Le tote-ally awesome

Happy Tuesday! I’m sorry I didn’t have something ready for all of you at our usual Sunday time but I promise this week I will be back on track 🙂

Tonight I want to share with you something that is pretty similar to a subscription box (I know, I know….surprise surprise!) and it’s called Le Tote. I apologize for the very cheesy/punny post title but I was truly having  trouble thinking of something!! I heard abut Le Tote in a magazine article I was reading last summer so I’ve been utilizing it for about a year now.

Le Tote is similar to boxes like Stitch Fix and others BUT I have had a much better experience and much better luck with Le Tote. In boxes like Stitch Fix you are sent clothing that then you have a set period of time where you can try on the items and then make a decision whether or not you’d like to buy any, all, or none of the items they sent you. I haven’t been pleased with the high prices of the things that Stitch Fix tends to send and often times I have sent the whole box back because things just don’t fit properly.

What makes Le Tote different is YOU actually get to choose the exact 5 items (or different quantity depending on the subscription you choose) you are going to have arrive in your box. Once you have made your selections the box comes your way and here is where the BEST part happens. You can keep the box and the clothing in it for as long as your heart desires. You can wear each piece as many times as you like and style things in different ways. If there is a piece you totally fall in love with it you can buy it for the price listed on the website/app which is a discounted rate and keep it forever 🙂 If there are things you liked but don’t want to hang on to after wearing a few times then you just package it all up and send it on back!

Le Tote does the laundering for you and then as soon as your past items get returned the team at Le Tote automatically starts styling a new box for you. They send you an email when they’ve made your item selections so that you can go take a look. If you open it up and love everything they chose all you have to do is “confirm” the tote and it will be shipped to you. If there are some items they selected that don’t seem your style you can swap them out and pick anything else from the closet! You can swap out one or two items that they selected for you or all of them if you choose.

One of my favorite things about this subscription service is that on their app and website they have you answer a profile about your sizes/measurements/fits and how you prefer clothing (tops, jeans, dresses) fits you (loose, snug, longer tops, longer jeans, etc.) It stores all of this information in your profile and when you go to select a piece of clothing that you are interested in the app will recommend what size you should wear in that item of clothing based on your measurements. I have chosen tops and the app warns me that they will be too short for me or too tight in the hips. I love that it gives me a heads up because then I don’t order it and find myself disappointed that it doesn’t fit me!!

The level of subscription I chose is right in the middle and I get 3 clothing items and 2 accessories in each of my boxes. They have lots of jewelry, bags, purses, and scarves to pick from for accessories and they are fun additional things to have and try out. You can also choose to get smaller or larger boxes depending on your price range/budget. Last but not least I like the fact that you just pay a monthly flat rate for the boxes and you can send them back as often as you like or as little as you like. If you get a box and wear each thing once and send it back they will get you another box right away but you don’t pay “per box” so it’s not more expensive if you choose to turn them over quickly.

Below is a screenshot from my phone of my actual tote that is on the way to me currently! As well as the one I just sent back below it. I can’t wait to get these yellow tassel earrings and the blue velvet off the shoulder top!! ❤

In my account I currently have 4 invitations for a FREE FIRST BOX that I can send out!!! If any of you are interested in giving Le Tote a try please send me a message and I will get a code emailed to you 🙂 Here is a link to their website so you can check out more or you can certainly download the app! If you’re someone who likes to spice up their closet and try new styles like me this would be perfect for you. Thanks so much for reading and I’ll be back with more soon!

#sugarspiceandstylethatsnice

xoxo Jen

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primary colored kitchen

Man, I can hardly believe it’s Sunday night again! When I think of my weeks in terms of blog posts I can’t help but notice how much the time seems to be flying by. It feels like just a moment ago I was sitting down last weekend and writing but another week has gone by in the blink of an eye….summer seems to do that each year!

As I was thinking about what to write tonight I was brainstorming at my dining room table and looking into my kitchen. I looked back and saw that I have never shared photos or ideas with all of you from that space yet so it looks like this is the perfect night to do it 🙂 If I had to sum up my kitchen into a theme it would certainly be primary colors. My cabinets are simple oak and the flooring is neutral. The appliances are white and the previous owners put in a metallic backsplash so the kitchen was essentially one big blank neutral canvas. It was only logical to fill everything else with as much color as possible!

My favorite part of the kitchen is my little coffee corner. I bought a vintage orange bar cart at an antique show last year and it was the perfect addition to house my Keurig and k-cups. I also hung up the distressed white shelf I snagged a garage sale to display all of my brightly colored Fiesta ware coffee mugs and some other fun ones that I have! The red chalkboard is from Picks and I adorned it with my favorite saying to peek at as I walk out the door each morning. The metal sign with the coffee humor I found in Florida when I was there for family vacation last year. Coffee really keeps me going during the day and I’m sure many of you feel the same!!

