[Review] eShakti

Saturday, November 29, 2014

About a month ago, a company called eShakti contacted me. I had seen a couple other people post about their experience working with them and I was intrigued. I had never heard of them, so I visited their website to learn more. 

eShakti is a website that custom tailors garments to fit people perfectly. They ask for your measurements and custom make the dress/shirt/skirt/whatever item for you. I was intrigued. I always have issues finding things that fit perfectly in all areas. They are either too boxy, the arms are too short, the torso length is too short, etc. so when I found out that I could have the opportunity to tailor an item to fit me perfectly, I was in.

I was given a link to chose one item, any item of my choosing, that I could customize to fit me. There were so, so many great items, it was so hard to choose just one.

Ultimately I decided on this tunic top.



I added the tunic to my cart and started the customization process. It was super easy and completely walked me through what I needed to do. It involved a lot of measurements (that I had Seth help me with) and even gave a little notation as to how exactly to measure each area in case I had any question. It really was step by step and so easy to follow.


The only thing I had trouble with was the very end of the order process. I was given a code to use for my purchase and I couldn't get it to work. I didn't know what I was doing wrong, so I contacted my eShakti contact and she told me that it was no trouble and she would place my order for me. Minutes later I got the conformation email and my order was on it's way.


A couple weeks later, my tunic arrived on my doorstep! It actually came a lot faster than I expected so when I saw the package on my door step, I was excited to open it.

When I first tried on my tunic, it was a little shorter than I anticipated. The shirt only came in a regular shirt length or a tunic length and neither length was something that I could customize so that was just the standard "tunic length".

When I ordered the shirt online, I had an idea of the outfit that I wanted to make with it so the first outfit that I tried on was the tunic, leggings, and boots (above). I liked the pairing although since the tunic was a little shorter than I anticipated, my whole "leggings are not pants" philosophy came in to play. While I did like the outfit and it's something I would wear, I did feel a little uncomfortable with the length.


My second outfit made me feel a lot more comfortable as I was wearing actual pants. My second outfit was something that I would wear to work - the tunic, black pants, flats, and a scarf. Cute, comfortable, and business casual.


Overall, my experience with eShakti was very positive. I love the idea of customizing a item of clothing to fit you and I would definitely shop with them again. 



Discloser : I was given the item that I reviewed for free. However, all opinions expressed are 100% my own.


Thanksgiving.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!!!


Especially thankful for these turkeys :)

(a little #tbt to Thanksgiving 2013)

So, so much to be thankful for this year.

Wishing you all the BEST Thanksgiving!


[Fall Bucket List] Blogger Date

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

First of all, I want to thank all of you who have been linking up with us every week. It's been really fun being able to share our adventures this Fall with you all and being able to read the fun that you have been up to as well! So thank you!

***

Last Friday I was lucky enough to meet two of my favorite bloggers in San Diego. It was the perfect end to our Fall Bucket List link up together.


Stephanie from Wife Mommy Me  and Desiree from Macke Monologues

Now to most, or at least those who aren't bloggers, this may seem crazy. I mean, meeting people on the internet and then meeting in person even sounds kinda crazy to me.

I know that my husband was a bit skeptical (and I later found out so were the other ladies husbands). I'm pretty sure he thought they were going to kidnap me or kill me or something. But with a little convincing (it's not like I found them on Craigslist!), he still let me go. For me, it was a bit out of my comfort zone. I mean, I am usually kind of shy when I first meet someone and I don't really come out of my shell for a little bit. But for some reason, I wasn't nervous and I didn't have that awkward feeling that you might have when you meet someone for the first time. Why? I'm not sure. But I can definitely tell you that it probably has to do with the fact that I already feel like I know them and know their families based on reading their blogs for the past year-ish.

For those of you reading who don't blog, I'm sure this whole thing just sounds crazy. Like I am a crazy person. But for those of you who blog, you understand. I can't even really explain it (so hopefully some of you just 'get it') but through reading other people's blogs, you kind of feel a sense of connection. Especially these ladies who are mommy bloggers as well. I feel like they get me. Like I can explain something to them and they have gone through it too or can give me advice. I feel like they are my 'mom group' that I don't belong to because I work. They don't judge me; they encourage me and lift me up.

