Tag Archives: fashion

A Best Dressed New Year

I received a complimentary dress rental in exchange for an honest blog post about my experience. All opinions are my own. Read to the end for a special discount!

I started thinking about New Year’s Eve a few months before December 31st, because Jeff and I made our New Year’s plans pretty early on, the second we found out the Timberfakes (Boston’s Justin Timberlake cover band) were going to be playing the Middle East in Cambridge. We did the same thing last year, and knew it was a solid way to spend the last night of the year.

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Reebok Skyscape: Always Thinking Pink

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Reebok.

After some change-of-address-caused hoopla I finally received my Reebok Skyscape sneakers last weekend! You probably have seen other Fitfluential Ambassadors posting about their experiences with the new shoe line, but I’m late to the game on this campaign. At least I can hope that sets my post apart from the others, right? Anyway, I opened the package and found another pair of SUPER bright pink shoes to add to my collection! I think the sneaker gods know my favorite color is pink.

They begged to be paired with cuffed jeans!

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Thinking Out Loud: 2DAYZZZZ

Two days. Said to the “tune” of “2 Chainzzzzz”. As in two days until I move to Boston. Now I will use the 2 Chainz reference to plug my current favorite song.


I’m short on time today so let’s dive right in and think out loud. Thanks as always to Amanda for giving me an excuse to ramble and feel like there’s purpose behind said rambling.

1. I’m really totally kinda dreading the whole actual act of moving. The movers are arriving Saturday morning around 7:30AM and the day before (aka tomorrow) is my last day of work followed by happy hour co-worker shenanigans. I’m expecting I’ll be feeling the shenanigans the next morning and an early wake up call followed by a drive to Boston won’t be at the top of my list of things to experience. Gotta power through! And drink ALL the water.

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Fashion Friday: Nancy Rose Performance Giveaway!

I received a complimentary outfit from Nancy Rose Performance for purposes of review. All opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

It’s been awhile since my last Fashion Friday and today’s is a giveaway for an outfit from Nancy Rose PerformanceThe brand contacted me last month to find out if I’d be interested in testing out a top/bottom and giving the same combo to a reader. I have plenty of workout clothes but I’m always game to try more, especially those that look nothing like other gear I own, like the Releve Tank.

I wore this to spin class! It was a bit hard to figure out how to tie at first but I got it eventually.

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My 2014 New Year’s Resolution

After you read this post I must insist you go read this funny one from Kaitlin! I am definitely guilty of several things on the list but am also with her on many of them. If the world made a resolution against progress pics and ab Instagrams, I’d be the top supporter!

I don’t usually even make New Year’s resolutions but I just happened to feel inspired to make this one around 12/31, so I’m going to call it a New Year’s resolution. My dad got very upset at first when he heard what my resolution was but hear me out: I want to make more of an effort when it comes to my appearance. Let me explain.

I’m not talking about working out more, eating “cleaner”, etc. I’m talking about blow-drying my hair, putting on eyeliner, and dressing nicely. You may remember my reflections about how much better I felt on a very mentally blah day in Florida – the day I arrived there. I felt tired and large and let my mental blahs translate into feeling like I looked blah – and should stay that way. But if feeling mentally blah makes me think I look blah, why can’t looking awesome make me feel mentally awesome? Why can’t it go both ways? It can!

Before a night out in Florida – I took the time to blow dry my hair and my sis curled it for me!

I encounter plenty of days when I want to wear my glasses, put my hair in a messy bun, and rock yoga pants. Sometimes doing so makes me feel cozy, especially post-gym on the weekend. But other times when I haven’t worked out or when I’m feeling guilty about a previous night out at an event or restaurant, I’m tempted to just retreat into myself and hide in stretchy pants. I don’t feel like trying to make myself look nice because I feel as if I don’t deserve to look nice.

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I Hate Pants

I woke up this morning with the urge to write this post so what I had planned for today will be up tomorrow. Now “hate” is a strong word. And I know that pants, especially given the fact that it’s sleeting outside in CT right now, are necessary at times. But I have to say, pants are my least favorite article of clothing. Pants have the power (or I give them the power) to completely change my mood. Pants give me a number that my mind can grasp upon and use to beat me up. Pants are a form of measurement, and when the measuring consists of noticing that you absolutely don’t need a belt with pants you used to need one with, it’s really enough to make you want to throw the pants in a heap and live in yoga pants.

Maxis are nice too.

