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Losing my Lululemon Virginity and Comparisons

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My bestest friend texted me on Friday morning asking me if I wanted something from the Lululemon warehouse sale in Chicago. 

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Yes please, I’d love something. I gave her a budget ($100-$150) and told her to go have fun. I much prefer to let someone else do my shopping, so easy, and I don’t have to think! I sound like I’ve done this a hundred times, I haven’t, this is the first time I’ve done this, but it is the way to go. Anyways, I trust the girl with my life, so obviously I trust her with my closet. She re-organized it once too.

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So, she grabbed me that grey hoodie on the left and a purple bag (below). Love them both, I’ve been living in them for the past two days.

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This is where I started thinking – am I on the Lululemon bandwagon? Bags? Yes – super functional, great storage cute as can be. Hoodies? Pretty freaking great. It fits great, looks awesome on my body, hugs the smallest part of my waist fully accentuating the limited curve that I have. Yep, I’m in. So, I’m in love with the clothes that I will never actually wear to work out. But then I got to thinking, what about the pants? What about the workout tanks? 

I wanted to do some super comparison shopping because that is what I do. Lululemon’s workout clothes are similar to Oakley’s workout clothes. But are they worth paying almost twice as much? In full disclosure, I worked for Oakley for three years and am horribly biased to LOVE everything they do. But…. Their workout tops are really close in price to Lululemon’s, and from what I’ve heard Lulu’s tops are killer for workouts and lounging. So the big L wins this battle.

But let’s talk about the yoga pants. Again, disclosure, I don’t workout or do yoga in any of this stuff (rugby or soccer shorts and cotton tee/wifebeater are my preferred workout gear) so my opinions don’t go too far. Oakley wins this battle – for half the price at the Oakley Vault store I can buy crops for $20-$40 and full-length yoga pants for $40-$65. My butt will look just as good in $50 yoga pants as it will in $100 yoga pants. Oakley wins this battle. 

Source: oakleyvault.com via Eliza on Pinterest 

If you want to see the full breakdown of pant/tank comparisons, take a look at my Pinterest To Purchase board. To all the ladies that braved the Lululemon warehouse sale, I commend you.

What is your favorite athletic clothes brand? How much are you willing to pay for yoga pants? Tanks?

Manic(ure) Monday: My Private Jet

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Promise I wasn’t driving when I snapped this! Love this color, gunmetal with gold/bronze flake from OPI. Almost reminds me of my favorite car paint – factory black on Subarus!

Sadly, used a crappy top coat and I’m already chipped. Dual paintings in one week? What luxuries I provide for myself. What’s your favorite grey for the fingers – dark or light? I’m in a serious toss up. And yes, this is what I ponder when I’m not thinking about serious stuff. Have a great week y’all!

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Sundays in January

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Personal growth book and fresh flowers – what else are Sundays in the first month of the new year for??

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There’s a ton going on, but I love to spend the first month of the year assessing the various aspects of my life that I can improve. That sets the stage for the months and the year ahead. I find it to be more successful than starting the new year with intense resolutions. More on that this week if I can find time. After all – the shortest month of the year is the beat bet for to make big changes because success happens in 29 days instead of 30. Ha!

Hope y’all are having some luck in tackling self-reflection and resolutions!

Manic(ure) Monday: Skull & Crossbones & A Mouse

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Happy MLK Day! I had a great day off and ended the night with a big steak dinner, wine and my second manicure in past three days. Friday, I attempted a Hello Kitty manicute, ooops, I mean manicure similar to the one below from Pinterest, but couldn’t get those damn whiskers figured out. So, I went with a pale pink and an obnoxious hot pink and pearl striped ring finger. Totally hideous. 

Source: bdeprincesa.blogspot.com via Eliza on Pinterest

Round two manicure for the week was inspired by the color of my mouse button. Same color! It is OPI Skull & Crossbones from the Pirates of the Caribbean line which has some great soft colors. This one is much lighter than  last week’s grey and glitter nail polish. Here’s to a light and happy week with a limited number of grey days!

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My favorite day of the year (haters beware)

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First real snow of the winter. It is the quietest you’ll ever hear the city. Go for a walk, take it all in, and enjoy the pretty white stuff. It’s one of natures greatest treats, a fresh snow blanket!

Great time to pull out your favorite sweater, snuggle up and enjoy the rosy cheeks! Haters are welcome in my winter wonderland, they’ll come around one day.

