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Moving from conspicuous to conscious consumption and doing reviews along the way.  Find plenty of unsponsored reviews of Quince, Everlane, Grana, and Cuyana on the site!  I'm working towards a minimal waste lifestyle, and oh yea I love bags >.<

December 2024 Recap

Did

Had a colonscopy: Iā€™m a bit early to the game (they recommend having it done at 45), but I decided to schedule one due to some issues with my gut and a history of polyps in my family. I have to say itā€™s not as bad as being extremely hung over or a bad case of food poisoning, but the prep is not a walk in the park. Also I did not think I had it in me to not eat solid food for 40+ hours, but I did it. I had one polyp and did some biopsies of my lining. Weā€™ll see what the results are.

Updated these reviews: Quince Kids Clothing review (with their leggings), Quince Sweater review, Quince Jewelry Review (added the pave diamond domed ring and the gold pave diamond U earrings), and my Korean Bag Brands Review (added Facade Pattern and Roh Seoul).

Removed a blog post: I donā€™t recall ever having removed a blog post before, especially not a popular one. But this month I decided to remove my How to Authenticate a (Phoebe Philo era) Celine blog post because Iā€™ve had way too many one-time users ask for an authentication (some quite rudely). And I feel guilty not lending a hand, especially when I know if itā€™s fake or not. But the straw that broke the camelā€™s back was the one who argued their item was authentic after I gave my opinion. Honestly I donā€™t need to do this for the general public. So for those whoā€™ve been following me for awhile and genuinely want to know if their 2008-2018 Celine bag is authentic please feel free to reach out. But for now that post is gone.

I tried a free trial for an Instagram subscription to Eva Chenā€™s account. Iā€™m a big fan of Evaā€™s so when a free trial offer for her subscription popped up I thought Iā€™d give it a try. Since sheā€™s an Insta employee, I figured sheā€™d provide the better than average content for the extra $2.99 a month youā€™re paying. And I can see how this is supposed to be like a Patreon account through Insta, but I have to say I just didnā€™t find the value in it. Iā€™m glad I got to try it out but honestly itā€™s not worth it. Itā€™s basically the same content she provides for free but just more of it. Do you subscribe to anyoneā€™s Insta account for the extra $2.99 a month and find it worth it?

 

And finally, the project my husband and I have been working on since last year May has finally opened: Kidplex! We opened a kids indoor playground in San Ramon, inspired by the many playgrounds/kids cafes we visited in Japan and Korea. It was a long tough battle to open (let me just say do not open a business that requires a building permit in San Ramonā€”theyā€™ll bounce it back to you even for the slightest typo and cost you another two weeks šŸ˜–) and Iā€™m sure we still have a lot left to learn about this business. But at least weā€™re finally open (you can follow along on our insta: @kidplexcali). So this is just to say this space might get quiet as this new business takes off (though I have posts until at least January scheduled out), but I hope to be back to a regular posting schedule once Kidplex finds its feet. Wish us luck!

Bought

Madewell Harlow Pants: As I said in my review of Madewellā€™s Harlow pants, I wanted to try the other types that Madewell produced since I first purchased them. So I got several pairs of the Harlow pants in drapey twill from their Black Friday sale. Iā€™m glad I waited for them because I was able to get them for almost 60% off.

 

Quince organic cotton leggings and baby alpaca-wool waffle stitch polo sweater (pictured above): The only things I purchased during the black friday sales at Quince were the cotton leggings for Emi (because sheā€™s been getting holes in her Uniqlo heat tech leggings like crazy) and a sweater for myself in the all popular color brown. I try not to rebuy sweaters but this one was just too good.

 

Secondhand Hermes Plume 32: I also got this for a great deal and had the intention of reselling it, but somewhere along the way I fell in love and ended up keeping it. It can just fit over my shoulder but is can also fit a laptop, which unfortunately my Dunst Classic 28 cannot. I didnā€™t love the Plume 28 but Iā€™m 100% about the Plume 32.

The Row Hugo Slide (also wearing in the picture above): This was an impulse purchase through influenced by Instagram šŸ¤¦šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø but when I saw these shoes for 60% off I couldnā€™t resist. I love my Birks, so I figure I would wear these fancy Birks as well. And I love them. Iā€™m still a little too scared to wear them out (these are made in pony hair), especially since itā€™s the rainy season. These Hugo slides feel infinitely more luxe than my regular Birks but theyā€™re definitely not the same kind of workhorse.