Bikinis get a bad rap as being the dreaded article of clothing for those with body image issues. But I beg to differ. At least when I wear a bikini, I can put something on over it to cover it up and feel fine. Bikinis have stretchy waists that are sometimes even adjustable. Though I’ve been experiencing anxiety about wearing a bathing suit in Florida at the end of this month, it isn’t comparable to the anxiety I feel each morning I wake up and have to put on a pair of jeans that have just been washed.

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Fashion Black Friday 2013

Hey CT residents! Visit Cait Plus Ate on Facebook for your last chance to enter my giveaway for a pair of tickets to a weeknight showing of Hartford TheaterWorksChristmas on the Rocks“. I’ll be attending tomorrow’s matinee and can’t wait to share my review next week!

Firstly, let me just say that I have been “going out” on Black Friday for as long as I can remember, and I was not a fan of how many places opened this year on Thanksgiving night. But not because of the whole don’t-make-people-work on Thanksgiving controversy that you may have heard about. I actually used to work on Thanksgiving (at a local bagel shop) and liked it because I was paid twice my normal hourly rate and I often find myself bored on holidays – I can only sit around the house and chat for so long. So I’m not surprised if some people welcomed the chance to work on Thanksgiving Day! In fact during college breaks I was employed part-time at my local Victoria’s Secret and working on Black Friday itself was the kicker because a) it sucked and b) you were paid your normal rate since it’s not a “real” holiday.

Fabulous idea.

No, my beef with stores opening on Thanksgiving night is because it takes away the “hardcore” from Black Friday! Any chump can stay up and hit the stores at 8PM. But setting the alarm on a day off from work takes a little bit more dedication. So call me a snob, but I do not consider those who went out Thursday night to be Black Friday shoppers.

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Thanksgiving 2013: Dining Out

In recent years my family has spent Thanksgiving at the home of our friends, the Gerbers. Unfortunately this year they moved to Texas and we decided instead of finding another group to join or having Thanksgiving at home, we would go out! Obviously this was my idea and of course we selected J. Gilbert’s, my favorite restaurant, as the spot. Thankfully (ha get it?!) we were smart enough to call a couple of months in advance and lock down a 6:30PM reservation for our party of six. We received a call the day before Thanksgiving letting us know that a 4PM slot had become available, and my parents jumped on it. This was not fun for me because the earlier the reservation the more time I was going to have between finishing dinner and going to bed to think about what I’d ate. But I was the only one in that camp, so I had to deal!

The Croswell Fam!

The Croswell Fam!

I felt ridiculously hungover on Thanksgiving morning thanks to the previous evening’s festivities (Jager, never again) but made it to the gym for 30 minutes of StepMill intervals and an upper body workout. I sure am glad I went because I felt a lot better afterward, but man it was torturous during! I rushed home to shower and get cozy with coffee and the Black Friday circulars…a tradition! I felt very tempted to restrict after the gym and just not eat until dinner so that I would ensure I’d have plenty of room for the amount of food I was “bound to consume”. I texted my girl Brittany for support and she gave me the reality check I needed to push forward and fuel my body post-workout.

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Gymdoll Fitness Apparel Giveaway!

I received a tank top free of charge from Gymdoll. All opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

I’ve mentioned Gymdoll previously, in my HealthyChic review. But that’s because I happened to choose this cute tank when I was picking out something to purchase during my try-out of the website.

Moar selfies plz.

This time around Gymdoll has contacted me separately to host a giveaway, and try out another tank. I was hooked by Chris’s rhyming subject line in his email to me…”Cait Plus Ate + Gymdoll = GREAT”. How could I say no to that?! He offered me the Skulls & Barbell Active Tank, perfectly suited for a lady like me who is passionate about her gym‘s Group Power class. (Even though the first time I wore it, I was taking Group Kick…oh well.)

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Albion Fit Petal Pants – Giveaway!

I received complimentary clothing from Albion for review purposes. This is not a sponsored post and all opinions are my own.

It’s not often that I experience love-at-first-sight with a piece of clothing, but when I do, it sure does hit me like a ton of bricks. I’d been having a hard time getting Albion Fit’s Petal Pants out of my head since the moment Kaitlin sent me a link to them one day during our usual G-chatting.

I’ve worked with Albion Fit in the past to review the Go Long Crew top, and thankfully they wanted to work with me again to review a pair of bottoms to help promote the new fall collection. A very special pair of bottoms…the Petal Pants! They arrived and I was surprised to find they were striped; I’d only looked at the photos like the one above, which made them seem heather gray, and not the more detailed photos. I always prefer patterns over solids though, so it was a pleasant surprise!

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