My Fifth Stitch Fix Experience

After my last Stitch Fix (which was a bit of a disappointment), Stitch Fix started emailing me constantly reminding me to schedule another Fix soon. Because Stitch Fix is super needy, apparently. #ohmygoodnessstitchfix #werenotevendating

Sometime in February, I scheduled my spring Fix for the middle of March. St. Patrick's Day, to be precise. I asked for brightly colored, short-sleeved tops for spring...and that's it.

As usual, the Fix was scheduled for a Thursday. And, as usual, it shipped out on a Monday. But not as usual, it didn't arrive on Wednesday. Was this finally the Fix that would come on a Thursday?! The answer is no...no, it was not. By Thursday night I was wondering what was taking my Fix so long. I checked out the shipping link and lo and behold, apparently my fix had spent the last seventy-two hours ping-ponging between three shipping centers in Phoenix. I have no idea why this happened, but, anyways, it arrived on Friday at last!

Hi Awkward Mormon Girl! Welcome back, glad to be styling you again!

Aw, Jessica V, I...wait, welcome back? I never even left! Geez. One bad Fix and you and Stitch Fix are acting like I want to break up with you or something!

I know we have been on the hunt for polka dot jeans and since those are yet to be seen I am sending the Pixley Polka Dot Skirt that I know you will adore.

You know that I will adore it? That's a pretty strong statement, Jessica V. We'll see.

I went down a size in this one since i think the S would be a little to roomy, pair this skirt with the Fun2Fun Blouse for a vibrant pop of color--try out this skirt paired with the Pixley Top for a fun unexpected pattern combination. Also sending along the KFKT Pant that will be great for spring as well, love the pants paired with the Daniel Rainn Blouse.

I still think that "pant" in the singular is pretentious.

Looking forward to your thoughts on this Fix, and have fun trying it all on!

Since my thoughts on the last Fix were very honest, I feel like saying "looking forward to your thoughts" could possibly be passive-aggressive. Is Jessica V mad at me?

Best, Jessica V

No Xo??? She must be mad at me!

The first look of Fix #5 was pretty great:

I mean, seriously. Look at those beautiful spring colors! 

Pixley June Polka Dot Skirt: Obviously, I had to start with the polka dot skirt that Jessica V was so sure I would "adore." I put it on, and my first thought was, "If this is an extra small, I'd hate to see a small!" If the extra small had been any bigger, it would have been too big for me. Anyways, Jessica V was right...I did adore this skirt. Cute pattern, super comfy, and even though there was a slit in the back, it fell in such a way that it hid my garments. Verdict: Keep.

Fun2Fun Walden V-Neck Blouse: It's hard to find a modest short-sleeved blouse. I loved this one! I've never seen a cut quite like this, and the color was gorgeous! Here it is with the skirt (from a strange and semi-awkward angle): 

 
Verdict: Keep. 

Pixley Lingley Crew Neck Top: I tried this with the skirt as Jessica V suggested. I did not care for the combo, but I did like the top itself. I liked the blue and orange combination especially. There was a small cutout in the back, but my mother offered to stitch it up for me. Verdict: Keep. 

Kut From The Kloth Siena Cropped Pant: It's been ever so long since I had pink pants. I really liked the color and the fit. Verdict: Keep. 

Daniel Rainn Anders Heart Print Split Neck Blouse: I could tell right away that I was really going to like this blouse. However, it took awhile for me to confirm this, because this blouse was the kind of blouse that has a little undershirt loosely connected on the inside. Since I have to wear an undershirt with sleeves with blouses like this regardless, I hate when they put the little undershirts inside because it makes it impossible to get the blouse and the undershirt aligned and then get the whole thing on my person. The moral of the story is, it took about fifteen minutes to get the blouse on and I was very frustrated. But not so frustrated that I refused to buy it. Because it looked really good with the pants (excuse me, pant). And also because if I bought it, I could then have the pleasure of cutting the undershirt out. Verdict: Keep.

That's right, folks! Fifth Stitch Fix...five out of five. Which meant I got a 25% discount. Which meant that, with my $25 in referral credit, the items were quite well-priced.

If you want to try Stitch Fix, too, you can use my referral link to sign up. It's very fun!

Much Ado About Siblings

This month, a million things happened in the space of two short weeks. These things are as follows: Older Sister went to Washington, D.C., for a grad school trip. Little Sister went to San Francisco for a college class, and the three youngest each starred in a different theatrical production.

