Stitch Fug

A non-workout entry...

Unless you live under a rock, you've heard of Stitchfix. You pay a $20 styling fee and fill out an extensive questionnaire based on your clothes preferences and personal style. The company then ships you a box full of goodies to try on. You pay for what you want to keep (minus your $20 fee), and send back what you don't. Or, you get shipped a bunch of clothes that are laughably overpriced for their quality, and send the whole shebang back and eat the $20.

I'm legitimately the last person on Earth to try this service, so I thought I'd treat myself and just give it a shot. April has reviewed her Fixes with pretty good success, and seemed to have some good experience getting cute pieces to add to her wardrobe. I used her referral code, (use hers! She has better luck with this than me!) which gives her a $20 to her account for future goodies, and set off on my clothing adventure.

My first (spoiler alert: and last) Fix arrived last Thursday evening. I asked for some staple sundresses I could dress up  for work, but still dress down for weekend-wearing. I also requested a yellow cardigan, simply because that's a random staple I always forget I want.

I was sent the following...

-Color-blocked maxi dress. I actually really liked this. It was long enough (sometimes a struggle for me) and the fit was flattering. However, this bad boy clocked in at $88. I would have had to shell out $68 more to keep it. Give me a break.

-Purple shirt. I thought this was cute, but the material was pretty uncomfortable. My stylist said I could pair it with the skirt also enclosed in my package...

-This was actually pretty comfortable. The shirt is the only thing I could wear this with, because there is literally nothing else to pair with it in my closet.

-This is my exasperated look. This dress is the only thing I really thought about keeping. But once I kept it on for a while, I thought it fit weird around my stomach (food baby, I'm sure) and it was $64. $64. For viscose and spandex. In the end...no.

I was also send a simple white 3/4 sleeve cardigan, since they didn't have a yellow one in stock. $38 for Old Navy quality (NOT bashing ON...am bashing something I could get for $10.)

All in all, I get why Stitchfix is popular. (Kind of...) But the quality and pricing, in my experience, did NOT make sense. I just don't think these subscription services are for me!

Upside-Down

A short update...

A few weekends ago I signed up for an arm balance/inversion workshop at the DCR Village. (Led by Gracie--if you are in the area and get a chance to take one of her classes, do it. She is sparkle and sunshine in human form. So warm and welcoming, and such a great teacher.) It ended up be mostly a focus on inversions, which introduced me to a new discomfort zone I didn't even know I had in me.

I was not one of those kids who could throw themselves around into cartwheels and back handsprings. I never made the dance or cheerleading team and I remember one ill-fated gymnastics class where I think my cousin Drew and I mostly screwed around and didn't listen to instructions. So, I've reached the ripe old age of 31 without ever really getting used to the sensation of flinging my head and feet up in the air and propping myself up by my hands or arms. And even with the knowledge that there's a wall right behind me, it makes me terrified to try.

We warmed up in an inverted L-shape handstand and...I could barely hold that bad boy. A little embarrassing, to say the least.

(Picture me doing this, but falling after 3 seconds. Also, I was wearing a shirt.)

The rest of the workshop made me realize inverting isn't just throwing myself into the air and praying something sticks. I've had to really start working on my upper-body training and core strengthening. Which I HATE. I have always hated core exercises, but now I'm regretting putting them on the back-burner for all these years. These poses use that strength so much, and I'm so dang weak.

One thing Gracie told us that has helped me was to visualize ourselves mastering our inversions in the middle of an empty room. No wall to balance off of, but perfectly holding a headstand or handstand. And to mentally feel what we'd feel once we accomplish getting there. Just holding that feeling in my mind has helped tremendously. 

So, I recruited a personal trainer to help me out a few times a week. We've been really focusing on pushing myself to the point of exhaustion using pushups, core exercises, and different upper-body moves he's learned in his years of being a professional strong-man

 (It's not Easter until someone takes a sneak-pic of you)

He's one of the most VIP trainers in the Valley. I repay him back in breakfasts out in exchange for him working me to not be able to lift up my arms.

AND...in the few weeks I've been focusing on these areas, I've seen progress! This morning I mastered tripod headstand on my own in the middle of the floor during class! And yes, held it there for more than half a second. I just need to keep up with it. "Nothing changes if nothing changes."