Athleta Semi-Annual Sale: Try On

Sometime in that vortex between Christmas and New Years, I posted that I had purchased some items from the Athleta Semi-Annual sale (find it here). Well, my order came in super quickly, so I figured I’d do a little ‘website photos vs. real life photos’ try on session for you all.

Elation V-Neck Built-In Bra Tank D-DD in Acacia Olive – $64 marked down to $29.99 (and then 20% off). Link: https://shopstyle.it/l/b6a7k. Size I ordered: Large.

As I mentioned in my original post, I love it that Athleta makes items specifically for larger cup sizes. Typically, a shelf bra would just jam the knockers up to your chin and I’m sorry, but I’m not wanting some sort of Bridgerton situation when I’m on a hike. However, since they offer this in a D-DD, on top of the size large I’d typically order… it fits!

I love this top and I especially like the criss-cross action in the back. This will be perfect for a base-layer under my hoodies in the winter for telework days. I’m sure it will also make an appearance on our next Arizona hiking trip too.

It’s also crazy flattering. I’m typically a size 12-ish and I have a tummy… but between the leggings (I’m wearing the Salutation Slash 7/8’s) and the top everything is nicely smoothed.

Rating: 5/5. I love it!

Nighttime Bliss Sleep Tees – purchased both Black and Deep Burgandy – $39 marked down to $9.97 each (and then 20% off). Link: https://shopstyle.it/l/b6a8R. Size I ordered: XL

I was hoping these were as soft as the ones I have from Soma and I was not disappointed! They are so soft and silky and perfect for sleeping. I sized up to an XL because I like a swooshy shirt when I sleep and these are great.

The only thing I don’t love is that they have a cute little slit at the sides, which visually is very pretty. However, I wore one to bed last night and had to yank it down because my back/side was chilly.

Rating: 4/5. Happy with the purchase and these will get lots of wear. If they drive me crazy, I’ll take 2 minutes and sew up the slit.

Cozy Karma Hoodie Sweatshirt in Spiced Cabernet – $109 marked down to $69.99 (and then 20% off). Link: https://shopstyle.it/l/b6a46. Size I ordered: XL

I like my hoodies oversized, so I ordered this in an XL. And it fits mostly great, but is a bit cropped… which is fine. The color is beautiful in person, however this one is going back.

Reason 1: I HATE the velour-type fuzzy fabric on the inside of the hoodie. In fact, I immediately felt overheated. Reason 2: I don’t like the front pocket – it pokes up and looks kind of dumpy. Also, no thumb holes.

Rating: 2/5. Don’t love this one and it will be returned.

Retroplush Revive Hoodie Sweatshirt in Clover Berry – $99 marked down to $59.99 (and then 20% off). Link: https://shopstyle.it/l/b6a7a. Size I ordered: XL

Now, THIS hoodie is a winner! I wasn’t sure if I would like the color on me, but it’s a nice warm berry-type of red and like nothing else in my closet. The hoodie fits perfect – a little loose, but not overly schlumpy. It’s warm, but not too warm. And the thumb holes are so, so good.

I put this on to go run some errands on Monday and have barely taken it off since then.

Rating: 5/5. LOVE this hoodie!

As a recap, I ordered a total of 5 items, which had the retail total of $350. After the Semi-Annual sale and an extra 20% off coupon I found online (I used Mary20), my total after tax and free shipping was: $152.57. I will be returning the Cozy Karma Hoodie, which will give me back $56. So that takes my total down to about $96 for 4 items.

Disclaimer: This post contains ShopStyle affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Like what you see? Share me with your friends!

My Peloton: 3 Year Check-In

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you may remember that I jumped on the Peloton bandwagon during the pandemic. I posted lots of updates throughout the first year, and then a 15-month update and 2 year update. Well, if you can believe it… it’s time for a 3 year check in!

Yup, it was 3 years ago that I downloaded the Peloton app (with a non-Peloton bike) and then 6 months later I upgraded to the official Peloton bike.

To answer the most obvious question – YES, I am still using my Peloton bike and the Peloton app. However, to be as honest as possible, I haven’t hopped on the bike as much as I had the previous year.

In fact, I did over 300 cycling classes in the first 2 years I owned the bike and in year three I only added about 40 more. However, I HAVE been keeping up with my goal of doing something every single day.

Over the spring, summer and early fall, Travis and I did a ton of the walking sessions. Jack and I regularly snuggle up together for a meditation in the evenings. And I’ve still done a variety of cycling, strength training, stretching and yoga sessions too.

Is there room for improvement? Certainly! However, my bike isn’t going anywhere and when my body feels up to it, I can always jump back on.

Things I’m still loving for my workouts:

As a goal for 2024, I’m going to try to beat the amount of cycling sessions I did this year!

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Like what you see? Share me with your friends!

Do We Need an Inflatable Hot Tub?

Source: Amazon.com

When we were traveling for Thanksgiving, we passed a store selling hot tubs. Which lead to me googling hot tubs to see how much they cost. Which than led me to Amazon, where I found inflatable hot tubs. Which led to me reading (aloud) a bunch of reviews where people freaking love their inflatable hot tub. Which led to my husband and I deciding that for Christmas this year we should probably buy an inflatable hot tub.

Yeah, it snowballed pretty quickly.

When we travel, we do enjoy renting places with hot tubs. And an inflatable hot tub seems like a pretty low stakes way to try it out to determine if it would get enough use at our house to justify the purchase.

See, still talking myself into it.

This is the one we are considering: Coleman SaluSpa Inflatable Hot Tub. It supposedly fits four, which means it should be fine for the three of us. Even if one of us is a giant. You basically blow it up, plug it in, fill it with water and BOOM you have a hot tub. There IS maintenance that needs to be done, where you put in chemicals regularly to keep from icky things growing in there. It also comes with a lid.

The reviews are pretty great – on Amazon over 9,800 people have reviewed it and it has 4.4 stars. Which is pretty surprising to me. I didn’t realize there were so many inflatable hot tubs out in the world!

Part of our backyard is fenced in and there is a door to access the area in our sunroom. So, I’m thinking I can keep some towels/robes in the sunroom (maybe a shelf or some hooks?) so that we have them ready to go for hot tubbing time. It’s also right by our laundry room, which is nice for wet swimsuits.

We have a hose out that side of the house, so filling it up should be easy-peasy. We don’t have an outside plug there, but we DO have one on that side of the sunroom — so we can cut a little slit in the screen/plastic window and feed the plug through.

There are a couple potential issues though. (1) The ground isn’t completely flat. So, we may need to put the inflatable hot tub a little further away from the house (and use an extension cord). (2) There are conflicting reports on whether you can just plop the inflatable hot tub on the ground (grass/pine needles/dirt). I’m not really concerned about killing grass, but I’m not sure if we need to dig out a circle to make it more level? I found this hot tub mat that is supposed to help level it, and provide cushion and heat installation to the bottom, so that may be the way to go?

Also, I’m imagining throwing some holiday lights up around the nearby trees. Or fence. Or side of the house. I don’t know – my imaginary hot tub sanctuary has twinkle lights. They also have lots of random light up hot tub accessories, which could be cool.

So yeah, we are letting that idea marinate a bit. If you have an inflatable hot tub or if you know someone with one, I’d love to hear about your experiences with it!

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Like what you see? Share me with your friends!