It was crazy and I know it sounds crazy but when we all got together, it was like a friend reunion - like friends I had known for a long time - not a meeting for the first time. We were so excited to meet and so excited to just get to talk to each other face to face and get to know each other past what we put out on the internet.

 So, we grabbed ourselves some coffees and were on our way to explore and chit chat. Conversation came easily and we talked about everything from kids to life to blogging to anything that popped into our heads.

We were lucky enough that the reason that Stephanie was in San Diego was to meet up with her friend, Tracy, who was in town for a meeting for work. She stayed a couple extra days to hang out with Stephanie and sightsee and she served as our mini tour guide down to the water.

We walked down to the little village of Seaport and walked past the USS Midway and the Bob Hope Memorial down to the water front. It was really cool to see the USS Midway in person as I have heard so much about it and my friend took her wedding pictures on it. It was WAY bigger than I imagined and pretty awesome with all those airplanes parked on top. I took a few pictures and we mosied on down to the water front.


(two photos directly above by Desiree)




It was gorgeous. Picturesque San Diego. Even though I am from California, I am in awe of the beauty every time. I could just sit by the water for hours and stare. It's so peaceful.

At this point, since it was Friday night, we thought we better headed in the general direction of where we wanted to have dinner in the Gaslamp District. None of us knew exactly which direction to go in so we plugged it into Desiree's phone and Siri took us here :


I mean, Siri. It's like she knew! We grabbed a sample and decided on where to go for dinner. There was pretty much every option ever available to us and we ended up deciding on Mexican.

After dinner we miiiiight have headed back over to Ghiradelli to pick up some chocolates (and get another free sample! shh!) and then we walked back to the hotel to hang out by the fire pits and talk. Seriously we sat there talking for at least two hours when we realized it was 9pm and I had an hour and a half drive home and Desiree had a two hour drive home so we decided to call an end to our fabulous meet up.

I am so blessed to have connected with these wonderful ladies (as well as many others) through this crazy world of blogging. So thankful to have been given the opportunity to meet Desiree and Stephanie in person and to be able to spend the day with them.

***

Now, tell me! One last time!
What Fall fun have you been up to?


Pick an item, celebrate Fall, and link up with us!
I would love to see how you and your family are spending Fall.



 Desiree at Macke Monologues | Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Elizabeth at Chasin' Mason

[BOY MOMS] Amber from Belgian and a Half

Monday, November 24, 2014


Hi there! My name is Amber and I blog over at Belgian and a Half. My husband, David, (who is Belgian, hence the name :) and I live in Seattle and have a two and a half year old son, Aiden. I'm so excited to be a part of the Boy Moms Series - thanks Elizabeth!

When I was pregnant, I remember hearing (believing!) all kinds of dubious and sweeping generalizations which had probably no scientific basis; "if you crave fruit then you are going to have a girl", "an active baby in the womb will be an active kid", "bad morning sickness means you're going to have a boy".  One in particular that seems equally ridiculous now (but that David and I both held onto really strongly) was that boys will bond most strongly with their mothers and girls will bond most with their fathers. Therefore, David was hoping for a girl and I was hoping for a boy.

Two and a half years later it all seems so bizarre. I'm proud to say that our little boy, Aiden, has had no difficulty bonding with either of us. And, when I think about it, it seems implausible that gender has had much to do with it on either end.


But in lot of ways, Aiden really is a typical boy - he loves trucks and sports and being loud.  David also loves to roughhouse.  For example, he loves to balance Aiden on his hand like a circus trick.  They've been doing it since before he could walk- even since before he could sit up!  There was something about the way it created a balance point for his feet/butt and aligned his spine that gave him baby abilities beyond his age.  Aiden loooooves it and we have pictures of their circus act all over the country.  If you believe it, they are still going strong to this day!


Aiden eats this kind of play up - the rough and tumble, typical boy play.  It's really adorable to watch!  His giggles and screeches of laughter are truly priceless.  But, if you knew me, it would be also obvious that is not my natural temperament.  Not that I'm a total stick in the mud, but I am pretty calculated and reserved.  I can be goofy but I'm much more likely to be practical.  And I'm always the one who says "slow down!"  "not so rough!"  "let's quiet down."  