Baby Sister was in Much Ado About Nothing. Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite Shakespeare play. When Baby Sister was first cast as Hero in her school's production of this delightful comedy, I offered her the use of my No Fear Shakespeare version of the script.

BABY SISTER: ...you have that?

AWKWARD MORMON GIRL: ...is that weird?

I was able to see Baby Sister perform twice. She was a delightful Hero (you should have seen her faint!). She was also very short, as usual, which was good because the other characters in the play several times refer to Hero's height or lack thereof. Our mom made the costumes for the production, and those were also very good.

Watching Shakespeare always causes me to talk with an Elizabethan bent for a while--inside my head, if not out loud. The second time I saw the show, I went to an Indian restaurant with my roommates right after.

WAITER: Here's your table.

AWKWARD MORMON GIRL: Behold! Here is a place upon which we can eat.

Little Brother's leading role that same week was Pinocchio in Shrek Jr. Little Brother usually gets cast as fairly serious characters, so I felt like he really enjoyed the chance to use a wacky voice and be funny. He also got to puppeteer a chicken in some scenes, which he also really enjoyed. Little Brother is a talented self-taught puppeteer.

Here's his program bio. It amused me:

Little Brother Obnoxious was last seen onstage as John Darling in Hometown High School's summer production of Peter Pan. Some other shows he was recently in are The Little Mermaid and Bye Bye Birdie. Little Brother is puppeteer and immensely enjoys making/watching YouTube videos and eating sushi. He would like to thank everyone who put time and effort into this musical. The end.

The next week, we all saw Baby Brother as Daddy Warbucks in Annie Kids. Ginger Cousin was Annie. Ginger Cousin is now taller than Baby Brother, so that was pretty funny. But holy cow. Nobody knew that Baby Brother could sing like that. He has the voice of an angel.

And to top it all off, Older Sister was accepted for a summer internship in New York City. She's really going to move there, just like she's always dreamed of!

A while ago, I was talking to Goldfinger. He said something like, "No offense, but your family does so much stuff that it's really...intimidating."

I'm beginning to see what he meant.

Renewal

I was going to post on Saturday night; I really was. But then technical difficulties happened, so here we are.

Speaking of Saturday night, as I was heading out to sleep over at my parents' for Easter, Pepper gave me a little Easter basket she had put together. This chocolate egg was included:

 

It's so fancy, I'm afraid to eat it!

When I got to the parents' house, I made up a little bed on the downstairs couch. Baby Brother came to join me. Before we went to bed, he read me an entire book about Easter bunnies (except the book referred to them as rabbits, which I found odd). Actually, Baby Brother kept insisting that he was making up this bedtime story for me rather than reading from the book hidden in a blanket on his lap. Baby Brother is a weird one sometimes.

The book bedtime story Baby Brother was telling was mostly about the ways in which Easter bunnies deliver eggs. But every now and again, there would be a line like this one: "When they get old enough, Easter rabbits go on dates and get to know other rabbits. Then they get married and raise Easter rabbit families." ...All righty then.

In the morning, Baby Brother and I went upstairs to Little Sister's room, where Baby Brother told Little Sister the exact same story, word for word. Then we looked at the little goodies in our Easter baskets and dyed eggs as a family. We made some cool marbled eggs as well as your typical kit-dyed eggs.

Please note the Avatar Aang egg (from Avatar the Last Airbender) and the Rock Facts rock egg (from Over the Garden Wall). 

Also, my mother the RN, who worked in a bakery before she was an RN, made a fun bunny cake. Baby Brother and I added a face :

On a more serious note, over the years I have posted some Easter posts to talk about what Easter means to me. There are certainly statements more eloquent than mine. But I say what I can.

The aspect of Easter that has most been on my mind is renewal. The Atonement makes it possible for us to start over new. After sin, yes. After terrible heartache and pain, yes. But even with people.

I really do believe that relationships are forever. Family and romantic relationships, yes, but also friendships. Well, I give up on these eternal things far too easily. Someone makes me angry...so I give up. I make them angry...so I give up. I think I might have made them angry...so I give up. Maybe you've been there, too. Maybe you've been in an argument with somebody, and as you walk away it hits you...how are you and your friend going to get past this one? Are you going to get past this one? You don't know if you're going to be able to get past this one.

