried it on and was actually pleasantly surprised...until I turned to the side. It makes me look huge, as though I'm 343 pounds again. I considered it for a moment when I put a cardigan over it, but it still makes me look big. Nope, going back. The price is $58.00. 

I was also skeptical about these pants, but only because they say "straight leg" on the tag. I generally don't like that style; I'm a skinny jeans/pants girl all the way and I'm SO HAPPY that skinny is back in style now that I can actually fit into them! I really love the material of these pants, which is heavy and very soft, Perfect for fall and winter. They are very comfortable and seem to fit well in most areas; however, because they're a Women's 16, the hips are slightly loose, which make the thighs a little loose, too. Therefore, they look like a poor fit.  I was going to keep these, but I'm sending them back. At $88.00, I should LOVE them, but I don't. I want to get out of the mindset that I should settle for things I "mostly like" and not make the effort to find things I love.

And the necklace. I didn't like it at first; however, when I put it on with the white/orange blouse above, it looked nice. But it's $34.00. As I've said in my previous two posts, I just can't justify spending that much on costume jewelry. I'm just not comfortable enough yet with the whole "statement jewelry" thing where I'm willing to spend that much, especially when it's not something I can wear with everything.

So, I've decided I'm going to cancel Stitch Fix. The main reason is the fit. The tops are either too big in the body, too small in the sleeves, or just not my thing. The pants/jeans seem to be great in terms of length, but one pair I could barely get past my thighs and the other (above) was a little loose, which made them look like a poor fit. The things is, all the pants are the same size!  Also, I've noticed that a piece of clothing isn't available in both Misses and Women's, so if a top is too big in a 1X, I can't size down to an XL or vice versa.

I just don't think that mail order is my thing anymore. Since I'm sometimes a Misses XL and other times a Women's 1X, and pants can vary a lot in length and fit, I think I need to stick to the store so I can try things on. I guess it's a nice problem to have after many years of being on the high end of Women's sizes, but it's definitely frustrating nonetheless. Actually, I think it's a little harder to shop now than it was before.

I think Stitch Fix would be great for someone who is a solid, consistent Misses or Women's size, and is looking to try new fashions. It's just not for me. 

my second stitch fix

I posted a few weeks back about my first Stitch Fix box. It was kind of a mixed bag for me, but I ended up keeping two items.

I scheduled my next fix to come this week, since I was excited and didn't want to wait another week. It arrived yesterday. Early verdict (before trying anything on):  promising, and better than the first one.

Here's what I got. (Note: The colors are better and brighter in real life. I took these with my cell phone in a room that is kind of dark.)

I really like this sleeveless shirt. It's very soft, it's the right length, I LOVE the color and it matched the tan cardigan they sent me last month. It's a little too big, though. I was going to keep it, but then realized I would be settling. I've settled for clothing all my life and I'm not doing it anymore. I'm not buying it unless it fits right, looks good, and I like it. The price on this is $38.00, which is pretty reasonable. Size is Women's 1X.

I like this flannel shirt on the hanger and I love the colors.  You probably can't tell from the picture, but the back buttons up and has a slit that goes up to the waist. I was hopeful yet skeptical, because I just don't look good in collared shirts. I was right. It looks awful on me. Plus it seems to not really hang the right way and is a little big. Sleeves are slightly tight at the top. The price on this is $58.00.  I think it's a bit much for this shirt. Size is Misses XXL.

I'm iffy about this blouse. It's better than the one they sent last month, but it's still a bit "old" and not really my style anymore. It's a blouse that I would've settled for before I lost weight. I like the colors, but it was way too big.  The price on this is $48.00, which is about what I would expect to pay at some place like Dress Barn or another store that sells business casual clothing. Size is Women's 1X.

These jeans! (Well, jeggings. They're not the typical button-and-zip jeans.) I love the color and the fit, as well as the double seam on the side. HOWEVER...I thought I was going to need to Crisco my legs to get these on. It was a struggle to get these up my legs and over my hips. It actually hurt, too, because I just got the "dog ears" fixed on my tummy tuck scar and the stitches came out yesterday. They looked great once I was able to hike them up, but it was a lot of work.  Then it was time to take them off.  I practically had to peel them off my legs. These felt slightly too short to me. The price is $78.00, which I feel is kind of high. I've never been one to spend a lot on jeans, though, so that might be reasonable to a lot of women.  But if I'm going to actually spend that much, they better be long enough (I'm 5'11"), fit well in the waist, and look awesome on me. Something weird I noticed on the tag:  it says to not sit on light colored upholstery or come in contact with light clothing.  So, yeah, another requirement if I'm spending $78.00 is that the color needs to, you know, stay on the jeans. The size is Women's 1X.  Not sure how, as they felt about two sizes too small.