I have a bar top/island that I use as my main working counter space so the other counter space I used to display some of my favorite thing. My red Kitchenaid mixer is WAY too pretty to be kept out of sight! My fun colored kitchen utensils are a collection from many places to include Macy’s, TJMaxx, and Target. The adorable dog treats metal container I found at TJMaxx’s as well and I couldn’t resist. It’s the perfect place to store Luna’s treats! The smaller container is from Gordman’s as well as the utensil holder. My cookbooks are bright colors so I display them standing up on the counter to add more appeal. And the fun, oversized utensils hanging on the wall are from Hobby Lobby!

Tonight I made myself a personal homemade pizza so that is the star of the stove photo! My bright blue tea kettle is from Macy’s and the funny recipe box on top of the stove was a graduation gift from a family friend, filled with recipes to start me off with! My bright colored dish towel is Fiesta ware brand and the dishcloth adorned with “My cooking is so awesome even the smoke alarm cheers me on” made me laugh outloud at Curious gift shop in Grand Forks. I bought it because if you know me at all you’ll know that I am VERY low on the cooking skills scale and it is not unusual for me to have a little smokin’ goin’ on when I’m trying to cook!!

I have a few other small touches in the kitchen that are worth mentioning. I have this fun patterned cork board hanging on the wall right as you go out the door to the garage. I usually hang receipts, coupons, monthly bills, reminders, etc. on here to keep me on track for the current week.  I had been on the hunt for a fun kitchen rug and found the perfect one just a few weeks ago….and where else but hiding on a back clearance end cap at Target!!! Less than 10 dollars and it’s the perfect style and colors for my space 🙂

Last, but certainly not least, is my most recent spray paint project. My parents passed down three bar stools to me when I was moving in to my first apartment in college and they have been with me every since! They were dark wood with some gold/metal accents and up against my also wood island they blended in. I had fun spray painting my craft room table and chair set (check out the post here) so I decided to give it another go and make over the bar stools! They turned out awesome and I love how much they “pop” now! I went with a bright primary almost sky-toned blue. Now they stick out (in a good way) and I can always repaint them down the road if my color scheme changes! (Side note: as you can see in the photo, Luna’s toy basket is right beside the kitchen stools. She has quite the collection of toys including a hamburger and the lovable poop emoji haha)

Thanks so much for reading! I hope these photos give you some ideas if you are thinking about ways to refresh your kitchen or start from scratch if you are just moving somewhere new!! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful week. See you next Sunday 🙂

#sugarspiceandstylethatsnice

xoxo Jen

green thumb rookie

With this being my first full summer in my townhouse there were a lot of things I wanted to do in order to make my place look as nice as possible from the outside! My patio was my first big task and then I knew that flowers were the next step. Thankfully, I have a mom who is very knowledgeable about her flowers and was able to help me pick things out that would work for the amount/type of sunlight I get in my yard 🙂

A Mother’s Day tradition for my mom is always to buy her flowers and plant them on her day. This year in May we were able to enjoy a day of flower shopping and planting together! Here are a few pictures from a couple months ago when we were first planting. Luna was our little garden helper and she really like the smell of the marigolds.

It wasn’t necessarily my intention going in to my flower-picking to have orange as my main color but that is how things ended up turning out and I love it! I was drawn to the yellow and orange French Marigolds and then also picked out some deep purple and orange Celosias because I liked their fuzzy appearance/texture. My mom taught me that pots look best if you also include a “green” element of some kind that is more basic and fills in the spaces so it doesn’t look too overwhelming. I chose some Creeping Jenny (ironic name…not sure if I like it haha) and this really neat Corkscrew Rush that was unlike anything I’d seen before. The twisted look of it is unique and it grows really tall which I thought would be a nice complement to the rest of my choices.

In the past 6-8 weeks I can’t believe how much all of my flowers have exploded with growth! The long sunny days of June were perfect for them and have kept them really healthy. I love pulling into the driveway and seeing how nice they make the front yard look.

I also opted to buy a nice hanging flower pot because the previous owners of my townhouse already had a nice hook installed. I went for a purple, pink, and yellow combination of Bidens, Petunias, and Verbena.

We bought all of our flowers at Lowe’s this year which was a change from our usual trip to All Seasons. I was really impressed with the selection at Lowe’s and I’m even MORE impressed that I have managed to keep all of these flowers alive and well for the last couple of months! Historically, I have a pretty nasty track record with flowers/plants so I was nervous about how well I would do with my own flowers this year. I am looking forward to picking out something new and different for next year. I’m hoping my luck with these beauties continues and that my ritual for taking care of them will help to keep them looking great all throughout the summer.

P.S. One tip my mom gave me was to make sure to take photos of the “flags” from inside the flowers I bought this year that show their name, how tall they grow, what kind/how much sunlight they like, etc. That way I won’t forget the names if there is something I really want to buy again next year!

I hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend/week and that you are getting lots of sunshine 🙂 Thanks so much for reading!

#sugarspiceandstylethatsnice

xoxo Jen