That's where the renewal comes in. If, like me, you've ever been in a situation that you felt might ruin a relationship, then you might have also, like me, been in a situation where you're surprised at how very not ruined the relationship was. What saved it? Usually forgiveness was involved, and humility, and a mutual agreement to move past it and start over. In a word, renewal.

That renewal wouldn't be possible without the Atonement. The Atonement is the source of all change, all improvement, and all healing. The resilience and hardiness of the human spirit stems from it. All forgiveness flows from it. It can, and should, be used often. Daily, even. Multiple times a day.

Happy Easter.

Three Years Later

Three years ago today, I started this blog.

Last year, I threw a sort-of party for the anniversary of this blog. This year, I partly forgot and partly just let it slide. Because although I love celebrating, I've reached a point in my life where if I want to go out to dinner, I can just go. I can even afford full-price sushi! I can even afford the expensive tickets at the expensive movie theatre! I couldn't think of anything to do to celebrate that I wouldn't do on a normal day. So, that's a no-go.

Looking back, I do feel that in some ways, this blog has gotten off track. I specifically said that I have a hard time writing about stuff I don't care about. Well, for the past year I've felt like I can't write about the things that are always on my mind and that I really care about. I don't want to write about the difficult interpersonal experiences I've had the past year, romantic or otherwise, out of respect for the privacy of others. I don't want to dash off a sad post every time I'm discouraged or frustrated. There's nothing wrong with being discouraged or frustrated; I just don't want my personal corner of the Internet to become a veritable fountain of sob stories. Which is why over the past year, you've been treated to an endless supply of posts about Stitch Fix and the weather.

I've forgotten something important, which is that one of the best ways to deal with difficult stuff is to make fun of yourself as much as possible. Not in a mean-spirited way; just in a way that reminds you to get over yourself. I feel like I could, and should, do that more. This blog would be the perfect outlet.

That being said, I do think I wrote some really great things over the past year. I'd say Passover, New York City, and Carroll Spinney were the highlights.

Anyways, here's to another year.

NAQ

Some people do an FAQ post, where they answer frequently asked questions. I'm doing an NAQ post, where I'll answer never asked questions.

NAQ #1: What's your favorite kind of ice cream?
S'mores by Dryer's. But I also like cherry chocolate chip, Neapolitan, butter pecan, and cake batter or any variation of cake batter (such as birthday cake).

NAQ #2: What kind of jobs have you had?
Summer rec teacher. Fast food employee/training sponsor. SAT and ACT tutor. Now I help write training for other people's companies. To correct a common and understandable misconception, I have never written an instruction manual.

NAQ #3: What scares you?
Making telephone calls. Turning left at intersections. The Woman in Black. But in truth, the thing that scares me the most is the thought that one of my younger siblings might die.

NAQ #4: What are you self-conscious about?
My overly sensitive, always-red skin (particularly around the nose). My terrible posture. My lack of romantic relationship experience. My social awkwardness. The fact that I can't sing very well.

NAQ #5: What aren't you self-conscious about?
If I'm not conscious of it, do I really know? But most things not listed above, probably.

NAQ #6: How did you get your hair to be so long?!
This is the question that I wish people would ask! I had short hair during most of high school. Like, it was even buzzed-at-the-neck short at one point. After graduation, I started growing it out, and I haven't stopped since. Do you know how hard it is for me to grow out my hair? It's very hard! Because, although my hair grows very fast, I get restless and cut it all off periodically.

I was really looking forward to my high school reunion. I figured people would say, "Wow, your hair is so long!" And I'd say, "That's right! Do I have kids now? No! Am I married? No! Did I serve a mission? No! But by golly, I have SUPER LONG HAIR. And a college degree."

But. Nobody. Mentioned my hair at all. Not a soul.

Directly after the reunion, I went to Rosebud's wedding reception. When I congratulated the bride and groom, the new Mr. Rosebud said, "Wow, your hair is really long!"

And I was all, "FINALLY, SOMEONE WHO APPRECIATES MY HARD WORK."

It's Not Easy Being Green

Today at my work, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day.

One of the things that I love about my job is how festive everyone at my workplace is. Since I started there a year and a half ago, there have also been celebrations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Puzzle Day, Valentines Day, Pi Day, spring cleaning, spring/Easter, Cinco de Mayo, and the 4th of July. That's not even counting the many times we've randomly been provided with pizza, sandwiches, Israeli food, snow cones, and massages.