And then there's the earrings. Yuck is all I can say. This is something I would never, ever wear. I didn't even try them on. I love the color, but the style is not for me. I held them up to my ears and they didn't look right at all. The price is $38.00, which is a lot for costume jewelry.

Final verdict on this fix:  not keeping it. I'm sending everything back. The shirts were too big and made me look bigger than I am, the jeans are too small and a little short, and I don't like the earrings at all.

As far as sticking with Stitch Fix, I'm going to give it one more shot. It's not that I don't like what they send me--I do for the most part.  Sure, a few things aren't to my taste, but I like most of the items. Also, they seem to listen when I say, "Send me something to match the tan cardigan I bought last month." They did--the purple sleeveless shirt. I asked for lighter colored jeans, and they sent them. The issue is sizing. After losing the weight and having the tummy tuck, it seems I'm kind of in between sizes:  I'm not consistently a Women's 1X or 16, and I'm not consistently a Misses XL or 16. I've asked that they send me Misses sizes next time to see if that helps. If not, then I plan to cancel.

my first batch of homemade salsa

Now that summer is pretty much over, I find myself with lots of tomatoes and jalapenos, which I grew myself thank you very much! There's a certain amount of pride in the fact that I grew these edible items in my own backyard.

My regular tomatoes are finally ripening (I'm STILL waiting on the Romas....), which means I need to find a use for them fast. I'm not a fan of the seeds and goop that's inside a tomato, so eating them in a salad or on a sandwich is out of the question. Plus I generally don't eat salads and sandwiches anymore. I figured my options are: tomato sauce, salsa, roasted tomatoes, on pizza, or chopped up for tacos. I decided on salsa since I needed to use the jalapenos, too. I Goggled for a recipe and found one easily.

Making the salsa was incredibly easy. Probably because I picked a "fresh" recipe (no-cook) and used my food processor. I was done in like 10 minutes, which includes peeling and chopping the veggies.

As you can see, it's a little chunky, but not much. And it's more on the thin side. It tastes great; however, I was skeptical at first. It definitely doesn't taste like your standard store-bought salsa, which is cooked and contains vinegar and/or sugar. I was tempted to fiddle around and add more of this or that, but I resisted. It tasted like there was too much onion and it didn't seem to have any heat even though I used two jalapenos (minus the seeds). I waited a couple hours and the heat started growing. Then the next day I tasted again and it was perfect. The heat had mellowed and it tasted less like onions. (I was later told that fresh salsa takes at least a day or more for the flavors to meld and develop; they were right!)

The verdict for my first time making salsa? It tastes great, it was super easy, and I used up some tomatoes. I'd make it again.

Here's the recipe.

Fresh Salsa

6 garden tomatoes, cut into quarters
2 jalapeños, seeded and roughly chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Toss it all in the food processor and pulse until it's at a consistency you like. Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

Note: The flavors of the salsa will change the longer it sits in the fridge. If you don't need it right away, you might want to wait until the following day to make adjustments.

the war on back pain

Back pain. Annoying, fucking back pain. It's the story of my life lately.

It seems like back pain has always a part of my life. Sometimes more than others. I've been living with chronic lower back pain for years. How many? I'm not exactly sure. I feel like what started it all was a fall in third grade. I remember falling off the monkey bars flat onto my back. We had a new school nurse start that day and she didn't know her way around the school yet. So, rather than take me in the closest door, which was the fourth grade wing, she walked me all the way around to the first/second/third grade wing on the other side, down the long hall and to the nurse's office. I think, through my school years, I probably was sore by the time I got home from school. But I just don't remember (sometimes I honestly think I've blocked out all my schooling years, because I can't remember very much). 