But that just sounds so boring of me, right?!  And even though sitting quietly, coloring and talking about our days sounds perfect to me, is just not exactly Aiden's favorite thing.  Instead, we play chase and cars and (bang/throw) legos and have wrestling matches.  And you know what?  It's awesome.  Sure, sometimes I would rather sit on the couch and paint nails and I'm still the first one that wants to calm things down but Aiden loves to play wild with me as much as anyone.  And the look of joy on his faces when I do is pretty much the best thing in the world.

I love that he is bringing out that side of me.  I need every reminder possible not to get to serious.  Honestly, probably most busy adults could probably use a reminder to let loose and embrace their inner wild child.

One of our favorite ways to focus some of this energy is sports.  He has been riding a scooter for a while and has recently gotten pretty good at his glider bike.   Sports were a huge part of my childhood and I'm so excited to share that with Aiden - teaching him to ski, watching his soccer games - that's the stuff that gives me the warm fuzzies.  Not that they are specifically boy things but I can already tell Aiden is going to love them as much as me and what a great thing to bond over.

In a lot of ways, we fit the stereotype; Aiden's loud and sporty, David loves cars and motorcycles, and I like clothes.  But there are also a lot of ways that we are the exact opposite of the stereotype; Aiden loves his baby doll, David was a full-time dad for 2 years, and I'm an engineer.  I love that Aiden helped remind us to break out of our box and that there is so much variation in people, kids included.


So thanks for making me a boy mom, Aiden.  Mommy definitely loves you.

*************


If you would like to share a post about you and your son, email me at chasinmasonblog@gmail.com .
I would love to feature you! You don't have to have a blog to participate!

Five on Friday.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Happy Friday! Without further ado, here are five things I'm loving this week.

ONE.
These PJs.


I've been loving Hanna Andersson PJs for FOREVER but haven't actually bought any for myself (we've always ben gifted them - thank you Nanny!!!). But I am LOVING the ones on the far left. I mean, how cute would Mason be in those PJs with the car and the Christmas tree? Plus...bonus is he can wear them for months after Christmas also (Christmas PJs on Valentine's Day for the win)!

TWO.
Staircase racetrack.


How awesome is this?! We have a staircase and I totally want to do this for Mason!


THREE.
Christmas gifts.


I was pursuing Pinterest one night and I came across this. I LOVE IT. I'm trying to be more meaningful in my gifts to Mason because he definitely doesn't need toys, toys, and more toys. I was already thinking of clothes as a gift as well as some books, but I really wanted to be meaningful in the other gifts I give him. I did get him a toy already also so that just leaves the "need" gift. While "need" can be defined many ways, and while he doesn't need his room to be changed at all, I thought it was about time that we actually transform his room into the big boy room that I have been talking about forever. Hopefully I can find everything I am looking for :)

FOUR.
Secret Santa Mommy and Me Book Exchange.

Chasin' Mason

If you're participating in our Secret Santa Mommy and Me Book Exchange, please don't forget that TODAY is the last day to send your books to your Secret Santa!

FIVE.
San Diego.


After a few short hours of work today, I am off to San Diego to meet these lovely ladies!
so. excited!


(and one more... did anyone else watch How to Get Away with Murder last night?? Holy WOW. Why do we have to wait until January 29th to find out more??)



Happy weekend!




***

Linking up with these lovely ladies.

Momfessionals

Santa Barbara // Part 3 : Eat This, Shoot That

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Sorry to break up our trip even more, but believe me...this tour deserves it's own post!

BUT before we get to that... let me pick up where I left off. So after I ate the most delicious cupcakes of my life and enjoyed sampling some champagne, we still had an hour or so to kill before the tour started (seems like the longest day ever when I write it all out lol). We decided we would walk down the street to the pier and check out the ships. As we were on our way, we noticed a huge crowd (lots of huge crowds actually) and then all of a sudden we saw why.


There were planes flying overhead! And not just any planes.

This was a special celebration for the upcoming Veteran's Day holiday.

Let me tell you, it was amazing. The planes were amazing and the vehicles there were amazing. The whole celebration was so special and it was awesome to be a part of it.


We stayed put until the fly over was done and then walked down the street to check out the vehicles they had on display on our way to the pier. It was pretty awesome to see the helicopter, Jeeps, and tanks in person.

 

By this time, it was time for our tour to start so we headed back over to our meeting spot.