Anyways, today at work everyone was wearing green, and we had a fun St. Patrick's Day potluck and limerick contest. The potluck dishes included salads, mashed potatoes with cabbage, fruits, veggies, chips, cornbread, artisan breads, and many, many desserts.

Earlier this week, when they were assigning potluck dishes, I signed up to bring some drinks. I know the people I work with, and I knew they would get super creative with their St. Patrick's Day-themed dishes. So creative, in fact, that it would almost be a competition. I decided to bring soda because, hey, less pressure. I went to the store and bought a Sprite and a lemonade.

I don't have a speck of Irish in me, and St. Patrick's Day isn't really a thing in my family. There's just one festive thing that my mom does every year: she puts some green food coloring in the milk. And then tells us all at breakfast that we've been visited by leprechauns and that they turned the milk green. Because turning milk green is what leprechauns are known for, probably.

Thinking I'd share the fun, I put a drop of green food coloring in each drink before I brought them to work today. I deposited the drinks in the break room and went about my business.

I sit near the break room, and I can hear almost everything that people say in there. Fifteen minutes before the potluck was due to start, I heard a lady say, "I noticed that this lemonade had already been opened, and I was worried about it. Then I realized what color it is, and that it was opened so that the person could put food coloring in it!"

And I was like, "Yeah, I mean, what's so sinister about opened lemonade, anyways?" Then it occurred to me that the lady probably was probably worrying that the lemonade was spiked. Because St. Patrick's Day. Awkward.

My only question was if she noticed that the Sprite was also opened? And also green? Sprite bottles are already green, so I suspect she did not realize. Bit of a shock for whoever poured the first glass.

The Pinkest of Eyes

I dropped by my parents' on my way home from work today. When I walked into the kitchen, Baby Brother immediately said, "Don't touch me."

I assumed he was joking, since Baby Brother's sense of humor ranges from acting like he doesn't know who I am to pretending that he isn't even in the house when he actually is. So I kissed him as I normally would.

"He has pink eye," our mother informed me as I drew back.

...oh.

Poor little guy. I felt sorry for him, because health-wise 2016 has not been a good for him. But then later my eyes were itching, and I started worrying more about myself.

ME: What if I have pink eye tomorrow? Do I call in sick or do I still go to work?

ALSO ME: I still go to work but I wear sunglasses so that nobody can tell that I have pink eye.

ME: ...

ALSO ME: Natalie did it in The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes.

ME: No, Natalie wore sunglasses so that people couldn't tell that she didn't have pink eye.

ALSO ME: Oh, that's right. She pretended that she had pink eye so that she couldn't go to Brianna's party.

ME: Because her parents wouldn't let her go because there were boys there. And she didn't want everyone to know that her parents were so uncool.

ALSO ME: Or...yeah. Something like that.

ME: Yeah.

ALSO ME: Possibly I've read too many books.

One for the Stalkers

Dear Stalkers,

I know you're out there.

Before you jump to any conclusions, let me say that in this case a stalker is anyone who repeatedly reads my blog but has never followed me on Blogger, never left a comment on the blog, never liked or commented on the links I've posted on Facebook, and never said anything about it to me in person.

Within my first year of blogging, Madam President told me that she'd gone to a party where she'd heard a guy that we knew telling other people to read my blog.

AWKWARD MORMON GIRL: Um...that's really weird...because he and I talk sometimes but he's never said anything to me about this blog ever.

MADAM PRESIDENT: Really?!

Then Bonnaby approached me after an institute class and told me that this same guy had recommended my blog to him.

AWKWARD MORMON GIRL: I didn't even know he'd ever read my blog!

It took another year before the guy actually talked to me about it.

DON'T BE LIKE THIS GUY! If you read my blog, and you know me, then I want to know that you read it. I promise that I won't think it's weird. I wouldn't post the link on Facebook if I didn't want people to use it. I wouldn't post stuff about myself online if I didn't expect people to read said stuff.

So, please, stalkers, come clean. If you don't come clean, I'll be forced to believe that you read this blog for some hidden sinister purpose. Who wants to be considered a hidden-sinister-purpose stalker? Surely not you!

So I'll hear from you soon, yes? You'll come and say to me, "Forgive me, Awkward Mormon Girl, for I have stalked." And I shall say, "That's okay! Thanks for coming clean! And for reading my blog!" And then we'll hug and maybe get a soda or something.

That's how it will go down. Can't wait!

Love,

Awkward Mormon Girl