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Book Club Book Review – The Paris Wife

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The Paris Wife by Paula McLain – buy on Amazon, or run to your local book store! 

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{pic from Random House’s page for The Paris Wife}

Book Club Scores – 7-10

My Score – 8-9 (gut-wrenching at times, but couldn’t put it down!)

This book is about Ernest Hemingway’s life with his first wife, Hadley. The story starts in St. Louis and Chicago which appealed to our lovely midwestern group of girls. It was fun to read about places that we know, we’ve walked some of the streets that the characters walked in the book. Four of the ladies in the book group have recently traveled in France, so they enjoyed reading about places they’d seen in the past year. The places and spaces in the book set the stage for a tumultuous and doomed love affair. 

McLain does a great job of putting the reader inside Hadley’s shoes, but, interestingly, our group was split on whether she was a strong woman willing to fight for her relationship, or a weak woman that let’s her husband walk all over her. Three-quarters thought weak, I thought she was strong and wanted to fight for what she believed in – her relationship with Hemingway.

I’m not going to go into more detail, but the book comes highly recommended from our group. Even the girls that gave the book low ranks (7) said they would recommend the book. The biggest negative expressed about McLain’s novel is the discomfort and disgust for what was contained in the book. Can’t blame the book for that! But I’ll warn you, there will be moments where the foreshadowing will make you want to walk away from the book altogether because you always know what the end result is of Hadley and Hem’s life together.

I was advised by other members to read Hem’s The Moveable Feast, his writing about the period. I’ve already read The Sun Also Rises, also written at the time, and traveled to Madrid, but check that out too if you haven’t read it!

Have you read the book? Is Hadley strong or weak?

The question the drove the most discussion – would you have A) walked away from the relationship as soon as you knew what Hadley knew? Or, B) would you stick around and fight for the relationship? 

 

 

The year ahead – food, friends, books and nail polish

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I wrote all about the year in review a few days ago and have already enjoyed going back to read it a few times. It is great to relive and analyze the treats in life to seek out your next dessert. So, let’s talk about #eliza2012. Call me crazy, but so-call “resolutions” shouldn’t feel like punishments to your day-to-day happiness. My year is going to be full of things that make me happy – good food, great friends, nail polish, books, magazines, spending money and enjoying nice things.

Basically, that could be an anti-resolutions list but let me explain –

I want to eat anything that tastes good and doesn’t make me sick. I’m getting back into enjoying food and this is going to be my year of eating. I used to get sick from food but, I’ve been feeling much better, so I want to eat more of it! That means new restaurants, new dishes, new creations, and health considerations will be on the back burner so long as I don’t get sick which is a huge health consideration. If I gain 75 lbs from my new years resolution, I’ll reassess, but I’m confident I’ll be fine for the year eating anything that I want.

Great friends, good food and spending money are all closely linked. I have a purse collection that rivals a small store and I have more shoes that I’ll ever wear. So, instead of buying a new purse or new shoes or jeans (I don’t NEED any more), I’ll be spending my discretionary income on my relationships. More eating with Leo, more eating with girl friends, more hanging out with people I love and by default, more spending of money on what matters. More making things from scratch, like this pillow (promise I won’t brag on any more social networks about this pillow, but I’m pumped that I sewed it from scratch with Suzanne’s help). 

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Nail polish – oh how I love thee. I paint my nails every week, it is relaxing and it is all about “me time.” Here’s the first rendition of Manic(ure) Monday … yes, its Sunday, no I don’t care if I’m a day early. This week is OPI French Quarter for your Thoughts with OPI Muppet’s collection, Rainbow Connection. Oh and that background of the photo? It’s the pillow I made this weekend!

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On the books front, I just finished “The Paris Wife” by Paula McLain” and it was GREAT. I’m about a third of the way through “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” by John Berendt, and next up is a book by my aunt, Janet Renu Pullen called “In Secret and Shadows.” Go buy this book. Not just because she’s my aunt 🙂 take a look at the comments on the book on Amazon.

Enjoying nice things is all about investing in what matters. A FULL breakdown of my finances from 2011 will come later this month as I’m nothing worrying about finances until February. Just a warning, its going to be brutal. But it’ll help me understand what I want to invest in for 2012! Until next time… Off to go eat some grub and drink some wine!