Eshakti and Pic Monkey

Now before I go on with this blog post, I will say this, the opinions I am giving are my own, because frankly, this blog doesnt get a lot of traffic, and therefore no one wants me to "try out their stuff".  *sigh* Maybe someday I'll get free stuff like all the cool kids out there....

Anyway, I believe I heard about Eshakti via craftster.org (love that site, seriously great site for crafty people of all domains).  I clicked on the link, but I am always weary of these "buy clothes from a site you have never heard of".  Then again, they directed me towards Modcloth, and they are a legit website.
I stalked this website for close to a year, and in particular I started stalking a shirt.  I liked it for so many reasons, well one in particular

That neckline, ugh I LOVE IT!

 I checked out the results on google, and for the most part it gets great reviews (although about 2-3 years ago it did get some not so great reviews, it seems to have pulled itself around.) A bonus was most of the sewing blogs I follow raved about it, had ordered from it (or gotten some samples for their input), and some of those lovely ladies even had discount codes for money off.  I finally decided to take the plunge before it was too late and the top was gone.  Here is the top on me;

Voila, a top.

It might not look as great as it does on the mannequin (the arms are a little tight), but I did get a compliment on the day I wore it (success!!).  I'm not sure why I'm so excited to post about it, but if you are my friend Karen, you know that I have been bugging you about dresses from this website (sorry).  I want you to know that this website is legit, so if you order yourself something pretty from there, it will come to you.  The quality of the top was better than expected, it was quite a thick, sturdy cotton material.  I want to order a ton more stuff, but I will need to wait until another discount code comes up (they are a bit pricey for me). 
I didn't use the customisable options that they have, but that's another great feature people love.  You can shorter or lengthen dresses, or you can change sleeves as well for a few extra dollars.  So, there you go my friends (or hey, even a random blogger who may have stumbled on this site by accident).  This is not a paid endorsement, just a girl who likes to shop online, and stalk shirts.


Lastly- I was playing around on Pic Monkey, which is why my picture is on filter overload.  Once I get the hang of it, I will probably adjust a lot of my photos for both of my blogs on Pic Monkey (it's mostly free).  I'm always jealous of others blogs and the gorgeous photos they post.  I have no photography skills, and am usually the one who has to take my own photos for either blog so I need all the help I can get.

"Ditch the goop" my future strategy to declutter my life

If I ever find the blog post about "ditching the goop" I shall post it here.  What the whole premise of it was, is to rid yourself of all the lotions and gels and all of the numerous bottled smells we keep around the house in favour of 1 universal lotion.  As we were packing up at our old house for the move I found about 10+ different bottles, tubes and jars of different lotions of all scents and sizes and then I was mad.  I was mad at myself for having to pack all this crap and then lug all this crap, and then eventually unpack all the same crap at the new house. I was also mad that i had bought more lotions than i would need to use in a year. The biggest offender was bath and body works Lotions, and not only did I have tons of different scents (some of which I didn't buy, and they weren't scents I go crazy for, but they still smell nice) I also had a crap ton of shower gel.  Don't get me wrong, I love the smell of their stuff, but why do they give them such weird names "coconut lime breeze" (WTH does that even mean? I'm pretty sure that's not a real thing and if it is, I am scared to think what the storm that follows it might pelt us with).  Not only do I use my lotions infrequently but because of the uber girly smells, Andy won't use them, and I don't want to use them on the kids because they have such sensitive skin.  So I have promised myself that I am going to stop buying these lotions and have given my mom the notice as well, that from this point on I will no longer need them. I will be trying within the next year to get through all of this goop, pairing down, and eventually lead a relatively goop free life (with the exception of Aveeno lotion, Andy, the kids and I  will use that stuff no problem). On my next move I want to be able to open my cabinets and smile because I have barely anything to pack.  I will be doing a goop round-up and will go from there.  On a side note, I will say that after C was born I received so much baby wash that  3 years later I am  FINALLY getting to the last bottle!  First stop - goop round up, next stop - Kids toy round up.  This should get interesting....

Aaannnd we've moved.

It's been a week since we moved into the new house.  The great news is the kids seem to enjoy sharing a room. The good news is, we have started unpacking, the bad news is, we aren't even close to unpacking.  My sewing stuff is being held hostage is tons of different boxes and I've been going all week and taking the kids places that I haven't even bothered trying to unpack stuff.  The kitchen is coming together slowly, but the big problem is Andy works during the day and I have one non napper on my hands. If I even think about unpacking a box C starts pulling in the fridge looking for food.  No break there. The last thing Andy (and I) want to do is unpack after a long day of work/toddler wrangling. Plus I'm trying to make sure we both keep our workout routines.  I'm hoping this weekend involves unpacking and organizing. Maybe a trip out of the house to buy storage bins (hah, in my dreams, Andy hates bins).  I also hope to find out if there really truly is a cat living in our garage.  I commented to Andy that it smelled like cat urine in the garage (having had a kitty for many years I KNOW that smell).  Today the smell was horrid and there was a puddle under the car.  I think the cat (if it was truly a cat) must have been trapped in the garage but escaped when we opened the garage door.  I went around the garage kicking boxes and shaking loose items to see if there was a scared cat anywhere but so far so good.  We locked the cat door to make sure we don't get an unexpected visitor.  Don't get me wrong, I love cats but not when they are showing up to a house I'm not allowed to keep pets in.  So if I get any stuff done this weekend, I guess I will update the life blog.

Ttfn.