(*This is a sponsored post as I am Stitch Fix Influencer.)

Life always tends to be crazy, and chaotic for me. Sometimes, there’s an upswing of it, and it becomes total chaotic insanity. As summer wound down, and fall approached, that upward swing kicked into gear.

And it wasn’t a slow climb. Life raced up to that peak, and exploded.

More local teams than ever before in my decade as a sports journalist made playoffs. Which meant that instead of the slow wind down to sports season once playoffs hit, it stayed full on. I had more clients than I typically carry on the side, and they stayed a few weeks extra before flying south for winter, because our gorgeous weather stuck around longer too. And to top off the busy, I enrolled in a coaching course to further my knowledge to work with my client base.

Then one day, it got chilly out. And I put on a pair of jeans for game coverage. And they didn’t fit.

My focus was so much on my full time job, my clients, and my course work, that I hadn’t realized in my own workouts, I’d amassed muscle inches.

While that makes me happy, because the bigger muscles also corresponded with bigger weights – I also realized I was in a predicament. I no longer had any “real clothes” for winter that fit.

The amazing crew over at StitchFix must have heard my mental breakdown, because logging into my email just a few short days later, I had one asking if I was down for another Fix. If I was, and was looking for anything in particular, just shoot them an email back and I’d be good to go.

I filled them in on my predicament, and my now interesting sizing dilemma. “If it fits this way, I’m a… but if it fits that way, I’m a… my thighs are a few pant sizes larger than my waist now… my calves… lats…. shoulders…”

Bless Megan, because she has the patience of a saint to work with me on this go-around.

With everything settled, off she went to pull some items for every day wear (my request) to send to me.

When I opened the box, like the Grinch, I felt my heart grow ten sizes bigger.

Each Fix gets better. StitchFix is like a wine that way. This one, my fifth, was the one that hit the goal from the middle of the pitch. Hit the ball out of the park.

As I pulled each piece from the box, I “oohed”, “aahed”, and I think I even cooed a bit.

Megan worked with the various sizes I gave her, and checked out my Pinterest board to get a feel for what I liked most in terms of style, and created some cozy magic for this Fix.

So… What was in the box?

Just Black Cordelia Skinny Jean These jeans are fabulous for ladies who lift. For real. Not only are they soft and comfortable at the waist, they’re STRETCHY. What’s so great about stretchy? Easy. Stretch means they’ll fit the parts of your legs that may demand more material space than others. In my instance, my thighs, because of my quad and hamstring muscles, need more space in clothes than my waist does. My booty perked up and grew a bit over the summer too, so there’s that. Also, the stretch, especially on skinny jeans, means you won’t feel like your calves are suffocating, or the blood flow has been cut off there (I know I’m not the only one that’s felt that way in skinny jeans). The fact that they’re black was great too. Dress ’em up, dress ’em down.

Skies Are Blue Alisson Chambray Top I’ve been on an endless chambray shirt hunt for awhile now. I’ve got countless outfits pinned on Pinterest with them as a key piece (which Megan took note of). I’ve just never found one that fit “right.” This one was a different story. At first look, I was cautious. It wouldn’t have been a cut that I’d have grabbed off the rack on my own. After trying it on, I realized, I’d have missed a good opportunity to finally get that chambray I’d wanted. The loose fit and straight cut was perfect. It’s not a heavier type of chambray top, but it’s also not super thin like some either. Leggings, colored pants, even some of the shorts I have, all went with it flawlessly (well, in my opinion flawlessly. We’ve also established at this point, I’m working on my “fashion”). Major win, all around. 

41 Hawthorn Wilco Solid Quilted Vest I have a light weight quilted vest that I love and hate. This past fall, I thought many times of replacing it with one that wasn’t a off-the-wall Amazon brand (and only cost $9.98… maybe that’s why I struggled with the zipper so much?). But just never got around to it. Megan must have sensed my struggle, and packed up this beautiful green vest in my box. Given the endless memes about office air conditioning in the winter time, I know I’m not the only one that works in that kind of office setting. So having a vest that I can wear under my winter jacket, to have in the office for the days it’s -5F outside, and -50F inside: is a bonus. Plus, I live in vest and Bean Boot Country – you can never have too many vests.

Lulu Henderson Plaid Infinity Scarf Last year was my first foray into the infinity scarf scene, and I’ll say this: I wore it once. It was huge, it swallowed my face, and it wasn’t comfortable because it WAS so big. So I used it as a blanket at my nephew’s football games (yeah, that big). I was a little skeptical of this one at first. Then I put it on. This is a much smaller infinity scarf. Two loops and it fit perfect. Kept my neck “sheltered”, but didn’t come up to my nose in the process. I wasn’t carrying a large bulk on my front. And it wasn’t itchy. Not to mention, the colors are cozy winter-like colors, so I know it’ll go with all of my winter attire (that still kind of fits).

Mix By 41 Hawthorn Harson Henley Top Oh, henleys. THESE are a winter staple where I live, because we layer a lot. Especially when we need to go out and shovel that white stuff. This one was something else. Such a pretty deep purple-red paired with that gray – and so, SO soft. I also noticed right away, and liked the rough cut of it. It’s not a polished henley. Instead of tucking and sewing the seams under, they’re tucked up and sewed. And the end fabric isn’t cut in a perfect, tidy line. I don’t know why that makes me like it more, but it does (could be that in a way, I can relate to the shirt? But that’s a bit deep for a style blog post… another day, another day…). Incredibly cozy, can be added to layers, or worn solo. Worn to work (with a casual dress code that is), out for errands, or curled up on the sofa watching Netflix, or reading a book. A great item to have on hand for this time of year.

As you are probably guessing by now… I kept it all. I did exchange the vest for the next size down because it felt a little big, even when I tried it with some of my bulkier, cable knit sweaters. Not only was I able to create two looks from this Fix, but each piece sent can pair easily with stuff I already have.

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