How Do I? | blindish

How Stitch Fix gave me back my love of fashion

My bundle of Stitch Fix items, fresh out of the box and all wrapped up in tissue paper. — My pretty little bundle of clothes from Stitch Fix.

I’m a big fan of clothes and fashion, but I’ve grown to hate shopping. I used to love pawing through the endless rows of hangers, looking for just the right pair of jeans or for the perfect purple blouse. And shoes. Don’t even get me started on shoes.

Lately, though, it’s become so much of a challenge that I no longer enjoy shopping at the store. A typical shopping trip involves choosing a date ahead of time and going somewhere with my mom so she can help me find what I’m looking for. That means I need to actually know specifically what I’m looking for; browsing is largely a thing of the past. I usually ended up settling for something that was “good enough” because I was frustrated with the whole process.

I’d considered shopping for clothes online, but I was having trouble warming up to the idea. I like feeling the fabrics and trying things on, and I didn’t want to have to pay to ship any returns back.

Then I heard about Stitch Fix, and I knew immediately I wanted to try it out.

Stitch Fix is a subscription box for clothing and accessories. You fill out a style profile, sharing your sizes and selecting your preferred clothing style and price range. A stylist evaluates your choices with the help of algorithms and sends you five items you may like based on your style profile and any requests you may have made for certain items. Once your items arrive, you take a few days to try them on and decide if you want to keep them or not. If you do want to return something, you return it in a prepaid envelope, and then you check out online. You don’t even need to take the package to the post office, either, because you can arrange for your mail carrier to pick it up. Simple!

I’ve been using Stitch Fix for a few months now, and it’s going pretty well. The more Fixes you get, the more they improve, in theory, because you can provide feedback on all the items, whether you keep them or not.

Now that we got all that stuff out of the way, I want to show you what I got in my most recent Fix!

Liverpool Mira Skinny Jean- Black and Market & Spruce Cammy Deep V-Neck Ribbed Knit Top

Market & Spruce Cammy Deep V-Neck Ribbed Knit Top and Liverpool Mira Skinny Jean- Black

I loved the top. It was so soft, and it was a great color, so I kept it. The jeans were too snug at the waist, but long enough, which was a small miracle. Trying to find pants to fit a 35″ inseam is always a challenge, so I was disappointed they sent black jeans. I specifically say in my style profile NO SOLID BLACK. With three long-haired cats, it’s just not worth the struggle. So the pants went back.

Market & Spruce Lawford Knit Top

Cream tab-sleeve blouse with thin black horizontal stripes, paired with black pants. — Market & Spruce Lawford Knit Top

I just didn’t like this top. It didn’t feel like me, and I kept adjusting the neckline. I don’t love that style of neckline, anyway, and I didn’t like the color of the detail at the neckline. This one went back.

Just USA Anjuli Dark Wash Denim Jacket

Dark-wash denim jacket paired with cream v-neck tee and black jeans — Just USA Anjuli Dark Wash Denim Jacket

I liked the dark wash, and I had an old, out-of-style denim jacket I wanted to replace, so I kept this one.

41Hawthorn Rocco Faux Wrap Tank Dress

Navy faux-wrap tank dress — 41Hawthorn Rocco Faux Wrap Tank Dress

I really liked this dress, but it was definitely made for a shorter person. The dress wasn’t necessarily too short, but it flared out too early on me with my height and made things look a little disproportionate. This photo doesn’t really show that, but trust me. I sadly sent it back.

I’m enjoying the convenience of great fashion at my doorstep. I love having someone else find things for me she thinks I’ll like, and I love how easy it is to return the things that don’t work out. If you want to give Stitch Fix a try, please use my referral link! I’ll get a $25 credit if you do.

*This post contains referral links.

A silly little drawback to being a non-driver (that’s actually a good thing)

It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and I’ve been obsessing all day about having a freaking Reuben sandwich.

But alas, when you live in the ‘burbs, can’t drive a car, and don’t have the stuff to make one already in the fridge, that’s just too bad.

Sure, I could get to the store if I really, really wanted one, but I have to weigh the cost and benefits. Do I want to go to the store badly enough to bug someone to take me, or spend two hours on a solo trip, for just a few things I don’t really need?

The answer usually ends up being, “Nope, not really.”

I really miss the days when I could just hop in the car and go where I please, when I please, and do what I please without some big, elaborate plan. Gone are the days of impulse-buying. I understand this is a great thing thing, practically speaking, because it’s probably saved me lots of money, but all I can think about right now is sauerkraut and rye bread, and it’s leaving little room for logic.

What do you think? How do you manage without driving? If you do drive, how do you think you’d cope with not having a license?

How I vote using the accessible voting machine

Today’s the first day of early voting here for the 2016 presidential preference primary, and you can bet I’ve already performed my civic duty.

I used to be able to read the ballot and fill out the little circles myself, with no assistance, but those days are gone. Once I could no longer read a ballot without some serious magnification, I chose to fill out my sample ballot at home and have Jason fill out my actual ballot for me from my sample ballot. Not ideal, but it got the job done.

Then I discovered the accessible voting machines.

It’s done electronically; I put my ballot in the machine and the machine marks it for me. There’s a computer monitor that shows all the text on the ballot, and I can make it larger so it’s easier to read. Though, as you’ll see in the picture below, it’s easier to read than the paper version, but by no means easy to read. When the machine spits the ballot back out, I can see what it marked, just to make sure it marked exactly what I selected.

An approximation of what the accessible voting machine's screen looks like to me. — An approximation of what the accessible voting machine’s screen looks like to me.

I wanted to post an image of what the ballot itself looked like, but since Florida voting is weird it would indicate what party I joined, out of necessity, upon moving to Florida, and I’d rather keep that info to myself! Instead, you get to see the instruction screen.

It’s simple and fast. The accessible machine has always been open when I show up to vote, and I’m usually done before Jason is since it fills in the circles so quickly. Not to mention early voting is awesome because hardly anyone ever goes to our nearest early voting location.

I also have the option to vote by mail, which sounds convenient, but I like seeing my ballot go into that secure-looking machine. Not to mention they don’t give you an awesome sticker when you vote by mail!