I have no idea when it started being a real problem, although I'm guessing probably when I started working at a desk. Sitting is really bad for the back. The pain ranges anywhere from "barely noticeable but there" to "I can barely walk." But most of the time it's somewhere in between. Meaning, I feel good when I walk around, work out, or keep moving in general, but after sitting for about 30 minutes it starts to hurt. And since I have a desk job, that means I'm generally in some level of pain for most of the workday, which means I'm generally squirmy, somewhat distracted depending on the level of pain, and have a hard time getting work done. And, I'll admit, it severely increases my "head hunger."

Head hunger is when you think you're hungry, but what's really going on is you want a distraction from some emotion you're feeling: you're bored, anxious, sad, etc. (There's an article on it here.) In other words, you're not actually physically hungry. So when my back is bothering me, like it is right now, I'm thinking about going to grab some pretzels from the department's community table, or going to see what's in the cold case in the cafeteria. (And that's why I'm fighting a 10 pound weight gain; I just can't seem to reign it in.)

So anyway, I've done lots over the years for my pain. I've gone to the chiropractor off and on since I was a young teenager, sometimes with heat treatments and sometimes without. I've used a back brace, which I'm using now. It helps quite a bit while I'm wearing it, but the pain comes back without it, so it's really something to be used along with other treatments. Muscle relaxers, which help when I have a muscle spasm. Celebrex, which is an NSAID. Unfortunately I can't use it very much since I'm a gastric bypass patient and it can cause stomach damage. Lots and lots of Tylenol. Prescription Ibuprofen, which I can't use anymore because of weight loss surgery. Ice. Heat. Exercise. Physical therapy.

At the moment, I'm in a very long pain cycle; it's been over a month. The week my brother died I had to make three out-of-state road trips, which has really done a number on my back. Obviously I couldn't avoid the road trips and I knew this would happen, so I used the back brace as a preventative measure. Also during that week I worked from home a bit, and since I don't have a proper desk chair, that also caused some pain. That lead to several muscle spasms. I'd have one, it would somewhat improve, and then I'd be hit with another. Even though I work out five days a week and try to keep moving, sitting at my desk at work all day pretty much cancels that out. I'm using the back brace, Celebrex, muscle relaxers and Tylenol. Now I'm having slightly different pain. It doesn't feel like my muscles. It feels more like my bones or nerves maybe, almost like my spine is compressed. I dread going to bed because it's not restful. I wake up in pain everyday. It's really exhausting.

I just can't stand this anymore. I never have a day when I feel "good." (I never understood when my mother would say that, but now I do and it SUCKS!) There's never a day when I don't feel some form of back pain. At 42, I don't think that I should be feeling like this all the time.

I've decided it's time for an MRI, so I scheduled an appointment with the orthopedic doctor. I plan to ask for an MRI (I had the choice last time and said no) and to also get a note stating a need a standing desk for work. Unfortunately I couldn't get in until September 22, and I'll have to drive to a more distant location since the one near me is booked. I'll report back once I know something.

honey & chili chicken breasts

A few weeks ago I had a bunch of cilantro and didn't know what to do with it. When I bought the cilantro from the farm stand up the road, I had visions of Mexican dishes in my mind, but, as usual, the motivation to actually find and make the recipes fizzled by the end of the day. So, I was left with a whole lot of cilantro to use or lose.

I found this recipe online at one of my favorite cooking sites, The Kitchn. I grilled the thighs rather than baking. The recipe calls for baking the chicken, but a lot of the comments mention how messy the pan got and how hard it was to clean, which is because of the beer and honey. That's not for me, so grilling it was!

The marinade came together easily. Picking the cilantro was a little tedious, but not overly so. Once it was mixed, I tossed the marinade in a large zipper top plastic bag along with the chicken and left them in the fridge overnight. I made the sauce, too. The next day I grilled the chicken, stirred up the sauce (it seemed to separate a little) and then poured it over the cooked chicken.

I also roasted some red potatoes with olive oil, fresh rosemary from my garden, salt and pepper; and some green beans with olive oil and Borsari seasoned salt (love this stuff!); both were also from the farm stand. It was a very easy meal, actually.

I thought this tasted really good. I will say, however, that if you don't like cilantro, you won't like the sauce. It's quite strong. It was good, though.  I'd make this recipe again, but I would probably make half the amount of sauce or find multiple uses for it.

If you want the recipe, here it is:  Honey & Chili Chicken Thighs with cilantro Cream Sauce.

Here's the finished meal!