We met our tour guide, Tara (who also happened to be the owner of the company - we later found out), for our tour called Eat This, Shoot That. To be honest, I don't even know how I found the tour (google? trip advisor?), but I am SO happy I did! It was the perfect way to get a little taste of everything that Santa Barbara is all about in a short amount of time.

We were lucky enough to have a small group - Tour guide Tara, Seth, me, a girl from Australia, and Tara's boyfriend (who was taking her tour for the first time). It was perfect. 

***

[A little bit about the tour taken directly from the Eat This, Shoot That website] This casual 2.5 hour Santa Barbara food tour takes guests through the Funk Zone for small bites and sips of beer, wine, and spirits. Along the way, learn a thing or two about photography from a pro. You’re welcome to bring along your camera or just your smartphone! We promise you’ll have a good time and maybe even learn a thing or two about photography and Santa Barbara history.

***

Our first stop on the tour was the Deep Sea Winery. It is the only winery to have this FANTASTIC view of Santa Barbara.


While at the winery, we got to taste two wines (of our choosing) and Tara taught us a little about photography and how to shoot some cool photos. The place was packed so I didn't get to try as much as I would like, but I shot the below photo of my wine glass on the ledge of the balcony.


And this picture inside.


After the winery, we headed down the pier to the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. Tara told us that since it was seafood, she couldn't order ahead of time, so we could go explore the pier while she ordered our food.



A couple of minutes later, the food was ready and we had this AMAZING, fresh shrimp ceviche to taste and photograph.


After the ceviche, we headed back down the pier and Tara gave us some history on Santa Barbara. After a few minutes, we were in what they call "The Funk Zone" where Tara taught us how to use the sun as our friend and how to get the right shadows in your pictures.


 And then we headed to the Lucky Penny. The whole outside wall was "wall papered" with pennies.


It was pretty amazing. As was this pizza. It had chorizo, potatoes, an egg, and much more. 


We literally inhaled the pizza and were off to our next stop, the Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company. We got to taste one beer and have one beer float. Holy moly. Not only was the beer amazing but the ice cream at the end of the float - to die for.


After the brewery, we were off to Santa Barbara's first distillery since Prohibition, Cutler's Artisan Spirits. We were given small shots of vodka, gin, bourbon whiskey, and this AMAZING apple pie liqueur. Honest to goodness it tasted just like apple pie. It was delicious. And I've NEVER said that about straight alcohol before.


Our next (and last) stop was the Riverbench Winery. We got to sample some of the most yummy champagne and eat some of the most delicious toffee from Koval Confections. Seriously it is so good, the locals call it crack.



We took a group selfie and the tour was over.

We were supposed to go to the Seven Bar + Kitchen as well but there was an unexpected death in the owners (there are several owners and one passed away that weekend) and so they were closed for the funeral. Tara apologized profusely and assured us that if we came back to visit, we would have to go check them out. They are amazing.

Seriously, if you go to Santa Barbara, TAKE THIS TOUR. We had SO much fun and I literally asked if Tara could be our tour guide for the rest of the night. (Sadly she said no). But the tour was AMAZING. The tour was a little over two hours and totally worth every penny we paid.

We headed back to our car and back to our hotel to figure out what we wanted to do for our one last evening in Santa Barbara. We ended up deciding on take out sushi from a place across the street and sipping on some of our new wine.


We were about to hit the hay when I remembered that there was an ice cream place down the street... and not just any ice cream place, supposedly the best ice cream in Santa Barbara. So what did we do? Of course we went to get ice cream!

The place was PACKED with a line out the door but the employees worked really fast to help all the customers. We were able to choose between frozen yogurt and ice cream, in a cup or in a cone.

I opted for cookies and cream and Seth got coffee.

Both lived up to their reputation and were incredible.


Overall? Our trip was AMAZING. We had the best time. You might notice that almost all of my pictures revolve around food and you would be right. We pretty much ate our way around Santa Barbara and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and every bite. You guys, I want to go back JUST for all of the food experiences that we had.

If you live near Santa Barbara, or in California in general, or are just looking for an amazing vacation, definitely check out Santa Barbara! You won't be disappointed!




(and in case you missed them, you can find part 1 here and part 2 here)




DESIGNED BY ECLAIR DESIGNS