Tag: Reviews

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Cancun Destination Hotels Mexico

All Inclusive Stay at the Sunset Marina Resort in Cancun

The first 2 days of my Mexico trip, we spent in Tulum and the last 2 1/2 I spent in Cancun with my girl, AE. She booked the Sunset Marina Resort for the two of us and it’s an all inclusive resort! I’ve never stayed at an all inclusive before and as much as I loved the casita at Papaya Playa Project, I was so happy to be in a legitimate hotel and having unlimited food and alcohol was amazing!

The resort is located on the peninsula in Cancun with a strip of beach area. There are a ton of activities to do everyday like water sports, activities for kids and nightly shows. They have a concierge who can tell you about any tourist activities – like visiting Chichen Itza or Xplor Adventure Park (which I’ll talk about in my next post!) or getting bus rides and cover into one of the infamous Cancun clubs. There is an option to just book a room and not do an all inclusive package, but like I said,
we definitely did all inclusive.

I don’t know what type of vacationer you are, but I’m very go with the flow and “let’s just see what happens and how I feel to decide.” We had absolutely no specific plans in Cancun and the two days we had there were definitely for rest and relaxation. The first room at Papaya Playa was such a let down, when we walked into the studio apartment style room at Sunset Marina we were amazed! There was a little kitchenette (no stove) with a mini fridge with a few beers, a tall dining table, sitting area, and outside jacuzzi!

pull out sofa / sitting area
king sized bed

I loved the blue tufted headboard and you know we definitely made use of that jacuzzi!

view on the patio
jacuzzi on the patio

There are three different restaurants on site – La Vela a more formal, sit down, a la carte restaurant, La Pergola a more casual, buffet style restaurant, and Il Forno a casual open pizzeria posted right on the beach. We ate mostly at La Pergola, but had a pizza the first night at Il Forno. We didn’t eat at all at La Vela, but there was just so much to choose from in the buffet.

dining room at La Pergola
view of the buffet from the dining room

My favorite thing about the whole experience was definitely having the open bar. You basically have a running tab billed to your room, but since its all inclusive, you don’t have to worry about it! You’d think I was sitting poolside with margaritas, but my favorite drink was their micheladas! Every other michelada I’ve had has had clamato juice in it, but these were different because they didn’t have clamato in them at all!

the best michealda

We watched them make it and it looks like lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, tabasco, salt, and of course, beer! The soy sauce surprised me and the combination sounds so weird together but oh my gosh. I loved them!

Right outside of La Pergola is the pool area. There’s a lower pool with a slide and an upper pool complete with pool side bar.

slide into the lower pool – the bridge leads to La Pergola & the hotel bar area

This deck is also outside of La Pergola. I don’t know where it leads to, honestly.

deck area
kids area
upper pool at night
looking up to the pool bar
lounge chairs lined up along the water
view from the top of the pool looking out

enjoying my michelada!
AE staring off into the sunset

Overall, I loved staying here, the all inclusive route was definitely the way to go and the service was great – just look at the cute little bird housekeeping left on the bed when they cleaned the room!

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Fashion Lifestyle Reviews

MM LaFleur Review

I tried my first MM.LaFleur Bento Box 3-4 months ago and I loved the concept of getting quality, fashionable work clothes delivered to me without having to deal with the hassle of going to the mall, browsing racks, trying on clothes, and standing in line. I know, I know, what girl doesn’t want to go shopping?! It’s funny, cause I used to be a pretty bad shopaholic, but as I’ve gotten older and progressed in my career, I have less and less patience for shopping. Don’t get me wrong, I still get the itch from time to time, but these days I avoid malls like the plague.

 

So what is MM.LaFleur? The brand was launched in 2013 by Sarah LaFleur, Miyako Nakamura, and Narie Foster. Designed for the professional, working woman in mind, their Bento Box has the same concept as other monthly subscription boxes with the option to purchase all, one, or none of the items in the box. Each box is filled by a stylist with several high quality workwear pieces and an accessory meant to fit your style.

 




 

TL;DR

MM.LaFleur has awesome customer service and each piece is really high quality. The killer was the super high price point – the cheapest piece of clothing in my Bento Box was $145; the scarf was $65.

 

PROS

  • High quality items
  • Awesome customer service
  • Most items fit great
  • Fast shipping
  • Convenience
  • Decent size range (0 – 22W)
  • Only receive boxes when requested

 

CONS

  • High price point ($110 – $325 for clothing items)
  • Charge for Bento Box even if you don’t buy an item

 

HOW IT WORKS

After signing up for an account on MM.LaFleur, you fill out a survey on your fashion preferences, choose the day you’d like to receive your items, and enter your payment information. A stylist will pick out items for your Bento Box and the box gets shipped to you. You have 4 days to try everything on, keep whatever you want, and send the rest back. Shipping is free both ways and you’re only charged for the items you keep. Your first box is free, but subsequent boxes are $25 regardless of whether you purchase or not. You only receive Bento Boxes when requested, unlike other subscription services which send you a box and charge you monthly.

 

IN MY BENTO BOX

These were the items in my first box:

 

Sant Ambroeus Jardigan
 

I wear cardigans all the time at work, so I actually really loved this cardigan. It fit well, was super comfortable, and I loved that it didn’t have buttons. I couldn’t justify the $195 pricetag, though.

 

The Tory 2.0 Dress
 

I didn’t care too much for this dress. It was comfortable and the pockets are super cute, but it just wasn’t very flattering on. It kind of made me feel like I was dressing like my mom’s friend.

 


Greenpoint Skirt
Deneuve 3.0 Top
 

I didn’t care too much for either of these pieces. I’m really short (5’2″), have wide hips and no boobs so things have to fit right to look good on me. The skirt overall fit okay, but the slit in the front didn’t work for me. The top was comfortable, but just not my style.

 Rachel Dress

 

I LOVED this dress. This was my favorite item in the box – it fit amazing (Look at the back!), the color was pretty, it wasn’t super tight, and the material was really nice. If I was going to keep anything, it would’ve been this dress, but again – it was so expensive. I just can’t justify $240 for a dress.

 

Herringbone Scarf
 

Herringbone Scarf over the Rachel Dress
 

Awkward turtle face

 

I’m not much of a scarf person, mostly because I don’t know how to wear them and also because in Dallas the weather is bipolar and mostly warm so there isn’t that much of a need for them. The Herringbone Scarf is a wool-cotton blend and it was huge! (See it wrapped around me as a blanket in the ‘awkward turtle face.’) This actually might be good for someone who gets cold in the office. I loved the color and feel of it, but like all the other items, $65 was a deal breaker.

 

As much as I loved that Rachel dress, I ended up sending back all the items. I love nice things and I’m all for investing in classic pieces I’ll wear all the time, but I just couldn’t justify spending $150+ for one item. For reference, I’m definitely an Express / J. Crew / Banana Republic type of girl but I could get 2-3 items on sale for the price of one MM.LaFleur item.

 

Overall, MM.LaFleur delivers on high quality items and great customer service. It’s definitely catered to the professional, working woman and if I had the budget, I wouldn’t think twice, but deep down I still have my cheap Asian tendencies and had to pass. As you can see from my pros and cons list, I didn’t find anything bad about it, but costs trumps everything for me. If they lowered their price point more, I would probably try it again, but otherwise I’ll stick to my twice a year stops to the mall on sale weekends.

Categories
Fashion Fitness Lifestyle Reviews

Pop Fit FREE Leggings! – Olivia Review

A few months ago, a friend of mine told me about this POP Fit promo for free leggings and my first thoughts were – free workout clothes? I’m in. But as they say, nothing is ever free, free. I got to pick which leggings I wanted but the catch was I had to pay $11.99 for shipping. I’m not super big into shopping anymore – I think I have too many clothes I don’t use – but I don’t think twice about buying new workout clothes because I really put them to use.


Olivia Leggings

I ended up choosing these black/green Olivia leggings and I think if you click the picture link, you might be able to snag them for free yourself. I’m pretty picky about my workout wear – it needs to be drifit-ish material and the bottoms need to fit snug and comfortably but still flattering. I’m pretty loyal to my Nike capris and full length leggings and have yet to find anything that compares, but $11.99 didn’t hurt.

Some claims from the POP Fit website:

  • Thick waistband that “hits your hip & tummy area in exactly the perfect place”
  • Leggings stay perfectly in place
  • Heavier more durable fabric

TL;DR

I wouldn’t buy them again. They weren’t a complete loss, but not worth the full price IMO.

PROS

  • Comfortable and waistband does sit in a flattering area
  • Does stay in place (for the most part) while working out
  • Designs are pretty cute
  • Not terribly expensive

CONS

  • The waistband shrinks and gets warped when you put it in the dryer
  • Material is decent, but feels like will deteriorate after excessive use
  • Holds onto moisture more than I’d like

Leggings in action at the gym

I do think the style of these are really cute. I know a lot of women who love sporting the athleisure look and these definitely fit the bill. The mesh is soft but seemingly durable, but these are more for athleisure than they are for working out. I like the material for the most part and they’re super comfortable, but it holds moisture more than I’d like.

I rotate my workouts between weight lifting, hot yoga, and HIIT cardio workouts PLUS I sweat a lot, so I need something that’s comfortable and durable, but still flattering. The moisture thing isn’t so bad with lifting and HIIT, but when I’m in hot yoga, I notice it more because I’m sweating a lot more. In class, I’m used to wiping my sweaty hands on my leggings to get a better grip during poses, but when I used these leggings, it felt like I was just rubbing a wet towel.

I’ve had these for a few months now and I workout pretty regularly during the week so these were definitely put to the test. My biggest gripe is after so many washes, the waist band shrinks and gets pretty warped. Maybe I’m supposed to air dry these? I honestly don’t read instructions, but I don’t have time to air dry all my leggings. I’ve had some pairs of Nike leggings for years (circa 2013) and they’ve held up really well – I don’t see these lasting as long.

If you’re looking for something more casual and not for workout use, these might be for you, but I probably won’t be purchasing any more. If these were $11.99 regular price, I’d might reconsider, but the Olivia Leggings I got was $37 full price and I could get my favorite Nike Pro Leggings for the same price.

If you wanna try these leggings for yourself, I did find these other styles that are free (+ S&H):

POP Fit Heather Leggings
Heather Leggings


Mandy Leggings

Have you tried POP Fit Leggings? Do you have other favorite brands?
Let me know in the comments below!